A Video by Sherry Canino!

Leaves!  Is anything prettier in autumn? 

I’m thrilled and honored that, among many other StencilGirl stencils and masks that Sherry Canino chose for one of her  art-making adventures, she included my 9” x 12” stencil Clustered Leaves (see the far left and the far right, above.) She has been generous in allowing me to use her video --

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=iDf2YSolNzk

Many thanks, Sherry, for letting me post your work here!

And thank you too to visitors at my blog today!  To scroll thru the pages of my StencilGirl stencils and masks, please start here.

3D Fun with Stencil Prints

Earlier posts have focused on the use of stencils in developing surfaces that appear to have 3-dimensions; or, to put it differently, depth.

But what about genuine depth?  Three dimensions can really enhance art journal covers; hand-decorated picture frames; gift-tags; Christmas ornaments; etc.* 

There are many ways to build up three dimensions on a flat surface, especially when using acrylic media like modeling pastes, high-viscosity ("heavy body") gels and high-viscosity ("heavy body") paints.  

Today's post, however, highlights a different approach to building depth.  I completed this project on stretched canvas, but the wooden shapes shown here today are lightweight; any sturdy surface can hold them.

Below:  I've chosen a sheet of foreign newsprint stencil-printed with my 6" x 6" stencils Trivet A (top print) and Quilted Flower Garden (bottom print.)

Atop that printed paper, I've placed a wooden pre-cut shape.**

Clicking on the above photo to enlarge it, you can see that I've freehand drawn an oval line around the wooden shape -- not the same size, but about 1/4" wider than the shape, all the way around.  I've used a blue color pencil so that the line will blend in with one of the paper's colors.

Clicking now on the photo above, you can see I've removed the wooden shape and have begun to cut along the oval that I drew.  

I could have worked from the back of this print -- by flipping the paper over to the "wrong" side and tracing my line-around-the-shape on that side -- but, working from the front, I could easily choose the area of the print that I most wanted to highlight.

In the photo below, I've turned the cut-out over onto its "wrong" side and placed the wooden shape atop it, getting ready to use my embellishment-strength gluestick.  I could also have chosen to use heavy gel medium, applying it with a cotton swab, but I prefer these gluesticks because the drying time is shorter.  

In the next photo, below, I have started applying glue to the edge of the paper shape.  I could have added glue to the wooden shape itself, but experience has taught me that with this glue, no additional application is needed.

If this had been a project calling for a larger wooden shape, I would have cut slits in the paper before folding its glued edges up over the  wooden shape.  But since I was working with a small shape, and since I knew this print had been made on flexible paper, I went ahead with folding the paper over the wooden shape, overlapping the folds all along the edges.  See below:

Above:  the "wrong" side of the wooden shape with the edges of the print wrapped around it.

Below is the paper-covered shape, shown right-side-up.

Now that the 3D shape was finished, it was time to put it to work on a 9" x 12" stretched canvas that I'd prepared in advance; it's shown below.

Above:  On stretched canvas:  art developed with acrylic paints, stencil prints and 3D elements that include the oval shape described in this post.  Stencils used in making the prints include Garden Montage (9" x 12") and the May 2019 StencilGirl StencilClub 3-stencil set.  The artwork above was jury-chosen to be included in two gallery shows at the Monmouth Museum in Lincroft, NJ.

Having decided to use the same approach to another artwork, I pulled out another stencil print, this one made with my 6" x 6" stencil Marbles 6 (which also comes in a 9" x 12" size.)  The photo below shows where I've traced another line around another wooden shape.

You can click on the above image to enlarge it and better see detail.

Above:  As before, glue has been applied.  This time, since the shape was quite small, I added glue to both the paper edge as well as the wooden shape itself.

This small squarish shape hasn't yet been used but it will eventually be an embellishment on another artwork similar to the first one displayed in this post.

Don't stop at using wooden shapes!  Look around and you'll find lots of other 3D shapes that can be covered with stencil prints.  Some, like the cardboard coasters shown below, are large enough to become Christmas ornaments.  Let your imagination soar!

Above:  Click on this photo to better see details in its enlargement.

Stencils used in making today's featured prints:

 6" x 6" stencil Marbles 6

6" x 6" Quilted Flower Garden 

6" x 6" Trivet A

And of course ...

May 2019 StencilGirl StencilClub 3-piece set

*If you want wooden picture frames to decorate, you may want to try these or these.  If you want wooden tags to decorate for attaching to gifts, you might like these or these.

** These thin wooden shapes come in packages available at brick-and-mortar craft stores or here.
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Hanging on to Summer's Flowers ...

Once upon a time, it would have bothered me to see a flower printed all in one color -- bloom, stems, leaves and all.  But that was an awfully long time ago.  I got over it!  Clearly, there is more than one way to consider the subject of flowers ...

Above:  Made with 6" x 6" stencil Silhouette of a Wildflower Bouquet, printed over an old encyclopedia page previously coated with pink acrylic paint.

Above:  Created with 9" x 12" Prayer Flags stencil  and 9" x 12" stencil Branching Blossoms Silhouette.

Above:  Made with 9" x 12" stencil Garden Montage.

Above:  Created with Mikki's Flowers stencil (6" x 6"), which comes with a matching mask.

Above:  Printed with 6" x 6" stencil Quilted Flower Garden.

Above:  Made with 6" x 6" stencil Swatton Flowers Version 1.

Above:  6" x 6" Heron stencil printed over paper previously printed with 9" x 12" stencil Blooming Where Planted.

Above:  Created with 6" x 6" stencil Tiger Lily.

Thanks for visiting my blog today!  To scroll thru the pages of my StencilGirl stencils and masks, please start here.

A Variety of Stencil-Made Artworks

Stencil prints abound here! 

Today's post features art created with acrylic paints.  It starts with a print made by using my 6" x 6" stencil Trivet A -- 

-- and this is just the first in my stencil series based on trivet patterns.  To see all of them, please check here.

Number two position in this line-up is the portfolio piece below:

The two-part collage above has a monoprint background; its foreground is a paint-stained stencil that has been cut free from its frame.  Sassy Spray is the title of this 6" x 6" stencil.

Below is a two-step print that started with blue acrylic paint and my 9" x 12" stencil Clustered Leaves.  Over that, I made a yellow print using another 9" x 12" stencil of mine, Fantasia.

Above is a print made with my 6" x 6" stencil Kaleid.

And below is a print created with my 9" x 12" Mimosa Stencil --

-- and the stencil used above also comes in a 6" x 6" size, Mimosa 6.

Many thanks for taking time to check out this blog today!  To scroll thru the pages of my StencilGirl stencils and masks, please start here.

Nothing is Ever a Waste

I believe nothing is ever a waste!  If a stencil-print turns out in a way that disappoints me, I look for a way to make lemonade from the lemon.

Today's post springs from an experience I had using my 9"x 12"stencil Boxed Vines... 

When I found myself with a less-than-perfect Gelli Plate print -- made with this stencil and a deep dark red acrylic paint -- I asked myself,  "Where can I go from here?"  

I decided to disguise the flaws.  I mixed modeling paste with silver metallic powder, then used a small plastic spatula to spread a thin layer of this textured silver paint over most of the flawed Gelli Plate print.   

With the same spatula , I covered the rest of the flawed print with a thin layer of reflective silver acrylic paint.  

Once the two silvery paints had dried, I cut the images into pieces to fit my 6"x 6" dark-bronze blank greeting cards (JamPaper.com.)  As a last step, I added swirls and dots with glitter glue...

Because this deep bronze metallic cardstock is very dark, I sometimes line the insides of the cards with lightweight papers, cut to fit, as shown below -- 

Other times, instead of using a paper liner like the one above, I use white marker-pens for adding my message inside these greeting cards.

The main reason I like to use 6" x 6" greeting card blanks is that they perfectly fit my 6" x 6" stencils and masks.  But, beyond that, I like the square shape, even for projects like today's, which could fit on any size greeting card (or art journal page.)

However, since the Postal Service has a non-machinable surcharge for mailing 6"x 6" cards, I use two Forever stamps when mailing them.

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Layering with Stencils

So many ways to use stencils and/or stencil-prints in creating layers!

Below is a 6" x 6" greeting card layered with prints made with (1) Sassy Spray (bottom layer); (2) May 2019 StencilClub 4"x 4" stencil (center layer); and (3) a heart cut from a print made with Clustered Leaves (top layer.)

Incidentlly, I just happened across an online listing for Clustered Leaves -- which is certainly available at StencilGirl -- as being "unavailable" at PaperArtsy.  :-(  !!!

Below is an example of a different kind of layering.  All that I did here was to place my 9" x 12" stencil Garden Montage over an old page from a picture-calendar, then apply a layer of translucent purple acrylic paint....

Next, I'll show a close-up of a different approach to layering.  The first layer below was made with my 6" x 6" stencil Kaleid, which I placed on a sheet of matboard (a sturdy cardboard that comes in colors.  This matboard was a medium blue.)  

With an old credit card, I created the first layer by spreading heavy-body matte medium across the stencil.  I lifted the stencil off immediately.  While waiting for the matboard to dry, I dipped the stencil into water, before wiping off the matte medium with a dry rag  (old washcloths are great for this!)  Normally I don't clean stencils, but I do when I've used any 3-dimensional medium.  This prevents any permanent gunking-up that might obscure the stencil's details.

Once the matte medium on the matboard had dried, I rubbed its surface with a layer of yellow-orange Pan Pastel --  

The most popular way of layering with stencils is to apply layers of paint to an art journal page, a stretched canvas, or any other sturdy substrate.  Below is a close-up of an artwork-in-progress on stretched canvas.  Layers of paint (pale pink, pale yellow-green, etc.) form the background for this white print made with my 9" x 12" stencil Loopy Ladders.  (You can click on the image below to enlarge it and better see details.)  Because this is an unfinished piece of art, I already know that I will be adding still more layers of acrylic or watercolor to enrich the finished work.

Thank you for visiting my blog today!  To scroll thru the pages of my StencilGirl stencils and masks, please start here.

GARDEN MONTAGE 9" x 12" Stencil and FERN FRONDS SILHOUETTE MINI Stencil (4" x 4")

Garden Montage (9" x 12") stencil gets employed pretty often around here! 

Above:  I often use foreign newsprint as backgrounds for my prints.  I like the background that peeks thru, here and there.

Above is a print that I made on marbled paper.  (I purchased this paper already marbled -- lacking the patience to do it myself!)

Above is a print made on plain paper.

After I've collected a lot of prints, I cut them into pieces for use as collage elements -- either on stretched canvas, or on greeting cards.  (I usually buy the greeting card blanks at JAMPaper.com; another good company is LCI.)

Below are two greeting cards assembled this way --

Below is an example of a stencil print that's been cut to a smaller size and used in a collage on a canvas.  This a close-up detail shot.  The canvas as a whole is still being developed.  The stencil used here is Fern Fronds Silhouette Stencil Mini (4" x 4".)  

Thanks for stopping by today!  To scroll thru the pages of my StencilGirl masks and stencils, please start here.

Collages Developed with Stencil-Printed Papers

Today's opener, above, incorporates three cut-outs from an ivory-and-black print made with my 6" x 6" stencil/mask Sprigs, which looks like this -- 

6" x 6" stencil/mask Sprigs

Above is a greeting card cover created with collage on the left and across the bottom.  On the right, my 6" x 6" mask Mikki's Flowers was placed on paper, secured with masking tape, and sprayed with spray watercolors.  In its entirety, my 6" x 6" mask Mikki's Flowers looks like this ...

Below:  another greeting card cover.  This one's a 3-part collage -- hand-dyed lace paper (it was originally white); a cut-out butterfly; and part of a print made with my 6"x 6" stencil/mask Sassy Spray. 

And the five photos below show collage-built covers on greeting cards; most of the papers used were printed with my 9" x 12" stencil/mask Garden Montage -- 

9" x 12" stencil/mask Garden Montage

The mini-heart on this collage was made with a hole punch, not a stencil.  On the upper far left, lower far right and upper right sides of this collage I've used prints made with my 6" x 6" stencil Swatton Links.

The lower horizontal bar and the right-side vertical bar were printed with my 6" x 6" stencil/mask Sassy Spray.

The lower horizontal bar and the right-side vertical bar were printed with my  9" x 12" stencil/mask Prayer Flags.

9" x 12" stencil/mask Prayer Flags

6" x 6" stencil/mask Sassy Spray

6" x 6" stencil Swatton Links

I hope some of these art samples launch ideas for you to play with your own stencil-prints in making collages.  Think art-journals, hand-decorated gift-bags, refrigerator magnets and ... you take it from there! 

Many thanks for visiting my blog today!  To scroll thru the pages of my StencilGirl stencils and masks, please start here.