Mary C. Nasser's Beautiful Clock ... and some "Boxed Vines"

http://www.marycnasser.com/2/post/2014/02/stencilgirl-walnut-hollow-blog-hop.html is the webpage where you can read the full story and see the step-by-step how-to photos of this project dreamed up and executed by Mary C. Nasser.  I love her color combinations and I love the way she decided to create a gentle sense of motion, using the feather designs, on the left half of this artwork.   I was so impressed upon first seeing this piece that, until Mary's commentary drew my attention to it, I didn't even notice that the feathers had been created with my 6"X6" Feathers stencil.

The above stencil measures 6"X6" and is available here ... http://www.stencilgirlproducts.com/product-p/s178.htm

 And now to veer in another direction--

Above:  another stencil of mine -- the 9"X12" Boxed Vines.

Above:  a Gelli Plate print created using this stencil.

 Above:  I created this greeting card cover in my PC, but I show it here to give ideas as to potential ways of using parts of the Boxed Vines stencil in hands-on art-making:  To do so, I would use masking tape to cover the parts of the stencil I want to keep from printing.  Then after doing numerous overlapping prints (with acrylic paint on a dauber), I would come back in with a small brush and use the same acrylic paints to fill in the "bridge" lines of the stencil.  Boxed Vines is available at
http://www.stencilgirlproducts.com/Boxed-Vines-Stencil-Cecilia-Swatton-p/l247.htm

Above:  another greeting card cover,
 showing another possible way to use
this stencil in hands-in art-making, altho
this particular example was created on my PC.
Again, some of the stencil would be
covered with masking tape to keep it
from being printed.  This example shows the
Boxed Vines design as the top layer in a multi-
layer print.  If I were doing this by hand,
I would use the Gelli Plate to create the
background blocks of color.

 

No title yet ...

... but, still waiting for a title, here is a new artwork of mine...

Stencils used to create this untitled mixed-media collage include:

Warped Holes by Lizzie Mayne;

Use Your Words by Carolyn Dube (I used this beautiful stencil backwards, on purpose);

Feathers and Lattice by Daniella Woolf;

Map Stencil by Mary C. Nasser;

and a yet-to-be-released 9"X12" stencil of my design, Twinship --

This Twinship stencil -- coming soon to STENCILGIRL(TM)Products -- holds warm memories for me.  The image is derived from a photo I took in the historic village Smithville, NJ, near Atlantic City.  My friend Mary Ann Russo and I had driven down there to meet my "email pal" -- "penpals" no longer exist, do they? -- Cindy Powell.  You can find her ART STUDIO blog on my left sidebar.  Cindy lives in Utah but she and I "met" online years ago and have been friends ever since.  That day, Cindy and her husband had driven up from Maryland, where they had flown in to visit with other old friends of theirs, left from the days of long ago when Cindy had lived here in the East.  (She has lived everywhere at one time or another, including Japan.)  I never look at this stencil design without thinking of you, Cindy!

Afterthought:  There is one small web-like area (black on red) at the center, in the above mixed-media collage, that may appear to be created by stencil-use, also, but that is actually part of the collaged material, a web-like ribbon purchased from Artistic Artifacts.  (The other collaged materials are papers that had been prepared in advance of my painting and assembling this artwork.)

Words to Live By

I got this idea from someone else, and I wish I could remember her name -- my apologies, whoever you are!  I used one of my favorite stencils by Carolyn Dube -- Words to Live By -- with acrylic paints and Sponge Daubers (by Imagine Crafts) on a leftover half-sheet of self-adhesive address labels:

 

 This is what it looks like now, while still intact.  I plan to individually use the labels as envelope-back stickers on snail-mail greeting cards -- I would much rather use stickers than lick the back of an envelope! 

Carolyn's Words to Live By is available here --

http://www.stencilgirlproducts.com/Words-To-Live-By-Stencil-p/l209.htm

-- and while there, check out Carolyn's brand-new stencil series based on a beautiful assortment of buildings.  These new designs were a fantastic idea and I only wish I'd had it before she did!  But her muse is younger than mine and gets around faster ...

Above:  My first layer of paint being applied to the sheet of labels, thru Carolyn's Words to Live By stencil.

 

Brand-New "Boxed Vines" Stencil -- More Playful Ideas



Above:  my brand-new 9"X12" stencil Boxed Vines, available here:

http://www.stencilgirlproducts.com/Boxed-Vines-Stencil-Cecilia-Swatton-p/l247.htm

 

More artwork created with this stencil:

 

Above:  a collaged greeting card cover, created with a Gelli Plate print from this new stencil.  Note:  The purple vine at center stage is freehand-cut.  It complements the stencil design but is not made from the stencil itself. 

 

Above:  the envelope made to match this greeting card.  I've collaged the scrap onto the far left side to leave room for both the return address and the outgoing address.

 

Above:  another greeting card cover made in the same way -- using a piece of Gelli Plate print and a (green) freehand-cut complementary embellishment.  Note:  The large white vine-shape (part of the Gelli Plate print) was also created with a freehand-cut vine.  The light aqua print -- showing vines and a partial border -- is the part that was made using this new stencil.

Above:  a collaged greeting card cover.  The dark orange background was created with a Gelli Plate and the brand-new stencil Boxed Vines.  The green vine in the foreground was freehand-cut, in the same style as the stencil, but was not made from the stencil itself.

Above:  the ivory vines-and-border pattern was created with this new stencil -- a Gelli Plate print.  The overlay of two white "ghost" vines was also printed on a Gelli Plate, using freehand-cut vines that resemble the stencil.
 

Above:  This is the Gelli Plate print that was later cut up for making greeting card collages, as shown earlier in this post.  The pale aqua part was created with the new stencil Boxed Vines.  The two white vines, an over-print created with the same Gelli Plate, were made from freehand-cut vines, not from the stencil itself.

This new stencil and many others are available here:

 http://www.stencilgirlproducts.com/Boxed-Vines-Stencil-Cecilia-Swatton-p/l247.htm

 

All that gleams ...

... may not be gold, but it could be pearl ... or pearlescent paper.

 













You may not be able to appreciate the glowing beauty resulting from this simple technique, till you try it yourself -- no photo, scan or video can  capture it as well as seeing it in person.  The gleam of this painted paper shows thru the translucent alcohol inks, and the inks themselves form mottled patterns.  The combination of the two is a treat for the eyes!

Supplies:  watercolor paper or other sturdy, smooth paper; Ranger alcohol inks; Ranger alcohol ink applicator; brush or brayer; pearlescent paint; masking tape; stencils

First step:  Use a substrate of hot-press (smooth to touch) 140-lb. watercolor paper.  Lacking that, you could try using heavyweight cardstock.

Brush or brayer on a layer of white pearlescent acrylic paint. I used Golden's but other brands are available.  Make sure the whole surface is evenly coated; this may require 2 coats, with dry-time between.

Click on the above image to enlarge it.

The gleam is more visible in the photo below...

After this dries, hold, or secure with making tape, stencils onto the substrate.  Then add just a few drops of alcohol inks to the ink applicator and do several test-prints on scratch paper to take out any excess of alcohol ink.  It's far better to have too little alcohol ink on the applicator, than to have too much, since the runny nature of this ink makes it tricky to use with stencils.  Ink wants to run under the edges of the stencil-cuts to create blurry images.  Use a light touch when daubing the inks thru the stencil openings.


Above:  my 6"X6" stencil Heron.

Above:  my 6"X6" stencil Osprey Wings.

Above:  my brand new 9"X12" stencil Boxed Vines.

Below:  After the inks have been applied and the stencils have been lifted:

My first attempt at this resulted in "run-under" blurs like this:




 

 
But with a little practice, I learned the right amount of ink to use (very little)  -- and I learned two ways of dealing with run-unders.

(1.) They can be camouflaged:

Above:  I sprayed acrylic inks over the entire print to camouflage the run-under areas. 

Another example:

 

Above:  This print made from the stencil Osprey Wings had under-runs along the edges.

Above:  This is the same image after I sprayed it with acrylic inks.

Above:  the Pat Dews mouth atomizer and acrylic inks that I use with it to create sprays.  Another option would be to use Color Bloom Sprays or Ranger's Color Wash sprays.

 

(2.)  Run-unders can also be painted out:

Above:  my 6"X6" Gingko stencil was used to make this greeting card cover; I had two areas of run-under, which I later touched up with a small paintbrush dipped into the pearlescent paint.

 

More examples showing alcohol inks on pearlescent paper:

 

Above:  my 6"X6" stencil Ferns was used to create this greeting card cover.

Above:  my 6"X6" stencil Flowers Version 1 was used to create this greeting card cover.

 

 

Above:  My 9"X12" stencil Ivy Frame was used to create this greeting card cover.

All the above stencils, and many more, are available here at STENCILGIRL(TM)Products:

http://www.stencilgirlproducts.com/category-s/1832.htm

 

3 New Stencils Just Released at STENCILGIRL(TM)Products!

The newcomer Boxed Vines measures 9"X12" and is derived from an old design I created for my own amusement long ago.

This design started when a friend gave me several stacks of paint chip samples -- the kind that come in long strips, each roughly the size of a large bookmark.  While watching TV, I idly began to use my fine-detail scissors to freehand-cut these long strips of glossy cardstock into vine-and-leaf patterns.  One thing leads to another; after cutting out several of them, I decided to scan them and incorporate them into a design.  All of this happened several years ago, before the happy day a little over a year ago when I came onboard as one of the designers with STENCILGIRL(TM)Products.  It delighted me to convert this favorite design into a stencil.  I've been using it madly, with my Gelli Plate and with dabber-applied acrylic paints, and will post 2 examples here:



Above:  This artwork was created on gallery-wrap canvas where some other STENCILGIRL(TM)Products stencils helped form the background.*  The individual blue vines are freehand-cut from those strips of paint sample colors.

Above:  a close-up detail of the canvas.

My other pair of brand-new stencils continue my Asian series, which started with my 9"X12" stencil Two Fans, shown below:

Above:  my 6"X6" stencil Bonsai.  Brand new!

Above:  my 6"X6" stencil Bamboo.  Brand new!

 

These three newcomers are available here --
http://www.stencilgirlproducts.com/stencils-s/1846.htm

Below are some other artwork samples created with these two new additions to my Asian line; each of them is a 6"X6" greeting card:

Above:  Two shades of green acrylic ink were used, with a cosmetic sponge.  After that paint dried, I added a gold "garland" and a silver Christmas tree ball with glitter glue.

Above:  I used a tri-color dye inkpad (meant for rubber stamping) by inverting the pad and rubbing it over the stencil.  This method works IF you first place the cardstock-substrate on a mouse pad.  It will not work if you are working on a solid, hard surface. 

Above:  I used the same technique with a different stamp pad, with a watercolor-like finished product.

Above:  a "non-Christmas" version of the same type of greeting card as shown above.

Above:  This greeting card cover was created with a Gelli Plate print as its first step, followed by blending chalks and a fine-tip marker.

Above:  This greeting card cover was created with Titanium White acrylic paint applied thru the stencil with a cosmetic sponge.  Later, I added gold and red highlights with glitter glue.

All of my stencils, including these three brand-new ones, can be seen on my web-pages here:
http://www.stencilgirlproducts.com/category-s/1832.htm

* Other stencils used in this wall art include:

Twist Lattice by Lizzie Mayne

my Borders 2 stencil

Web by Mary Beth Shaw

Map by Mary C. Nasser