Create-in-Quads "Ever in Bloom" Layering Stencils featuring Taylored Expressions

Jul 17, 2023
3 min read

Layering stencils have got to be my new favorite crafty tool for making cards! It's so simple to use one layer at a time, blend with any combination of inks, and the result is a fun, handmade background to use for cards. Taylored Expressions has my favorite layering stencils which are called Create-in-Quads and Triple-Slim layering stencils. The quads create 4 card panels for A2 cards while the triple-slim creates what it says: 3 mini-slim card panels. Most of these stencils come in packs of 3-4 layering stencils meaning that you usually pick a combination of 3-4 colors for your blending, but you can still always modify it and use more than one color on one stencil by using smaller brushes which I recently invested in from Amazon.

My favorite Create-in-Quads stencil is currently the "Ever in Bloom" layering stencils. There are 3 sets of coordinating dies, as well as some foil-it panels that basically replace one stencil layer with foiling instead of ink. I just finished my first set of cards, and I absolutely LOVE how they turned out and can't wait to make more! In fact, I have another set of 5 cards on my desk that just need sentiments and finishing details to be complete! These stencils would be great for creating a series of cards (which I have done) or a matching set of cards using one sentiment or one sentiment stamp set. That might be my next project. Even the cards waiting for sentiments might get similar sentiments to make a complete set - who knows - the possibilities are endless!

One thing I will tell you is that your hands and arms get quite the workout from blending ink onto the stencils! I definitely took breaks in between layers. For this set of cards, I use my Catherine Pooler inks in: Pink Champagne, Rose Petals, Lime Rickey, and Grass Skirt. I also tried adding a bit of darker pink to the centers of the flowers but went over it in green making it look more black. Next time I probably wouldn't even bother with the darker pink color and just use one color for each stencil as intended. Once I finished the panels, I was almost too scared to cut into them because they were so pretty - but that would be pointless!

I used the coordinating dies with the panels and used a few different rectangle dies for the full background to get multiple cards out of it . The two corner pieces from the one panel I also split into two different cards. Most of my sentiments came from Simon Says Stamp dies. I really just picked what sentiments looked nice on the card formats I created, but I kept in mind that I needed some sympathy-type cards!

Overall, I can't wait to finish my next set of cards that are sitting on my desk and to see what color inspiration I use for the "Ever in Bloom" stencils next!