Cloud Stencils and Up & Away Thinlits

I spent quite a bit of time last week playing around with the cloud dies in the Up & Away Thinlits set. I really wanted to make a stencil so I could customize a sky on any project. Despite what you'll see here for the next week, sometimes I actually make cards without hot air balloons. :-)

I tried just regular cardstock, but I put the clouds too close together and kept catching edges when I sponged ink. Then I tried watercolor paper and LOVED it! That's the one you see pictured here, with a card I sponged clouds on. I saved the cloud cutouts--they'll be really fun on just the right card!

I still wasn't satisfied because I wanted to make some embossing paste clouds, and paper just doesn't work for that. I had some stencil blanks from a local store, but the cloud dies left the thin material too warped to get a clean line.

So fun foam was my next idea! It worked pretty well, with the bonus that the white fun foam clouds really turned out to be a fun idea on a card, too! That's a photo for another day. The only issue I had with the fun foam stencil was that I kept feeling that the "sky" was too blank. I wanted overlapping clouds, and I just couldn't figure out how to do that effectively with what I could make. I'm hoping to see a cloud stencil from Stampin Up in the future.

What do you think? Do you like stenciling clouds, or would you rather just stamp them?

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Product List

Lift Me Up Clear-Mount Stamp Set [142896] $21.00	Tin Of Cards Photopolymer Stamp Set [138946] $17.00	Watercolor Paper [122959] $5.00	Whisper White 8-1/2" X 11" Card Stock [100730] $9.00
Bermuda Bay 8-1/2" X 11" Card Stock [131197] $8.00	Kraft 12" X 12" Card Stock [133674] $7.00	Crumb Cake Classic Stampin' Pad [126975] $6.50	Soft Sky Classic Stampin' Pad [131181] $6.50
Pool Party Classic Stampin' Pad [126982] $6.50	Bermuda Bay Classic Stampin' Pad [131171] $6.50	Up & Away Thinlits Dies [142748] $30.00