Create a Dimensional Garden Labyrinth with Modeling Paste

Hi, my friends! I'm Consie Sindet and this is my first post for StencilGirl®. I'm a mixed media artist that loves playing with supplies, experimenting in my art journals, and delighting in sharing what I come up with!

I'm a big fan of being outdoors and walking a local labyrinth in my town. I find the experience to be very meditative. However, sometimes the weather doesn't cooperate! Today, I wanted to share with you how to create a finger labyrinth in your art journal so you can always "walk" the labyrinth anytime you want.

BTW...I made a video of the process which you can find at the bottom of this post.

Let's start with the supplies:

Ceremonial Labyrinth stencil #2 by Cynthia Silveri: M228

Leafy Doodle Verge stencil/mask by Valerie Sjodin: S714

ATC Mixup Evan stencil by Jennifer Evans: L654

ATC Mixup Apter stencil by Seth Apter: L664

Watercolors

Makeup sponges

Modeling paste

Palette knife

Inktense pencils

White paint pen

The first thing I did was to create a background of mossy rocks to anchor my garden using a variety of green watercolors and a makeup sponge. The ATC Mixup Apter stencil by Seth Apter: L664 had a few different size circles that I could use to add a layered look to the page.

I then applied modeling paste with a palette knife to form my garden and labyrinth. I used the Leafy Doodle Verge stencil/mask by Valerie Sjodin: S714 to add the trees and foliage that I have at my actual labyrinth and the ATC Mixup Evan stencil by Jennifer Evans: L654 to add the garden on the bottom of the page to represent the flowers that grow in the surrounding woods. 

After I applied the paste through the Ceremonial Labyrinth stencil #2 by Cynthia Silveri: M228, I went back in to fill in the sections that were not covered by the bridges in the stencil. I wanted to have the walls as a single piece. Because I was adding the paste without a stencil, the finished texture had a wonderful rough stone feel about it!

A quick note: I don't as a rule clean my stencils except when using modeling paste. I did clean each of these stencils right after using them and allowed the modeling paste to dry with each layer on my page so I didn't pull up what I had already put down when I used the next stencil. 

Once all of the paste was dry, the next step was to add watercolor over all of the raised sections. I used a dry-ish brush to apply the paint. It is not really possible to drybrush with watercolor as you need moisture to get the paint to move! However, if you use as little water as possible, you can get the paint to catch on the modeling paste and not as much of the background paper. A light touch and layering works better than trying to get the color to cover all in one go.

After the watercolor had dried, I went in with my Inktense pencils to add more depth to all of the sections. Feel free to use watercolor pencils, water-soluble crayons, or any other supply you want to experiment with! I used the pencils to add shading to get all of the garden elements to really pop off the page. 

Most of the shading was done on the modeling paste itself. However, with the labyrinth, I wanted that to stand out the most. So, I shaded around the outside of the paste to really give it a raise stone wall look.

The final touches included a few highlights with a white paint pen on the flower petals and the labyrinth, and some splatters using the Indigo Inktense pencil. Now the labyrinth is ready to use whenever I need a meditative minute or two in my day!

I would love to see what you create using these stencils! You can tag me on Instagram and find me in the following spaces!

Website: AtopSerenityHill.com

Instagram: @consie_atopserenityhill

YouTube: @ConsieSindet

The Creative Playground membership

Carol Ponsford: Let's have some fun in our journal!

Hello creatives, Carol Ponsford on the blog today to share a journal page I created using 

Pam Carriker's "Create Face" #S646 and an alphabet section of #L60 stencil.

 I used several other stencils for the background which I will have listed at the bottom of this post.

To start I spread a layer of Dina Wakley Media White Gesso on the journal page with 

an old gift card. After the gesso is completely dry, I used my fingers to loosely 

spread and blend a variety of PaperArtsy Fresco acrylic paint colors all over the page except 

where I planned to put my focal point on the page. (for this page it was in the bottom left)

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Next (while the paint is still damp), I laid a stencil on top of the paint and using a baby wipe,

I rubbed through the stencil to remove the paint and leave the stencil pattern on the page.

I then started layering some paint on top of the page by dabbing paint through a 

different stencil. I repeat this process using several paint colors with an assortment 

of stencils. Once I had the look I wanted I set this aside to dry. 

Then I went back into areas with some white gesso and lightly covered some of the areas

 (as shown below), I added an additional layer of color in some areas. This process of 

layering creates a great deal of depth that I like because I feel it gives more interest to the page.

I also used the edge of the gift card to add some vertical lines by dipping the 

edge in some paint and lightly placing it on the page and swiping it downward. I let 

this dry before going back to do some stenciling as a top layer as shown below.

To add the face I first lightly outlined where I wanted her hair to go since I 

wanted it to go beyond the edge of the stencil. I laid the stencil 

down and sponged the reddish paint for the hair and lips of the girl.

I then took the black paint and sponged the eyes, nose, and neck areas. I wasn't sure if

I wanted to have the diamond on both eyes or just one so on a separate piece of scrap paper

I sponged on the eyes and took a black Posca marker and drew the diamonds 

around them as shown in the picture below. I auditioned one, then both on the face to see how 

I wanted to finish the face then proceeded to add the diamond on the left eye only.

I also added some additional width to the neckline because it looked a little wonky, 

so I just continued the black lines as far to the left as needed to be in proportion.

I used a Micron pen to trace the letters from the alphabet stencil to say 

"Send in the clowns" and then filled them in with a black Posca marker. I 

ended up using a fine white pen to add highlights to the lettering.

To finish off the page I took an empty tape roll and dipped it into black 

paint and added some rings around the page. I also took a black Posca marker to 

outline the hair and face and sketched some lines around the edge of the page.

Here is a list of all of the stencils and PaperArtsy colors I used on this page:

Stencils                                                                     PaperArtsy Paint

S646 - Create Face                                              Snowflake                         Blueberry

S003 - Repeating Fleur de Lys                            Little Black Dress             Blew

M160 - Organic Roots #1                                    Zesty Zing                        Wisteria

M031 - Journal Texture #6                                  Slimed                               Electric Violet

L651 - ATC Mixup                                              Green Patina                     Cerise

L601 - Alphabet                                                   Smurf                                Scottish Salmon 

Jan 2022 StencilClub Pattern Party                      Peach Nectar                     Cherry Red

Thank you so much for joining me today on the blog. I hope you 

will find some of the techniques I shared helpful to jump start work 

in your journal or artwork. Until next time, happy creating!

To see more of my work please visit my Instagram page.

 

Reimagining an Old Journal Page

Hello StencilGirl® friends! Nicole here and I’m back with a simple journal page layering some, you guessed it, stencils to reimagine one of my older journal pages. 

 

I mentioned on two previous blog posts (here and here) that I am on a quest to fill up this old Dina Wakley journal, and I’m almost there. In fact, I had a hard time deciding which page to use for today’s creation. 

 

As I flipped through the journal, I saw a page that I created in class with Dina Wakley. Funny enough, it’s the same class that I received the journal in many (many!) years ago. I decided I was up for the challenge to create a coordinating page to the left. I thought it would be fun to create a “Nicole style” page adjacent to a page that was not only created years ago using class instruction, but so different from my current style.

 

It was my goal to translate each element from the right page onto the blank page in a new and different way.

 

To begin, I layered a piece of ledger paper on the gessoed page to mirror the handwriting on the other page. The ledger paper was left over from another project so it already had a thin layer of gesso on it. 

 

Next, I tackled the large white circles that have marks in them. I added elephant acrylic paint through the rows of triangles stencil all over the background. I used my paint brush to scruff some up and add grungy paint around the page. Then I grabbed some gesso and used my finger to apply it in different places around the page. I layered a few more of the triangles on the page as well.

Then, I spent some time figuring out how to translate the large ocean colored paint mark. Since it was in sort of a X or cross shape using the baby wipe through a stencil technique, I thought the New Orleans stencil might be a good option. 

I also like how using it to sort of toned down the bold ocean color. Instead of it being so strong, this stencil gave it a more delicate feel. There is also a lot of movement on that page, and I was hoping this stencil would translate that feeling of movement as well. And, I think it did! I added the stencil several places on the page concentrating mostly on the edges and purposefully making them not perfect but worn and old looking. I wanted it to look like older, worn out tile or painting on a wall.

Since the right side is so graphic in nature with lots of hard shapes, I wanted to soften this page. The New Orleans stencil started that process, but I also thought a floral as my main focal point would be the perfect contrast.  

I chose the eucalyptus stems mask small stencil with Payne’s gray since the right side has small dots stenciled in a similar color. I added this in the same way as the other stencils, but because it wasn’t long enough for my page, I layered part of it underneath to extend it. Then I decided it needed just a little friend to the right. Before each section of the floral dried, I removed paint from the flower buds to give them more dimension and interest.

 

Once I thought the stenciling was finished, I added a few more elements to mirror the other page:

• Walnut ink on the page and flower centers to match the Kraft paper

• Darkened the edge of the tag with the Payne’s gray on my applicator to make it stand out like the sketched circles around the white ones

• Ripped out a photo and then stitched on it to match the orange scribbly circle

• Decided I needed a bit more orange, so I stenciled on the tag and background with the New Orleans stencil (I like how this matched the shape of the orange circle, too!)

• Added more Payne’s gray to the edge of the page with the applicator to match the dark writing circle 
• Stamped handwriting on teal-blue paint chip as I needed a bold color for balance and to match the handwriting wash tape strips

• Flicked Payne’s gray on page which matched the paint flicks on the right and all the circles (plus the page really needed some color pops!)

When all those details were finished, I assembled the collage and added a phrase on top in white to match the white circles.

 

I hope you enjoyed following along on this tutorial! You can watch it all come together in the video below.

 

After using my old journal page for inspiration, I decided that I really enjoyed this process. It was a great way to reimagine older work in a new style and find some creative energy when I wasn’t sure about direction. I am definitely going to try this again! 

If you're in a creative rut or stuck on where to create, find an older piece of art you created and reimagine in! And, if you do, post the before and after on instagram and tag me, I'd love to see them.

-Nicole

Connect with me on

• Instagram
• YouTube
• My website

 

Stencils

• Rows of Triangles
• New Orleans
• Eucalyptus Stems Mask Small

 

Supplies

• Dina Wakley Media Journal
• Ledger Paper (alternatively, old book pages or a printed digital file)
• Matte Medium
• Gesso (white)
• Dina Wakley Acrylic (elephant, ocean, tangerine)
• Golden So Flat Payne’s Gray
• Walnut Ink
• Sponge Applicator
• Tag (from Tim Holtz)
• Photo Strip (from Tim Holtz)
• Embroidery Floss & Needle
• Ephemera (ledger page bits, ticket, paint sample card)
• Stamp with Handwriting
• Archival Ink (black)