Positively Beautiful Negative Spaces With Stencils!

I'm up on the CAS-ual Fridays Blog today and sharing with you a technique I used during the new release with Ken Oliver Color Bursts and some of the new stencils available in the shop!

My favorite stencil at the present time seems to be the Starlequin stencil... especially with this technique... I think it's all of the detail but it still has wide open spaces to give the colors lots of room to blend.  This is the watercolor paper I used.  I can't say if it's my favorite, but it worked well, and I got it on sale!  I cut my watercolor panels ahead of time and had two ready to go!  Have a little spray bottle of water ready too.

You'll want to protect your surface because this is messy... or maybe you don't... lol!  I'm not the boss of you!  I layed my stencil over one of the panels and sprinkled some Chartreuse and Lime Color Burst powders over the top in a random pattern.  It seems some of my bottles come out heavy and some not so much, but it's better to start out light and you can always add more!

I prayed on some water... you may want to tape down your stencil, but I didn't.  I don't mind if a little sneaks underneath... To me it adds to the beauty!  I sprayed a good amount of water on mine... a little at a time and just watch the beautiful colors do what they do.. mixing and swirling.  When you think it's enough, just lift off the stencil..

You'll want to be careful that all of that extra color doesn't slip off the top!  Move your first panel aside and put the fresh one in place.  It's ok if it takes you a longer than you plan... the oven dings... you have to chase after the dogs or the kids... because you can always spritz it with more water before you flip it over and smoosh it on top of your fresh panel!

I make sure to press down on mine..yeah.. my hands are a mess when I'm done...but I don't care!

And when you lift that one up, you have two beautiful panels to work with!  The hardest part is deciding which one to use!  I closed my eyes and picked because I love them both!

I cut the Bubble Box die out of some water color paper and used a bit of the Chartreuse powder to watercolor it.  I'm impatient so I used a heat gun to dry this piece so I could stamp it with that inspirational sentiment from the Dream Then Do stamp set (LOVE that set!)  I popped it up and splattered a bit of shimmery watercolor over the top.

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I cut some leaves using the Garden Fri-Dies from green cardstock and cut some flowers from some yellow Sparkling Sheets using the 4 Petals Fri-Dies.

Isn't that background yummy??  Well, I love it anyway.

And that's me for today!  Hope you'll give this a try!  This is just one of the many mediums you can use with these beautiful stencils and right now it's one of my faves.  I just love the unexpected results each time!

I'm playing along with a couple challenges today!  There's a fun new inspiration over at Cupcake Inspirations.  It's all about Inspiration Quotes.  I used an inspirational quote and I loved the pretty green and yellow color scheme so much I used that too.

And over at Simon Says Stamp's Monday Challenge is about Beautiful Blooms... and I added lots of flowers here for that.

Thanks so much for visiting today and if you saw something today you must have from the CAS-ual Fridays shop, I have this for you:

Cas-ual Fridays and A Copic Marker Background

I'm up on the Cas-ual Fridays Blog today I'm sharing with you a fun way to create a background using your Copic markers (or any other alcohol markers) and some blending solution (or alcohol).  These are the cards I created using two backgrounds I made this way.

I started with a white panel... I made two of these... one with regular white cardstock and one with 100 Lb paper that I use when I stamp and color with my Copics.  Both worked just as well.  I basically chose the colors I wanted that I thought might be interesting together and laid them out in the pattern I wanted.  My first strokes down the paper were with the wide flat end of the marker (you know ... the one that is usually only there for filling...lol!).  I quickly moved down the paper and swiped across.  Then I started at the top again and went through it all again.  I probably went over it about 4 times, and the last couple I switched to the brush end and made smaller swipes and filled in blank areas... I also made sure to put some unexpected strokes... a little purple in the blue.. a little blue in the green and finally ended up with this:

Next I poured a little bit of Copic Blending Solution into the cap... 80% alcohol works great for this technique, but I couldn't find my large bottle of alcohol so I decided to use the Blending Solution.  I dipped a paint brush (no water please) into the solution and then splattered it onto the panel that I colored.  If you want big blobs then add more alcohol... smaller splatters use less.  This is even less controllable than splattering water over distress oxides so be willing to let the liquid do what it does .. which is push the color away and you end up with something like this:

Pretty right?  I made two because I didn't think I was happy with the first and wanted to try it with the different paper, but once I was done, I decided I loved both panels and made two cards instead of one!

I started with this one... I used the full panel in the way back... it was the center of the panel that I was not happy with so this was the perfect use for this one.  I used the Bubble Box Fri-Dies and cut the larger one in plain white cardstock and the next size I cut from the second panel.

Before I layered everything, I stamped that pretty border design from the Bold Wishes Stamp Set onto the smaller Bubble Box using Versamark and heat embossed them in gold.  Then I stamped the Wish Big sentiment from the same set in a purple ink, fussy cut it and popped it up onto the inked panel.

I used the balloon dies from the Bunny Fri-Dies to cut out three balloons from some Copic friendly paper and then used some of the same markers that I used for the background to color them in.  I love that these colors don't completely blend.. I think it makes for a fun contrast... I attached some twine with popup tape and added the balloons to the card.

Finally I just added a couple sequins in similar colors to the rest of the card and done!  I thought I was done... but then I was looking at the piece that was left from cutting out the small inked Bubble Box layer and decided it would make a cool shaker frame:

So I made one!

First, I laid the window piece over the white layer so I could line up and stamp my sentiment from the Dream Then Do Stamp Set in the center.  Next I adhered a piece of clear cardstock to the inside of the window panel and then added popup tape around the outside edges.  I added some sequins ... enough to create a pretty sequin filled shaker, but not so much that the sentiment would be covered up.  I saved a few for the outside.

I decided this one called for some pretty flowers... so I used the 4 Petals Fri-Dies to cut some flowers and the Garden Fri-Dies to cut some leaves from white Copic friendly paper and then colored them in with the same markers I used for the background.  I layered the flowers together along with some leaves and then added a few sequins to the center.

I added a few more sequins to the outside of the shaker and this one was done!  I'm playing along with the Doodles Paper Playground #ShowMeYourShaker Contest on Instagram!  You can find info regarding the contest on the blog here!  I'm also playing along over at Mod Squad Challenges to use a Brand Name Clear or Rubber Stamp-No Digis... I've used all CAS-ual Fridays stamps here!  

I hope you enjoyed your visit today and hope I've shown you a fun new way to use your Copic markers!  Or if not new, maybe just a reminder that you can use them for more than just coloring images.

Should you decide to shop, I have this for you:

For more Cas-ual Fridays Inspiration, check out these places:

CAS-ual Fridays Challenge #209 - Sketch!

Welcome to a new Friday Challenge from CAS-ual Fridays Stamps!  This time around we have a sketch challenge for you to try!  Create your project using this sketch and link up for your chance to win!  Here's how I was inspired:

I'm still working on that Prima Amber Moon paper pad!  I used the wood slat paper for my background and then added some bronze glitter tape and a strip of a leaf print from the paper pad for my corners.

Those Bubble Box dies... one of my fave sets for layering!  I used it here for the show stopping sentiment from the Dream Then Do Stamp set.  I love when a sentiment is so awesome it can be the star of the show!

And these so sweet flowers from the Four Petals dies! I cut them out of some watercolored paper I had left over and distressed the edges a bit.  Then I bent the petals to add some depth and glued the layers together.

I love how simple, but pretty these flowers are!  Some bling for the centers and a few scattered around and this one is done!

I'm playing along with the Outlawz Twisted Thursday which is always anything goes, but this week the twist is also Anything Goes!  Check it out!

And!!  Don't forget tomorrow:

CAS-ual Fridays is one of the Oh So Generous sponsors participating in this hop!  Come back and visit me tomorrow for all of the details!

That's it for me today!  I can't wait to see what you do with this sketch!

Hope I've inspired you!  What are you playing for? 10 winning entries will be highlighted on the CAS-ual Fridays Blog the Thursday before a new challenge goes live!  We call it the Happy Hour!  In addition a $25 gift certificate goes to the overall winner.  AND if the chosen winner uses CAS-ual Fridays stamps and/or dies as the main focus for the card, the gift certificate increases to $50!

So what are you waiting for!  Nothing to lose and $25 to $50 of awesome stuff to gain!  Hope to see you over there

Thanks for stopping by!  Be sure to checkout this challenge... I can't wait to see what you create!  And don't forget to check out the inspiration from the team!  Some pretty awesome stuff going on there!