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

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!