Black and White Challenge (Almost)

This week's Dreamweaver challenge is black and white. I followed it...well, sort of. See, this Teresa Collins paper goes perfectly with one of my absolute favorite stencils, LL 3005 Holly and Swirls. Sadly, the paper is not EXACTLY just black and white. It is sort of ivory, black, and white with some red berries thrown in. I hope my Dream Team members will forgive me.
This particular card is also very much like one of the cards that I will be teaching at Capture A Memory in Flint on November 27th. In this case, I used that gorgeous Holly and Swirls stencil with black coated aluminum. First, I placed the stencil upside down on a hard acrylic block. (It didn't have to be an acrylic block, just something hard and smooth and my old kitchen table no longer qualifies.) I then laid the aluminum face down on top of the stencil. I lightly rubbed over the back of the aluminum with a large blending stump (an inexpensive paper art supply). This showed the edges of the stencil beneath. I then pulled out my metal tools. All of the tools I used, with the exception of one (which I will name specifically) are from the Mercart Basic Tool Kit. The first one I used was the Teflon tipped outliner. I rubbed the back of the metal with it around all the edges of the stencil. I removed the stencil and then put the metal face down on a piece of suede. I used the very small ball tipped tool in all of the "vine" areas. I then used the "ball" side of the ball and cup tool to push out the berries and the leaves. As you can see, I tried to create a lined look on the leaves. I accomplished this by pushing the metal out from the leaf tips to the center, stopping right in the middle. After I got all the way around the leaf, I had a veined look. I flipped the metal over again, placed it on the acrylic block, and used the "deer foot" side of the teflon tools to refine and flatten the background areas. When I was satisfied with the look, I put Mercart Filling past into the raised areas and let it dry. Once it was dry, I got the suede out again and placed the metals face up on top. I then used the "tile roller" tie all around the edges. This tool is not included in the Mercart basic kit. I used the smaller wheel, which is included in the kit, to make the edges stand out more. I then took a sanding block to the whole thing. I sanded through the black coating on the top of the raised bits. I attached everything together, and was finished! I really liked the look. If you are in my area, you can create something like this at Capture a Memory, so take a look at their classes.
Something EVERYONE should look at is the Dreamweaver Design Team call. The requirements are on the Dreamweaver Stencils blog. I have had such a fantastic experience on this team! I highly recommend you check out everyone's sites, get inspired, and audition for this team. You won't regret it.