StencilGirl® Creative Team!

Mary Beth Shaw is ecstatic to announce the 2022-23 Creative Team!
We have seven new team members in addition to five wonderful returning team members!
Drum roll, please!

StencilGirl® Creative Team

Niamh Baly has been crafting for nearly 30 years, starting with stamping and moving into art journaling and mixed media in 2003. She completed her Graduate Diploma of Fine Arts (Printmaking) in 2005. Niamh has also written two books on using Embossing Enamels, taught classes nationally and internationally, and was regularly published in stamping and scrapbooking magazines. Niamh is currently a High School teacher and lives with her small family on the beautiful North West coast of Tasmania, Australia. To keep herself busy, she still makes time every day to create art, and is now teaching mixed media courses and retreats nationally, as well as online courses focusing on Art Journaling and Mixed media. She also runs a successful YouTube Channel sharing her techniques and inspirations weekly. See more from Niamh on her website, Facebook page, Mixed Media Creative Queens page and Instagram!

Jane Bellante has been a working artist for 30 years, focusing mostly on mixed media, but also painted furniture and furniture art. “I have a master’s degree in Adult Education and I love to teach! You’ll find me in my studio most days, experimenting and playing with my art supplies. I’m so grateful to be part of the StencilGirl® Creative Team!!” Check out Jane on her website, Facebook page, Instagram, and Pinterest!

Nancy Curry is a nationally known mixed media artist, Certified Ranger Educator, and author of Texture Effects for Rubber Stamping. Nancy divides her time between her studio pursuits, designing for Nancy Curry Art, teaching mixed media workshops, and is very happy to be part of the StencilGirl family. For years her work has been published in many of the trending magazines and featured in several industry books. Her easily recognizable style has matured, yet is timeless in its use of varied applications of media. The results are pieces containing both visual and tactile textures that are rich in composition. Nancy resides in Lake St. Louis, Missouri. Learn more about Nancy on her website! 

Hello, my name is Laura Dame and I am a mixed media artist based in Austin, TX. I love to play around and experiment in my art journals, and also enjoy dabbling in abstract, collage, and floral artworks. My favorite thing about art is that there are no rules - the only requirement is that whatever you create makes you happy! My main goal when I began sharing my art was to show people that you don't have to be classified as an artist to pick up a paintbrush. Your art doesn't have to be perfect, or even 'good' - it's the act of creating that matters. I am married to a wonderful husband, who is the person who first nudged me down my artistic path about 7 years ago (although he probably didn't realize how much money I would spend on art supplies!). I am also the mother to two (almost teenage!) boys, and a full-time Sonographer. Visit Laura's website at www.lauramixedmedia.com.

Hello!!! I’m Tina Hois from @tinahoisart my happy place for creative abandonment. I have always been drawn to all things arty. It all started with scrapbooking and creating memory albums for my two beautiful daughters, which evolved into card making and paper crafts. As a stay at home mom (at the time) and a constant learner I was intrigued by jewelry and taught myself all I needed to know about creating beautiful timeless jewelry pieces. With this knowledge I launched a small company and took part in maker markets and private home events. Currently my love for mixed media outweighs all others and I am usually surrounded by creative messes, painted fingers and a head of overflowing ideas.  Art journaling is my personal expressive outlet that allows me to play intuitively without rules and fill my soul with happiness. My pages are layered with painted goodness, collage, colour, textures and stencil designs. I tend to vary my style and embrace experimenting with new techniques and mediums. In addition to art I love thrifting and giving new life to unwanted treasures ~ I dream of owning an up-cycled creative space where people can connect, unwind, learn and shop.(and it will be the seaside ~ not a big ask). For now I will dream of the seaside and can be found on Instagram, Facebook and YouTube.

Anouk Karrsen is an all-around creative from The Netherlands. For Anouk, art journaling is a way to process her thoughts and emotions. Her style can be described as soft and feminine with a raw edge. In her creative journey, Anouk tries to let go of her perfectionism by creating on a more intuitive level. Follow Anouk on Instagram at www.instagram.com/creanouk.

I’m Natalie May from Adelaide, South Australia! I have been working with the fantastic team at StencilGirl® Products for a few years and love everything about this awesome company! Here in Australia, I love sharing the StencilGirl® love through regular online classes and live Facebook mini-classes and demonstrations. Showing people all the amazing ways to use SG products in everyday crafting is what makes me smile and brings me so much happiness. I am a full time Papercrafter, having a Retail & Online Store here in Adelaide and happily married to Trev, with a clever & funny daughter Jessica! I also have my own line of products including stamps, collage papers & chipboard with new products coming out soon! Plus I am a Master Educator for Lindys Gang! I teach so many different facets of this papercraft industry from scrapbooking and cardmaking to mini books and art journaling. Head over and check out my Social Media and feel free to join my Facebook Community to catch up with all the classes and specials: online store, YouTube, Instagram, Facebook, Facebook Community!

Kristi Nazzaro is a Mixed Media Artist, Instructor and Journal Maker. She is passionate about her inclusive messages of positivity and validation that are built from the bright layers and bold textures of her easily recognized designs. When she’s not in her studio, Kristi can be found hiking, gardening and spending time with her family. Visit Kristi on Instagram, Facebook, and her website!

Hi! My name is Carol Ponsford and I am a Mixed Media artist from Columbus, Indiana. I am a retired Administrative Assistant and enjoy spending time with my husband Jim, my 2 children, son-in-law and 2 grandsons. I also enjoy travel, attending art workshops and spending time in my studio creating art. I enjoy working in all types of mediums including acrylic paint, collage, gel plate mono printing, encaustic, and have studied clay, silversmithing, and printed fabric design while in college. My most recent work is primarily Mixed Media using paint, paper collage, stencils, and rubber stamps. My love for Mixed Media stems from the wide variety of products that can be used in combination with each other offering so many unexpected surprises. I am currently setting up a space to work in encaustics in my home studio. I enjoy exploring colorful abstract work and look forward to finding new techniques to incorporate into my work. Find Carol on Instagram here.

Kirsten Varga has been creative for as long as she can remember. She has a Bachelor's degree in Fine Art with an emphasis in Visual Communication and Illustration and has worked as a graphic designer and teaching artist. She enjoys teaching all ages to discover their own creativity, a quality, she believes, everyone has. Her art interests are varied as she enjoys learning and trying new artsy things. Her favorites are bookmaking, mixed media, collage, and pen & ink drawing. She gravitates towards themes of home, connection, and whimsy in her artwork. She has dreams of starting a shop to sell her art and one day, see her work displayed in a gallery. She balances her time between her artistic dreams, raising four sassy daughters with her husband, and working as a High School Art Teacher in the beautiful Pacific Northwest. See more of Kirsten's on Instagram.

Tracy Villaume is a mixed media artist and radio personality living in the Capital Region of New York. “I am someone who is always reinventing myself and loves to try new things, but art has remained a constant throughout my life. In school I was all about sketching and clean lines, as an adult I found love in color and the abstract. Today, I like to put it all together! I take every opportunity to continue to learn and grow as an artist, and nothing makes me happier than sharing with others along the way. By my side in my creative journey are my French-born husband, Vincent; two children, Emma and Jack; and our Yorkie-poo, Frankie. When I am not in the studio, I like to find inspiration via nature walks; wander flea markets for collage fodder and sample new wines.” Check out Tracy on Instagram and her website!

Hello! I’m Nicole Watson … a Midwest girl who married a Southern boy and now lives in Austin, Texas. Art has always played a part in my creative journey—from collecting random bits of paper at a young age to selling my first painting in high school, then discovering mixed media while studying art and design in college.

My style is best described as an eclectic blend of technique and whimsy. I enjoy borrowing from my background in graphic/layout design, photography, and fine art, while mixing in color theory and discovering new and unexpected mediums to play with. Messy, grungy artwork with a touch of nature and oftentimes a circle or three are my favorites, along with the splatters, drips, and scribbles.

As an artist and a teacher, I’m most encouraged when a viewer gains confidence to try something new or just enjoys creating as a part of self-care. Paint-covered hands are the best form of therapy, and there is nothing more rewarding than reliving creative growth by flipping through journals of past projects. My hope is that you will feel just as inspired as I do to learn from others, discover your own unique style, embrace mistakes, and to be brave in both art and in creating an artful life. When not making messes in my studio, you’ll find me outside in the garden, going on walks, or searching for artsy treasures, usually with an iced coffee in hand. Visit Nicole's website and find her on Instagram and YouTube.

Anouk (Creanouk): Using Ecoline with Modeling Paste

Hello you beautiful artist.

After two guest designer blogs I'm very excited to be a part of the Stencilgirl® Creative Team! The first project that I'll be sharing today is about using stencils with Ecoline or liquid watercolours. If you have read my previous blog post you probably know that I'm a very intuitive journaler. For this page I knew I wanted to use some Ecoline and liquid watercolors, but I didn't plan to use modeling paste again. I think I just couldn't help myself to use my favorite medium. But hey, it's okay! I like to go wherever my art takes me and I think this page turned out so beautiful with the pink and blue Ecoline. Sometimes when I art journal I just see things so clearly in mind, it's almost like a vision. Using this modeling paste technique with watercolors or Ecoline is much messier than when you use it with acrylics. You don't have any control over the outcome because you get the best results when you use lots of water. You also get very dirty fingers, so don't use it when you're having a fancy meeting later that day! As always this page started to unravel while I was working. First I wanted to make a page with only the blue Ecoline. But my pink Ecoline was just screaming to be used on the other page. I can never choose between pink and blue so this page has become a sort of ode to not choosing between blue and pink. At the end, I even wrote down some words about my struggle. There was also a little piece of vellum that I had bound in this journal that was really bothering me. It didn't suit the page at all, so I decided to rip it out. I don't know what it is with vellum, because I really love them when I'm binding my journals. But not so much when I'm working with it. For today's page, I made a process video that you can watch below. In this video, you'll see me 'fake' placing my stencils to figure out which stencil I want to use. I just lay them on top of my page and try to imagine how they look on the page. This is very helpful when you're not sure which stencil will suit your page the best.

If the video is not showing on your phone, please click this link to view it.

The stencils that I used for this project are:

Arrows with Rounds by Andrew Borloz

Boro by Kristin Williams

Vintage General Store List by Jennifer Evans

Thank you so much for reading my blog post. I hope that I have inspired you to create today! My name is Anouk, or Creanouk on social media, and I'm an all round creative from the Netherlands. I love art journaling because I can put my heart and soul in to it. You can find my work on Instagram and Youtube.

Drumroll: StencilGirl's 2021-22 Creative Team

Top Row: Renee Day, Nancy Curry, Natalie May; Middle Row: Kirsten Varga, Sarah Gardner; Final Row: Anouk Karssen, Martice Smith III, Laura Dame

Greetings and thanks for stopping by StencilGirl Talk today.

We'd like you to meet our Creative Team for 2021-2022. We imagine you'll see three new faces, some names you recognize from their posts as guest artists, and one designer.

We look forward to getting to know each of them better along with you throughout the course of the next year.

ANOUK KARSSEN

Anouk Karrsen is an all-around creative from The Netherlands. 

For Anouk, art journaling is a way to process her thoughts and emotions. Her style can be described as soft and feminine with a raw edge. In her creative journey, Anouk tries to let go of her perfectionism by creating on a more intuitive level.

Instagram: @cranouk

Check out a previous guest post by Anuok.

KIRSTEN VARGA

Kirsten is a wife, mother, and artist living in the beautiful Pacific Northwest of the United States. She has been creative for as long as she can remember. She has a Bachelor's degree in Fine Art with an emphasis in Visual Communication and Illustration and has worked as a graphic designer and elementary art teacher. She enjoys teaching all ages to discover their own creativity, a quality, she believes, everyone has. Her art interests are varied as she enjoys learning and trying new artsy things. Her favorites are bookmaking, mixed media, collage, and pen & ink drawing. She gravitates towards themes of home, family, and whimsy in her artwork. She has dreams of starting a shop to sell her art and one day, see her work displayed in a gallery. She balances her time between her artistic dreams, raising four sassy daughters with her husband, and working as a dog midwife(!) and substitute teacher (with hopes she can have her own classroom once again).

Website: SmilingEyeStudio

LAURA DAME

Hello, my name is Laura and I am a mixed media artist based in Austin, TX. I love to play around and experiment in my art journals, and also enjoy dabbling in abstract, collage, and floral artworks. My favorite thing about art is that there are no rules - the only requirement is that whatever you create makes you happy! My main goal when I began sharing my art was to show people that you don't have to be classified as an artist to pick up a paintbrush. Your art doesn't have to be perfect, or even 'good' - it's the act of creating that matters. 

I am married to a wonderful husband, who is the person who first nudged me down my artistic path about 7 years ago (although he probably didn't realize how much money I would spend on art supplies!).  I am also the mother to two (almost teenage!) boys and a full-time Sonographer.

Website: LauraMixedMedia

MARTICE SMITH III

Hey, y'all! I'm Martice, a multi-media creative, photographer, and designer from Kansas City, Missouri. I have an insatiable craving for neon colors and texture! I'd describe my artwork as a visual symphony of bright colors, patterns + florals with an abstract, graffiti twist. Sometimes, I like to go off-beat and combine traditional media (acrylics and watercolors) with digital techniques.  

I teach creatives how to bear hug their artsy superpowers by infusing a playful vibe into their art process. I do this by creating online courses, videos, and offering one-on-one creativity coaching sessions. In my free time, you can find me taking care of my mini jungle of tropical houseplants or watching cute panda videos.

Website: MarticeSmithArt.com

Check out a previous guest post by Martice.

NANCY CURRY

Nancy Curry is a nationally known mixed media artist, Certified Ranger Educator, and author of Texture Effects for Rubber Stamping. Nancy divides her time between her studio pursuits, designing for Nancy Curry Art, teaching mixed media workshops, and is very happy to be part of the StencilGirl family. For years her work has been published in many of the trending magazines and featured in several industry books. Her easily recognizable style has matured, yet is timeless in its use of varied applications of media. The results are pieces containing both visual and tactile textures that are rich in composition. Nancy resides in Lake St. Louis, MO 

To find Nancy live in your area or online, go to her website, http://www.nancycurry.com

Check out a previous guest post by Nancy Curry.

NATALIE MAY

I’m lucky enough to be a full-time paper crafter and I couldn’t be happier! I’m happily married to the awesome Clever Trevor & have a beautiful daughter! 

One of the things that keeps me inspired and teaching is that I love to create in all styles. 

I teach around 15 classes a month in Australia and absolutely LOVE what I do – turning my hobby into my job & passion. I am the Australian Ambassador for Lindy's Stamp Gang, a member of StencilGirl's Creative Team, I design chipboard for Imaginarium Designs, am an Intermediate Certified Copic Designer, and love everything inky & colour based.  

     

I love this industry … the opportunity to teach a new technique…. Meeting so many amazing people…..and to be able to CREATE every day is quite a blessing.

You can view more of my work at …Happy Daks and find me on Instagram under happydaks and Facebook as well.

Check out a previous Creative Team post by Natalie May.

RENEE DAY

Renee Day is the author of “Creative Journaling” and content creator for thediyday. She’s been fortunate to create crafts and how-tos for various companies in the art and craft industry and considers herself lucky to do what she does every day.  

Renee has always loved journaling as a means of communication. While interning as a Marriage and Family Therapist, she would implement journaling and art journaling into her sessions when clients had a difficult time using their voice. 

Aside from journaling, Renee’s other favorite crafts include- calligraphy, crocheting, and all kinds of papercrafts.  Although born and raised in California, Renee and her husband James moved to Michigan in 2018.  When she isn’t creating, she is likely on a road trip, hiking, exploring The Great Lakes, or spoiling her dog Cinco.         

See more of Renee’s work: Blog  |  Instagram  |  YouTube  |  Facebook

SARAH GARDNER aka Juicy*S

This is Sarah Gardner, aka, Juicy*S. Juicy*S is her DJ name. She's not a DJ. She would love to be a DJ. It's one of her fantasy dream jobs, really. She got this name when she was slinging paint and working in her art journal with a couple girlfriends,, drinking wine and keeping track of the funny things they were saying on a "sign-in" sheet...just craziness. They all ended up with a DJ name that day. She started her first blog with this name, and she's had it ever since. She's the girl (yes, even though she's fifty-something, she's still a girl!) who has a Tutu Dance Party and makes every one of her guests their own tutu!  She's the kind of person who thinks a lot (maybe too much) about things. She's a voracious learner and wants to be this way always. She's also a lawyer, a wife, and a mom of two. She lives with her family in Southern California, in a small surf community called Cardiff by the Sea.

For Sarah, art journaling is self-care: time she takes for herself to tap into her creativity, get into flow, and just play. She loves experimenting with and indulging her curiosity about mixed media art in her art journal; it’s a way to keep learning and growing.

Website: Juicy*S Art

Check out a previous guest post by Sarah Gardner.

Guest Designer Anouk Karssen (Creanouk): Intuitive Art Journal Page

Hello you beautiful artist!

One thing I love about art journaling is that it can be very intuitive. It took me a lot of time to let my inner perfectionist go and to create without thinking too much about the result. Today I'm going to show you step by step how I made this intuitive art journal page. You can use this as an inspiration, a guideline, or as a tutorial. It’s up to you! If you decide to play along with me, grab a nice cup of tea, play your favorite song, meditate for a little bit and try to keep an open mind. Let your hands tell you what to do instead of your head because that's when the magic happens!

Using collage is one of my favorite ways to start an art journal page. Tearing and gluing stuff down can feel so satisfying don't you think? It's also great to add texture and layering to your page. For this page, I collaged old book papers with washi tape and some tea bag scraps that were laying around on my desk.

While I was working on the collage I got the idea to make a layer of modeling paste with the Tapestry stencil by Kristie Taylor that I would paint over with acrylics once it dried. I definitely prefer doing to technique with watercolor, but since I'm working on craft paper I decided to do it with acrylics.

This is what I mean by working with your hands instead of your head. My head told me that I should do this on mixed media or watercolor paper. But my hands already applied the modeling paste. No turning back here.

To paint over the pattern with any type of paint, your modeling paste has to be completely dry. Just leave it be for a while or use a heat gun to speed up the process.  Always clean your stencil asap when you are using modeling paste, it dries faster on your stencil than on your page and your stencil will become less usable over time. 

For my first layer of paint, I mixed some Amsterdam Naphthol Red Deep acrylic with a little bit of white gesso for a more transparent and matt look. If this was a pre-planned page I probably would have done this step first. But since I’m following my intuition, mixing your gesso with paint is a great way to prime and adding color at the same time.

In this stage I don't wait for my paint to dry, I like how they blend when they are still a bit wet. I find painting backgrounds very relaxing so I just keep adding tiny bits to the page with Naples Yellow Red Light and Venetian Rose until I’m happy. Sometimes I use a baby wipe to blend in the colors a little bit more and to remove paint on places that I used too much. If your modeling paste pattern is under too much paint you can also use a baby wipe to dab it away.

As you can see I like to work in layers and layers. Especially layers of paint. So for my third layer of paint, I patched up some areas that didn't blend well for my linking with White, Naples Yellow Red, and Naples Yellow Red Light.

 

I think hidden journaling is such a lovely element in a journal background. Especially when it's all messy and scribbled. Sometimes I use my art journal as my diary and I just write and write until my page is all covered in words. Then I like to paint over it a little bit just so the words are still peeking through. When I was working on this page I was listening to a song that kept repeating the same words. So I wrote it down with a pencil in an almost vintage kind of handwriting.

My obsession with using teabags in my art is real! I just love how it gives your page so much texture and how it blends everything together.

 

While the tea bags are still wet from the glue I splashed down some gold ink and let everything dry for a little bit.

If you want to you can leave it like this. But I was feeling a little brave when I made this and I stepped out of my comfort zone. Normally I would just add some marks with a black pen, but the Repetition Stencil by Rae Missigman was winking at me on my desk, so I just went for it!

 

I probably should have gone for a Naples Yellow Red instead of black, because after I applied it my immediate thoughts were: “Where is my white paint? I need to make it soft again.” Your hands are not always right, I can tell you that!  But as I said before: this is where the magic happens! Because after I applied my white paint through the  Interesting Dots stencil by Jennifer Evans everything came together so beautifully.

I finished this page off with some black ink splatters and glued down the word confident with a little tea bag underneath.

I chose the word confident because I wanted to remind you to be confident in your art. Just have fun and enjoy the process. Be confident! You can do it!

My name is Anouk, Creanouk on Instagram, and I’m so excited to be back on the blog today. I hope you enjoyed this step by step tutorial and that I’ve inspired you to get creative today.