6" x 6" SPRIGS Stencil and Angel-Themed Christmas Cards

Belatedly I came up with an idea for ... yes, even more Christmas cards.   

But part of that statement is not true!

Back in October, when four of my stencils were newly released, one member of StencilGirl's Stencil Club made the comment that, in one one of those stencils -- Sprigs --she saw the figure of an angel.  For the life of me, when I looked at it, then, I couldn't see the angel. 

So this idea actually came from that Stencil Club member, whose name I'm embarrassed to admit I don't remember.  Everyone in Stencil Club quickly becomes a friend, with conversations shooting back and forth after many of the posts; my aging brain can't always keep track of who said what, especially not when it's two months after the fact!  But whoever you are, please know that I'm grateful for this idea that I'm finally converting into action!

Anyway, one day I happened to visit my StencilGirl page -- and voila!  Suddenly I saw the angel!

Of course my next thought was  More Christmas cards! 

For this project, I used my favorite tool, a sponge brayer.  But a Gelli Plate, or the traditional sponge-pouncing method, would work just as well. 

Besides the sponge brayer, my supplies included:

white and gold marbled paper
heavy body red acrylic paint
a disposable foam plate
glitter in a squeeze bottle
iridescent paint
a paint brush
color pencils (optional)
Gelatos (optional)
masking tape (optional)
the Sprigs stencil, shown here--

For starters, I rolled the brayer in heavy body acrylic paint till it was well-loaded.  Then I placed the stencil (shown below, already stained red) onto the marbled paper.  I started in one corner since this paper was large enough to hold 4 imprints from a 6" x 6" stencil.

As you can see in the above photo, I chose not to use masking tape to secure the paper or the stencil, because, being used to making prints this way, I've learned how to hold the stencil securely with one hand while running the brayer over it.

The photo below shows the first print (on the left) successfully made.  I've lifted the stencil, placed it next to the first print, and am getting ready to make the second print--

Below is a shot of two side-by-side marbled papers, each with four prints.

Next, I got out the pencils, Gelato stick, and glitter.  After using these tools to outline the angel shapes, I went to work filling in details on each print in ways that would bring out the angel.  You can click on both photos below to get a better look at these details--

Click on the above image to enlarge it and better see the glitter-blue in its squeeze bottle (between the jar of paint and the green Gelato.)

In applying glitter-glue from a squeeze bottle, I simply followed the lines of the stenciled imprints. 


After the glitter had dried, I cut apart my prints and collaged them onto both Christmas cards and gift-bags...

Next year I plan to print and cut out more angels, to create hanging ornaments for the tree!

Thanks for visiting my blog today; and if interested in seeing all my stencils, please check here.