Carol Ponsford - Time for some "Reflection"

Hello Bloggers! Carol Ponsford here today sharing how I created a fun mirror 

to give as a gift to a friend or for yourself using StencilGirl® Products stencils.

I started with the "Faces in a Crowd" stencil #S445 designed by Jennifer Evans and 

the "Yang" stencil S969 designed by Cat Kerr and a bamboo plant coaster as my base.

I laid the stencil backwards from how I wanted to use it on a sheet 

of black card stock and with a white pen, I traced around the outside 

of the stencil and the inside of each of the open areas.

 

Once I finished tracing all of the sections and the outer edge, I removed the stencil 

and cut each inside area out with a very sharp exacto knife and cutting mat. I waited until 

later to cut around the entire circle to add stability while cutting the smaller shapes.

I flipped the stencil over and laid it on the coaster so that as I cut the 

shapes that I wanted to put faces on, I could keep track of where they belonged.

 

Using the black card stock pieces shown on the left above, I traced around each shape 

(except the middle one where the mirror would show) adding about 1/8" on all sides 

for gluing purposes onto a piece of copy paper that I had painted with 

random pastel watercolor paint (of course you can use any color you choose). 

Be sure to keep the paint side up on the cutout.

I took each piece of painted paper and sponged a face through the face stencil with black paint.

While the faces were drying, I painted the coaster with black gesso on the sides and into the 

middle by about an 1 1/2" (just toward the center enough so that the paper I add would cover).

I did not put a face in the center space because this is where I wanted the

mirror to show and the person who is looking at the piece will see their reflection.

I glued each piece in place with a glue stick onto the grid of black card stock.

I traced the outside of the Yang stencil onto a piece of mirror card stock that 

had peel off adhesive on the back side and a plastic cover on the front side and 

cut it out.  (I believe this is a Tim Holtz, Ranger product) I carefully removed the plastic 

cover making sure not to get fingerprints on the mirror. (You could also use a round 

mirror if you can find one the correct size.) After cutting the mirror paper into the circle 

shape, I centered the mirror paper onto the grid paper and traced around the 

circle so that there would be an even edge of black around the faces and cut it out. 

I covered the back of the grid with the faces on it with a glue stick and 

centered it on the front side of the mirror. I tried not to over apply the glue stick

so that I would not have glue oozing out onto the mirror surface. This is also

why I chose to use a glue stick and not a wet adhesive like matte medium. 

I also used a piece of paper on top while I gently pressed the grid onto the 

mirror to avoid leaving any marks or fingerprints on the mirrored surface. 

I decorated the edge and interior edge of the coaster with Posca markers

 then using double sided red tape adhered the grid piece to the coaster.

This picture just shows how I figured out what size font and style I wanted to use for the 

saying. It also helped me with placement so that it would be centered on the piece. I

used the white Stabilo pencil to write the letters on the black in case I made any errors on spacing, 

(which I did) which made it easy to wipe off and correct before using the Posca marker.

I enjoyed creating this piece and hope you will look in your stencil stash and

always try to look outside the box on ways to utilize them in a unique way.

Thank you StencilGirl® Products for providing me with these 

stencils so that I can share what I create with you on this blog and a special

thanks to you for checking out this post and as always I wish you...

Happy Creating!

To see more of my work please visit my Instagram page.