Stencil Hop: Stars & Circles

Today's stencil hop is by far the biggest one yet!  But man, the talent is going to blow you away!  Here are the six amazing women who will dazzle you today:

• Diana Trout: Diana is the author of Journal Spilling: Mixed-Media Techniques for Free Expression.  Her colorful blog is full of journal pages and a smattering of stitching and crochet.  Don't miss her free online Watercolor Primer or her hour-long instructional DVD called "Playful Paper Backgrounds."
• Karen Grunberg: Karen is one of those "do it all" women.  She works for Google, has two adorable boys, exercises, blogs daily, is on the design teams for Maya Road and My Mind's Eye, and teaches online classes through Big Picture Scrapbooking.  And she's super nice!  She really is amazing.
• Christine Urias: Christine is the host and producer of Scrap Time -- a web based video show that shares product reviews, tutorials, and lots more.  Christine is always experimenting with new supplies and new techniques!
• May Flaum: May is the author of two books: Scrapbook Workshop and Paper + Pixels.  Be sure to check out her free online eight-week blog class, Camp Scrap, this Summer!  Camp starts on June 11 and you won't even need bug spray!
• Ali Edwards: Ali is probably the person who has most influenced me on my scrapbooking journey.  Her commitment to capturing the little bits and pieces of every day life and her eloquence in expressing herself are always inspiring to me.  She is the author of many books including A Designer's Eye for Scrapbooking.
• Alisa Burke: Alisa is an amazing artist.  She is the author of two books: Sew Wild and Canvas Remix.  Her blog is always full of candy colored doodles and insanely clever ideas -- many of them involving upcycling.  It has been inspiring and encouraging for me to watch how Alisa juggles motherhood with her artful career.

 Each of these ladies was given the Stars & Circles stencil to play with:

As the name suggests, it does have a bit of a Patriotic feel.  So I made a collection of 4th of July cards!


I used Super Heavy Gesso to add the three stars and circles to a piece of watercolor paper.  Then I added layers of Distress Ink and watercolor -- the gesso resists both (simply wipe with a damp cloth).


I used the techique I shared in last week's video on this card.  I simply pressed the dirty stencil to the watercolor paper.  Once it was dry, I enhanced the color with Distress Ink on both sides.


The size difference on this card is because I used the 6x6 stencil instead of the 12x12.  I sprayed two colors (blue and red) through the stencil.  Once it was dry, I helped the color blend along with some Distress Ink.  I think this might be my favorite of the cards!


I sprayed through the 12x12 version of the Stars & Circles stencil and used some Distress Ink to enhance the colors.  Then I cut the paper into star shapes (using this stencil).  Before I stitched them down, I used some very light colored Distress Ink and the 6x6 version of the stencil to create a subtle background.

I also made some lined envelopes to go with my cards:


I love the look of a lined envelope.  It's really nice to open an envelope flap and see something so pretty staring back at you.  If you the watch the video, you can see the how-to:

If you'd like to win the Stars & Circles stencil in 6x6 and 12x12, leave an answer to the following question in the comments section: