Stamp Simply -- it's still winter!

Hi all! How's the weather in your neck of the woods? Are you having to snuggle in a bit? It was slushy and 50 today! I am trying not to get too excited for warmer weather-- yet!

The weather is what today's Stamp Simply challenge ---courtesy of the fabulous Sharon Johnson --- is all about! That's why it's called - It's Still Winter! (keyword ssnotime69 on Splitcoast). Here's the gist - Let's pull out those snowflake and snowman stamps now that they've had a little rest since Christmas. Make any type of card that says WINTER -- and if you can do that without using a snowman or snowflake, all the better!

Well, I didn't pull out a stamp. I pulled out a stencil and some bleach! Because this is such a fun technique, I decided to break it down for you in a tutorial. EDITED TO ADD: When I posted this, I didn't stress that this technique is not one I came up with. I saw it at my local stamp store! Turns out, it is a technique from Dreamweaver's owner Lynell Harlow herself. So, I really have to give credit where credit is due. She has some AMAZING cards on the Dreamweaver gallery. Click HERE to check them all out!

Here's a peek at the card...
I wanted to create the look of a gently falling snow at night with the moon shining through. Here is how I did it! I started with a trees Dreamweaver brass stencil....

Then, I cut a piece of navy cardstock to measure the same as my stencil - roughly 4 by 5-1/2". Punch a hole in a post-it for my "moon" and create the snow line with a torn post-it down below. Mask it, so it looks like this...

Now, it's time to lay the stencil over top, gently taping it at the top. Fill a small spray bottle with bleach and spritz! You'll want to do this one rather heavy because you want the snow and moon to be pronounced. This is what you want to do....

Once you heat set the bleach, peel off the Post-Its and lift up the template, this is what your "scene" will look like so far!

Now, you want to rest the brass stencil back down trying to make sure it is aligned the same way and gently spritz again. Like this...

This time when you spray with the bleach, you want to make sure you spray from higher up so that your spray is a little more spotty. This is where you get your snowfall look! When you are done, lift up the template and heat set with your heat tool. This is what it will hopefully look like!

After I was done, I brushed on some Angel Wings Shimmerz so that not only did it look like snowfall, the paper glistened kind of like Stardream metallic paper! I love the way it looks in real life! You kind of get a picture of it here...

And, here again is my final product! Mat up the snow scene on some copper paper leaving a small edge mat. Add a tag and string some sheer navy ribbon through. Add a saying (I used the Thinking of you saying from a Flourishes sympathy set), add a little bit of bling and you are done!

Now, before I go-- don't forget to check out the challenge over at Sharon's place! That's where you'll find all the official details! And, be sure to check out the cards from the rest of the Stamp Simply team!

Janine, Jennifer, Tammy, Dee, Becky, AJ, and Deb.

Have a fabulous weekend everyone! I have a ton of fun things brewing!!! Details on a great challenge, a new release from Shimmerz with brand new Blingz that are perfect for Valentine's Day and.... a fun project! So stay tuned!

Don't forget my blog candy HERE! I decided I'll close the Ultimate Valentine's Challenge on January 25th! So, there's still time! Regina's candy is only for a couple more days-- January 11th! So check that out HERE!

Thanks for stopping by!!!