Cathy Nichols: Zipper Pouch with StencilGirl® Stencils

I don’t know about you, but with the spring thaw, I start getting excited for summer fun in the sun!  In honor of summer daydreams, I want to share a project for a beachy zipper pouch to store all of your summer supplies – sunglasses, sunblock, lip balm and, yes, even a dolphin-printed mask and hand sanitizer.  I’ll be using my Love Mermaid Stencil from StencilGirl® and showing you two variations that use other stencils as accents.

For my first mermaid pouch variation, I painted my background on the pouch and added colorful accents.

I began with a canvas zipper pouch from Dick Blick, my Love Mermaid Stencil, a stencil brush, and an assortment of acrylic blue paints and some neutrals. 

Choose colors for your background and one main color that contrasts to make the mermaid stand out – I used Cobalt Blue for the mermaid.  

Next, insert a piece of cardboard into your pouch so that the paint doesn’t bleed through. You can reuse this piece for the next project, too.

Then add your various blues to the background using an assortment of flat brushes.

You can add a bit of water to the acrylic paints to increase their flow on the canvas pouch. This watery look will contrast nicely with the crisp lines of your mermaid.

Once the background dries completely, apply Cobalt Blue to your Love Mermaid Stencil.  To warm up the design, it’s nice to add a few other stenciled touches.  I added a bright orange sun from my Folk Art Embroidery Stencil from my February 2020 StencilClub set and a pink flower from my  Boho Patterns Stencil from StencilGirl®. 

Finally, add a few touches with your warm colors to brighten the mermaid – adding dappled sunlight to her hair and the hearts on her tail. I used hot pink and light peach for these accents.

This pouch was such fun to create that I also made one for a friend! Her birthday is in July, and she’s a Cancer, and I can’t wait to give her this pouch filled with cute lip balms and coconut moisturizer. For my friend’s pouch, I used just Cobalt Blue paint for the mermaid, orange for the sun and, as a special touch added her Cancer zodiac sign using my What’s Your Sign Zodiac Constellations Stencil from StencilGirl®. 

I hope this little tutorial brightens up your day and puts you in a summer state of mind! Tag me @cathynicholsart on Instagram if you create your own Mermaid Love Stencil artwork, and I will share the summertime vibes with other winter-weary friends in my IG Stories. You can also see more of my artwork and oracle decks at www.cathynichols.com.