Fun Technique

Today I was playing around with a product I've had for several years, but rarely used.  I don't know why, because I've always had fun with it.  Anyways, it's called Stencil Paste by Dreamweaver.

It's a paste that's kind of like gritty pancake batter, and you apply it over a stencil with a spatula.  I was first introduced to this stuff while vending at a Breast Cancer Awareness Crop in Pennsylvania about 6 years ago.  The people in the booth next to mine were using it for a cool make 'n take.  I loved the stuff so much, I bought some then & there in white, black & silver.  Over the years, I've also found it in copper & gold.

So, getting back to my project, I was cruising my favorite blogs, and Wendy Vecchi has an awesome tutorial using it on her blog.  She's been cranking out lots of awesome new products the past few years, and the latest are her stencils!  Can't wait to get some!

I did my tag a little reverse of what Wendy did, because I thought it'd be easier to stamp without the dimensional paste in the way.

I started out by laying a base of color using Tattered Rose, Shabby Shutters, Stormy Sky & Rusty Hinge Distress Inks & a blending tool--I've been making a conscious effort to just grab any color in a particular family instead of reaching for my usual favorites--gotta give everybody a turn ya know.  Added some Vintage Photo around the edges too.

I then used a few of Tim's stamp sets:  Mixed Media over the background with Coffee Archival Ink; a saying from Words For Thought, and the hand from Steampunk w/Black Archival Ink.  All three of these are my most recent acquisitions from Joann's recent half-price sale--score!  I decided I have to use any new products I buy at least once before finding a home for them.

I laid the stencil over my tag and taped off any area I didn't want paste on with painter's tape.  I smeared on the paste (make sure you clean your stencil and spatula right away), dried the paste (remove stencil first!) with my heat gun, and then replaced the cleaned stencil over the dried paste.  Tip:  I left the painter's tape on the stencil (a Balzar Designs stencil from Crafter's Workshop) and just wiped the wet sponge over it.  I laid the clean, wet stencil w/tape on a towel and patted dry.  I was able to easily line up the pattern over my tag again.

I colored the paste using Dusty Concord Distress Ink, and stamped the stripes from Wendy's It's More Flower Art stamp set w/Black Archival Ink.  I did as Wendy suggested and added black journaling pen around the paste.  Good idea Wendy--just the right touch to make them pop!

I gotta be honest tho ... this wasn't my first try.  On the first tag, I thought I'd pull out my Tattered Angels spray mists to color the paste--not good.

Not only did I not get good color coverage, but the liquid ink seeped under the stencil.  I liked where this tag was going, so I started a new tag from scratch.

Gotta give hubby some stef time, so I'll try again with my chicken wire stencil and the silver paste soon.