Guest Designer Frieda Oxenham

A bit of sparkle never goes amiss at this time of year and I love taking a peek in all the lighted windows as I’m passing, admiring the decorations. That was the inspiration for this spread. Here is the tutorial:

1.     In your art journal (I used the large one by Dylusions) brayer white gesso onto a spread.

2.     While the gesso is still wet brayer on small amounts of 3 different colours of acrylic paint (I used blue, red and green) and spread the paint out across the pages.

3.     Remove some of the paint with a baby wipe through stencil L027 Fade Horizontal.

4.     Brayer on more white gesso randomly and take it away with a baby wipe through the same stencil used in step 3

5.     Repeat step 4 but this time using blue acrylic paint.

6.     Repeat step 4 but with green acrylic paint.

7.     Stencil on the page still using the same stencil, green acrylic paint and a cosmetic wedge.

8.     Spray onto the pages through stencil L600 Mosaic Flowers Repeat using gloss spray (mine was by Dina Wakley Media).

9.     Using red acrylic paint and the same stencil as in step 8, stencil flowers onto the spread.

10.  Using blue acrylic paint and the same stencils as in step 3 and step 8, stencil more flowers and small dots on the pages.

11.  Repeat step 10 using green Stencil Butter.

12.  Stencil on green leaves using the same stencil as in step 8.

13.  Using stencil L163 Window Ledger 9 roughly mark out (in pencil) the window shapes on metallic tissue paper with gold dots, cut out the shapes and glue them with matte medium, onto the right hand page using the stencil as a guide.

14.  Stencil onto the right hand page using the same stencil as in step 13 and using dark blue/green acrylic paint , making sure the metallic dot tissue paper appears in the windows.

15.  Stencil on the left hand page using stencil S954 Solitary tree as shown, using the same paint as in step 14. 

16.  Add the text (quotation by Don Shapiro), using your preferred method. I did it with a Dymo Writer using self adhesive tape.

17.  Outline trees, windows and text with a permanent white paint marker and outline the leaves with a sparkly green gel pen.

18.  Stencil on text to the left hand page using white acrylic paint and stencil L318 Wall of Words.

19.  Spray sparkling bronze spray paint onto the windows through the stencil used in step 3.

© Frieda Oxenham 2023

The December 2023 StencilClub Exclusives from Rae Missigman

Joining StencilClub means you have access to the coolest stencils around. 

Artist designs, made especially for club members.  This month Rae Missigman is our designer and she has a gorgeous exclusive project in store for members.  

Click here to get all the details about StencilClub! 

Introducing Vintage Gardens from Rae Missigman

As she so often does, Rae was greatly inspired after days of study and sketching in a botanical garden that boasts a rich history of the local flora. Learning that many of the plants and flowers she studied had ancient roots in neighborhood gardens, and drawn to the delicious assortment of shapes and sizes of both the floral and non-flowering beauties, Rae was prompted to create a peek inside the gardens of the past.

The Leafy Garden Mask was inspired by the abundance of rich green ferns, vines and ornamentals studied at a local botanical garden that Rae Missigman frequently visits near her home in Florida. The gardens enormous collection of non-flowering plants was the seed behind this leafy beauty.

This mask, paired with watercolor, creates lovely and fluid garden backgrounds. It would also be perfect for creating the peek-a-boo layers of a vintage garden. A gel plate and assorted mixed mediums make layering quick and easy. These stencils and masks would also be wonderful for use with inks, which when mixed with masks can create beautiful fluid lines and brilliantly unpredictable results.

The Vintage Camellia stencil and mask was inspired by the layers of ruffled petals, delicate stalk-like stamens and large glossy leaves of this antebellum age flower. Upon closer study, Rae found that each heavy bloom was a festival of intricate shapes that changed into something new with each rotation of the stem. 

This stencil would be wonderful to use with watercolor paint to create soft ethereal florals, while the mask would be perfect for creating the peek-a-boo layers of a vintage garden. A gel plate and assorted mixed mediums make layering quick and easy. These stencils and masks would also be wonderful for use with inks, which when mixed with masks can create beautiful fluid lines and brilliantly unpredictable results.

The Vintage Tickseed stencil and mask was inspired by this delicate blooms jagged edged petals and seed like center. First drawn it’s variegated colors Rae soon learned that up close, this bloom curved it’s florets this way and that begging to be seen. Long sturdy stems supported more curved ball like buds that made the entire cluster of flowers a riot of color and lines.

This stencil would be wonderful to use with watercolor paint to create soft ethereal florals, while the mask would be perfect for creating the peek-a-boo layers of a vintage garden. A gel plate and assorted mixed mediums make layering quick and easy. These stencils and masks would also be wonderful for use with inks, which when mixed with masks can create beautiful fluid lines and brilliantly unpredictable results.

The Vintage Coneflower stencil and mask was inspired by the vibrant drooping petals of this endangered native wildflower. While it’s cascading petals are what attracts most flower lovers, Rae, fascinated by the disk florets at the center of this bloom, gave these bud like centers a special place on this stencil and mask, making it perfect for adding buds to all of your floral stenciling.

This stencil would be wonderful to use with watercolor paint to create soft ethereal florals, while the mask would be perfect for creating the peek-a-boo layers of a vintage garden. A gel plate and assorted mixed mediums make layering quick and easy. These stencils and masks would also be wonderful for use with inks, which when mixed with masks can create beautiful fluid lines and brilliantly unpredictable results.

Rae's stencils are available now at stencilgirlproducts.com

Anouk (Creanouk): Tall Journal Play!

Hello beautiful artist,

Anouk here, and today I'm sharing a page that I made in my tall journal.

Making my own art journals has made me experiment a lot with a lot of shapes and sizes. Awhile ago I made two tall shaped journals, and they are so much fun to play in! It did took me awhile to get used to them though, but once you crack the code of the weird composition this size gives you so many possibilities.

When I work in this size I almost always grab a tall stencil that will fit the narrow pages, but this time I want to play a little bit with layering a repetitive pattern stencil. I'm working with the Japanese Tulip Oriental Rug (L921) by Cathy Nichols.

01. Setting up the basics

This page already had a thin layer of gesso on it, so no need to add extra. I grabbed a few collage bits and layered them on the corners of the page. I normally don't bother to put clear gesso on top of my collage, but since I'm using a piece of pattern paper I wanted to be safe and applied a thin layer.

               

02. Gel printing

I used a small Gel Printing 3x5 inch plate to apply some Dina Wakley - Heater acrylic paint. I love how you can print paint quick and easy with this small play plate without making lots of mess. I stamp the plate directly to the page making sure I don't use too much pressure. The goal here is to make some marks, not to get the entire print.

03. Stencilling

I'm sorry for all the red lovers out there, but I always soften my Naphthol Red Deep paint with a bit of Titanium White to create a tone that is the perfect mix between red and pink. I then applied it with a baby wipe through my stencil, because I couldn't find my ink dabber. So if you ever can't find your stamping and tool know that a baby wipe is the perfect alternative.

04. Gesso

Now it's time for my favourite part. After the colour explosion I tone it all down with a little bit of gesso. I don't cover it all up, just a little bit to make it more softer. Then I grab my stencil again and I apply some gesso through it with a pallet knife. As a finishing touch I watered down my gesso to make some splatters.

05. Colour

The fabric on my journal gave me the perfect inspiration for my colour pallet. So grabbed Dina Wakley - Sage acrylic paint and applied it with my fingers blending it with the wet gesso.

06. More collage

When the, what I like to call - base layer was done I add some more collage elements to the page. When the elements were dry I made them blend in with the page by adding a tiny bit of gesso here and there.

07. Coffee

I don't know how it happened but coffee became my signature move in art journaling. I splattered some dry grounded coffee on my page and sprayed some water on top of it to create these intense coffee marks.

08. Finishing touches

For the finishing touches I cut out a few words form a Dutch book and glue them on my page. Then I grabbed my stencil again and some gold paint to highlight the words a little bit.

Have you ever worked in a tall journal? If you didn't I hope that this blogpost has given you a bit of inspiration to start one yourself.

Productlist

L921 - Japanese Tulip Oriental Rug

Handmade journal

Vintage Music and Book Paper
Pattern Paper DecoTime
Lace DecoTime

Tea Bags

Amsterdam White Gesso
Amsterdam Clear Gesso
Mod Podge Matt
Dina Wakley Acrylic Paint - Heather
Dina Wakley Acrylic Paint - Sage
 Amsterdam Napthol Deep Red Amsterdam Titanium white Amsterdam Gold Instant Coffee

Thank you so much for reading my blog post. I hope that I have inspired you to create today! My name is Anouk or Creanouk on social media, and I'm an all-round creative from the Netherlands. I love art journaling because I can put my heart and soul into it. You can find my work on Instagram and Youtube.