Guest Designer: Sandra Preston

As an abstract mixed media artist, I like to use stencils for inspiration to start to fill the white canvas. Sometimes they will be very obvious once the work is completed. Other times I will build a lot of texture on top of them and they will be barely noticeable. I also like to use stencils to finish off a piece.
I will show you how I do both in this post.

I’m using two 6-inch X 6-inch Ampersand boards that are already coated with gesso.

1. The first thing I do is gesso the other four sides of the boards so that I can extend the painting around them. I’m using gesso made by Golden. Normally, I will not have as many layers of media on the sides as I do on the top of the board. So sometimes the sides will reveal how I began the piece using the stencil as inspiration.
(In this photo the boards are sitting on top of bed risers.)

2. I’m using Golden heavy body and fluid acrylics.

3. Let the Paint dry and then add Mary Beth Shaw's Eddy Rose stencil. This stencil is a favorite of mine.
I interpret it as both astronomical and as flowers. I get the best result with a stencil when working on a flat, dry surface with a dry stencil and paint that is not too watered down.

The paint had not quite dried before I stenciled over it and this makes the pattern a bit more abstract, which I also like. I also stencil on the top side and at the top of the left and right sides of each board (not shown here).
I’m leaving the bottom side for my signature.

4. Next I add some collage elements including paper cut from the inside of business envelopes, some oriental text, some purchased paper, and some words cut from a book. I glue these down (right) using Golden’s polymer gloss medium. I use the same elements on each surface so they can hang together or stand alone.
In the end they can be moved around to find the most interesting way to display them together.

5. I add some Golden light molding paste by using a strip of heavy cloth with holes in it. Let it dry.

6. Then I added Daniella Woolf's Basket stencil and some gold paint.
I used the stencil in an area where there is not much texture.
Towards the end of this blog I will show you how to apply a stencil when there is lots of texture. 

7. Then I add a few more collage pieces of handmade paper that I painted earlier and some store-bought paper. This photo also shows how the sides are looking with only the first few steps showing.

8. I add more stencil to the sides and some additional paint to both the sides and the top.
This stencil is Carolyn Dube's Field of Eyes Layer Me stencil, and it is staple of mine.

Here’s how the sides are looking.

9. Stamps from Stampin’ Up! are used on each piece.

10. I add more paint to cover the molding paste and then I add Americana Triple Thick Gloss by DecoArt to cover both the top and sides.

11. Then using Liquitex gel gloss and a different stencil, I add a dragonfly moon to each piece. This stencil is Roxanne Evans Stout's Moon Gazer stencil. Leave the stencil on because next you will apply the paint over the gel gloss and you don’t want to have to try to get the stencil back on to do that like I had to do.

Here’s the dragonfly with the gloss gel applied. 

12. Here I’m applying iridescent white over the top of the gel and stencil. The gel helps to hold the paint within the stencil. I got this tip from Sandra Duran Wilson, in her workshop entitled Texture Trifecta, which I attended this past weekend at the Ampersand factory in Buda, Texas.

Here are the finished pieces, which can be rearranged to hang together however they speak to you.
I like using the dark lines to line them up. I think I will name them “It takes a village I and II.”

My pieces are enriched by the use of other’s designs and I’m very grateful to be able to add elements, such as Stencil Girl’s stencils, to give me inspiration, help finish the piece, and increase interest.

These pieces and more are available at my website http://sandraprestonart.com.

P.S. Here’s how a some of the sides turned out.

A Stenciled Layette

Hi - Jessica Sporn here.  Stencil Girl just released six new stencils that I designed.  And my cousin's daughter just had a baby girl named Addison.  So I thought I'd combine these two events to create one of a kind onesies!

I bought 6 cotton onesies and washed and dried them.  Then, using cosmetic sponges and DecoArts Fabric Paints, I got to stenciling!

For the first one, I put a piece of cardboard inside the onesie and proceeded to pounce through it using the L421 Eastern Lotus Repeat.  The repeating pattern made it very easy to seamlessly line up the front, sides and backs with this fun pattern.  

Next, I thought I'd see what happened if I brayered the fabric paint on the gelli plate, laid the Lacy Lotus Repeat on the plate and then pressed the onesie down.  It took a lot of tries to finally get coverage, but in the end I was happy with how it looked.  I added the phrase "Everyday Happy" using the Sacred Words and Marks Stencil.

While I had the words out, I decided to just cover a onesie with the words.  I hope that Addison is blessed with the sentiments in this stencil for every day of her life.

These cows, the border, hearts and stars are from the "On the Farm" stencil.   I was tempted to break out into "Old MacDonald Had a Farm" as I worked on it! 

And finally, I used the Becoming Stencil.  Because, after all, that's what all babies are doing.... becoming!

Once I finished stenciling, I heat set the onesies by putting them in the dryer on high for 20 minutes.  Then I washed and dried them again, and packed them up to send to baby Addison.  I hope she likes them!

I hope this post sparks your creativity and gives you ideas for other ways to use your stencils.  

To see a video of my process creating these onesies, hop on over to my blog  where you'll also find lots of other ideas on how to use your stencils!

Guest Designer Anna-Karin Evaldsson: Mixed-Media Canvas

Perspective is everything

Hello everyone! This is Anna-Karin and I am so happy to be a guest designer at StencilGirl. I love stencils since they are so versatile and you can do so many different techniques with a stencil. And there are so many gorgeous StencilGirl stencils!

I did a mixed media project on a canvas covered Masonite board (13.6 x 10.6 in), using a whole bunch of different stencils. The inspiration for the piece came from Carolyn Dube’s beautiful ArchedAqueduct stencil, which reminded me of Italy, and not only of aqueducts, but also of buildings and old porticos. Because of the theme, I used rich warm colours on the board, a different colour combo than what I often reach for. I was tempted to add some turquoise, but in the end decided not to.  I took step-by-step photos and you can use the techniques for any type of project.

After coating the board with gesso, I tore out text and images from an old dictionary. There is a map of Rome and of Italy, a photo of the famous Pont du Gard aqueduct in France, which I saw as a teenager, and an image of an old statue. Glue to the board with gel medium.

Coat with a thin layer of gesso, depending on how much of the text and images you want to cover up.

I used Deco Art Media paints, but you can also use other acrylic paints. Paint with Yellow Oxide and Raw Sienna. Mix a little bit of Glazing Medium into the paint, to give you more working time before it dries. Use the back of a paint brush to add writing and scribbles. I wrote things like ‘aqua’, ‘aqueduct’ and ‘Italy’.

I love Mary Beth Shaw’s MB’s Grid Stencils set, which contains three stencils with differently sized squares. Squares are so versatile. First use the largest one and sponge Raw Sienna and Burnt Sienna through it.

Next, I used the mid-sized squares together with Yellow Oxide, for very subtle squares.

Stamp the background here and there with Ranger Jet Black Archival Ink, or another waterproof ink.

Apply shades of brown through the Arched Aqueduct stencil, varying the placement of the stencil until you are happy with the result. I thought my board by now looked like a multi-layered old building.

Stamp here and there with a crackle stamp and Potting Soil ink.

I thought my board needed some more bright yellow and made a glaze with Hansa Yellow Medium. It made a big difference and added more life and drama.

For a focal point, I used one of the birds on the Three Crows stencil by Kimberly Baxter Packwood. Smear Crackle Paste through it with a palette knife and let dry.

Use the smallest stencil and add three squares on three different places, with Texture Sand Paste.

I love to use words and text on my projects and there are four layers of words on this board - the paper, the scribbling, the stamping and finally sentiments done with Carolyn Dube’s fabulous Wall of Words stencil and Black Texture Paste. This stencil contains so many great sentiments and would be awesome as a background too. I will be using it a lot.

When dry, the small squares were painted a rusty red and given a shadow to make them look more dimensional.

Add a subtle gold element with Seth Apter’s Urban Insiders Circle stencil, in three places.

When the bird was dry, I painted it and gave it a nest of dyed cheesecloth. Two additional small pieces of cheesecloth were placed on the board. For extra texture, splatter a little black paint here and there.

Most of the paints that I used are transparent, which means you can see the background through the layers of paint. I love that you can see the old dictionary image of the Pont du Gard here.

I like the way the black sentiment stand out on the background. Add some black and dark brown around the edges of the board too.

The rough red squares form a visual triangle which leads the eye around the project.

Wherever you look, you can find little details, such as the word ‘Rome’ hiding beneath the paint here.

The combination of squares and arches makes for an interesting design.

I had such fun making this project and it is now hanging on the wall of my studio. Thank you so much for looking at this tutorial.

Happy crafting!

Anna-Karin
Blog: Layers of Ink
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Supplies:

StencilGirl stencils: Arched Aqueduct, Wall of Words, MB’s Grid Stencils, Three Crows, Urban Insider’s Circle

Stamps: Stamper’s Anonymous – Classics #3, #7, #15

Ink: Ranger Archival Ink – Jet Black, Potting Soil

Paint: DecoArt Media Fluid Acrylics – Yellow Oxide, Raw Sienna, Burnt Sienna, Hansa Yellow Medium, Gold Metallic, Raw Umber, Burnt Umber, Carbon Black, Payne’s Grey, English Red Oxide, Transparent Red Iron Oxide, Quinacridone Red

Medium: DecoArt Media – White Gesso, Matte Medium, Crackle Paste, Black Modeling Paste, Texture Sand Paste; Ranger Dina Wakley – Glazing Medium