It's not Complicated!

StencilGirlProducts.com has garnered so many new members in StencilGirl StencilClub that from time to time, I want to post a "re-run" which originally appeared years ago.

Today is one of those days...

"Complicated paper" is a term coined by Anne Bagby, in her DVD
Collage: Paper, Patterns & Glazing, available here --
http://ccpvideos.com/products/ahb1d

However, this technique is anything but complicated--

Make the complicated paper collage as directed by Anne -- or, if you're like me, you already have a stash of "catch-all" papers that you have put to work in cleaning your just-used brushes of excess acrylic paint, before placing the brushes into water.  (This practice is best for the environment.  The less leftover acrylic paint that goes down the sink, the better.)  Here are two of my catch-all papers, ready to be used in this technique --

Whether you have complicated paper or catch-all paper, the first step is to place a stencil over it, securing both stencil and paper with masking tape.

The best type of stencil for today's technique is this kind of design:

Queen Anne's Lace
Boxed Vines
Heron (shown above)
Cats
Osprey Wings

I chose these because they make it easy to trace inside the cut-out areas.

To trace around the designs, I used watercolor pencil, because it can be easily removed afterward, if desired.  This matters when you choose to make your tracings on the top side (the "good" side) of your catch-all paper or complicated paper.  At times you will want to do the tracings on the good side, to make sure the stencil is positioned exactly where you want.  This is what I did with my 6"X6" stencil Heron tracing --

Above:  the heron has been cut out with fine-detail scissors and placed on the cover of a 6"X6" greeting card.

You have the alternate option of doing this tracing on the back side/plain side of the complicated paper or catch-all paper, if you want to make double-sure that no trace-lines will remain on the finished product.  This is what I did with my tracing of part of the 9"X12" stencil Queen Anne's Garden --

Above:  the back of the paper.

In tracing part of Queen Anne's Garden, I simply drew lines inside the narrow openings, rather than try to faithfully trace every fine detail.  The fine-detail work was easily achieved with scissors after the tracing was done.

When I finished cutting out the single flower, I decided to add leaves that I cut out free-hand.  I also added a few additional "rods" and "blooms" to create a greater contrast with the background I had chosen -- a pearly white 6"X6" blank greeting card, shown below.

In the collage above, what's shown is the front side of the paper where I had used red to trace the shape of one of the flowers in my stencil Queen Anne's Lace.

(If you would rather not freehand-cut leaves, you might enjoy using Striped Leaves Stencil by Terri Stegmiller.)

I enjoy making greeting cards, but these cut-outs can be used in all the paper arts -- from art journals to scrapbooks to book arts -- and if you are into fabric arts, they give you the option of creating beautiful appliques. 

Above:  the finished greeting card with the heron on the cover.