Owls & Paisley – Notebooks and Cards
By Judi Kauffman
I thought it would
be fun to see how two of my favorite stencils, Paisley Floral Repeat and Three Owls and a Branch, would work together, as well as each on its own. At first
glance, they don’t seem like a logical combination, but there are elements in
the two that felt like they were designed for each other – for example,
scalloped shapes in the owls’ faces and feathers, scalloped shapes within the
paisley patterns. This isn’t surprising, given that they came from the same
person, Jessica Sporn. I always find her style and the level of detail she puts
into her stencils so appealing!
I chose waterproof,
colorfast Shimmer Sheetz for the owls and made notebooks and cards, but you can
take this project in any number of directions: Art journals, canvases or shadow
boxes, party decorations, and so much more.
Instructions:
1. Glue textured
handmade paper to the front and back covers of several inexpensive composition
books. Leave some of them plain; stencil on others.
2. Stencil the
paisley pattern with Emperor’s Gold acrylic paint, followed by a slightly
offset repeat of the paisley design in Black Green. Done! You have in hand a handsome
journal to tuck into a tote or keep bed-side.
3. Stencil a pair of
owls onto lightly sanded Australian Opal Gemstone Shimmer Sheetz, using
Emperor’s Gold and Black Green acrylic paints.
4. Cut around the
owls; add flat-backed gems for the eyes.
5. Using
double-sided adhesive tape to secure them, add the flat owls to a paper-covered
composition book. Done! You have in hand a simple journal for doodling and
jotting random thoughts.
6. Better yet:
Combine the owls with a stenciled composition book, as shown in the photo
above.
7. Or add the owls
to stenciled cardstock backed with a piece of poster board for a sturdy flat
card to display on an easel or frame behind glass, as shown above.
8. For the owls
shown in the cards above, use alcohol-based inks instead of acrylic paints. Add
texture, dimension, and detail to the cut out owls as follows: Use a craft
knife to scrape and ‘draw’ lines on the feathers, to cut around the bottom of
the feathers and the bottom half of the beak. Bend beak and feathers upward,
bend claws downward for dimension. Place the owls on a soft fabric-covered
mouse pad and use ball stylus tools in various sizes to press dots into the
Shimmer Sheetz, and an awl or piercing tool for another level of detail. Below
is a close-up of the feathers, before the owl was cut out:
9. Stencil some
leaves with Black Green paint. Cut them out.
10. Position the owl
so it is sitting on a long twig and holding a shorter twig in its beak. Add the
leaves to the branch near the owl’s head. Use double-sided adhesive tape for
the flat layers, Tombow Power Adhesive Tabs for the dimensional layers.
11. Add faceted gems
topped with flower-shaped gems to the owls for over-the-top sparkly eyes.
12. Tip: Cards with
twigs and dimensional gems should be hand-delivered or mailed in a box. They
are too thick for standard envelopes and the twigs might not survive in a
padded envelope.
13. Below are two
close-ups of another owl, this one with flat center-hole button eyes rather
than gems, along with a repeat of the project photo shown at the start of this
post so you don’t have to scroll back to see it again:
Supplies:
StencilGirl Products
–
Elizabeth Craft
Designs –
Shimmer Sheetz in Australian Opal Gemstone
Clear Double-Sided Adhesive Tape (6mm)
Fine Point Scissors
DecoArt –
Americana Acrylics in Black Green
Dazzling Metallics in Emperor’s Gold
Tombow –
Power Adhesive Tabs
Other –
Non-stick scissors (for cutting Power Tabs)
Stencil brush
Piercing tool or awl
Craft knife (for ‘drawing’ on owls’ feathers)
Ball stylus tools
Fabric-covered mouse pad
Sanding block (to sand Shimmer Sheetz)
Twigs
Flat-backed gems, flower-shaped gems, flat
buttons
Alcohol-based inks
WOW! What amazing projects and tutorials. Thank you for all of this glorious inspiration. Your creations are just beautiful and I am honored that you chose my stencils for these projects.
ReplyDeleteThank you, Jessica. I'm crazy about your stencils. Sorry for the delay in my reply. It was a busy week and I just sat down to look at comments and catch up.
DeleteJudi
These look great. I love the combination. You are tight they go together perfectly. Thanks for sharing.
ReplyDeleteSometimes it's the thiings that don't seem to go together will go together really well. Thank you for taking the time to comment!
DeleteJudi K
Amazing!!
ReplyDeleteJudi, I love the way you have used these stencils. Simply fabulous!
ReplyDeleteThanks Mary Beth. And thanks for making StencilGirl Products such a great group to work with.
DeleteJudi K
Owls are delightful and I love what you did with yours, especially adding those twigs, both real and handmade. Great work!
ReplyDeleteThank you, Cecilia. I've only seen real owls in the zoo and in photos or on TV, but I just love them.
DeleteJudi K
These are just beautiful! I've never used Shimmer Sheets before, I think I need some! Thanks for sharing your process - the results are gorgeous!
ReplyDeleteThank you for the kind words, Gwen. Shimmer Sheetz is a fun product. I hope you give it a try with stencils!
DeleteJudi K