Banner & Bough

Morning all!

Today I'm sharing a festive project featuring a favourite stencil and stamp combo from The Greetery.

The Banner & Bough set is a really versatile one.

The stamp and stencil set can be used on its own, or you can add dimension with the coordinating dies.

The layering stencils and stamps also enable you to easily make multiples in one go (always a bonus in December!).

I started out by stencilling all 4 layers on white A2 cardstock panels, then I went in with the stamped details.

Once all the steps were complete, I used the included masking stencil to mask off the image and blend blue ink from a light aqua tone to a deeper blue around the greenery.

If you're just going for a simple look with the stamps and stencils you can stop there, but if you want some festive splatter you can keep the stencil mask in place over the greenery and splatter metallic or white paint over the panel.

Or, you can step things up even more.

I went to town with copper, pearlescent, and white paint splatter over the entire background to my card. Yep, it's a real blizzard of splatter!

I wanted to add some extra pop, so I cut 1 banner and 2 sets of the smaller dies for each card. It's really easy to line up the banner stencils over your die cut and if you use a jig in your stamp positioner you can stamp all the flowers and greenery in no time.

Tip: There's also an outline die for the entire Banner & Bough arrangement included the die set. I've not used it this time, but next time when I do, I will cut the outline die first, then stencil all the elements on it, so everything is easily lined up.

Once the die cuts are ready to stick down, just use the original stencilled background as a template for where to position them.

I always love how the final card comes to life when you add in those die cuts and put the banner in place.

But there's always opportunity for an extra-festive finishing touch, so I added gems to the flower centres and sparkly Stickles to the berries on the die cuts.

Until next time, happy crafting!