TBT with Debi and Cindy - Substrates and Photos

How do you doodle? How do you make marks?

With stencils of course!

Debi Adams and Cindy Gilstrap take it away for this throwback Thursday!

Greetings! It is Debi and I have  a question, have you ever recycled your art?  

What about your rejects?  

Did you keep them or did you toss them out, embarrassed by the end result? This past year, with tight deadlines, (I work in an art/craft based industry), I began to clip the “did-I-do-that?” pieces to a clipboard.  

I thought maybe, just maybe, I could use them in something, somewhere when I’m in a time crunch. They would definitely need to be chopped up and disguised. Without a doubt.  LOL. 

Okay, the real reason I kept them was because I saw someone have all his art papers stacked together in piles and thought it looked cool, visually. 

Today I decided it was time to do something with the castoffs. They were piling up. (Yep, I make lots of mistakes). 

I pulled out my clipboard, and believe me there were some ugly substrates in there, and chose one that had different colors, at least not my usual choice. Stretching my comfort zone is important to me and this one put me there. 

I cut circles from the paper and began working with Mini Quilt #1 stencil by Mary Beth Shaw. 

I painted the quilt design on each one, having some not even centered. I doodled and marked them and, after watercoloring my background paper, decided that tracing and cutting the pattern out from the background paper would be a cool application of the stencil. 

Soon I had threads weaving behind the cut out pieces and somehow, it evolved into this piece. I’m glad I tried something different. Sometimes it’s scary because it means paving a new road, and it might lead to a mistake or two, but the end result is so rewarding. I don’t think anyone would ever know this was made from mistakes. Okay, so now I need a stencil that says, “Take a Risk”.  

You choose my friends.

Debi

Add a Family Snapshot

Cindy Gilstrap used Rembrandt's Words and Inky Circles to highlight the vintage photograph in her art journal.

Cindy says: "Art journals make a great place to keep memories. They could be memories for your eyes only or memories to share. On your next art journal page try using a family photo in your spread. It’s a fun way to combine family and your art.”

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January 2017 Throwback Thursday with the StencilGirl Creative Team

Every Day To Do ~ Cindy Spearman Gilstrap 

I used the Spinners stencil and the Mini Shapes stencil on my art journal spread.

About Face ~ Tina Walker

Want to see how Tina used several of Pam Carriker's Face Map stencils to create this piece?  Head over to her A Dog's Life blog.

Sewn, Stenciled, Hand Lettered Card ~ Tammy Hall Tutterow

Back in November I shared a tutorial for an art journal page I created using the L304 Shattered Stencil.  I created the art for the page on a piece of cardstock larger than my journal.  After cutting the piece down to fit in my book, I had a fairly large strip of the art left over.  I have been saving it for just the right inspiration.  This week I decided that using it on a card for a friend was the perfect use.

To change up the art a little, I added some straight sewing lines between the rays of color.  I did a bit of fussy cutting to remove the white background.  I adhered it to an A2 sized card.  I added machine stitching around the front of the card to tie into the stitching on the rays.

I used hand lettering to add a sentiment and tie into the doodled style on the original piece of art.  I think it gave it a fun and personal touch, perfect for a dear friend.

I Shall Go Art Journal Spread ~ Carol Baxter

I used people clipped from magazines I was about to toss in the recycle bin to make this spread in my large Canva art journal. Loose black thread tethers the balloons.

Mary Beth Shaw’s Chain Mail Large stencil layered underneath the whole spread was perfect to bind the characters together. Layered partially over of two of the characters in paint and pen, it sets the other free. If she really goes…

Go ahead, pull a stencil from your stash that you have not used in a while. Take a long look. What will you create?

A Fun Pencil Case

Welcome to Team Tuesday. I'm Cindy from Junque Art and I'm excited to show you how to make a fun pencil case from a recycled tyvec envelope.

This little project is fun and easy to make. I'm using it for a pen case for on the go art journaling but you could use to store anything.

Let's get started...

You only need a few supplies. Stencils (of course), paint, paint markers, a tyvec envelope, zipper, scissors, pencil, sewing machine (or you could hand stitch).

I used the following awesome StencilGirl stencils to create this cute little case.

Typewriter Stencil by Nathalie Kalbach

Screw Heads Mini stencil by Andrew Borloz

Vintage Typewriter Alphabet Stencil by Carolyn Dube

A Tyvec envelope makes a great pouch because of it's sturdiness. It is water proof and tear proof. If you can't find any tyvec you can use fabric or canvas.

Measure and cut your envelope to your desired size. I cut mine 9 1/2" x 15". This will make a 9" x 7" case (this includes a 1/4" seam allowance). I left mine as one big piece to paint on and marked my center to cut apart later before I start sewing.

Since I was using a recycled envelope mine had print on it. Paint your envelope with white gesso to cover up all the print. I had to do two coats to cover it all up. Let the gesso dry. However, if you like the print peeking through the paint you could skip this step. New envelopes are also available in solid white with no print.

Start creating a background with paint. Go crazy and have fun! I used two different color blues along with white. I did discover that you don't want to get the paint too thick and let it all dry before the next step.

After your first layers of paint dry you can start stenciling. I started with the fun Screw Heads Mini stencil by Andrew Borloz to start adding some interest. Let dry.

Next add the Typewriter Stencil by Nathalie Kalbach toward the bottom of each side. Let dry. If you are working on one large piece remember stencil opposite on each side and away from the middle line which will be cut later to add the zipper.

Then add some fun lettering with the Vintage Typewriter Alphabet Stencil by Carolyn Dube. I added on each side. Let dry.

Add detail to the typewriter with a fine point paint pen or sharpie. Let dry.

Add more detailing to the letters and typewriter with a white paint pen. Let dry.

Once you are done painting your envelope you can cut in half at your middle mark. (See my last step about varnishing before cutting.)

Now it's time to add a zipper. I wanted to try to use something I already had in my stash. I found a black zipper but it was way too long. No worries it's all going to get sewn into the pouch. So I just cut it shorter once I got it pinned on. Pin the zipper right side down to the right side of one of the sides of the pouch. Make sure you line up the edge of the zipper fabric with the top edge of your painted piece. I pinned at each end just to hold in place.

Stitch the zipper to the envelope piece being sure to run your foot right along the zipper part. You can use a zipper foot but I just used my regular foot and used the skinny side of the foot to go against the zipper. Be sure and back stitch at the beginning and end for added strength.

Now it's time to add the zipper to the other side. Pin the zipper right side to right side of the second side. This picture may be a little confusing but I do have right side to right side just like I did the first side.

Once you sew the zipper to both sides it should look like this when the pieces are open.

Now unzip the zipper at 1/2 to 3/4 of the way.

Now pin the right sides together. Try to fold the zipper part in half on each end.

Sew around all three sides of your piece being sure to sew the zipper ends. I used the edge of my foot as a guide to keep my stitch straight.

Cut the bottom corners at an angle being sure to not cut too close to the stitching. Now turn right side out by reaching inside the open zipper. Push the corner out gently to get them as turned as possible.

After I turned my pouch some of my paint started to flake off. So after I turned gently I decided to add a thin coat of varnish that is pliable to keep the paint in place. I would recommend doing this as the last painting step before you start sewing. No worries though, that's the fun part of creating is learning and adjusting. The tyvec does wrinkle when you turn it right side out, but I love the wrinkly look!

And now you have a cute pencil or pen case! I'm pretty sure I will be making some more of these in the near future. Fun, easy, and useful! Remember you can make them any size you would like!

Mine will also hold my cute little moleskine art journal that I started for this year. So if I want to journal on the go I just throw in a few markers, glue stick, pencils, scrap paper, and my journal and I'm ready to go!

I hope you enjoy making this cute pencil or art case! I would love to see what you make!

Listen - An Art Journal Page with Cindy Gilstrap

Happy Tuesday everyone! I hope this finds you having a wonderful week. For this Team Tuesday project I wanted to play with layering a few different stencils.

For this page I used the following stencils: Ripples designed by Suzi Dennis, Tossed Blossoms Stencil designed by Terri Stegmiller, and Hawk of the Mountain designed by Roxanne Evans Stout.

I started by layering scraping blue and white paint over my page.

I used the Ripples stencil to stencil a flower look along the bottom of the page.

Then I used the Hawk of the Mountain stencil to stencil a bird perched on top of the flower like stencil.

To add to the flower look I used the Tossed Blossoms stencil.

To add texture and interest I added drips of acrylic ink from the top of the page. I spritzed with water to make them run. I love the drippy look!

I added details with white gel pen, black pencil. I then added the word Listen with acrylic ink.

I love combining different stencils and I love how this simple page turned out. So get out your stencil and combine at least 3 different ones to see what you can create. Your art journal is a great place to play with different combinations.

Happy Creating!

Cindy