Hello friends! Well, it’s Monday again but, on the upside, the sun is forecast to be shining here all week and it’s the Clarity Summer Half Price Members’ Sale! This is just one of the perks from being signed up to one (or more) of Clarity’s monthly Craft Clubs, in addition to a new & exclusive product every month and discounts on all purchases through the year. Having brought May’s little hedgehog stamp out into the light on Saturday, I decided it was time I also put last month’s stencil into action! It’s a two part leafy branch stencil, with both positive and negative pieces, so great for lots of techniques. I opted to use the sketch at AAA Cards as the inspiration for today’s card.

I started with a 5×7 card blank and masked off a panel using low tack tape. I brushed a couple of the leafy stems into the panel using ‘salvaged patina’ Distress Oxide, then added a few more in ‘peacock feathers’ and ‘lucky clover’.

Having removed the tape, I wanted to frame the panel using a rectangle embedder, but had to do a bit of adjustment to get it the right size. I chose an embedder that was the right depth for the image, lined it up on the left had side, then turned to the inside of the card front and used a Groovi ball embossing tool around three of the edges, leaving the right hand side free. I could then move the embedder across to the right, aligning it with my embossed edges top & bottom, and then repeat the process.

It was a simple matter to finish this one layer card with an Occasions sentiment in black Archival ink.

I keep telling myself I need to make better use of my stash of stencils – they make brilliant backgrounds for stamps, etc, or great focal images by themselves.