Stencilling Without a Stencil

Hey Crafty Meraki friends.....this week it's all about the stencils.  Stencils are a lot of fun and a very versatile tool to have, but what if you don't have any stencils???  No problem.....I'll show you how to use a background die in place of a stencil.  Let's get started!

Cut the Mini Slimline Bar None Die from watercolour paper and cut a second piece of watercolour paper a bit larger than the diecut piece.  You want to use watercolour paper for this, as we are going to be using water and metallic paints and the watercolour paper will hold up better.

Spray the back of the diecut with some temporary spray adhesive and adhere all 4 sides of it to the larger piece of watercolour paper with some masking tape, painters tape or a low tack tape.

Using a pallette of metallic paints in shades of golds and silver and using a wide piantbrush,  start brushing on each of the colours from top to bottom.  I overlapped each of the colours as I wanted it to have an ombre effect.  I wasn't going for perfection either, so don't worry if it doesn't come out perfect.

Remove the diecut piece and set aside to dry.  Once it is dry, take a black finepoint pen and loosely draw around each painted rectangle.  Again we are not going for perfection here, but rather just a loose border around each.

Diecut 2 of the papers from the Blooming Noel EAP with the coordinating die and adhere the poinsettias to the painted background using glue and foam adhesive.  Trim off any excess hanging off the edge of the paper.  Add a hot foiled sentiment using the Gilded Holiday Expressions Hot Foil Plate and cut it out using the coordinating die.

Add a few of the Meraki Sparkle Red Gems using liquid adhesive and adhere to a cardbase cut to approximately 3.75x6.5".

It is so easy to adapt other supplies such as background dies and use the diecut pieces as stencils.  Your supplies aren't just meant to be used one way and one way only.  Think out of the box....even if you already own stencils.  Thank you so much for joining me on the blog today.  I hope that I have helped to inspire you in some way and I wish you all the most wonderful day.  Until next time, Michelle :)