Look on the Bright Side

The challenge this week for Simon Says Stamp's Wednesday blog is to use a stencil. Coincidentally, I recently got several stencils at one of the shopping booths at the Great American Scrapbook Convention in Arlington, TX. So I was itching to use a couple for this challenge. For this card, I used a section of the "Mini Rose Window" stencil by The Crafter's Workshop.

Because of the large, circular design of the stencil, I chose the following sketch by Operation Write Home:

I first taped the stencil down over a piece of white cardstock. I used Q-tips to apply Distress inks in Salty Ocean, Seedless Preserves, Spiced Marmalade, Mowed Lawn, & Picked Raspberry; and Pastel Yellow pigment ink by Stampabilities. I removed the stencil, and colored in the "frame" sections with black marker. Finally, I cut it out, following the general curve of the window sections, and matted it on a piece of black paper.

I used a greeting from this Hero Arts/Operation Write Home stamp set. I stamped it in Ranger's Archival Jet Black ink on a strip of white cardstock, then blended Salty Ocean over it. I adhered it to the card front, which I'd cut from Pearlized Cardstock by The Paper Studio, and glued the window piece over it. I finished off by adhering the card front to an A2-size card base, and applying a coat of Glossy Accents over the colored window sections.

I'm also entering this card in Simon Says Stamp's Monday "Anything Goes" challenge.