Altenew ECP - Celebrations: Stencil Techniques

Hi there!  I am continuing on with my Altenew Educator Certification Program classes and today' project features Stencils.

I only have one Altenew Stencil in my collection, the Deco Wallpaper Stencil.  In addition to that, I also don't have any embossing paste so I did the next best thing and used Decofoil Transfer Gel which is like embossing paste except that it's made to be able to add foil to any paper or cardstock you might have.  Okay, I think this is a win-win for me given my love for gold.  But as much as I would have liked it to work perfectly, it did not the first time around so I'll tell you about the mistake I made after getting my background piece all foiled and ready to make a card with.

I decided I was going to die cut the panel as I normally do and when I did, all of the marks and scratches in my cutting plate left their impression on my foil!  Darn it all!  I've run it back through the Minc in an attempt to flatten it back out and it is better, but it will never look as good as it did when I first ran it through.  Again, this is one of those things that if I'm putting it out there with my name on it, I want it to be clean and it just isn't so I decided on a do-over this morning.  It doesn't look to bad in the smaller photo here, but when you enlarge it, you can sure see all the little cuts and nicks from the cutting plate.

While the Transfer Gel dries on my do-over, I decided to start working on my post.  My little girls (doggies) are laying in my bed this morning because all they did was whine at me and interrupt my work flow yesterday so I'm making them stay in bed this morning while I try to get a little work done.

Last weekend when my grandson was here, I was showing him how to do Ink Blending so I had the lovely pink and purple Ombré  background already done and I decided to put the transfer gel on to it to get a really gorgeous background.  The thought process was good, but I forgot about that one important detail. I needed to use a clean cutting plate to avoid the nicks and scratches.  I also ran the negative of the foil through with a piece of black toner paper just to show how you could use the negative if you wanted to.  This particular piece got bent during shipping, so I won't use it, but you sure could.

When you apply the Transfer Gel through your stencil, it's important to work fast, and to clean up as quickly as you can also.  If you let the paste dry on your stencil or tools, you will never get it off.  If this was something I was planning to use a lot, I'd definitely have to get a box of baby wipes to keep on hand.  My guest bath is next door to my studio, so I ran and threw the stencil into a sink of warm water which makes it really easy to get clean when you have a couple of minutes.  You should also wipe up your craft sheet and I like to give mine a thorough wipe down with Rubbing Alcohol which is what I also use to clean all of the glass in my studio and to clean my craft mat after playing with alcohol inks or doing ink blending or any of the other messy stuff that I like to do in the studio.

Additionally, one of the mistakes I made yesterday was to use blue Painters Tape and when I took it off the back of my panel, it took a lot of the paper with it.  I like the Yellow Frog Tape for Delicate surfaces and even with that, I stick it to the palm of my hand first before using it.  I've never had it tear anything which is why I started using it versus the blue painters tape.  It really tears up Bristol Paper. 

I taped the stencil to my paper on the back side and then taped that to my craft mat on the top right and lower left corners.  Using my largest Palette Knife from my set, I spread a nice even coat onto my already-die-cut panel.  See how smart I am?  I always try to learn something from my mistakes, even if it's just a better, faster, more efficient or easier way of doing something.

Once my Transfer Gel was dry (it becomes clear) Then I ran it through the Minc on Setting #3.  You can see here the difference between the two.

This is the one I tried to flatten but each time I ran it through the Minc, I'd lose some of the smoothness and shine.  It's still pretty, but I wanted to redo it for my class project.

I don't normally put so many photos in a post, but I was having a really hard time showing how smooth and dimensional the Transfer Gel goes on because it's reflecting the small pattern in the fabric of the top I'm wearing so I've even included one where I am holding it. Yeah, I know my nails don't look too good, but all the medicine I take really takes a toll on my nails and my skin.  My nails split long ways and across so I try to keep them short.  Nail polish seems to make it worse. It's just one of the side effects of so much medicine. That's one of the reasons I don't do videos.

Anyway, I'm putting in photos here at a variety of angles.  You'll have to let me know if you like more pictures or if you think one or two is sufficient.

Transfer Gel seems to be a similar consistency as Embossing/Texture Paste but I think it is a bit thinner although I don't know for sure.  It's really easy to get a nice thin coat on your project and doesn't take too long to dry.  In both cases here, I walked away and did other stuff while I let it dry for 20-30 minutes.

Because the foil is so shiny (and showy), I decided to keep the focal point clean and simple. I used a combination of Scotch 3D Foam Tape and Scrapbook Adhesives Thin 3D Foam Squares to adhere the floral images with previously stamped images from the Build-A-Flower Rose and the sentiment is from Beautiful Day Stamp Set.  I hope you've learned a little from my post about what did and did not work.  I've linked my supplies for your convenience (Affiliate Links may be used).

Altenew Antique Gold Crisp Embossing Powder Shop at: ALT	Altenew Beautiful Day Shop at: SSS | ALT	Altenew Build-A-Flower Rose Shop at: ALT	Altenew Crisp Ink Sweet Dreams Collection Shop at: ALT
Altenew Deco Wallpaper Stencil Shop at: ALT	Altenew Sweet Dreams Collection Shop at: ALT	Cuttlebug Die Cutting Machine Shop at: SSS	Decofoil Transfer Sheets Bulk Pack Shop at: SSS
Kokuyo Long Dot Runner Adhesive Shop at: SSS	Ranger Non-Stick Craft Sheet Shop at: SSS	Scotch 3M Foam Tape Shop at: SSS	Scrapbook Adhesives Thin 3D Foam Squares Shop at: SSS
Teflon Bone Folder Shop at: SSS	Thermoweb Decofoil Transfer Gel Shop at: SSS	Tim Holtz Tonic Paper Trimmer Shop at: SSS	Versamark Ink Shop at: SSS
Viva Decor Palette Knife Set Shop at: SSS	Wagner Heat Tool Shop at: SSS	WPLUS9 Gift Card Layers Designer Dies Shop at: SSS