Use That Crazy as a Jump Rope

I had such a good time this weekend at Junkie Fest.

The entire time I was observing other teachers I was taking notes about things they inspired me to think about in the way of design.

It's a great industry that way - people are so generous with their ideas, and that abundance of ideas creates NEW ideas in all of our minds.

I was in bed the first night listening to the people of Minneapolis honking their horns. I'm a honker by nature - I blame the fact that I was born in New York - but this was some out of control honking every night - and I was using that awake time thinking about a few design principles around stencils, which I love.

I gel print a lot so stencils are sort of part of my every day process, and I'm always trying to think of new ways to use them.

So today, I thought I'd try one technique two ways to see the difference, and I was sort of shocked at the difference with one simple change between techniques.

First - let me show you what the technique looks like WITH drying between layers. Mostly because this image and sentiment crack me up. I used the llama just in black and white with my colorful background. The two stencils are here and here, and I used the new shimmering bliss sprays with them. The sentiment makes me laugh and is sort of my life philosophy.

Be Cool Llamas - Technique Junkies [ TCH ] Genius and Crazy [ TCH ] Besties - Technique Junkies [ TCH ] Circle Mosaic Stencil - Technique... [ TCH ] Concentric Circles Stencil -... [ TCH ] TJ Shimmering Bliss Sprays [ TCH ] Circle Infinity Dies (H) [ HA ] Sharpie BLACK FINE POINT Writing Pens... [ SSS ] Heavy Base Weight Card Stock- White [ GNK ] MISTI Stamping Tool [ MSW | HA | SSS | ELH | MFT ] Absorber - Synthetic Cleaning Cloth [ AMZUS ] Rotatrim Professional Series Cutter -... [ BLIC ] Mudder 10 Pack White Buffer Sanding... [ AMZUS ] Xyron ADHESIVE ERASER 23675 [ SSS | ART | AMZUS ] Essentials by Ellen Storage... [ ELH ] Teflon Bone Folder - Ellen Hutson LLC [ ELH | SSS ] Tombow MONO MULTI Liquid Glue Two... [ SSS | ART | BLIC | ELH ] Ink Off Cloth [ INK ]

Now if you know me, you know that I ALWAYS use both parts of a die cut - the positive and the negative, and so I used the negative to frame this sweet friendship stamp, again in black and white just on the front of the card base. The image was a little shorter (the horizon) than the circle I cut with these dies, but since it's just dots & lines, it was easy to extend with a fine tip sharpie.

Be Cool Llamas - Technique Junkies [ TCH ] Genius and Crazy [ TCH ] Besties - Technique Junkies [ TCH ] Circle Mosaic Stencil - Technique... [ TCH ] Concentric Circles Stencil -... [ TCH ] TJ Shimmering Bliss Sprays [ TCH ] Circle Infinity Dies (H) [ HA ] Sharpie BLACK FINE POINT Writing Pens... [ SSS ] Heavy Base Weight Card Stock- White [ GNK ] MISTI Stamping Tool [ MSW | HA | SSS | ELH | MFT ] Absorber - Synthetic Cleaning Cloth [ AMZUS ] Rotatrim Professional Series Cutter -... [ BLIC ] Mudder 10 Pack White Buffer Sanding... [ AMZUS ] Xyron ADHESIVE ERASER 23675 [ SSS | ART | AMZUS ] Essentials by Ellen Storage... [ ELH ] Teflon Bone Folder - Ellen Hutson LLC [ ELH | SSS ] Tombow MONO MULTI Liquid Glue Two... [ SSS | ART | BLIC | ELH ] Ink Off Cloth [ INK ]

There's a new release today at Technique Junkies, including the sprays and some fun stamps, and you can get 10% off with my coupon code any time, not just today. So shop at your leisure! :)  

And I also have a quick video for you on how to get two different looks with layered stencil designs and sprays, with one tiny difference. That video is here.

Want to see more? Hop along to Giovana.

Loveyameanitbye.