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.

 

Guest Designer: Kelly Warren

Hello there!  I’m Kelly Warren, and I’m so excited to be with you here today as a guest designer on the StencilGirl® blog!  I’m a life-long Florida native living in North Florida. “Home home” as we call it is Jacksonville, but we are currently in Tallahassee for the school year each year.  I create in a variety of mediums, from jewelry design to bookbinding to photography to what I’m here to share with you today, art journaling!  I love to use stencils in my journals and was thrilled with the StencilGirl® team asked me to join them for a blog post. So let’s get started, shall we? 

I’m working here in a handmade journal created by one of my daughters. It includes Canson mixed media pages in a couple different sizes for variety. I’m usually creating in more than one journal at a time so I can use up leftover paint in one journal while I’m playing in another, and that’s how this spread started out, above. I had used these pages to clean the paint on my brayer while working on another page.

Next, I brayered on some white gesso to tone that background down a bit.  When I’m playing in my art journals, I don’t usually have a plan. I tend to just grab what’s near me and go from there. I was lucky the gesso was sitting right on front of me!

Next, I added some tissue paper scraps.  Do you save all sorts of random stuff? I know I do. Pretty sure this tissue paper came out of a gift bag one of my daughters’ received.

Next, I added in some sewing pattern paper. I love how you can still see the tissue paper speckles beneath it.

Next, I added in some stamping using a Tim Holtz mixed media stamp with Stazon ink in Saddle Brown.

Then I finally grabbed a StencilGirl® stencil!  I “try” to keep my stencils organized in scrapbook albums in sleeves.  I say “try” because I invariably end up with several stacks sitting around my worktable that I haven’t put away. Because of that, you’ll often see bits and pieces of the same stencil make an appearance in three or four spreads in a row. The stencil I’m using here is Tall Flowers stencil by Margaret Poet. I started laying down a background of lovely green things using two different shades of green Liquitex paint, with the somewhat vague idea of creating a wildly blooming garden.

Next, before adding the first layer of flowers, I added in a bit more tissue paper, some with words, and some with very faint white large floral shapes.  The latter was the tissue included in my most recent CauseBox (so again, yes, I save all sorts of stuff!).  Then I added two different types of flowers with a rose-red paint, moving the stencil around to start creating my garden. I don’t usually use red very often, but those puffy shapes just screamed red to me.

A little bit of pen work for the back layer of flowers was next. I’m forever in search of the perfect black pen!  Open to all recommendations!  Here I used the Uniball Eye fine black pen.

Next I added another layer of flowers from the same stencils. These looked like lilacs to me, so I gave them the purple treatment.

I just continued adding layers and pen work from there, using both the black pen as well as a white Signo Gelly Roll pen and a gold Sharpie paint marker.

My spreads tend to be a little chaotic and busy, and this one definitely follows that pattern. Overall, though I didn’t really start with a fully fleshed out goal in mind, I did end up with a lovely little garden thanks to just one StencilGirl® stencil!  Just that one was so versatile!

Thanks for joining me here, and thanks again to the StencilGirl® team for inviting me. You can find me on Instagram @kellynwarren, on my blog at http://happyshackdesigns.blogspot.com/ or on my website at www.happyshackdesigns.com.   I work full-time in college athletics and activities and I volunteer my photography skills as an animal shelter photographer (see lots of adorable furry faces on my shelter IG @shelterpetsuperstars), so I stay pretty busy. But I find that squeezing in a little time each day, if possible, for a little art play is always worth the time and helps clear my mind.  Even if I’m just cleaning up the constant mess in my studio, giving myself that little bit of time playing with art supplies keeps me sane!