Gwen's Gems: Encounters in Mary Beth's Studio

Greetings all! Carol Baxter here, sitting in for the incomparable Gwen Lafleur. 

Gwen recently taught All Mixed Up: Stencil and Stamp, Collage and Create! in Mary Beth's Studio.

Ms. Lafleur shared her favorite techniques for creating richly layered art journal pages and canvases. Her students carved stamps, made collage material, canvases, and art journal pages over the course of two days.

And I was not there. 

Waaaah! 

I am glad my teammates Mary N. and Gwen were able to enjoy each other's company.

But You, yes You. Now. Please come with me! 

I need some peeps by my side as I oh and ah over art and imagine the fun I missed hanging out with 3 people I work with remotely, a few people I only know from Facebook, happy people I do not recognize, and at least 2 people I met at An Art Journal Affair (where we lamented the fact that Gwen wasn't there)!

Making Fantastic Art!

Beautiful Smiles for the Camera.

Looking for more mixed media excitement? Gwen teaches in Connecticut in June.

Can't make Connecticut... me neither. Guess what?! Gwen arrived in St. Louis a day before her workshop and filmed all day for a "Boho Grunge" class that will be a part of StencilGirl Studio pretty soon!

Note to Mary Beth: I am sure you will get me, Gwen, and Mary N. all in the same place eventually!

Thanks so much to Gwen, Mary N., and students Patty D., and Sue W., and Rachel B. for sharing the photos that made this post possible!

Wishing you a day just as lovely as Gwen's Boho Collage Fish!
     Carol B.

Gwen's Gems - Use a Stencil for a Wire Jig Pattern

Hi all, it's Gwen with the March edition of Gwen's Gems! This month I decided to tackle an idea that's been kicking around in the back of my head for quite a while - using a stencil to make a pattern for wire jewelry. Intrigued? I hope so! Here's the pendant that I made with my pattern, and then below is a quick tutorial to show you how it all came together.

About two years ago I took a class at my local bead shop to learn how to make wire-wrapped pendants. I loved it - it's fun and a lot easier than it looks! I've played with the concept on and off since then, and a few months ago I had an idea for a necklace that required a wire jig so I picked one up. As I worked on that piece, it occurred to me that I could probably use a stencil to make a pattern, and I just couldn't get that thought out of my head... I had to give it a try!

Of course, the first shape I wanted to try was a peacock feather, so I used my Ornamental Peacock Feathers stencil to create the pattern. To do this, I laid the stencil over the jig and then inserted the metal pegs into the stencil openings (I secured them on the bottom as well with the little plastic tubes that come with the jig,) and played with how they were laid out until I was happy with the arrangement.

Once I had the positioning down, I took some 20 gauge gold-colored wire and cut a long length (about 18-20,") then started shaping it around the pegs. (I like 20 gauge for this because it's thick enough to hold its shape but not too thick to be workable. I've found that 24 gauge is definitely too thin; 22 gauge could work depending on how soft the wire is.) I used my fingers and pliers to do the shaping - nylon jawed pliers are especially helpful to keep from marking the wire as you work.

I started with just the basic feather shape, leaving the cross pieces to do separately. When I had it shaped, I pulled it off the jig and added some small Christmas beads (African trade beads) into the very center section to jazz it up a bit.

Once the small beads were in place, I used 24 gauge wire and wrapped it, securing the loose end of my feather shape to keep the beads in place. I decided to go with bronze colored wire for a bit of visual interest. I also strung a few more beads on another piece of wire and attached it by wrapping the end so that it would hang down into the center opening of my feather.

I wanted a few more decorative touches, so I used more of the 24 gauge wire in a few places around the feather and wrapped it.

I used these flat blade pliers to tighten up my wrapping - I learned about these in my class and they're incredibly helpful!

For the cross pieces of the feather, I went back and shaped the wires on the jig, then pulled them off and molded them just a bit and wrapped with more 24 gauge wire to secure the loose ends. Then I took another small length to attach each one onto the main feather (you can also see where I added a small wooden bead in between - it's ornamental and functional at the same time since it helps keep the two cross pieces separate.) I went for a kind of rustic look, crossing the wire back and forth so that the wrapping would be secure and a little decorative at the same time. You can see at the very tip where I left the end visible - you want to make sure to do that so that you can hook your pendant onto the chain of your necklace.

Voila! A fun and unique beaded wire pendant made using a stencil for the pattern. It takes a little practice to get used to working with the wire, but I love the effect you get as it all starts to come together. I just added some beads, chains, and metal findings to turn it into a complete necklace and now it's ready to wear!

That's it for this month... I hope you enjoyed this month's project as much as I enjoyed making it! Have you ever used a stencil as a pattern for your own wire jewelry? I'd love to see!

Until next time, happy stenciling!
Gwen

Gwen's Gems: Glam up your Grunge!

Hi all, it's Gwen back again with this month's edition of Gwen's Gems! Usually when I go to start work on the project for each month's post, I have some general idea of what I want to do - a piece of inspiration, a project type... something. This month? Zilch. Nada. Nothing. So what do I do when that happens? In this case I grabbed a canvas - 12" x 24" x 1" and just started collaging and painting and following my instincts to see where they would take me. Not too far into it, I started to have a vision of where I thought I would go. The canvas, however, had other ideas. Fortunately I listened and just went along with what it was telling me, because I really like the results!

I took some photos of my progress along the way so that you can see how the whole thing evolved from start to finish.

To begin with, I took my canvas and pulled out some paintable textured wallpaper and a few colors of Matisse background paints (basically colored gesso,) and since at this point I had no idea what I where I was going to go next, I just collaged on torn scraps of the wallpaper and then painted over top, blending as I went.

Still unsure of where things were going, I decided to add more texture by stenciling and then heat embossing some words and marks. I used the Unfinished stencil by Seth Apter (his designs are in my pile of go-to stencils whenever I want to add texture and / or text,) and stenciled with embossing ink and then heat embossed with Patina Oxide Baked Texture embossing powder.

From there I decided to collage some papers in place to start creating a foundation for the focal point of the piece... whatever that ended up being. I pulled some of my hand-printed and painted papers out of my file and just started arranging and gluing them down with gel medium. There's stenciling all over these - here you can see my Art Deco Sun Medallion stencil and my Art Deco Sunburst Background stencil along with some hints of the 4x4 from the May 2016 StencilClub kit by Terri Stegmiller, as well as the 9x12 from the January 2014 collection by Jessica Sporn.

Next I thought it would be cool to use some textured acrylic skins. I created a solid clear skin first - working on a silicon mat makes it really easy, then I stenciled on top with texture paste. In this case I used some gold embossing paste from Ranger / Wendy Vecchi and some light molding paste. I didn't know exactly what I was going to do with them - just vague ideas, so I made a variety with my Decorative 6-Petal Flower Stencil and Screen, my Decorative Medallion stencil, and my Ornamental Peacock Feathers stencil.

When the texture paste was dry, I thought it would be good to add in some color. A lot of my work lately has ended up really dark and grungy, so I wanted to mix it up a bit! (You saw the finished piece... the canvas had other thoughts on this matter!) To do that, I got out some Pebeo paints - Vitrail and Moon, in shades of red, orange, turquoise, and green. I just painted those on and then outlined them with a Pebeo relief paste. (Just FYI, these types of glass paints also make fabulous skins on their own, without the texture paste or acrylic skin base!)

I left those to dry overnight and then came back and peeled them off (cutting between sections,) and voila! Textured stained glass skins! I used some gloss medium to start adding these onto the canvas.

It was bright and colorful for a few minutes there, until my instincts were telling me to pull out the paints and start integrating them more into the background. So that's what I did next.

I kept adding layers of paint until I was happy with the depth I was starting to see - you can get a good sense of how that was looking from this close-up:

I added a bit more paint - mostly dry brushing along the tops of the textured areas, and also a brown glaze to add even more depth.

At this point I really felt like I needed to do something that would extend the linear direction of my collaged section in some way, but I didn't want to do that with actual lines or more collage of any type, so I auditioned a few stencils and ended up using Seth's Techno Insiders Circle Stencil along with more gold texture paste to make it more of a cruciform arrangement. Of course, I couldn't resist adding a little rhinestone into the center of each one... I need at least a little bling!

You may also see some new colors showing up above; I had walked away from this piece for several hours and then came back determined to bring in some color somehow. I looked at it, and the canvas said to me, "add pink." Whaaaat? Don't get me wrong... pink is a lovely color. I just don't really use it all that often. But the canvas (aka my gut) had spoken, so I added some pink-ish paints and brought in more with the sequins on one of the embellished sari scraps that I was layering on top for more texture, color, and a fair amount of glam.

I set the piece out of the way on the floor to dry and switched over to work on something else, but as I kept glancing over at it, I felt like those linear lines I'd created with the circles needed to be reinforced even more somehow, and then it came to me... paint splatters! I grabbed my Fineliner bottle with gold paint in it, got down on the floor, and started adding drips and splats all over the the area where I felt it needed it. I was super happy with the results. (It was also a lot of fun.)

Of course, when that was dry, I felt like there needed to be more variety in the size of the circles - they were a bit too uniform and it felt too abrupt going from the collaged area to the smaller circles - it needed to step down more gradually. So after thinking for a moment, I pulled out my Decorative medallion stencil, centered it over top of one of the stenciled circles, and then carefully added more texture paste, matching it up with the existing lines so that it looked like it was all one design.

While that was drying, I started collecting elements to use for my focal point - this is when you can really start to bring that glam to your grunge! Since I was apparently using pink, I pulled out some flowers that I'd made from glass and pink gemstone beads mixed with metal findings and assembled with wire. I also took a Spellbinders diecut frame and a chipboard frame from my stash and painted them both to look like rusted metal, then added some pink glitter glue to the chipboard frame. I found a decorative metal circle, aged it with alcohol inks and Staz-On inks, then glued a piece of mica to the back of the center hole followed by a tiny vintage photo. I was ready to assemble!

I layered all of the pieces over the background and glued them in place with E-6000, then left it to dry overnight.

With that, I was finished! This was absolutely not the bright and colorful piece I'd been planning to make, but I was happy that I followed my instincts and ended up with something totally unexpected and yet completely right. And of course, I still have plenty of glam layered over all that grunge!

Here are a few close-up photos so that you can better see some of the details of the finished piece: 

That's it for now... I hope you enjoyed this month's project! If you try making your own stenciled skins at home, I'd love to see how you use them!

Until next time, happy stenciling!
Gwen

Gwen's Gems - 3D Collaged Boho Fish

Hi all, it's Gwen back with this month's edition of Gwen's Gems! For today's project, I wanted to go back to a series I've been working on for a few years where I use stencils as patterns for 3D artwork, but this time I wanted to do something a bit different than a sculpture; I decided to do a new take on the boho fish that I've been making for the last year or so - something much more dimensional that would give me some new options for embellishment. With that in mind, I made this 12"x16" cradled mixed media panel with 3D collaged boho fish.

I put together a tutorial with some photos I took as I worked so that you can see how I made it. While this may not be something you want to reproduce exactly, hopefully there are some fun and useful techniques in here!

To start, I took the Ocean Glider stencil by Roxanne Evans Stout and traced it onto a thin piece of chipboard. I knew this was the perfect design for the technique I wanted to try, but I also wanted it in multiple sizes so I scanned a traced copy and then printed it out in about 6"x8" and then again in 8"x10" (keeping in mind that the stencil designs are copywrited, so this type of thing should only be for personal use.)

On the photocopies, I traced the printed lines with a charcoal pencil and then transferred the design onto thin cardboard by rubbing over the back firmly with a bone folder.

I cut out the outline of each fish, and then took very thin strips of chipboard and cut, curved, and bent them to match up with the lines of the stencil design. I used PVA glue in a Finliner bottle to apply each piece of chipboard to the base. This is, as you can imagine, a bit tedious, but I just turned on the hockey game and worked and watched / listened, and the time flew! (Plus, my team won which made it even more fun!) I repeated this for each of the three fish.

Once all of the sections and joins were dry, I painted each fish with black gesso, inside and out - making sure to get into all of the cracks and corners.

Next it was time to begin embellishing. I started by adding embossing powder into some of the sections - I used Burnt Copper Leaves from Emerald Creek, and I used matte medium as my adhesive (you could also use an embossing pen or a Versamark pen to get into smaller spaces like this.)

From there, it was time to start the collage part of things. In the largest area of each fish, I pulled out my collage and scrap papers and layered pieces of them until I liked the way it looked. You can see here that I just pressed them into the tray and used my fingernail to mark the line with a good crease, then cut it out. I knew I was going to cover up the edges, so it was okay if it wasn't perfect.

Most of my collage papers have stenciling on them, of course! Here you can see my Art Deco Borders stencil, my Art Deco Sunburst Background stencil, the Decorative Medallion, my Art Deco Sunburst Medallion, and the Nosegay stencil by Cecilia Swatton.

Next, I added some paint to a few of the empty sections, and started adding in embellishments like some beaded Kuchi trim and Dresden trim.

When the painted sections were dry, I put down some glue and added some fun little bits, like seed beads, microbeads, and chunky glitter. I also found a few broken pieces of Turkmen jewelry that I thought would work well for eyes and glued those into place. To cover up any gaps between the collage papers and the sides of the fish, I used a Versamark pen and Emerald Creek embossing powder to cover it up so that it almost looked soldered.

I added a brown glaze over the larger sections, then when it was all dry I flooded it with gloss medium (Golden used to call it Polymer medium and I believe Liquitex calls it Pouring medium.) I set these aside on a level surface and let them dry overnight.

The next morning, I went back in with Seth Apter's Timeless stencil and heat embossed some textured details over the top to add just one more layer. (More is more!)

With that, the fish were done and it was time to start on my background. I pulled out a 12"x16" cradled birch panel and coated it with a turquoise colored gesso from Matisse. Then I used Seth's Unfinished stencil to add lines of texture that would mimic sea plants in my design; I inked and then heat embossed those. This would end up mostly covered, but I knew that the texture would still show through from the raised surface you get with the embossing. (Again, I used Emerald Creek for all of the embossing on this piece.)

Next I took out two sheets of rice paper and a few shades of blue and teal paints and stenciled Trish McKinney's Ripple Effect stencil to be used for collage over top of the embossed background.

When it was dry, I tore sections off and layered them over the panel, adhering with matte medium and pressing quite firmly to make sure there were no bubbles. I set this aside to let it dry for a while.

Next I came in with a few colors of embossing powder and just added larger swaths of color - I wanted something that looked very natural - a bit like a rock formation.

On one of the layers I embedded some chunky glass glitter by heating a small section until it was liquid, moving the heat gun away and quickly sprinkling in a bit of the glitter, then bringing the heat back to seal it in place. I dabbed a bit of gold and bronze paint over the embossed areas to get a metallic touch - I really liked the effect!

I finished the edges of the panel with some black wax, then used a heavy gel medium to adhere my fish into place on the top and let that dry for a few hours.

I felt like it still needed a bit more, so I used some gilding paste and gold leafing flakes to add a bit more detail, then used some acrylic paint daubers to integrate those areas into the background.

Voila - finished!

Here you can see some of the dimension looking down from the top:

Also a few close-ups of the individual fish:

And a bottom view - you can see more dimension as well as some of the texture from the heat embossing:

I had so much fun making this piece, and I hope you enjoyed it as well, and maybe even picked up a few ideas that you'd like to try yourself! If you try this at home, I'd love to see how it turns out!

Until next time, happy stenciling!
Gwen