Is it going to be a Starry Night in my craft space?

The Details

Where did it come from

Quick Cards Made Easy Issue 170

When did I get it

11th September 2017

When did I try it

15th September 2017

First quick impression

I like the fact that this is a silhouette style set, it is a while since I have done a card like this but I really enjoyed it. The set includes the Santa’s sleigh silhouette stamp and four stamps with sentiments on but most of the design work will be done with a stencil. Again it is a while since I have done a stencil technique. So it is time to jump in I guess.

Testing the Stamps

Update, having had a few problems with using my Ranger Archival Ink pad with any regularity as seen on this post when I dropped my Ink Pad! I did a bit of research and came across this Ink Pad 101 by the frugal crafter. The post is quite old now but the Ink Pads and Brands are all still relevant. The cheat sheet states that Brilliance is great for using on clear stamps that can struggle to give a good impression. As Brilliance comes in the same affordable and easy to manage dew drop as Memento (which I love) I ordered myself a couple of collections of 4 pads using my Amazon Prime (these basics and these metallic ones) to give them a go. Of course, I still use the Stamping Platform as described.

To test out new stamps I always use my Tim Holtz Stamping Platform. I know there are other platforms available but when I came to the point that I knew I needed one I did a load of research into the different features of them all and decided this was the right one for me. You can read my post about it.  Why did I need one? With the Fibromyalgia (not to mention a bonus gift of some Arthritis in my hands) I could no longer rely on my hands to get a clean even print with stamps. I was increasingly finding I was not getting good results, even with the Rocker Blockers which always guaranteed this before. The benefit of a stamping platform is that for whatever reason you do not get a clean impression you can simply re-ink and go again and you are guaranteed to be exactly in the same spot. Even the best eyes can be slightly off and then you risk shadowing.

I also always use Archival Ink to test stamps that come as free gifts with magazines. They are usually made from a different material to the one used by a lot of the major brands which means that if you use a dye-based ink like Memento the ink can pool on the stamp and give a really bad impression.  You can see exactly what I mean in this test of a fairy stamp. Archival Ink does not pool like this and I get to really test the stamp properly.

If I am going to be exact there is actually an update to the update when it comes to the stamping 🙂 for the Santa’s sleigh I did use the Brilliance Ink but because it is so new and juicy I had a few problems with the readability of the words on a previous project so I used Versafine for the sentiments. I was happy with all the stamps and felt they came out really clean and clear.

A sticky mess

Once I had stamped the images I was ready to test the embossing folder and play with the stencil but instead of this everything ground to a halt as I had to try and deal with a big sticky mess. I do not know what sticky tape had been used to stick the embossing folder and stencil to the backing folder but it is some of the worst I have come across. It is not really a problem on the back of the stamp acrylic as this doesn’t affect the craft items but the embossing folder and stencil have to be useable. I got to got my Stick Away out and gave the Embossing folder a good spray, left it a while to do it’s thing them managed to scrape/wipe away the gunk.This was nowhere near as simple on the stencil I sprayed it and scrubbed it and scraped it and the stuff just wasn’t coming off but rather spreading the sticky area further. After over half an hour of trying to deal with this, I was exhausted and had to give it up for the day. So, new day new thoughts. If I was really being “KonMarie” about things I would be giving up on this now as the sticky situation most certainly didn’t spark joy more like utter frustration. But at the same time, I hate not at least trying to use the stencil. So I have decided to give it a go and hope the stickiness has calmed down enough to not ruin the project (I’ll start on some spare paper first just in case). I can’t do anything about the slight kink that was created when I was busy scrubbing it but let’s hope this doesn’t affect the performance.

Colouring the Starry Night Skyline

To create the skyline I decided to use my Groove Tool as there was quite a lot to ink. If I haven’t told you already I love this tool it makes projects like this totally doable for me when the pain in my knuckles would have put the project out of reach. I used Walnut Stain Distress Ink rather than Black because I wanted a warm colour. This turned out really well. Note to self remember to mask any unwanted bits (in this case the stars above!)

Sparkling Stars

I then tried using the stars and moon section of the stencil. This time I used some Galaxy Gold Brilliance ink on a black card background. As I was using a teardrop pad I just went directly to the stencil with the ink pad rather than using the Groove as the stars were quite small. I was pretty happy with how this turned out too.

Creating a project with the Starry Night Collection

At this point, I was totally stuck as I couldn’t think of how to use those two pieces together and I really like to share some sort of project with you if possible. So, I used the Embossing Folder three times side by side on a piece of gold Mirror Card. I measure the skyline to fit in front of this. I filled in the blank space below the buildings with more Walnut Stain Distress ink, this time I just used my normal blending tool so I wouldn’t need to wash the Groove Sponge again. (I keep a round ink pad velcroed to the bottom of each Distress Ink Pad so I just needed to grab this from the bottom and mount it on the blending tool.) The skyline was then cut using my ScanNCut, a few tiny white edges were left so for ease I just inked over these. I also used the ScanNCut to cut out the Santa Sleigh leaving a 1 mm outline so it would pop. The skyline and the sleigh were fastened to the front of the mirror card with Cosmic Shimmer Acrylic Glue. Here is the result:

This could have been added to a card front with one of the sentiments but I decided to leave it as a simple image for Christmas Decor. This now brings me to the verdict time. Firstly, I think the Stencil has survived “Sticky Gate” far better than my nerves did! However, the purpose of this project is to make sure everything entering my stash earns its place.

The Verdict

Firstly the embossing folder, I thought I had a very similar one but I have stylised snowflakes but not a simple star design. But I have to confess last year for Christmas I got the Embossing Starter kit for my ScanNCut and still haven’t tried it yet (very embarrassed face) In general I use embossing folders far less than dies but if I needed stars I think it would be easier to work out the size of panel I needed and create it with the ScanNCut then I would not get the lines on the edges as you may be able o see on the image above. I like the Santa’s Sleigh and the sentiment stamps but I have a few sleigh stamps and several Christmas sentiments including the great build a sentiment set from Hunkydory which are so incredibly versatile. That just leaves the stencil. Although I quite liked this once I got over the hurdle I came to the conclusion that I have Inkylicious stencils for creating hills and valleys and a good collection of building stencils and if I’m honest I am more likely to create a background digitally with Craft Artist and then stamp onto that. So, I think I have come to the conclusion that I do not need this kit, therefore, I will liberate it so someone else can enjoy it and use it and once again my craft draws will thank me. If you are new here I am working on a long and drawn out project of organising and gradually reducing my craft stash to a more manageable amount – more comes in than leaves at the moment… You can read my post about Shopping your Stash.

Next time I will be still in Christmas mode looking at a stamp set that features a beautiful Wild Rose Studios design, I can’t wait to see how it performs and come up with an idea for it.

Until next time,
Gentle Hugs,
Susan