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

Wildflower Greeting Cards

Hello stencil friends! Nicole here with a fun tutorial. Today I'm to creating a handful of wildflower cards. I love how quick and simple it is to use a couple of stencils and some paint to make cards that definitely look like you spent a lot of time making them.

For my cards, I went with a grungier, earth tone palette. However, this design would look gorgeous in any colors. So, choose your favorites, and let’s get started!

I began by lightly gessoing some ledger paper. If you don’t have ledger paper, old book pages would be just as lovely. You could also find some ledger printables (Be careful about printer ink running; you might need to seal them.) or create your own background interest with stamps.

To lightly gesso, I simply plopped a few drops of gesso on the page, sprayed with water, and quickly spread it all around with a brush. This does a couple of things. First, it adds a little more integrity to the pages. And second, it seals them just a bit for all the layers I’m about to add. 

Once that gesso was dry, I added some sepia colored India ink. I concentrated the ink on the edges of the paper where I planned to cut the card fronts. This process is a lot of fun. Simply water down the ink, spread, spray with water, splatter, and add more as needed. (You can watch my process in the video below!)

It does take a bit for the ink to dry, but don’t rush that process too much with a hairdryer. The ink will pool and puddle to create nice effects on your papers as it dries.

Some of my papers weren’t dark enough, so once they dried I added a bit more ink in places and more splatters.

Next, I grabbed the floral waterfall stencil to add a bit more texture to the background. I had two ideas for this, so I tried them both!

For my first idea, I used an applicator and some titan green pale acrylic paint on a few papers.

For my second idea, I used some parchment spray paint.

For both applications, I mainly stenciled on the sepia ink areas. I wanted the stenciling to be on the edges of the card fronts as to not interfere too much with the wildflowers. Both ideas worked great, and honestly, I like them both! Spray painting might win out just because it was a little faster. I did miss some of the green color in the spray-painted ones, so I added some green splatters and even stenciled a couple green florals here and there on those as well.

 

After the stenciling and spray-painting were dry, I cut out my card fronts. Since my cards are 4.25 inches wide and 5.50 tall, I cut the card fronts .25 smaller (4 by 5.25). 

At this point, my pages were feeling a little chalky from the gesso, ink and spray paint. I decided to add a nice layer of matte medium on top to smooth out that feeling and seal the pages even more for my next step.

Once they dried, it was time to add the wildflowers! I grabbed the wildflowers and grasses stencil and my Payne’s gray paint to begin. For each card front, I positioned the stencil how I felt it looked best with the background layers. 

I gently used the applicator through the stencil to add the flowers. This is a simple process, but let me to share a couple helpful tips that might make it even easier. 

Don’t load too much paint on your applicator. Then, as you stencil, hold the stencil tightly to the back paper and use the applicator gently. I often work in small circles, and sometimes I pounce to get more paint in spaces. Most importantly, if the foam part of your applicator gets too messy or wet, get a new one!  I always throw my used ones in my paint water so they don't dry out, and I wash them with my brushes.

When you think you’re finished, lift the stencil partly and check! You can lay it back down and stencil more as needed.

Before the wildflowers completely dried, I added some watered-down Payne’s gray paint and messed up some of the stenciling. I like how this adds imperfection. It also helps disguise any problem areas!

The final step is to stick your card fronts to some colored cardstock, and you’re finished! I like to make several cards at once so I always have cards on hand. It’s easier to make 12 at one time, than one or two here and there.

 

To watch my process, check out this video.

I hope this inspires you to make some cards. I can’t to see what colors you choose.

Thanks for following along!

-Nicole

Connect with me on

• Instagram
• YouTube
• My website

Stencils

Floral Waterfall

Wildflowers and Grasses

Supplies

• Vintage paper (ledger, book or a printable)
• Bombay India Ink (sepia)
• Golden So Flat Acrylic Paint (Payne's gray, titan green pale)
• Spray Paint (parchment)
• Applicator
• Gesso
• Cardstock
• Tape-runner adhesive
• Matte Medium

Wildflowers Mixed Media Canvas with StencilGirl® Stencils

Hi, everyone! Jennifer Evans here!
Excited to share my tutorial for creating a Wildflowers Mixed Media Canvas with StencilGirl® Stencils!

Supplies:

• Acrylic paint

• 11”x14” Canvas

• Gesso

• StencilGirl® Stencils: Wildflowers 6”x 6” and Wildflowers and Grasses 9”x 12”

• Coffee filters

• Variety of paper: vintage book pages, sheet music, tissue

• Gelli plate

• Rubber brayer

• Paint brushes

• Mod Podge or matte medium

• Baby wipes or paper towel for cleanup

1: Gesso the canvas. Paint whole canvas background color of your choice.

2: Coat the Gelli plate with a thin layer of paint, using the brayer to smooth. Pull a few prints using the coffee filters -- since these are absorbent, it helps to have a base layer of very thin paint before you begin printing or stenciling. Flatten the coffee filters and create several backgrounds using the Gelli plate.

3: Next, choose a contrasting color and smooth over the Gelli plate. Center the stencil over the plate, then pull a print. To achieve a second print, remove the stencil and switch papers. You will get a variety of looks if you experiment with vintage book pages, tissue paper, mixed media paper, and the coffee filters.

4: Continue making prints. Make more than you think you’ll need, in a variety of colors.

5: Stencil layers over some of the prints.

6: Tear the prints and arrange a loose layout on the canvas. Use Mod Podge or Matte Medium to tack everything down in place.

7: Unify the elements on the canvas by using the stencils to make additional layers of wildflowers. Paint in stems and grasses. Trace through the stencil, if desired, using a graphite pencil to create line work.