Wednesday, January 29, 2014

StencilGirl Guest Designer Michael Trent

Hello everyone.  My name is Michael and this is my first time on StencilGirl Talk but, hopefully, not my last.  Today, it is my pleasure to introduce to you a new technique I have come up with called "Stendoodle" or "Stendoodling".  Consider it a way of doodling but with stencils.  It's not an easy technique to explain but once you do one project, I am sure you will be hooked!!  It's very calming and Zen-like and I actually came up with this technique while trying my hand at Zentangle.  I can actually zone out for hours while working on a project. 

With Valentine's Day right around the corner my project is using Terri Stegmiller's Heart Flower 6" to make a card.  This would be a great card to give to someone for Valentine's Day but I also see it as a beautiful anniversary card or just a card to tell someone that you love them!!   At the end of the post, I also show a card using the same stencil but leaving out one main part of it in order to give you a larger work space to make your "Stendoodle" in. 
I really hope you guys like the project!! 
Heart with Flower Stendoodle Style



Supplies Used:



StencilGirl Stencils I used in this project 



Other Supplies Used:
White cardstock base - 6" x 12" folded in half
White cardstock 5 1/2" x 5 1/2"
White cardstock 3" x 3"
Black cardstock 5 5/8" x 5 5/8"
Pink cardstock 6" x 6"
Artist grade pencil and eraser
Sharpie Fine Tip Permanent Black Marker
Mixture of Tombow markers and Neon Sharpies
Double sided tape
Removable tape or painter's tape
Ranger Black Archival Ink Pad
Glue Stick
Liquid Glue (I used Glossy Accents)
Scissors
Optional – button to match the pink cardstock and string for button
Optional – pop dots
Thoughts of Courage by Pam Carriker from Stampington

Step by Step:
1.    Place the 5 1/2" x 5 1/2" cardstock on your work surface, tape the Heart Flower 6 stencil down with the painter's or removable tape, and lightly trace the outline of the stencil with the pencil.  Don't push down too hard as the pencil lines will be erased later. (Whether you keep it on an angle or straight up and down, is up to you).

2.     Remove tape and stencil and slowly go over the pencil with a black permanent marker.  Then erase all the pencil marks.  Also color in the “shadow” marks at the top of the heart with the black marker.  You can also close off the 3 flower petals with the permanent marker if you want.  But the flower will be covered later. 

This is a good time to talk about the pencil – the question most frequently asked of me is "Why do you use the pencil?  Why not just trace with the permanent pen?"  The main reason is that most of the stencils I use are very thin and some areas of the stencil are very narrow with the cut areas easily moving.  If the pencil moves while I am tracing, I can erase it later.  But, if the permanent marker moves while tracing (something that has happened many times), if the project cannot be saved, it will need to be started over.  When you do this technique, you will get to know the stencils and which ones can be used right away with a permanent marker and which ones you will need to use the pencil first.

3.     Now lay the Herring Bone stencil over the image and find "that part" of the stencil that “talks” to you.  This is hard to explain but move the stencil around, looking at the open areas as you do this, until you see what works best.  Then trace around the image with the pencil (trust me on this one, with this stencil USE A PENCIL FIRST!!)

4.     Go over the lines with the permanent marker and then erase the pencil marks. 

Now comes the fun and creative part...using stencils with smaller designs to use within each of the rectangle "brick" areas from the Herring Bone stencil.  Steps __ through __ are basically the same – lay a stencil over one of the bricks, trace the part of the stencil you want in the brick, remove stencil and then retrace with the permanent marker. 
5.     Slices - I used it two boxes, one on the right side and one on the left.  Trace with pencil then go back, trace again with permanent marker, then erase pencil lines.   
6.     Rays Circles – Used in the top box.  The stencil will not fully cover the box so after you trace, just extend the lines to the edge of the box.  I also colored the rays in with the permanent marker.

7.  Journal Texture 2 – I love this little stencil as it is perfect for not just the large boxes but also smaller boxes or areas.  I used this stencil in the 3 small portions in the piece.

8.  Blades – every time I use this stencil I want lemonade.  LOL.  Make sure to look at each of the blades or flowers as they are not all the same.   

9.  Triangles - this is a fun stencil to use because you can make your own design with all the straight lines.  Love it!! 

10.  Throwing Stars - this is a great stencil because you have both the positive and negative spaces to use as a stencil.  After I used this stencil, I went back and used the Rays stencil again but this time I only used the small circles in the center of the smallest ray to add some depth to this box.
11.  Diamonds Small 6 - note that the diamond patterns are not spaced very close to each other so you will have to lay one row down, trace, then lift the stencil and position the next row next to the row you just traced to get the effect in the photo below.
12.  Rays again – I used the Rays stencil again on the bottom box to fill in and give some balance with the Rays at the top.
This is what your piece will look like after all the boxes have been filled in –

13.  Color in your piece. You do not need to color in the flower, as that will be covered in the next step. 
I colored in my piece with a mixture of Neon Sharpies and Tombow markers.  You can use Copics, color pencils, you can even leave it black and white if you so want.  The choice is yours.  Just make sure that the medium you use can be used with the permanent pen you used.  Sometimes Copics and Sharpies will react with certain permanent pens. 
I cannot stress enough – if you do not know how your medium will react with the pen you used, try it on a piece of scrap paper.  After putting all of this work into this piece you do not want to have a huge smudge on it.
Here is my piece completely colored in –
(Insert Photo 16 here)
 Now for the flower in the stencil –
14.  Lay the flower part of the stencil on the 3” x 3” piece of white cardstock, trace with pencil, retrace with black permanent marker, close in petals, and cut the flower out.   If you have white showing around the flower, run a black marker around the edge to make it all black.

15.  Now stamp the script or word stamp across the flower.  To make sure that the words flow the correct way, I line up the cut out flower against my piece, then move it to the mat and stamp the image.
(Insert Photo 18 here)
16.  Using double-sided tape or glue of your choice, adhere the finished piece to the black cardstock, then to the pink cardstock, then to the card front.

17.  Using a glue stick, glue the stamped flower to the front of the card.  If you want to use a button, run a piece of string through the button, tie it off, and then glue the button to the center of the flower with Glossy Accents.

18.  Stamp a phrase inside of card and give to someone special!!
You’re done.  I know, that was a long tutorial.  But I hope you enjoyed learning how to Stendoodle!!  I would love your feedback and/or questions.  Feel free to email me at HERE.  And make sure to check out my personal blog for more Stendoodle projects and about my life here in Brasil HERE. 
Beijos e Abracos (Hugs and Kisses)
~Michael





40 comments:

  1. Amazing!!!!!!!!!Congratulations!!!!!

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  2. I just loved it! Looks easy and becomes very creative and every time you will get a different result.
    Congratulations Michael. Can't wait to try out this technique!

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    1. Thanks Carla and Ruy!! I knew I could count on you guys.

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  3. This looks so fun! I can't wait to try it.

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    1. Thank you Terri for supplying a perfect stencil for me to use!! Glad you like.

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  4. Fun,fun fun!!! This technique has so many options, I loved the color and I loved the black and white. You can definitely make this technique your own!! Congrats Michael.

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  5. What a great idea - I love learning techniques to use my stash of stencils in different ways! Bravo!

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  6. Beautiful and the tutorial is fantastic
    Hugs

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  7. The patterns, colors, shapes, everything about it makes me happy! Definitely finishing off my current journal with a few stendoodles!

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  8. If this is not the cat's meow, I do not know what is. I love it so much. It makes doodling so much more accessible. Thank you for sharing this technique.

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  9. Fabulous tute from Michael! Love this technique... I got to see his work in NY a few months ago and he is definitely a perfect match for SG!

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  10. Even someone who cannot draw a stick can handle Michael's great Stendoodle technique! I love it, and will most definitely try it!

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  11. Another amazing project Michael!! Absolutely love it!!

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  12. Fantastic... What I love about this are SO many things, but one is you can take this with you and not stuck at your art table with paints and chunky supplies. This turned out beautiful. Thank you so much.

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  13. Great tutorial! Love the technique.

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  14. Wow! I can see all kinds of possibilities for this technique. Thanks, Michael - really appreciate it. It will help with my snowy afternoon.

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  15. I had the honor of taking a class that Michael gave in New York where he explained and showed how to do this amazing technique! Once you start doing it, it's very addicting and the possibilities are endless for creating beautiful cards, scrap book pages or pieces of framed art! I am so proud of you and hope this technique takes the world by storm!!

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  16. Nice to meet you Michael. It's always great to learn new ways of using stencils...thanks for all the info.

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  17. Amazing, amazing post, Michael! What fabulous colors and patterns! So uplifting and inspiring and your step-by-step tutorial is wonderful. Way to go!

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  18. A great idea, thanks for sharing it.

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  19. OH my goodness!!...this is an awesome TuTe!!!...going to have to increase my stencil supply!!...thank you for sharing!

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  20. Totally Cool! Thanks for sharing this with us!

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  21. Some days one just wants to 'cut and paste'! This is such a good idea for 'those' days! Thanks!

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  22. Oh my goodness! How cool is this! I love how you used the different stencils!

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  23. LOVE this!!!! This made me so happy. Thanks for sharing :)

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  24. I ditto what Barbara said already, "Sten-tastic!" I can't wait to try this myself. Muchas gracias!

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  25. Michael's technique and approach is so original and so very cool. I love how this card came out. And I have to day that the step by step tutorial was extremely concise and clear. Thank you!!!

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  26. Thank you everyone for the great comments left on my technique. I was blown away by the response and am excited that people are taking to this new technique!! Keep watching as there is more to come!!

    Michael

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  27. This is a fabulous way to get over the lack of doodling style and ability! I love how you have taken the stress out of doodling with StenDoodling. I tried Zentangling but didn't care for it much. This is wonderful. Thank you very much for sharing your technique. Creative Bliss...

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  28. Hi Michael... I have been working on something similar with my Zentangle artwork, but you've taken it further than I have so far. This will work brilliantly in some of my classes. Looking forward to reading more!

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  29. Wonderful post, Michael, and I look forward to seeing more of your beautiful work!

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  30. Love the Stendoodle technique. Great tutorial. I have to go check out all my stencils now! Thank you for sharing.

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  31. Just loving your talent! Thank you for sharing it! :)

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  32. Oh great idea to stencil within the stencil. Must try! I'm crazy over Zendoodling but using the Stencils might make them look a bit more professional and not so squiggly.

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  33. This is a really cool technique and I love that, even though I don't own the stencils you used (yet!) because I'm new to stenciling, I do have ones that would work. I'm going to try a version of this today!

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  34. Missed this post until today...glad I was able to come back to it. Michael your work is insanely beautiful, neat and shows off the stencils in combination working to make a gorgeous outcome.

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