Art Journaling with StencilGirl® Stencils

I find the act of art journaling calming.  One of my favorite ways to art journal is to add unique features that allow me to add interest to my pages. In this project I was so inspired by the StencilGirl® Klimt Trees stencil designed by Cathy Taylor. I immediately knew I wanted to create a forest scene incorporating Klimt’s colorways. I also knew I wanted to add a flip out feature to my page centered around the trees of the stencil.

I selected 2 pages in my art journal and sprayed them with Dina Wakley Acrylic sprays (Ranger Ink) in Turquoise, Olive, and Cheddar. I allowed the sprays to dry completely.

I sketched a figure inspired by Klimt’s paintings on to some sketch paper. I then cut out and glued my image to one side of my journal spread with Dina Wakley Gel Medium.

I then sprayed the StencilGirl® Klimt Trees stencil with Acrylic Spray in a dark color, here I used black.

With my sprayed stencil facing down, I placed it on top of a sheet of tissue paper.

On a separate sheet of cardstock sprayed with the same acrylic sprays, I repeated step 4 (placing the sprayed stencil onto the cardstock face down).

I applied my “stamped” tissue onto my journal page (opposite your figure) with gel or matte medium and allowed it to dry. Once my page was dry, I began to fill in and doodle on my page. I painted my figure “into” my page.  

I added detail to my figure’s dress with the StencilGirl® Soulful Scribbles Dots Dash stencil by Traci Bautista. It complimented the Klimt theme perfectly!

Lastly, I cut out some trees on a small portion of my printed and sprayed cardstock to create a flip out on my page. I attached it to my page with coordinating washi tape, and added some text on the inside of the flap. This was such a fun spread to do, as I am such a big Klimt fan (aren’t we all?) and I hope I have given you some inspiration for your art journaling!

Hello! My name is Megan Whisner Quinlan. I have been art journaling and book binding for about 20 years. However, I took a 10 year break from paper arts when I had my first 2 children. About 5 years ago, I came back into journaling after some big life changes, including 2 more children. Journaling had always been a part of my life, especially to work things out in life on paper. When I first started out, I really only focused on making books by hand and some basic collage and stamping. I was intimidated by the amazing art journalers out there who had elaborate, mixed media spreads in their journals.  When I came back to journaling after such a long break, I decided that I was going to really push myself to learn all the techniques I had been too afraid to try.  Painting and drawing have really allowed me to find so much joy in my creative process, and I now almost exclusively create mixed media every day. I feel excited to have joined the art journaling community and you can find me on Instagram @Megan_Whisner_Quinlan.