Blues, Burlap & Butterflies

Just recently I came across Loll Thompson's Ghosting Technique video tutorial which is fab.  I didn't realise ghosting was the same as water stamping and is also called the faux bleach technique.  I've done water stamping a few times but I'd never thought about using a stencil instead of a stamp so I felt the need to have a go!  I bought the Tim Holtz Burlap stencil many months ago but hadn't got around to using it so I decided to use that for this technique.

I applied Salty Ocean, Evergreen Bough and Peacock Feathers Distress Inks to a panel of white CS using ink duster brushes, laid the stencil down and spritzed it with water.  Following Loll's instructions I immediately removed the stencil, let the panel sit for a few seconds and then I blotted the panel with some paper towel.  What a lovely effect!  I trimmed my panel so it would fit onto a black A6 sized card base, daubed the edges and stamped a few random speckles using black ink.  I applied the same colours of Distress Inks to another piece of white CS, stamped the butterfly and fussy cut it.  I used a black Sakura Glaze Pen to add shiny detailing to the butterfly.  I die cut the flourish, glued it in place, stamped the sentiment and attached the butterfly.  To complete the front I added two black die cut butterflies and embellished them with rhinestone jewels.

Here's a closer look at the burlap stencil ghosting.

I wasn't sure how I was going to decorate the inside of the card and the envelope but I knew I wanted to keep it fairly simple.  I remembered I had an SU! 'Baroque Border' wheel stamp that I'd unmounted from the wheel so that I could use it as a border stamp.  I dug that out and was so chuffed to see what a great match it was to the die cut flourish I'd used on the card front!  I inked the edges of the white panel before adhering it inside the card and I added a butterfly.

Supplies:
Stamps: Penny Black 'Social Butterfly' set, SU! 'Gorgeous Grunge' set, Clearly Besotted 'Brushed Greetings II' set, SU! 'Baroque Border' 
CS: SU! Basic Black & Whisper White
Ink: Memento Tuxedo Black, Ranger Tim Holtz Salty Ocean, Evergreen Bough & Peacock Feathers Distress Inks
Tools: Tim Holtz 'Burlap' stencil, Penny Black 'Flourish' die, Memory Box 'Cascadia Butterfly Trio' die, Inkylicious ink duster brushes, sponge dauber, water spritzer bottle
Embellishments & accessories: Sakura Black Glaze Pen, SU! rhinestone jewels, Dimensionals