New Challenge this Month: Getting Inky with Stencils

I know everyone has their preferences, but I love strong colors. Just know that your creation can use soft colors or black or white but the stipulation in our challenge this month is to use ink of some sort.

The month of September we will be "getting inky with stencils"...hmmm, imagine that, another thing that I love, using ink in conjunction with stencils. This month we will have just a bit different twist on our monthly challenge ... we are letting you choose any stencil you would like as your prize if you win. Yep, any Dreamweaver stencil you "so desire". We will still have two winners, one for best interpretation of the challenge and one for best usage of Dreamweaver products.

Here is how this faux cloisonné butterfly card was done:

1. Paste-emboss the multi-butterfly stencil (LJ873) with the original "Embossing Paste" (DEP), this particular paste is the one that comes in a maroon label jar, and then remove the stencil and let the image dry well, approximately a half an hour. I often place my pasted project in an old electric skillet  and set the heat on the lowest setting, usually warm.

2. Reposition the clean stencil back onto the embossed butterflies with removable tape.

3. One thing that I find helps me to stencil more specifically is a tool which is a stencil shield. We refer to our stencil shield as "Picasso" (LL332). As you see, it has lots of curves and holes in it. So you can manipulate it on top of the stencil to shield one color from smearing into another color. In the butterfly creation I was able to keep the dark brown ink  you see on the moth's spots in the center of this stencil from getting onto the aqua color of his wings by positioning a small hole from Picasso over the spots. 

4. Now stencil the rest of the butterflies using pigment ink. You can also stencil with dye ink, permanent inks and the list goes on and on. I used pigment ink because in the next step I wanted to sprinkle the image with Ultra Thick Embossing Enamel (EB08) and it is nice if the ink remains wet because you want the UTEE to cover the entire image. Pigment ink has the reputation of remaining wet for some time. However in the stenciling technique (which of course means applying color through the stencil's holes), you need to use a dry brush technique as you see here. This works the wet paint into the bristles so that it will not be too wet and slip under the stencil to create a smudge. This off loading of ink into a paper towel takes a bit of practice, but is worth the time you put into mastering it.

If you feel that perhaps the ink is not wet enough once you have finished applying your colors, you can daub the entire image with a Versamark inkpad or you could use Clear Embossing Ink as an alternative and then remove the stencil and sprinkle on the UTEE, these clear inks make the image wet enough for the powder to adhere to.  

5.Next you will heat the powder with a heat gun and violá you have these beautiful bright images. 

So we are hoping you will join our challenge this month and get down and get inky with stencils! Don't forget to take time and follow the list below to see what the Dream Team has accomplished this week. When you are ready to share with us your creation just add the link to your blog to mr. linky below. This month I will be traveling to the UK and won't be back until the 21st. But if you don't have a blog and would like to share a creation just email it to me and when I return I will post your creations for you. Here is my email address: lynell@dreamweaverstencils.com

Pam Hornschu   

Laura Drahozal  

Louise Healy  

 Terrece Siddoway 

Kristi Van Doren 

Georgia Sommers 

Lee Kellogg 

Liz Martin

 Cyndi Bundy 

Cherylynn Moser