A Winter Wonderland Greeting Card

Hey there!  I'm Renee from thediyday and StencilGirl's Creative Team. I'm here to share a depiction of what it looks like right outside my window.  Currently it's cold and snow is falling, both of which is something I am not fully use to.  Here's a bit of background.  I was born and raised in Southern California and until recently (2019) my husband and I moved to a tiny little town in Michigan.  Back home, my mom reports there's a severe heatwave happening, 90°F.  Here it's 26°F.  Because there's such a stark difference between the two states, I had to creatively document it.   

Using a scribbling stamp and archival ink, I stamped my mixed media paper.

Next, I added a layer of blue and grey Distress Oxide Inks to help illustrate the dreary sky.

To help exaggerate the various patterns in the sky I used stencils.  Without using any additional colors but adding some texture, I placed the Circular Patterns for Play Stencil (L411) right on top, lightly misted the stencil with water and waited a few minutes for it to dry.       

Then I added the MB Makes Marks Marker Stencil (S301) and added grey Distress Oxide Inks to random spots.

The last stencil used to complete the sky was the Fade Horizontal Stencil (L027) paired with a dark blue Distress Oxide Ink.

I really wanted the next layer of the card to pop, so I grabbed my tree stamps and silver embossing powder.  

And to finish the card I added snow, just like the way it looks outside my window.  I tore paper and added a few layers to cover the bases of the trees, and since it was snowing, I added tiny little die-cut snowflakes.   

Happy Holidays!

Renee 

Stroll with stencils through Nathalie Kalbach's "Hood"

Strolling through Nathalie Kalbach's hood reveals ..... stencils! 

The 5 minis were inspired by manhole designs while her 6 large stencils were also inspired by metal grates and Nathalie's love of patterns. These stencils are named after the streets in her "Hood".

Nathalie's Van Vorst Stencil features a sinuous pattern with a botanical flair, almost art nouveau in feel.

The Downtown Stencil features a beautiful and highly decorative quatrefoil pattern. 

Nathalie made the cards above with her Valley Road, Central Ave, Star Struck and Flower Maze stencils.

Valley Rd features a happy floral and sunburst pattern to liven things up.  

Central Ave features a concentric radial design with delicate details.  

Star Struck ~ This stencil was inspired by Nathalie's love for patterns and features an op-art style that will have your eyes seeing stars.  Add a bit of geometric magic to your mixed media projects and art journal pages with this stencil.

Flower Maze ~ This stencil was inspired by Nathalie's love for patterns and can be interpreted in so many ways. Maybe you see flowers or the winding pathways of a maze? How about the motion of spinning wheels or machinery? The choice is up to you! 

The Broadway Stencil has an art deco feel to it and a bold circular pattern.  

Elegant flowers and hearts are featured in the Park Blvd Stencil.

Bring the intriguing pattern with floral and fan elements of the Hamilton Stencil into your art.

The Grove Street Stencil features a fun, fresh, radial design.

Exchange Place features a beautiful and highly decorative quatrefoil pattern.  Add an intricate background or unifying all-over motif to your mixed media projects and art journal pages with this stencil.

Add circular personality with the minis and backgrounds with the large stencils. Perfect for mixed media, art journaling, cards; indeed anything you put your creative effort into!

What will you create?

StencilClub Voices are creating art with the Ceramic Tiles Collection!

The hand-drawn repeating patterns and fleur-di-lis within the Ceramic Tiles Collection inspired Marge Weaver, Natalie Lewis, Beth Broadway, and I, to break out our paints, pens, printing plates and get busy!

Natalie Lewis's Black and Tan Canvas

Natalie writes, "My project was done on a 11x14 canvas, painted with black gesso. I made various sizes and alternated between black and white gesso on brown craft paper, then I went over each stenciled design with a black micron pen and a white signo pen, adding detail in contrasting colors. Using all 3 sizes of the tile design, I created a collage overlapping each tile. I added 3 dimensional fleur-de-lis pieces to repeat the tile theme.

Beth Broadway's Rusty Textured Painting

Beth writes, "As soon as I opened the July StencilClub by Gwen Lafleur, they reminded me of the old tin ceiling tiles."

Beth used a rust effect paste on the 6x6 stencil as the focal point and the 9x12 and mini stencil for the border.

Margie Weaver's M is for Mermaid

Margie writes, "I’ve had this wooden M in my stash for years. I sponge painted the background in seascape colors, then used the large July stencil and copper acrylic pant to transfer the stencil pattern as a 2nd layer. The mermaid was made using the Mermaidia Stencil and the gelliplate, imprinting on heavy card stock. It was then fussy-cut out and I used foam to mount it, cattywompus, to the bottom right of the M." {We love how the mermaid looks cut out of metal!}

Margie also made a simple greeting card using the medium stencil - the medallion. Again, she imprinted with the gelliplate then fussy-cut out the central element. She used the small stencil to add the arcs at the top and bottom of the medallion once it was adhered with glue dots. Finally, the wording was stamped in the bottom right corner. 

Carol Baxter's Card and Card Box

I love curating StencilClub Voices! Each one of our wonderful members brings so much thought and talent to their projects.  

I used Gwen's lovely Ceramic Tiles large and small stencils to paint and doodle on the sides of a little 6.5x8.5x9.5 inch box while I waited for a StencilClub video to upload.

I had envelopes and cards scattered about my office by now they are somewhat tidy! Of course, I had to make a card too! It looked too empty so I scribbled the words to a song that was playing in the white space.

I think these stencils will easily adorn gift bags and cards because it's only a matter of changing colors to match the season. I especially      like the large leafy pattern in the large stencil.

Thanks to our talented StencilClub Voices for the inspiration and ideas!

You can watch Gwen's reveal HERE. If you need to play and layer and doodle with Ceramic Tiles, you can find out about StencilClub and join via this link.

We all wish you happy stenciling!

It's nearly time for the sale on regular stencils!

Subscribe to our Scoop so you don't miss the saving code!