Inspire Me Monday: Embossed Silhouette

Hi all and Happy Monday! I have a fun and easy tutorial for you today that I know you are going to want to try in your own stamping spaces. It's a super quick creation that puts the drama of a silhouette at the center of this technique. Let's take a peek at the cards I created using this technique and then, I'll get to the step-by-step!

I have to say that this idea was sparked after I saw THIS video from the fabulous Jennifer McGuire. She showed how you can take lined stamps and give them new life when you make them into a silhouette. You'll have to watch the video to see what I mean. In a nutshell, she stamped the detailed image and then, using a fine-tipped marker, made that lined stamp a silhouette. Clever, huh?

I loved the technique and then I started to think. What if you did that, but took the Silhouette one step further by reintroducing all that detail back into the picture? Thanks to the MISTI stamping tool, this technique is so easy! So, let's get started and you'll see what I mean!

I started with the Power Poppy Vibrant Thanks stamp set and situated my paper right along the bottom corner of the MISTI....

And this is what my sweet little flower looked like after stamping...

From there, I took a fine tip multi-liner black pen and colored all the little nooks and crannies of the image so I ended up with a silhouette.

I knew I wanted to add some bold color and did one of my favorite effects, which is to mask off a section of my panel using a ripped edge Post-It Note and then add color with sponged ink.

I used the Distress Inks in Shabby Shutters and Broken China with some little sponge daubers to apply the ink.

And this is what it looked like above after I ripped off the Post-It Notes. From there, I rubbed an anti-static chalk pouch over my image so that when I stamped and embossed the detailed image overtop, the embossing powder would stay where I wanted it to. I used Versamark Ink and white detail embossing powder but you can really use any color combo. I just loved the dramatic look of a black and white color combo against the bold background colors. 

And here's a closeup of the image itself...

Isn't that fun? I just love that sweet little flower. The sentiment I added is from Power Poppy's Lilac Time stamp set. 

I did want to point out something that happened while I was making my second card. I stamped and the image didn't stamp completely... 

You might think that is the worst thing ever but because I knew I was going to be coloring in my image, no worries! It didn't matter! I just went about masking and inking and then added my black pen to create my silhouette. 

 And here's a gander at the two colors I used in order to create that bold backdrop for my stamped image.

Now for a closeup of that Zinnia after I stamped with Versamark and added that detail back in with white detail powder. I just love the depth! I also added a sentiment that I also heat embossed. The sentiment is also from the Vibrant Thanks set as well.

And here's one more look below at the finished cards and how I layered them up. I love that this technique delivers a design punch without a ton of effort. These cards took minutes to create and are the perfect way to create a little snail mail love in a jiffy!

So, will you give this technique a try? I hope so! I am working on a few more versions that I hope to share in the future, so stay tuned! And, if YOU give this a try, please link up your creation in the comments section. I'd love to see!

On that note... Happy Monday and have a wonderful week! I'll be back tomorrow with another Creative Confetti Challenge so be sure to stop back and see what I have in store!

Until then, Enjoy!
Julie