I made this card to enter the ‘Clean and Simple colours and sketch’ challenge. I try to do clean and simple frequently, but then always add more, then more, so this was certainly a challenge for me. I am not sure about the background to the circle on this one, but I feel even if we are unsure, or maybe not quite feeling the love from a card we have made, then still publish. I like discussions – often with myself! – about what could be changed or tried.

As I had recently joined a challenge using stencils – and found I had quite a few – I chose the Leonie Pujol ‘Friend’ stencil set. This set comes with varying sizes of the word ‘friend’ to act as a mask, and also comes with the stencil which has the same sizes of the word. She has a whole range of words which can be used quite easily.

I cut a circle out of some paper, and attached that to my card with Crafters Companion ‘Stick and Spray’, a repositionable adhesive – ideal for using masks and stencils. However, maybe I did something wrong, but I did have some adhesive left on my card in the word ‘friend’ and around the outside where I had stuck my outer mask – thankfully, my trusty Creative Expressions adhesive eraser came into play…..

After placing the stencil and mask down, I used Catherine Pooler ‘Lovely Notes’ and ‘Lovely Flowers’ stamp sets in the Catherine Pooler inks – Grass Skirt and Flirty Fuchsia. These little stamp sets are very versatile, and ideal for adding small details. There are lots of stamps in these small sets, with lost of small elements for filling in very small spaces. Hmmmmm – probably going to play more with those stamps today………..

Once the stamping had been done, I needed to create a background to the word ‘friend’, so it showed up more. There was too much white around the word and it didn’t show up very well. So – were the flowers I inked dry? Could I sponge over the top of them? Would they smudge? I didn’t know – so had a go…….

I used a heat tool anyway for a few seconds, just in case. Then I used Altenew ‘Frayed Leaf’ ink and started to blend into the circle. It started to smudge. So – I then decided to just blot into the circle with that same colour, with my Ranger ink blending tool – went quite well, I think. However, see my thought process below for how simple this could be to rectify.

I stamped a sentiment from the same ‘Lovely Flowers’ stamp set in the Flirty Fuchsia ink, mixing two of the wording options together, which I think worked well with the friend word inside the circle. I cut the sentiment out with my Sue Wilson banner die cut set, and raised that on foam pads. The only dimension I added – quite a feat for me – and added that to a green card base.

Some thoughts throughout the process:

The ‘stick and spray’ does leave residue behind, so don’t put your work upside down on your craft table until you have either washed the surface of your table, or have used an adhesive remover where the stencil has been. I’m going to have a look at their web site to see if I did something wrong, or if this is the way it is!

The Catherine Pooler inks are absolutely, stunningly gorgeous. They are vibrant, they cover the stamp beautifully – even big background stamps – and are a joy to work with. But – they do stay wet for a while……….if you are planning on blending over the top of inking – then wait…..and wait…..and wait….just to be sure. Alternatively – blend the background first. I know, you were saying that before. I didn’t hear you!!

The stencils are also very, very good. There are a lot of options with sizes in each pack, and I find they are good quality, and easily cleaned.

So – I have finished my thinking for this card and this post. If anyone has any hints and tips about using sticky stuff, feel free to contact me. I am always looking out for improvements and ideas…..