Layers with Stencils by Sandra Duran Wilson

Hi Everyone! Sandra Duran Wilson here, and I am thrilled to be contributing to StencilGirl as a guest designer. I am an acrylic painter and sculptor and I incorporate multiple layers in my work. Some layers are barely visible, just peeking out through the others. Acrylic Painting for Encaustic Effects, my fifth book, uses some of these multi-layered techniques. I paint on Ampersand panels and for this project I am using Claybord. It has a very unique, smooth and absorbent surface which works beautifully with stencils. Come take a look.

Supplies

Surface: Ampersand Claybord- I used 14" x 11"

Ink: purple and white

Paints: fluid acrylics and inks-I used Quinacridone gold, Quinacridone magenta, green gold, transparent pyrrole orange, teal, sepia, white, indigo and Baltic green

Pastes and Gel: Golden Polymer medium gloss, light modeling paste and soft gel semi-gloss

Stencils: 9x12 Tangled Pods, Fantasia and Organic Roots

Tools: palette knife, brush, sponge, cotton swab, spray bottle of water, spray bottle with isopropyl alcohol 70% and masking tape
Other: collage paper-I used mulberry bark paper that I had painted

I begin by spraying water onto the Claybord surface and rubbing the water into the clay until it is mostly absorbed. Spray on more water and place the Organic Roots large stencil by Carol Wiebe on top of the wet Claybord. The moisture will hold the stencil in place. Then drop both violet and white inks onto the surface and tilt the panel to let the inks flow. If needed, mist with some more water.

Add more ink and water and tilt until you have adequate coverage, then lay flat to dry.

When dry, remove the stencil. You will notice that the stencil leaves a ghost image around the design.

Mix a small amount of Quinacridone Nickle Azo gold with water and brush over the area to add another layer of color and depth. Let dry.

Do the same using Quinacridone Magenta. Let dry.

Mix together Green-Gold and white and using a wet brush paint this mixture onto the unpainted section of the panel. While the paint is still wet, spritz some alcohol onto the surface. You will see the paint move away from the alcohol drops and create an opening. Let dry.

When this layer is dry, apply Transparent Pyrrole Orange with a wet brush and repeat the alcohol spray.

Add diluted orange on top of the dots area. Let dry.

When everything is dry, brush on a thin layer of Golden Polymer medium gloss and leave flat to dry.

This gloss layer will act as what I call the Precious Preservation Layer. It protects the underlying layers.

Place the Tangled Pods stencil by Cecilia Swatton on top of the section painted orange and tape in place.

Mix together Golden Light Modeling paste with Teal and Baltic Green. Apply this mixture using a palette knife. Remove and clean the stencil immediately. Let the painting dry.

Place the Fantasia stencil by Cecilia Swatton onto the lower section and tape in place. Use your palette knife to spread a thin layer of Light Modeling Paste. Remove stencil and clean. Let the paste dry.

Here is what the layers look like so far. We have some areas veiled and others that show multiple effects.

Mix a tiny amount of Quinacridone Magenta with white and paint on top of the dry paste. Let dry.

Place the Organic Roots stencil on top of where it was originally. Offset it slightly. Use the pink paint mixture you just made and mix a small amount with Golden soft gel semi-gloss. Randomly spread some over the roots area. This will give the layer a wax look. Remove the stencil and clean. Let this layer dry.

This is what the layers look like now. You may adjust how much or little you want to veil the original layers. By offsetting the stencil, you see the original lines on one side of the shape.

I notice that there is a space on the Tangled Pods section where the paint mixture seeped underneath the stencil. Because I have a dry layer of gloss medium below, I can use alcohol on a cotton swab to remove this paint mess-up without disturbing the paint layer below.

Now, I place the Tangled Pods stencil back on top of the original location. Mix teal with sepia and add water to dilute the paint. Dab a cosmetic sponge into the paint and lightly rub it across the top. You want to create visual depth by adding another layer of broken color.

Go back over the Fantasia stencil area and add orange and magenta to highlight the shapes. I even distressed some areas so underlying layers could peek through.

I finished up by adding some collage paper that I painted with diluted green and sepia. I also mixed some indigo blue with Polymer medium gloss to make a glaze which I added around the edges.

I hope you have enjoyed creating history and mystery with stencil layers

and check out my website, books, DVD’s and classes.

Thank you.

Sandra Duran Wilson

www.sandraduranwilson.com

Personalize Your Home Decor

Hi everyone! Cindy here and it's Team Tuesday! Can you believe it's the end of January already? With the new year in full swing I have been doing some organizing in my office space. When it comes to organizing Ikea and the Container Store are 2 of my favorite stores. Is it weird that I love putting together Ikea furniture? Ok don't answer that.

I decided to get a new cabinet at Ikea. It's the cube style and can be placed either horizontal or vertical. I wanted to use it horizontal to hold my printer that I use for my prints and to store other office supplies. It's a neat cabinet that you can customize to fit your needs with drawers, cabinet doors, or leave open for baskets, books, etc. After I got it all put together I wanted to change out the drawer and cabinet knobs to something a little more unique. So off to Home Depot to purchase some wood knobs that I could paint and stencil on.

I love how they turned out and I'm excited to show you how you can update a simple thing like a knob to make a big impact.

Let's get started.

Supplies You Will Need

• Stencils to fit your style. I used the following two stencils.

Planner Words 6 by Mary Beth

Broken Circles 6 by Terri Stegmiller

• Wood knobs from hardware store
• Craft Paint (2 colors)
• Paintbrush (I used a foam brush)
• Sponge
• Qtip
• Stick to hold knob (I used a lollipop stick)
• Painters tape

Step 1:

Paint your knobs. I found starting on the bottom of the knob to be easier. It's also helpful to hold it with a stick or qtip.

Paint the tops of the knobs. I had to do about 4 coats with the gloss white craft paint. Below is the first coat. Let dry in between each coat.

Step 2:

Tape off your stencil with painters tape to mask off areas you don't want to stencil on your knob. Stencil your design with a light layer of paint on your sponge. Work slowly and it's helpful to wipe off your stencil before starting each knob. This jus helps keep unwanted paint marks off your knob. Let dry.

Step 3:

Stencil your second design on your knob. I found it easier to use a qtip for the small numbers. Be careful not to load too much paint on your qtip and again work slowly. Let dry.

And that's it! You can seal if you would like, but I did not. I'm going to see how they hold up without sealing.

I really like how they turned out and made the cabinet more customized. Here's the before and after of the simple transformation.

Before

After

And if you are wanting to tackle a larger home decor project don't forget StencilGirl carries large Home Decor stencils too!

Happy Creative Stenciling!

Cindy

Stenciled Canvas Purse by Judi Kauffman

Time for a Facelift: Stenciled Canvas Purse

By Judi Kauffman for StencilGirl Products

After serving me faithfully for many years, my sturdy old leather-trimmed canvas sidekick was sorely in need of a facelift. The fabric had faded and there were all sorts of stains, but the design and convenient pockets made it too good to toss out!

Here’s how it looked when I started:

And here it is, transformed with stencils and paint:

It retains some of the original khaki color and is by no means a fancy, perfect purse – even with the facelift, but it will serve me well as a bag to take to workshops (who cares if I get more paint or stains!) and on errands (Costco, here I come…).

INSTRUCTIONS:

1. Protect hardware, strap, and leather edges with masking or painter’s tape.

2. Randomly brush on acrylic paint in two colors, making sure to leave some of the surface of the canvas visible. Allow to dry. Shown: Aqua and black.

3. Using a stencil brush, stencil allover patterns on top of the brushed-on paint with metallic paints in two or more colors plus more black. Use Woodcut Blossoms Background Inverted for the inside of the flap, the outside front of the flap, the sides and the inside front. Shown: Dark and bright copper, dark gold, black.

4. Use the same paints and Ladders for the back of the purse, allowing the two patterns to merge. The pattern from the front flap extends onto the back just a bit.

YOUR TURN

Start with a leather purse or one made from softer fabrics and use the appropriate paints and medium for the surface you’ve selected. This bag was stiff to start with so I used acrylic paints straight out of the bottle, no fabric medium.

SUPPLIES

StencilGirl Products –

Woodcut Blossoms Background Inverted 9 x 12 by Margaret Peot

Ladders 9 x 12 by Carolyn Dube

Other –

Canvas (or other) purse in need of a facelift

1” Paintbrush
Stencil brush

Americana Acrylics in colors shown or of choice (DecoArt)

Wendy Aikin: Crazed For Fabric

Hi, this is Wendy Aikin.  Today I used a stencil I designed a while ago.  I normally work with encaustic, but today I’m playing with fiber and paint to create my own unique fabric design for a pillow.   I just moved into a little farmhouse and my guest room is yellow and black – the inspiration for my color choices.  The pillow will look perfect – once I unpack the sewing machine!

Supplies:

            Jacquard Textile Color Fabric Paint (yellow & black)

            Stencil brush

            Tape

            Medium weight muslin sized for your project

            Crazed Stencil

Step One: If you are using a lightweight fabric tape it to a protected work surface.

Step Two: Determine your design and tape down the stencil.

Step Three: Apply paint using a stencil brush.

Step Four: Gently remove the tape and lift the stencil.

Hint: Before you wash the stencil, blot it on piece of paper to start an additional project. We'll use this for a project I share next month on StencilGirl Talk!

Step Five: If desired, wash and dry the stencil and repeat until you have the desired design.

Step Six: If you have used textile paint by Jacquard, be sure to follow the directions to set the color. 

Here’s a short time lapse video showing the stenciling:

Now I’m off to try and find the sewing machine so I can actually make a pillow out of this amazing fabric!