Porcelain Plates and Stencils by StencilGirl Guest Designer Vanessa Spencer

Welcome BACK to StencilGirl 

Guest Designer Vanessa Spencer!!

Growing up, I remember one of my Great Aunts had the most impressive collection of owls. They were all neatly displayed in a glass cabinet and every time we went to her house I was so intrigued by her collection. I haven’t taken up “owl collecting” myself (I have enough other things I collect) but I really love pictures of owls and art inspired by them. When I saw the owl stencils on StencilGirl I fell in love – these owl images are perfection.

Supplies:

·      Stencils: Three Owls and a Branch

    Plain white dinnerware

·      Sharpies

·      Oven

I looked at numerous similar tutorials online for inspiration and tips. There were a number of people that said it worked really well, and others that said it didn’t. I think it honestly all depends on the type of plates you are using.

I purchased some old corning ware plates from the thrift store and they actually worked quite well. I’m not planning on using these for everyday eating so I’m honestly not sure how they would hold up in the long run. I have plans to display mine on the wall.

Stenciling on a flat surface is ideal and easier than a curved surface so I decided to center the owl images in the middle of each plate to make it easier. I made sure to have a regular sharpie and a fine point sharpie on hand. The fine point will come in handy for the really small details that you trace.

Holding the stencil down firmly, I traced a few areas of the image at a time. Then after tracing a few I would lift the stencil and color in those areas. Then I placed the stencil back and positioned it accurately  and continued. I prefer this method (doing it in small chunks) as opposed to tracing the entire image and then coloring. I found this way, the end result was a cleaner, neater image.

When you get to the areas that have the smaller detail, grab the fine point sharpie but be very careful – I found that the fine point ink would bleed fairly easy so in order to avoid that you need to trace really quickly (I know this probably sounds ridiculous) but this honestly worked for me. Just trace those tiny circles fast and then you can go back and color them in and clean them up.

Once the owls are all done and colored in, they are ready to bake in the oven. I baked mined at 425 degrees Fahrenheit for 30 minutes.

After baking them I gave them a good wash in the sink, even scrubbed them with a non-scratch pad and they still look great.

Like I said earlier, these are probably best not to use on an everyday basis and better of for using on special occasions. If you do use them regularly you may find that they will fad lightly over time. You can easily just touch them up with a black sharpie and bake them in the oven again to freshen up the design.

VanessaSpencer is a mixed-media artist and crafter and lives in Utah with her daughter Izzy and son Brin. You can learn more about Vanessa by visiting her blog HERE and you can email her HERE.