9" x 12" ATC MIXUP SWATTON # 1 and ATC MIXUP SWATTON #2 Sturdy Mylar Sheets with 9 Stencils Each (and Some Bonus Masks)

Newly Released: a brand-new collection of 18 images -- mostly stencils, with several bonus masks included -- all sized for creating Artist Trading Cards!  

ATC Mixup Swatton # 1 (9" x 12")

ATC Mixup Swatton #2 (9" x 12")

I've enjoyed using my new ATC Mixup Swatton #1and ATC Mixup Swatton #2 with readymade tags.  After the tags are printed, they're ready to be mounted onto larger cardboards to become greeting card covers or gift-tags or bookmarks. 

The greeting cards above and below feature tags printed with Diagonal Mania from 9" x 12" ATC Mixup Swatton # 1.

And the greeting card below began life with a tag that I printed with ATC Mixup Swatton # 1's Fantasia.  After I'd tied ribbon thru the tag's top hole, I glued it to a background of textured gold cardstock.  This was added to black paper and the entire "sandwich" is now decorating a 6" x 6" bronze metallic greeting card.  The greeting card blanks come from JAMPaper.com.  The gold Dresden embossed foil (in the center of the Fantasia print) is available at Etsy and Amazon.  (I use AmazonSmile, which has all the same perks as regular Amazon, but also contributes to charities chosen by consumers.)

In today's line-up, the next tag (which became a bookmark) was printed with Unfurling Leaves, one of the 9 images included in ATC Mixup Swatton #1, and highlighted with silver glitter glue as well as a strip of silver metallic paper.

The three tag-based art samples below were printed with Sprigs from ATC Mixup Swatton #2; and the Sprigs design was inspired by my 6" x 6" mask Sprigs.

The tag below was started with a spreading of crackle paste thru the openings of Fern Fronds Silhouette, from ATC Mixup Swatton #2; and the Fern Fronds Silhouette design was inspired by my 6" x 6" mask likewise titled Fern Fronds Silhouette.  After the paste had dried, I coated the tag with blue acrylic paint and built it into a collage with its near-complementary color, gold.  The collage is now a bookmark.

Many thanks for stopping at my blog today!  To follow the blog by email, please use that option in the upper right sidebar.  To scroll thru my StencilGirl stencils and masks, please start here.

Something for Everyone in ATC MIXUP SWATTON #1 and ATC MIXUP SWATTON #2

Newly Released: a brand-new collection of 18 images -- mostly stencils, with several bonus masks included -- all sized for creating Artist Trading Cards!  

ATC Mixup Swatton #1 (9" x 12")

ATC Mixup Swatton #2 (9" x 12")

ATC Mixup Swatton #1 and ATC Mixup Swatton #2, together or separately, give a lot of bang for the buck -- each sturdy 9" x 12" Mylar sheet holds 9 images.  Something for everyone. 

For cat lovers, images I've created in memory of my first beloved cat, now purring in heaven:

Above and below:  2 prints, each made with one of the 3 Cats in ATC Mixup sWATTON #1.

For texture lovers:  The two Artist Trading Cards below were made with Fantasia, one of the 9 images in ATC Mixup Swatton #1. Both were started by spreading modeling paste thru the mask.  

The first ATC below was made on purple and white watercolor paper, and after the paste had dried, the raised areas were painted with gold metallic paint.  After waiting for that paint to dry, I added Micaceous Iron Oxide (Golden paint) to the whole surface and rubbed most of it into the areas between the raised gold areas.

And the ATC below, made on a metallic red paper.  After its modeling paste had dried, the raised areas were painted with a brighter gold metallic paint.  

Love hot air balloons?  The two multi-prints below were made with Hot Air Balloon from ATC Mixup Swatton #1.  Inspired by my original Hot Air Balloons, which come in 2 sizes, this image provides the same graphic but in a different size from either of the originals.

Breathes there anyone with soul so dead that he or she doesn't love penguins?  The two prints below were made with ATC Mixup Swatton #2's Penguin (inspired by my original 6" x 6" mask Penguin Family.)

Above:  After printing the penguin on black cardstock using metallic silver paint, I cut out the penguin and glued it to the photo from an old calendar.

Below:  an ATC printed with heavy-body Titanium White acrylic paint.

Thanks for visiting my blog today!  To subscribe to this blog by email, please use that option in the upper right sidebar.  To scroll thru the pages of my StencilGirl masks and stencils, please start here.

Interference Paint with ATC MIXUP 1--SWATTON and ATC MIXUP 2--SWATTON

Newly Released: a brand-new collection of 18 images -- mostly stencils, with several bonus masks included -- all sized for creating Artist Trading Cards!  

ATC Mixup Swatton #1 (9" x 12")

ATC Mixup Swatton #2 (9" x 12")

ATC Mixup Swatton #1 and ATC Mixup Swatton #2, each 9" x 12", together bring you 18 images in stencils (with bonus masks), all sized for creating Artist Trading Cards.  But I've explored many other applications -- bookmarks, gift-tags, collage elements, greeting card covers, embellishments for art journal pages, hanging ornaments, and even refrigerator magnets!  Their size also makes them perfect for bringing along on trips -- no more boring rides on the bus, train or plane!  Just add a few watercolor pencils and a brush that holds water in its handle.  One example of this kind of brush is here; other brands are available too.

Recently I explored in a new direction, using these ATC stencils and masks in a "mass production" print, all on black paper, all using heavy-body "red" interference paint applied with a sponge brayer.  

As I understand it, interference (and the somewhat similar iridescent acrylic paints) are embedded with fine particles of mica that bring light-play into art-making.  Interference paints literally interfere with the light that hits their surface, once they're used (and allowed to dry) on dark backgrounds.  Iridescent paints give the visual illusion that they're "metallic" because of their sheen when light hits them.  (When iridescent paints are white, they often are labeled as "pearl" because of they look, well, pearl-like!)  

Both these types of paint come in shades, each tinted with a specific color; they're available in red, green, blue, gold, silver, etc.

For today's post, I used interference paint labeled "red" in the lower two-thirds of this black background and gold across the top.  When light hits "red" interference paint after it's died on black paper, it actually appears more pink than red.

In making most of these prints, I applied paint in the usual way -- holding the stencil or mask down, and rolling the paint across the top.  

In a couple of cases, however, right after making the first print with a stencil or mask, I turned the stencil or mask over and pressed its still-wet surface onto the paper with enough hand pressure to make a reverse print.

Below are 4 photos showing 2 of these prints ....

The above Artist Trading Card features Unfurling Leaves from ATC Mixup Swatton #1.  It's the "positive" print created by my holding the mask with one hand while running a paint-loaded brayer over the top of the mask.

Below is another ATC card; this one is the "negative" print achieved by quickly turning over the freshly paint-covered mask, and pressing that still-wet side to the paper -- using the mask in the same way that you would use an inked-up rubber stamp. 

  Below are two more examples, both created with the stencil Thistles from ATC Mixup Swatton #2:

Above is the positive print used on an ATC.  Below is the negative print made with the wet paint side of the stencil pressed to black paper, right after making the positive print:

More art samples made from my "mass production" black paper using  
ATC Mixup Swatton #1 and ATC Mixup Swatton #2 ....

ATC made with ATC Mixup Swatton #1's Diagonal Mania 

ATC made with Mikki's Flowers from ATC Mixup Swatton #2

ATC made with Ski Lift Works from ATC Mixup Swatton#2

A giftbag printed with Mikki's Flowers from ATC Mixup Swatton #2 and glued to a background printed with my 9" x 12" Facets.

A giftbag printed with Hot Air Balloon from ATC Mixup Swatton #1

Made with ATC Mixup Swatton #2 's  Ornamental Iron Curls

Printed with Swan from ATC Mixup Swatton #2 and glued to a background printed with my 9" x 12" Looking Up Through Trees. 

Thank you for coming to see my blog today.  To follow this blog by email, please use that option in the upper right sidebar.  To scroll thru the pages of my StencilGirl stencils and masks, please start here.

Up, Up and Away with ATC MIXUP SWATTON #1 and ATC MIXUP SWATTON #2 Stencils!

ATC Mixup Swatton#1 and ATC Mixup Swatton #2, each 9" x 12", together bring you 18 images in stencils (with bonus masks), all sized for creating Artist Trading Cards.  But I've explored many other applications -- bookmarks, gift-tags, collage elements, embellishments for art journal pages, hanging ornaments, and even refrigerator magnets!  In today's post I'm showing greeting card covers.

Inspired by my original 6" x 6" stencil Osprey Wings --

6" x 6" stencil Osprey Wings

-- I created an ATC-size Osprey Wings, one of the nine images on my new 9" x 12" stencil ATC Mixup Swatton #2.  The brand-new osprey looks like one of those on the 6" x 6", but its size is reduced -- giving artists the possibility (and the fun) of using the two stencils together.

The first art sample below is a greeting card cover.  The base is a sheet of watercolor paper that had previously been washed with lavender and aqua watercolors.  Atop that is a tag that I'd speckled with a variety of paint sprays, then stenciled with the ATC Osprey Wings and blue acrylic paint. 

Below is another tag, first painted metallic blue, then stenciled with white acrylic paint thru the ATC Osprey Wings.  

Like Osprey Wings, the ATC Hot Air Balloon (one of the stencils in ATC Mixup Swatton #1) was based on stencils I'd designed in the past.  Those originals came in two sizes -- but the ATC version is sized differently; and it's all ready to be used alone or with the two other stencils that inspired it.  Below are several of the ATC samples.

Used once, on pre-painted orange-red paper.

Used 3 times, on pre-painted reddish paper.

Used once, on pre-tinted hot-press (smooth) watercolor paper.

More Osprey Wings imagery --

On a tag painted red, I used an old credit card to spread molding paste thru the stencil.  After that dried, I spread a thin layer of glitter glue (Ranger Industries) over the raised whitish area that forms the osprey.

Another paint-speckled tag, also printed with the Osprey Wings ATC, then layered onto flower petal inclusion paper.

After printing the reddish spattered tag with the ATC and white acrylic paint, I threaded yarn instead of ribbon thru the tag's top hole.  Then I glued the tag to a metallic ribbon.  The silver metallic base (thin cardstock) will be trimmed to create a narrow bookmark.


My sincere thank-you, for visiting here today!  To follow this blog by email, please use that option in the upper right sidebar.  To scroll thru the pages of my StencilGirl stencils and masks, please start here.

Newly Released: a brand-new collection of 18 images -- mostly stencils, with several bonus masks included -- all sized for creating Artist Trading Cards!  

ATC Mixup Swatton #1(9" x 12")

ATC Mixup Swatton #2 (9" x 12")

Embossing Paper with Stencils & Masks! Step-by-step Directions at StencilGirlTalk Today!

Do you love embossed papers and want a quick, easy way to make your own?

I wrote today's how-to article at StencilGirlTalk -- check it out here, where you can read how-to details, with step-by-step directions and photos.  You can create your own embossed papers using stencils, masks and a product called Solvy!

The above issue of StencilGirlTalk shows a number of my papers embossed with Solvy -- using StencilGirl stencils and masks. 

Another of those papers is below.  It's a leftover piece since part of it was already used in a collage.

The paper above was embossed using my 6" x 6" stencil Ginkgo....

6" x 6" stencil Ginkgo

  
To get the full effect of these embossed papers, it's necessary to run your fingertips across them, to better appreciate the depressed areas and the raised areas.  My photos can't bring that tactile sensation across, but it's one of my favorite things about embossed papers -- they are as much perceived by touch as they are by eyesight.

Above:  a collage greeting card cover.  The background centerpiece is embossed Solvy.  The mask used for the embossing was my 6" x 6" Trivet A....

Below is a photo of a stretched canvas that I'm using as a base for building this collage-in-progress.  You can click on the image to enlarge it.  Outlined in red is a piece of Solvy that I've embossed using StencilGirl's Circle Tile Stencil, designed by Mary Beth Shaw.

The piece shown above was cut from a full-size sheet of stencil-embossed Solvy.  The rest of that piece is below:

I was still learning when I embossed this sheet using Mary Beth's stencil, so it has holes where I added too much water.  But in this case, I think the holes add to the character of the piece, and I can't wait to use it in a future collage!

Below are more art samples created with Solvy embossed papers and my own StencilGirl stencils and masks --

Above:  The embossed lines created with my 9" x 12" Mimosa Stencil begged me to cut part of this green embossed paper into a Christmas tree shape.

9" x 12" Mimosa Stencil

Above and below are two greeting card covers decorated with cut-outs from my Solvy paper embossed with my 9" x 12" mask Garden Montage.

9" x 12" mask Garden Montage

Thanks for taking time to stroll thru my blog today!  To follow my blog by email, please use that option in the upper right sidebar.  To scroll thru the pages of my StencilGirl masks and stencils, please start here.
Stay tuned for tomorrow's continuation of art samples made with my brand-new collection of 18 images -- mostly stencils, with several bonus masks included -- all sized for creating Artist Trading Cards!  

ATC Mixup 1 -Swatton (9" x 12")

ATC Mixup 2 -Swatton (9" x 12")