Reverse stencil technique...

A while ago I watched a Gina K video about the reverse stencil technique here, and I really wanted to give it a try. My crafty friend Lynette had watched the same video and created a couple of cards using this technique, as well. She inspired me to wait no longer and to give it a go. Here's what I came up with:

First, I laid down some ink colors onto a white piece of cardstock using my blending brushes. Then I laid my stencil on top of this piece and applied some black ink over the stencil.

I matted my inked piece with some yellow CS and adhered it to a white card base. My sentiment was stamped and popped up on foam squares.

The sequins are actually clear, but seem to reflect the colors around them, especially the blues.

On the inside I adhered a blank rectangle of white CS matted in the same yellow as the front.


I love how this turned out and plan on trying some more using different colors of inks. I want to try replacing the black with another strong color such as navy blue or even dark red. We'll see how that goes.

Here are a few photos from our recent RV trip that I thought I'd share with you:

We saw this sign at one of the highway rest areas in Montana. We definitely stayed on the sidewalks!

We spent three days camping in Grand Teton National Park in Idaho. It's so beautiful there. This is a photo of the majestic mountains and Jackson Lake.

Here's a little closer view of those peaks--still dotted with snow in July. Grand Teton Mountain, the highest peak, is 13,776 ft.

We also visited Craters of the Moon National Monument and Preserve. The picture at left is what the landscape looks like there--11,117 square miles of it!

It is a crazy area formed by about 25 volcanoes thousands of years ago. What you see in the photo is hardened lava.

Sometimes the lava was piled up in heaps forming hills like this one at right. Other times it looked relatively smooth, but all of it was almost black and barren.

I really was astounded by this landscape. It is also located in Idaho, about 170 miles from Grand Teton National Park.

Finally, we visited Devils Tower in northeastern Wyoming. It has been a sacred site for Native Americans for centuries. It is believed that this tower was formed by magma from an erupting volcano. The magma hardened and the mountain sides were eroded away leaving the "neck" exposed.

Thanks so much for sticking with me while I reminisced about our little trip. It will definitely be the last one for a while. We kept to ourselves as we traveled, wore our masks whenever we entered a business or were in an area with other people and incessantly washed our hands and used hand sanitizer. We have self-isolated since arriving home and are now confident we managed to stay healthy.

Thanks so much for stopping by, and remember to laugh--a little or a lot--every day.
Cheryl