CAS Mix Up ......

Happy Sunday folks ........

I hope you're enjoying the weekend.

I'm playing along with this month's CAS Mix Up Challenge today ........

And ..... this is also a sneaky peek at one of the stencil designs from the Sweet Poppy Stencil show, coming up next week on Hochanda.  Lucy's back on our TV screens with some gorgeous new designs, and some back in stocks ....... I'll give you all the show times etc., later in the week.

This wasn't done with the challenge in mind but, I think it fits the bill perfectly.  There's rubber stamping on there ..... a little bit of a watercolour wash in the background ..... and my choice element is die cutting, or it could be stencils and texture paste, or even glitter.

I started off by adding a wash of colour onto a piece of white cardstock.  I used Aged Mahogany Distress ink, onto a craft mat then spritzed with some Perfect Pearls mica spray instead of just plain water. I then used a paintbrush to wash the colour over the card .....

I also added a few splatters of the ink on there too.
I'm not sure that the pretty pearlescent sheen from the mica spray comes across in the photos but trust me, it's there!

The greeting was then stamped and heat embossed in gold ..... this is one of my favourite Tim Holtz Christmas sentiments ..... I love the font

I then die cut the baubles .... two from snippets of plain white card and one from a piece of cardstock that I had stenciled using one of the Sweet Poppy designs ...... Holly Back Plate

This is a huge stencil ...... nearly 6 inches by a little over 7 and a half inches (145mm x 195mm) and it's perfect for creating backgrounds.  But .... just because it's a large stencil doesn't mean it's just for backgrounds, or for making large cards.  Why not use the stencil on a large piece of card and then use the card for lots of different projects.  Cut it into smaller pieces, use it with your punches or die cut it as I have here .....

I used the white glossy paste through the stencil then sprinkled over the top with green glitter.  Once the paste was dry I die cut the bauble and then added in the berries using some of the Nuvo Jewel Drops

The two smaller baubles were coloured using Distress ink and then I spritzed them with the Perfect Pearls.  I love the look this gave once the mica spray was dry.

The die cuts were then attached, the two smaller ones with glue, flat onto the card and the larger one with foam pads to add dimension.
I made the baubles look as if they were hanging by drawing in the 'chain' using a silver gel pen .....

A few tiny gemstones and a silver twine bow add the finishing touches to the baubles, and I fussy cut one of the stenciled sprigs of holly to add a bit more interest to the sentiment ......

I'll show you a few more ideas for using this large stencil next week, along with a look at some more of the new designs that will be on the show ........ there's definitely a festive feel.

Thanks for popping by ..... enjoy the rest of your weekend.
I'll be back again later .... there's one more Blog Challenge to get underway for September.  Do you like ATC's???

Cheerio until then .....