Guest Designer – Anna Celdran-Mahtani

Hello! Anna Mahtani here @craftyannastudio. I am so excited and honored to be guest designing for Trinity Stamps this month. My inspiration for you today is creating rainbow waves and a technique to get two backgrounds from one inked panel! 

I took the first of the two layering stencils from the Waving Hello stencil pack and taped it down onto a 4.25″X 9″ panel of white cardstock. I inked it up using Distress Oxide Inks and a blending brush. I started at the top of the panel with Picked Raspberries, then Carved Pumpkin, followed by Squeezed Lemonade. For the warm colors, I used Mowed Lawn, Peacock Feathers and Wilted Violet. 

I did not want my inked stencil to go to waste so after ink blending, I lifted off the stencil from my cardstock and spritzed it generously with water. I then placed stencil on top of another watercolor cardstock panel of the same size. I pressed it firmly onto the panel with a paper towel. I left it for a few seconds before lifting the stencil off. Then I used a wet paintbrush to spread the pigment across the paper, taking care to rinse my brush between colors. This is how I created a 2nd generation inked background panel. 

I took the other layering stencil from the set, lined it up on the original background panel and then ink blended it using the same color combinations. After ink blending, I took the inked stencil againsprayed it generously with water and then placed it on top of the second panel, repeating the same process.   

went back to my original panel and ink blended on top of the stenciled images, using the same colors. After I was done, I sprayed it with water and dabbed off the excess with a paper towel. 

Here are the results of my ink blended background and the 2nd generation print I was able to get from it! 

After I finished with my backgrounds, I inked up the images from the Turtley Awesome Stamp set on a white cardstock using Memento Tuxedo Black Ink and used my copics to color them in. I also inked up some flowers and leaves from the Wallflower stamp set with Versafine Onyx Black Ink on Bristol Smooth Cardstock and colored them using my Zig Clean Color Real Brush Markers. 

CARD #1: 

For my first card, I took the original ink blended panel and cut it in half horizontally. I decided to use the bottom half as a backdrop for my Turtley Awesome images. I die cut a threewindow panel from white cardstock. This threewindow die is also included in the Slimline Stitched Panel die set. I added clear acetate sheets and foam tape behind each window for some extra dimension. 

On a 8.5″X 3.5″ white slimline card base, I adhered a stitched aqua blue panel die cut from the Stitched Panels & Windows die. Then I adhered the ink blended panel on top of that centering it in the middle of the card. I added some Crystal Clear Flatback Rhinestones to each window area then adhered the foam mounted windows panel onto the card. 

To complete the card, I added the cute little images, the Narwhal, Sea Turtle and Manta Ray, to each window. I white heat embossed the Have a Turtley Awesome Day! sentiment on a strip of the same color aqua cardstock, matted it in black and adhered it to the bottom half of the middle window of the card panel. 

CARD #2: 

I used the second generation print background panel for my second card. I die cut the panel using a Wonky 4”X5.25” rectangle die. Then I adhered that panel to a white 4.25” X 5.5” top folding card base in a horizontal position. 

I used the leftover cut outs from the window die of the first card and turned it into mini frames by die-cutting it with a smaller square die.  I also added clear acetate behind each frame before adding strips of foam tape at the back. 

I adhered the mini frames to the middle of the card, overlapping them a little.  Then I adhered the flower cluster from the Wallflower stamp set onto the middle of the frames.  I stamped out the Hello sentiment from the same stamp set, matted it with black cardstock, and adhered it to the card. I added some Crystal Clear Flat Back Rhinestones for some sparkle. 

I still have some leftovers from the inked backgrounds I created which I will save for future cards. 

Hope you were inspired to give this technique a try with your Trinity stencils! 

Thank you for dropping by and have a wonderful day! 

Anna