The Real Deal - a mixed media artwork by Sue Plumb

Hello stencil lover!

It's Sue Plumb here today to share my latest project created for the StencilGirl® Creative Team. This time around the team was challenged to "Frame It or Fill It With Circles". I decided to go with "frame it" and create a lovely mixed media piece with the intention of framing it to display in my home. 

The artwork I created was a good example of how plans can change once you start working on a piece. Initially, my intention was to create something that was A4 sized; but through the evolution of my process, I ended up with a finished piece that was 12x12" instead. That's what happens when you follow the creative flow!

I began my project with one particular stencil in mind - Strength Face by Pam Carriker. I knew I wanted to create something that featured a face as the focal point, and after looking through all my stencils, this was the one I kept coming back to. Every time I looked at it I immediately thought of John Lennon (I think it is the circle around the eye that makes me think of the glasses he used to wear); so I knew that I wanted to capture that by incorporating something musical into my piece as well. 

I started with my background, using Distress Oxides to create a watercolor effect. I simply swiped the ink pads onto my non-stick mat, spritzed with a little water, and then placed the cardstock over the top to absorb the ink. I started with 'Faded Jeans' then repeated the process with 'Iced Spruce' over the top. I love the moody, mottled effect I got on the page.

Next, I turned my attention to the "frame it" theme, choosing to frame my page with a matching border, also in "Iced Spruce" Distress Oxide. I chose the 9x12" stencil from the January 2019 StencilClub set designed by Mary Beth Shaw and Seth Apter. I used the section of the stencil that features a long row of soft-edged squares and stenciled the pattern around each edge using a sponge dauber.

Next, I reached for a music paper stamp and used black ink to lightly stamp the motif randomly around my page; taking care not to press too heavily (I didn't want a "perfect" image).

I then turned my attention to creating the focal point of my page using that amazing face stencil designed by Pam Carriker, aptly called Strength Face. I continued with the black ink and stenciled the face in the lower right corner of my page, again using a sponge dauber. 

I then added the third Distress Oxide color I had chosen - "Seedless Preserves", by mixing a little with some water and then using a small brush to paint some contrasting color across and around the face. 

Once I had the focal image in place I knew my page needed some texture. I wanted to keep the texture subtle however so I chose the Starlight 6x6" stencil designed by Lesley Riley and used it to apply some gold texture paste using a palette knife. The combination of this stencil and the paste created stunning, fine golden details; which I cascaded down and across from the top left corner of the page. I also moved the stencil around to add some extra randomly placed detail.

I was extremely happy with how the layers were looking together at this point, but it was right about now that my plan for this piece took a bit of a turn. To further reinforce the "Frame It" theme, I decided to mount my existing A4 sized piece onto a sheet of 12x12" colored cardstock. I wanted to keep the frame size consistent around though, which meant that I had space alongside left to fill. I found a sheet of music paper from my stash and tucked it underneath the edge to balance the page. 

To finish off, I found a pack of die cuts that featured lots of floral pieces in colors that matched, as I wanted to use the flowers to bring some softness to the piece. 

The die cuts in the pack also featured some gold foil pieces, which tied nicely in with the stenciled gold details I had added earlier.

I couldn't resist popping a few butterflies on there - three of them (of course, I must have balance!) Finally, to finish off, and smooth the transition between my original A4 piece and the additional sheet of music paper, I added a clear floral sticker and I was done.

I popped the completed piece into a white 12x12" shadow box frame and now it proudly adorns a space in my home.

Thanks for stopping by so I could share this with you today. Until next time, happy creating!

You can also find me on my channels here:

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Gift it or Grid it Challenge from Shel and Peg

Hello,

Peg & Shel with you today. We are so happy to share a few gift and wrapping ideas with you. This time of year we are always looking for an easy gift to take to out host/hostess and friends, so let us share with you some quick and easy ideas.

We are using L736 Leafy Doodle Border, S708 Leaf and Clover Prints and L422 Herbs stencils. StencilGirl® carries many leaves, flowers and nature stencils. Did you know you can shop by category? It is so convenient. 

Peg Robinson's Gifts, Tags, Bags, and a Dispenser

In the picture above and in my video, I'll show you how I created gift bags, a decorative journal to gift in a bag, a pleasing gift tag and a decorated soap or cream dispenser. I chose to work with Archival inks and Gina K Glitter paste. Isn't that green shimmer lovely?

The bags are inexpensive sandwich bags in a kraft brown paper and a wax paper much like glassine.

The tag can be used to adorn homemade flavored vinegar or oils recycling old wine bottles. You can purchase soap and lotion dispensers at the discount store and decorate them with glitter paste and stencils. 

Did I mention the decorated sandwich bags are great wrappers for gifting stencils to your crafty friends?

Shel's Wrapping Gifts Up!

For the November Gift It/Grid It theme I focused on up-cycling beautifully stenciled gift packaging using the three stencils. 

For the first one I used spray inks and the Leafy Doodle Border stencil to make my own gift wrapping paper our of craft paper that comes in ordered boxes as packaging. Iused the same stencil & spray to make a belly band and tag for the package.

The second project was created with a used box that some essential oils came in. As it was just plain craft colored box I stenciled it using some acrylic paints with the Leaf and Clover prints stencil. 

I like this stencil because you can use the designs on top of each other to add highlight or shadow with different colored paint. This box can be used again and again and doesn't have to be wrapped. 

I made a matching tag to tie on the ribbon.

For the final gift packaging project I used a paper sack from the grocery store produce area with oranges in it. I used a regular dye based ink pad and the Herbs Stencil to cover the bag in stenciled rosemary leaves. Then I used a piece of cardstock to create a topper for the bag to keep it closed. You can also use the stenciled topper as a tag to write a greeting or the to/from information. 

I hope you found my stenciled packaging upcycling ideas fun and useful and give them a try this gift giving season.

Well, we hope this helps you with your last-minute gifts this season. Thanks for checking us out and a big thanks from Shel and Peg at StencilGirlTalk. 

Enjoy the holidays.

Peg & Shel

Stencils used:

Leaf & Clover Prints 6" x6" Stencil by Jennifer Evans

Leafy Doodle Border 9" x 12" Stencil by Valerie Sjodin

Herbs Stencil 9" x 12" by Jessica Sporn

Gift-Worthy StencilGirl Creative Team Hop

As you head into that gifting and receiving time of year, the StencilGirl Creative Team members have your back with ideas for a journal, origami, a tote bag, an advent calendar, a necklace, a paper mache box, a painting, a cookie jar, a gift bag, a treasure box! Keep scrolling down for the links!

Be sure to hop over to each fantastic project and leave a comment for the artist! 
The more comments, the more chances you'll have to win $50 worth of StencilGirl stencils! Good luck!

Sue Plumb's Cookie Jar and Art Bag

Claudia Neubacher's Tote Bag

Sunila & Aditi Mahajan's Treasure Box

Peg Robinson's Necklace

Shel C's Journal Set

Jennifer Gallagher's Paper Mache Gift Box

Linda Edkins Wyatt's Beach Memories Painting

Jill McDowell's Twisted Treasure Pouches

Carol Baxter's Advent Calendar

Contest closes 10-8-19 at 11:59 p.m. CST.  Winner notified by email 10-9-19.

Dress It or Wear It Challenge with Shel and Peg

A big hello from Peg and Shel. Today we are excited to share how we each met the Dress It or Wear It Challenge from StencilGirl®️. There are so many ways this challenge could be interpreted and it is always fun to see what everyone does. 

Peg found a cute wire dress form at the secondhand shop. When she started thinking of ways to recycle it, she wanted it to serve a purpose in her studio. Now this wouldn’t have to be a dress form but the form did fit the challenge. Using some clothes pins from the dollar store, and some spray paints to transform them, the pins became the foundation for the skirt. 

Shel took a different approach to the collaborative challenge to ‘dress up’ decorative dress-forms.

She did not have a wire form like Peg’s so instead she made her own from materials you would

normally toss in the trash. A soap bottle, a paper tube and a tissue box.  She glued these together

and then added some paper clay to the front of the bottle to make it more lady like. Then covered the

whole construction in paper mache with tissue. The top layer of tissue is from a dress pattern which

seemed appropriate. 

Shel’s next step in making this dress form project fabulous was to create some custom fabrics with

stencils and fabric paints. Shel used the agreed upon stencils and some pre-washed cotton muslin

fabric. She plans to make this dress form decoration a fun seasonal project for each holiday, so she

chose colors of Decoart So Soft Fabric paints that reminded her of Halloween and then went crazy

with pattern and color!

This crazy fun stenciled fabric was then cut into pattern pieces and sewn together to ‘dress up’ the dress-form with a cute little witchy dress. Shel also created a pointy hat accessory with some
stenciled black cardstock paper to finish up the look. So cute!

To finish off the dress-form Peg used Liquitex spray paints applied to all the surfaces of the pins through stencils. This month, Shel and Peg had chosen to use Klimt Forest Stencil by Cathy Taylor (L358), ATC Mixup 1 Stencil by Mary Beth Shaw (L543), and Ancient Marks Stencil by Suzi Dennis (L435).

Earlier, Peg had prepared some fabric for this project while collaborating with Shel on a live printing session aired on their Art Joy of Sharing YouTube channel. Some of the fabric was torn and woven into the wire on the dress form. More stenciled fabric was glued to the bodice before applying sari ribbon and trim.

So now when Peg needs to clip up a wet piece of paper or fabric, she will know right where to find her pins.

Wouldn’t it be fun to make a batch of these decorative clothes pins for your friends? I think she may have plans to make some more. Thanks for stopping by and giving us love. Peg and Shel

Happy Stars Clipboard - Mark Making for Additional Depth by Claudia

Hi, servus and thanks so much for stopping by! This month's theme over here at the StencilGirl Talk blog is "Texture it or Make Marks on it" and I immediately had some of my favorite StencilGirl® stencils in mind that I wanted to use for indulging in some heavy mark-making  ;)

Mark making is something I especially love as it adds a lot of depth and interest to almost any project you can think of - and with the right stencils at hand, it always is a very enjoyable thing to do. It is so rewarding when you take off the stencil you have just used to find how a bit of mark making has turned a rather flat design into something lively and so much more interesting. 

I had this lovely (and true) quote stencil from the Stencil Club Playtime Collection 

designed by Carolyn Dube in my stash and I knew together with her gorgeous Stars Inspired by Matisse stencil I wanted to alter a cheap MDF clipboard kit from the dollar store and turn it into a fun and uplifting looking organizing tool for my studio desk. 

Alongside, some more of my favorite mark-making stencils designed by Mary Beth Shaw,

Seth Apter and one stencil from their genius Shaw - Apter Mash Up! Stencil Club collection released in January this year I created a fun layer of marks on top of my happy stars which made them look as if they were floating in a rainbow icecream colored sky. 

I have done a video this time that shows the whole process from (almost the) beginning to the very end - only the how-to of the very base layer is missing (due to me obviously hitting the record button twice instead of once and this way just filming one second of it...*rolling eyes). But that step is quite easy and quickly explained - and I found pictures from another project where I used this technique: 

First I apply dots of acrylic paints directly from the bottles or paint tubes onto my substrate...

...and then I use the edge of an old plastic card to drag the paint from the dots across the whole surface in horizontal moves only. The trick is to not repeat that dragging motion more often than two to three times in the same spot so the colors do not mix too much (which will create a muddy color tone)! 

If you find you do not like the result you can still add more dots of paint on top (once the first layer has dried) and repeat the process until you are content with the look. On my clipboard here I used a lot of Titanium White to get pastel color tones. 

On my clipboard, I have used DecoArt Americana acrylic paints: Titanium White, Lamp Black, Sea Breeze, Pumpkin, Primary Yellow, Black Plum, and Mint Julip Green and also DecoArt media fluid acrylics Hansa Yellow Medium and Cobalt Teal Hue.

I have also done some close-up shots of my clipboard so you can see some areas in more detail. 

Here are two detail shots of the design being continued across the board and its stand. The video shows how to do that. 

The clip to hold any note sheets with is fixed to the board with a glued-on magnet.

I just love how the smudged background, stenciled on painted stars, and the layer of black marks on top create amazing depth!

The stars look happy...and so am I looking at them and my finished clipboard on my studio desk.

Here's once more the list of stencils used on this project:

- Stars Inspired by Matisse - Carolyn Dube

- August 2018 Carolyn Dube "Playtime" StencilClub Collection 

- January 2019  Shaw - Apter Mash Up! StencilClub Collection

- October 2016 Mary Beth's Private StencilClub Collection

- Text and Texture Transform Stencil by Seth Apter

Thanks for your visit! See you soon!

Claudia 

xxx

She's like a rainbow: mark making with Jennifer Gallagher

Hello! 

Jennifer Gallagher here again with another post for StencilGirl Products®. This month we were challenged to ‘Texture It or Make a Mark on It’ and I’m doing just that with this bold art journal page. Mark-making is super easy with the right stencils. StencilGirl® has many stencils you can employ for adding marks and texture.Let's dive right in!

I decided to work in my large dylusions journal. Using just a basic mechanical pencil, I sketched out my basic layout and shapes. I knew I wanted to feature a fabulous 9x12 stencil from designer Pam Carriker. It was part of the Stencil Club set from November 2018 entitled "Her Story."

Next, using computer copy paper as masks, I followed the penciled design and painted each color of the rainbow one at a time. I used a premium acrylic paint here because I wanted vibrant colors. I started with red on the far right and worked my way across the journal spread from right to left.

I painted the face, my page focal point, through the stencil with a mini-blending tool and black acrylic paint. Once it was dry, I added a floral headdress with stencil L352, Deconstructed Floral Bouquet Stencil.

Now onto the mark-making. Using a different design for each colored section, I applied white acrylic paint through the stencils. Be sure to use a mask to prevent any unwanted cross-over of paint. I’ve picked the March 2019 Stencil Club release, Mail Art, designed by Ann Butler, the Playtime Collection, by Carolyn Dube,for Stencil Club in August 2018, and the February 2019 Stencil Club release, Mary Beth's Private Collection 19.1. I’ve left the yellow section free of marks. This is where my words will later be added. 

At this point I realized that the face would look much better if I “beat back” the colored sections that were peeking through. I used a watered down white acrylic and brushed a few layers on. Once dry, I placed the stencils back down and reapplied the black to keep those designs nice and dark and visually impactful.

With a black gelly roll pen I added doodling all around the stenciled designs. Then with a mini-blending tool, I added a rough black edge all around the art journal spread.

On my computer, I typed up a few song lyrics that I’ve had stuck in my head for a while now. I cut them out and glued them in place with a premium matte medium.

I have had so much fun on this mark-making adventure. Thank you for letting me share this art journal page spread with you. If you would like to see more of my work visit my blog or  look me up on Instagram.

Happy Creating,

Jennifer Gallagher