Visible Image - Stencil as a Focal Point

Hi Everyone and Welcome to the Topflight Stamps blog!  It's Jenny here, and today I have a super simple but effective way to use your stencils to create a focal point on a your project.   I chose an image that would work for a Father's Day card for something a little different.

The stencil I'm using today is the Visible Image Skull Shadow.  

To create the card, I embossed the skull into a panel of 4.25 x 5.5" watercolor cardstock using my die cutting machine and a die cutting sandwich with a tan mat and embossing plate.  I then used an ink blending tool, and blended Vintage Photo and Hickory Smoke inks all over the Skull image.  Because it is raised up, you can use a light hand and catch the skull outline itself rather than the background.   I then went over the entire panel with Black Soot, and included the eyes and nose by useing a mini ink dauber. 

I roughly masked off the black background with post-its and then spritzed the skull with water to get a mottled look.   To get the weathered look, I used a sanding grip around the edges and rubbed gently over the skull image which, again because it is raised, wears down at the edges.

I adhered the entire panel over a card base and then added a heat embossed sentiment in copper.   I hope you like it - while it's a card for a very specific recipient, you can totally apply this technique to all sorts of stencils and colors!

You can find out more details on the supplies I used over on my blog.

Have a wonderful day!