Guest Designer Vanessa Spencer

Welcome to 
StencilGirl Guest Designer 
Vanessa Spencer!!


Stencil Storage Folder

By Vanessa Spencer

Supplies:

·       Stencil – Traci Bautista Floral 1

·       Folder/binder

·       Foam brush

·       Fine tip paintbrush

·       Acrylic paints

·       Gesso

·       Sharpie

·       Dymo Label

I stumbled across these kraft folders recently at Daiso, a Japanese discount store. I love using any products that have a kraft finish, they make a great surface palette for mixed-media and art projects.

I’m starting to get quite the stencil collection, so I thought I would try one of the folders for storage and see if it’s a good solution. I figured since i was putting stencils inside the folder, I best embellish the front using a fun stencil design. It would be great to display all my stencils where I can see them, but they would probably fill an entire wall, so a folder seems like a good option.

First I used the bottom of a jar as a stamp and dipped it into an aqua  acrylic paint. I wasn’t really sure where to go with the next layer and decided to lightly paint over it lightly with some white gesso.

After the gesso I decided to use one of Traci Bautista's stencils with a coral acrylic paint and stencil the entire cover. Then I used an aqua sharpie to draw randomly on some of the flowers. I wasn’t too happy with how it was looking at that stage, so I ended up slightly painting over the blue sharpie lines with some light blue and white acrylic paint.

To finish it off I decided to use a simple dymo label on the front.

Vanessa Spencer is a mixed-media artist and crafter and lives in Utah with her daughter Izzy and son Brin. You can learn more about Vanessa by visiting her blog HERE and you can email her at HERE.

Circles Stencil Wall Art with Vanessa Spencer

Circles Wall Art

By VanessaSpencer

I’ve got a number of project ideas swirling around in my head for these cool Traci Bautista stencils… I thought for this blog post I would do some quick and easy stenciling with spray inks and frame the finished pieces.

All you need to do is create these easy stenciled backgrounds on white cardstock and then frame them in simple, classic white frames. I added a simple word onto each piece but even without the stickers these patterns look really cool just framed and displayed on a shelf or hung on the wall.

I love the rich, vibrant tones of the Tim Holtz Adirondack spray inks so I paired my two favorite colors, Purple Twilight and Stream with one of my new favorite Stencils, Circles Circles by Traci Bautista.

·      Supplies:

       Stencils Circles Circles

·      White Cardstock

·      Spray Inks (Adirondack Purple Twilight and Stream)

·      Tray

·      Paper towels

·      Paper trimmer

·      Word Stickers

·      Frames

·      White Spray-paint

Stenciling with spray inks tends to get a bit messy, so I like to use an old baking tray and also cover the surrounding surface with some excess white cardstock and paper towels.

Lay the stencil down flat on the white cardstock. Spray the first color in random areas.

Then spray the second color over the rest of the white areas. Try not to spray too much; otherwise the color will bleed under the stencil.

Peel the stencil off.

Then let the pieces of cardstock dry.

I used some thrift store frames and decided to spray paint them white. I didn’t keep the glass from the frames. I think these pieces look much better with no glass in the frames.

Insert the cut pieces of stenciled paper into each frame. Attach a simple word sticker to each piece, adding it to one of the darker colored areas so that it really pops.

Display your framed stenciled pieces on the wall or on a favorite shelf at home.

Vanessa Spencer is a mixed-media artist and crafter and lives in Salt Lake City, Utah with her daughter Izzy and son Brin. You can learn more about Vanessa by visiting her blog HERE www.hearthhandmade.blogspot.com and you can email her HERE. 

Stencil Used:

Circles Circles 

Porcelain Plates and Stencils by StencilGirl Guest Designer Vanessa Spencer

Welcome BACK to StencilGirl 

Guest Designer Vanessa Spencer!!

Growing up, I remember one of my Great Aunts had the most impressive collection of owls. They were all neatly displayed in a glass cabinet and every time we went to her house I was so intrigued by her collection. I haven’t taken up “owl collecting” myself (I have enough other things I collect) but I really love pictures of owls and art inspired by them. When I saw the owl stencils on StencilGirl I fell in love – these owl images are perfection.

Supplies:

·      Stencils: Three Owls and a Branch

    Plain white dinnerware

·      Sharpies

·      Oven

I looked at numerous similar tutorials online for inspiration and tips. There were a number of people that said it worked really well, and others that said it didn’t. I think it honestly all depends on the type of plates you are using.

I purchased some old corning ware plates from the thrift store and they actually worked quite well. I’m not planning on using these for everyday eating so I’m honestly not sure how they would hold up in the long run. I have plans to display mine on the wall.

Stenciling on a flat surface is ideal and easier than a curved surface so I decided to center the owl images in the middle of each plate to make it easier. I made sure to have a regular sharpie and a fine point sharpie on hand. The fine point will come in handy for the really small details that you trace.

Holding the stencil down firmly, I traced a few areas of the image at a time. Then after tracing a few I would lift the stencil and color in those areas. Then I placed the stencil back and positioned it accurately  and continued. I prefer this method (doing it in small chunks) as opposed to tracing the entire image and then coloring. I found this way, the end result was a cleaner, neater image.

When you get to the areas that have the smaller detail, grab the fine point sharpie but be very careful – I found that the fine point ink would bleed fairly easy so in order to avoid that you need to trace really quickly (I know this probably sounds ridiculous) but this honestly worked for me. Just trace those tiny circles fast and then you can go back and color them in and clean them up.

Once the owls are all done and colored in, they are ready to bake in the oven. I baked mined at 425 degrees Fahrenheit for 30 minutes.

After baking them I gave them a good wash in the sink, even scrubbed them with a non-scratch pad and they still look great.

Like I said earlier, these are probably best not to use on an everyday basis and better of for using on special occasions. If you do use them regularly you may find that they will fad lightly over time. You can easily just touch them up with a black sharpie and bake them in the oven again to freshen up the design.

VanessaSpencer is a mixed-media artist and crafter and lives in Utah with her daughter Izzy and son Brin. You can learn more about Vanessa by visiting her blog HERE and you can email her HERE.