Mary Beth Shaw's VLOG: March 2022

Join Mary Beth in Amsterdam and Paris!

Click here for more information and registration!

We hope you enjoyed this episode of Mary Beth's VLOG!

Stay tuned!

Mary Beth Shaw will be back again next month with another new VLOG post!

One Stencil Three Ways in a Pop-up Greeting

    

My friend Melenia from Greece, who lives on the island of Crete, has a birthday in April.  I know from experience that the mail takes a very long time to deliver any of my packages to her, so I planned in advance in making her a special birthday card.  I used one stencil three different ways to create a pop-up card that I know she will love. I used her favorite color and incorporated French proverbs and sayings about friendship, because we are both trying to practice our French.  

I used one of my all-time favorite stencils: Traci Bautista's Double Zinnia Mask and Stencil

Here's a list of other supplies:

-Medium weight mixed media paper (2, 9x12 inch sheets)

-Water soluble crayons and mark makers

-Iridescent acrylic ink

-Spray bottle with water

-Brush

-Sponge

-Acrylic paints, 2-3 colors, plus white

-Scissors

-Glue Stick

-Watercolor pencil

-Tissue paper

-Matte medium

-Lyra Graphite Stick

-Stabilo Marks All, black

-Rough edge ruler

-Letter stamps and ink pad

Here's the step by step:

  

 

Thank you for reading! I hope this inspires you to make a pop-up card and to use your stencils in different ways!

XO

Sarah

Hi I'm Sarah and Juicy*S is my DJ name. I'm not a DJ. I would love to be a DJ. It's one of my fantasy dream jobs, really. I got this name when my sister, my friend, and I were slinging paint and working in our art journals, drinking wine, and keeping track of the funny things we were saying on a "sign-in" sheet...just craziness. We all ended up with a DJ name that day. I started my first art blog with this name, and I've had it ever since.

I have found that being creative, that making stuff, is a very fulfilling and beneficial activity for me. Creative play, and art journaling in particular, has become my self-care practice. It's so exciting for me to share what I'm excited about, and helping others find their own creative practice is one of my goals in life!

You can find me on Instagram @juicy.s.art and my website is: Juicy*S Art

I also have a YouTube Channel and an Etsy Shop.

Faces & Figures with StencilGirl® Products

    Standing Together

original collage - master background

            This is my last column using the Faces & Figures theme, and I have been inspired by recent events and the power of people standing together.  So here's how I made a crowd scene with stencils.  First, I created a collage of torn text elements and washi tape and colored it, so that this could serve as my master background.  There's water soluble pencil and gesso and ink and paint - the usual mixed media players.  I didn't use much in the way of stencils, but I do love the Flock stencil by Cat Kerr (S854) so I use it a lot in my work - I had a feeling I'd want some birds in here.  I photographed this collage and then began tinkering with it in various digital editing apps, primarily to alter the colors.  I used the native iPhone photos app to begin with, and then ran it through some filters in the DistressedFx app, and then printed it out on my laser printer.  I take this route quite often, because it allows me to experiment and play with textures and tones and sizes while still being totally reversible - the original collage is never changed, so I can always go back to square one and tinker with it in other ways.  This is a useful technique for anyone who has a fear of making the wrong choice and "spoiling" the work they have already done.

     With a laser print of the collage, I used Valerie Sjodin's Figures Couples stencil and mask set (L730) and inked one of the larger single figures four times on the back of the paper - two facing left, two facing right - so I could cut them out.  Looking at the stencil design, I think this may be intended to be a male figure, but to me it reads as simply a human figure.  The closed posture gives it a monumental quality that I like.  It's very still, very solid, very stable, like some of the earliest figural sculptures.  On its own, it reads as a generic human figure, and I use it quite often.  I made a happy accident when inking these - the paper was thin and the ink was orange, so it bled through and added yet another color change to the paper.  I cut them out and had four different but similar human figures.

    Now, we are fortunate that so many StencilGirl® stencils come in more than one size, but they don't come in more than two sizes, for the most part.  Again turning to digital tools, I composed a crowd by layering and resizing these four figures.  I used Procreate, a powerful but fairly intuitive app that allows you to layer images one over the other.  I used the original collage as a background and kept adding and layering the figures on top, making the figures farthest away somewhat fainter, but always keeping the heads aligned.  If you recall from one of my earlier columns in this series, keeping the eye-line of all the figures consistent allows them to occupy the same plane extending backwards toward the horizon and visually unites them with the viewer.  Back in DistressedFx, I added some digital birds and tinkered a bit more with textures and tones.  Honestly, I lost track of how many times I digitally altered the colors!  There's something so addictive about pushing those digital sliders to adjust brightness, contrast, hue, temperature, vibrance, sharpness, etc. etc.....

 
    At this stage I printed it and collaged it to an 8x8 cradled pine board, and then let it sit for a while so I could contemplate what to do next, as I felt it lacked a central focus.  I debated adding text, but in the end, decided it just needed one dominant figure, so I resized the figures digitally again and printed out my focal point.  Placement was tricky - where exactly does the head belong in this crowd?  It's not the tops of the heads that need to fall on the same line, but the eyes, so I figured the clear space in the middle would do the trick.  If you want to review this principle, see my column from November 11, 2021.  In order to create a bit of tonal contrast with the rest of the crowd I added some ink (real ink, not digital!) and some texture using Zippy, by Daniella Woolf (S352).  Once I added it to the crowd I felt the composition was complete.  I hope you have enjoyed my all my Faces & Figures columns - next time, I start a new theme, but for now, let's relish the satisfaction of all standing together, united.

Stencils used in this project

Figures Couples by Valerie Sjodin L730

 

Zippy by Daniella Woolf S352

Flock by Cat Kerr S854

NEW StencilGirl® Products Release!

Mary C. Nasser's NEW Waterways stencil series is available now at stencilgirlproducts.com!

Abstract Water Surface and Rippled Water were inspired by Mary's love of water and time spent traveling on oceans and seas. The abstract designs created in these 6” x 6” stencils makes them great for adding rhythm, movement, and patterns to your art journal pages, mixed media projects, printmaking, and more.

Check out how Mary uses these new stencils in her art journal spreads to create rhythm and movement:

These new stencils work wonderfully in larger abstract art, too,

like in this mixed-media painting by Mary Beth Shaw:

You can find all of Mary’s stencils inspired by maps and travel here.

What's the biggest reason Carolyn Dube loves stencils?

What’s the biggest reason I love stencils? Carolyn Dube from aColorfullJourney.com here with an answer to that very hard question. If I had to narrow it down to one single reason I love stencils, it’s because each person can use them in their own style or way!

Let me show you what I mean by sharing gel prints made by the amazing creative and playful women who joined me at EphemeraPaducah for my Colorful Layers gel printing workshop!

Ephemera Paducah is the store and studio of fellow StencilGirl® designer, Kristin Williams.  Her place has such a wonderful energy and creative vibe to it!

These women all used the same Gel Press gel plates and StencilGirl® stencils but everyone was printing in their style, using colors they loved, and creating something uniquely theirs!  

Picket Fences stencil

1700s Building stencil

Art Nouveau stencil

Uplifting Words stencil

Rock Wall stencil

Filigree Sprigs stencil

Trio of Houses stencil

Geometric Sky stencil

Opera House stencil

Circle 9 stencil

Curvy Stems stencil

 

Now you know the biggest reason why I love stencils.  What’s the number one reason you love them?