StencilGirl® Stencils on Collaged Postcards from Lauren Bergold

Hello, it's Lauren Bergold, a StencilGirl® superfan, and I'm thrilled to be a guest here on StencilGirl Talk. Today I've got a brand new project... with vintage flair. I've collected postcards since I was about ten; but I also love making my own. For this post, I've made a set of travel-inspired 5x7" postcards, using four of Mary Nasser's beautiful designs: Map Stencil, Metro Map, Map with Roundabouts (are you sensing a theme?!) and one of her travel word stencils, Let's Go 2, which has the best typewriter font ever! 

I started by making base collages of torn vintage paper, just slightly over 5x7". I used bits of old train schedules, foreign text paper, aeronautical diagrams and... well, a little bit of everything that felt travel-related, but fairly neutral. I covered the reverse side with an old NYC Subway map. Since my favorite postcards as a kid were those which came in a special little folder, I made one of those, too, out of a piece of wallpaper from a retired sample book.

The first thing I do with any new StencilGirl® Stencils is test them out; ok, actually I just play with them, lol! I try different inks and pastes on various types of paper; I experiment with colors and blending; I consider outlines and doodles using my favorite pens. For this project I chose Distress Oxide Inks, in strong but muted colors. I outlined the map images, but left the words alone. 

I don't always cut out all my vintage images before I start, but in this case I had a pretty strong vision and I knew I wanted a car, a ship, a plane and a train. I chose a few travel-related quotes and typed them on vintage labels. There's no earthly reason for flowers to make an appearance, but as in many of my pieces, somehow they worked their way in.

I used the travel words from Let's Go 2, in a medium grey ink on all four cards, scattering them across each panel and letting them run off the edges. I used the three map stencils selectively, sometimes taping off bits of the design, to get a more interesting shape. For example, I used the deepest curve of Map Stencil, to convey the idea of waves under my vintage ocean liner image.

My vintage car collage has words from Let's Go 2 and an angular section of Map with Roundabouts in a strong but muted yellow.

The airplane collage is built around the 6x6" Metro Map in a soft shade of blue; and once again the words from Let's Go 2 are nestled over and under bits of the background.

The ocean liner is floating on the "wave" from Map Stencil, with a sky adorned by that perfect typewriter font from Let's Go 2.

The railroad image is again paired with the finely geometric details of Map Stencil, in a soft green that echoes the foliage. You cannot exactly *read* the words from Let's Go 2, but they definitely add more of the travel spirit just by being there.

My folio has a small car, a huge floral and the anchor of Metro Map, in amber, on a piece of a vintage latitudinal chart, which I cut out with scissors, to capture the beautiful circle shapes.

The four cards tuck neatly inside their folder and tie with torn strips of sari silk. They will be winging off to a travel-loving friend.

I hope you'll be inspired to make your own map-inspired art using StencilGirl® Stencils; until such time as we can all dream of traveling again in real life!

Lauren Bergold

loves vintage paper, colorful inks, 

and (especially!)

StencilGirl® Stencils!

Color Burst Gatherings Journal

Hello everyone! My name is Kimberly Jones and I’m delighted to share a fun project with you today featuring Ken Oliver’s Color Burst watercolors, and StencilGirl stencils!

If you are new to Color Burst, it’s a richly pigmented powder that explodes into vivid hues when activated with water. What a fun match for stencils!

I chose several beautiful stencils for this project including Nature’s Gatherings, Go Your Own Way Arrows, Numbers, and Classic Feather Retake. I decided to create a nature journal to gather sketches and watercolors and to jot down notes and observations.

I would love to share some of the details from this project with you today.

Color Burst is such a versatile medium and there are infinite ways to use it. You can definitely create a riot of color, but I like to use it more subtle ways too -  for tinting papers and fabrics, and of course for stenciling. Today I’ll share 3 of my favorite ways to use Color Burst with stencils. The first way as shown in the photo above is the sprinkle and spritz technique. Simply gather a selection of your favorite colors that play well together, sprinkle them in the sections of your chosen stencil and then lightly spritz them with a spray bottle filled with water. I found it helpful to use masking tape to hold the stencil in place. Be sparing with the water because too much will cause the pigment to run under the stencil. This method is very unpredictable and it’s always fun to lift the stencil and reveal the results!

Technique #2 is a bit more like traditional watercoloring. I used Chartreuse and Lime Green to stencil a simple botanical image from Nature’s Gatherings. I used masking tape to secure the stencil onto a piece of Water Media Paper, and tapped a few granules of pigment from each bottle onto a craft mat. I like to use a water brush for this technique, and as you can see I only used a tiny bit of water to create a few droplets of paint.

Technique #3 is the most subtle of all and uses my new favorite Color Burst - Burnt Umber!

I like to tap some into an inkwell or other small container, add a bit of water, stir it up, and then use it like an ink. I used a cosmetic wedge to sponge some of the Burnt Umber onto Water Media paper using the tree image from the Nature’s Gatherings stencil. I  used this technique to create the bird silhouette on the journal cover using part of a vintage hanky. I also tinted the ledger paper and other paper scraps on the cover collage using Burnt Umber. 

To create the journal covers I tinted 2 pieces of 6 x 8 1/2 Khadi Paper with more of the Burnt Umber and water mixture. I covered the front with a piece of vintage ledger paper and then stenciled over it with random elements from the Numbers stencil using gesso. I then added a piece of canvas layered with the tinted Swiss dot fabric, the Burnt Umber bird, some illustrations from a vintage field guide, and a piece of handmade paper stenciled with one of the Go Your Own Way Arrows. A found metal keyhole topped off the focal point of the cover. Notice that gorgeous rusty shimmer on the arrow and some of the stenciling? That’s Iron Oxide Liquid Metals, a new addition to the Color Burst line! It’s actually a liquid and I used it with a dry paint brush to accent the arrow and some of the other stenciled areas. It adds so much sparkle! I used a black Posca paint pen to stencil the word gatherings onto a piece of Burnt Umber tinted handmade paper. A white Uniball gel pen add some final details to the arrow and other stenciled elements.

The inside pages of the journal include an eclectic mix of Water Media paper, parchment paper, and several pages form a vintage ledger. I used a simple 3-hole pamphlet stick to bind the journal together using Chartreuse and Lime Green tinted sari ribbon. A calligraphy brush attached with 24 gauge copper wire completed the project.

It was such a pleasure to create with these gorgeous stencils and I know they will be making many more appearances in my artwork!

If you would like to keep up with my artful adventures please check out my blog Serendipity Vintage Studio or follow me on Instagram@artfullvintage. Many thanks to StencilGirl for inviting me to be a part of their inspiring community!

Guest Designer: Diane Salter!

Hi everyone! My name is Diane Salter and I'm so excited to be a guest designer for StencilGirlProducts. I've always enjoyed trying out different techniques and products, and right now what's topping my list is painting papers and using them for collage. So when I was asked to be a guest for StencilGirl, I knew just what I could do.

I gathered up my plain white 110lb cardstock paper, which you can find at any office supply store, my Gelli plate, my paints, a brayer, and a plain wood box from the craft store. The stencils that I decided to use were Mary Beth Shaw's Circle Tile Stencil and Squared On Stencil, and Carolyn Dube's Now is the TimeSmall Stencil.

Most times when I make a batch of papers, I will start with my Gelli Plate, starting out with paint on the plate and then  playing with my stencils.

I also like to add more to some of the papers once I stop with the Gelli printing. These are usually the papers that I'm not really satisfied with that resulted  from the Gelli plate. So I'll add more paint with mark-making tools, such as a texture comb, random size bottle caps or cookie cutters, masking with masking tape, stamping, and maybe even throwing in some paint splatters.

Another technique that I really like to do is adding texture with the stencil. This is a pretty popular technique--modeling paste through the stencil. But I prefer to use regular gel medium for the paper, mainly because it's more flexible when you go to cut it up for collage, and it still adds great texture. 

So the first thing I did with my box was paint the inside of it with a color that would compliment my papers. I then collaged with gel medium on all 4 sides of the box with my papers that would represent my background.

And now comes the real play for me, when I start making 'pictures' with my papers. I usually will get an idea of what I want to do, so I drew simple templates of the images that I wanted  to use and outlined them on my painted papers. Then I got out my gel medium and started collaging....

At this point, I always make sure to cover everything with the gel medium – this seals everything in, and when it's dry, I'm ready for my next layer. And that would be enhancing the images with a  black Faber Castell pitt pen, some doodling with a black Fudeball pen (or any permanent marker/pen), and whatever else I want to do at the time – this part is very intuitive for me. I just have fun.

The lid of the box was just random collaging with scraps of my papers.

And I didn't forget the inside of the lid either, to complete the box.

And the finishing touches – a painted doorknob plate and wood knob on the lid, and also feet for the bottom. And a few coats of gloss varnish, which really makes the colors pop. And if you haven't noticed already, I love color!

This is one of my favorite ways of creating art – starting out with plain white papers and paint and stencils – just enjoying the process and seeing your art piece progress along the way.

Thank you so much StencilGirl Products for asking me to be a guest. I love sharing my art and techniques, and if anyone would like to see more of my work, you can visit me at my blog where I also have other tutorials.  My blog is: http://dianesalter.blogspot.com. You can also find the link to my Facebook art page at my blog.

Exploding Box by Terry Garrett!

When I was asked to be a blog guest I said yes – not knowing where I would go with this.

Then I decided I wanted to do something 3D. I don't do that often and so wanted to challenge myself.

I have long been curious about the exploding box. It's a fun way to have something be both flat and 3D.

I found a template online for the exploding box and there were several to choose from.

The photo below is of the blank pieces. I used a 140# watercolor paper for this project.

I decided I wanted to make my box look like an old city building with brick showing out from peeling paint.

This I thought was perfect to use some of Seth Apter's stencils.

So I started with a coat of some light colors put on with a credit card and then using

Carolyn Dube's Buildings stencil I stenciled on the bricks.

 Once that was dry I used a technique I learned from a friend of mine, John Arbuckle.
I put Vaseline over parts of the brick pattern and other areas and then painted a mixed gray over it. 

When that was dry I rubbed off the paint that was on top of the vaseline revealing some of the brick pattern. Then I found some windows and door online that I wanted to use and glued those down. 

Next I worked on the inside insert. The photo below is the back side of the insert. I painted the background and stenciled with some of StencilClub stencils and collaged with some things from TumbleFish Studios. 

Then I flipped it over and using my eBrush – I used Seth's stencils

and used rubber stamps for the center message. 

The next photos are of the finished exterior.

I used my eBrush with Seth's stencils for what I feel is an authentic looking graffiti.

The eBrush is an airbrush that uses art markers – it takes several different kinds – I used Copic and Spectrum Noir alcohol markers. Here is a link for the eBrush. http://www.craftwellusa.com/products/ebrush 

The photo below is of the inside of the exploding box.

This was a lot of fun!

~Terry Garrett

To see more of Terry's work, please visit his BLOG at whisperwoodartworks.blogspot.com!