Brand New ATC 9" x 12" Stencils and Masks Used in Creating Valentines

Happy Valentine's Day! 

Today's post continues to feature my own versions of unique Valentine-themed art samples, all created with my newly-minted 9" x 12" sheets of stencils and masks entitled 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")

To me, anything decorated with a heart can be dubbed a Valentine!

These brand-new 18 images are sized for creating Artist Trading Cards, but I've explored lots of other possibilities -- bookmarks, gift-tags, collage elements, embellishments for art journal pages, hanging ornaments, and even refrigerator magnets!  

Today's post focuses on greeting card covers.

Above:  You can click this image to enlarge it and better see detail.  The blue and gold tag was printed with Diagonal Mania, the first ATC design on my newATC Mixup Swatton #1 Stencil.  The background was made with a pre-printed novelty paper that I'd bought ready-made.  Dresden embellishments are available on Etsy, from several sellers, as well as here on AmazonSmile.

Below:  Hot Air Balloon, from ATC Mixup Swatton #1 , was used on watercolor paper that I had previously sprinkled with carbon powder, then set with dollar-store hairspray.  (This is a cheap version of a fixative spray.)  After the hairspray dried, I added a layer of translucent reddish acrylic paint. The 2-tone blue background started life as a blueprint; then I printed over that with pale blue acrylic paint and my full-sized 6" x 6" stencil Ornamental Iron Curls.  (A new, smaller version of Ornamental Iron Curls is included in my ATC Mixup Swatton #2.) 

The hot air balloon above differs in size from images in my original two stencil-and-mask sets entitled Hot Air Balloons.  They can be seen here.

The bookmark below was printed with Ski Lift Works, which is included in  ATC Mixup Swatton #1-- and is derived from my original 6" x 6" Ski Lift Works.  Its embellished pale purple background was cut from a pre-printed novelty paper that I'd bought ready-made.  The heart was created with a Marvy punch.  Because the base was a tag, I added ribbons before using a bluestick to unite the stenciled tag with its embellished background.

The center image above was printed with Unfurling Leaves fromATC Mixup Swatton #1-- but the actual design of unfurling leaves was only an excuse to create an abstract image with the help of a very busy background paper (originally an ad photo of a small European village.)  This Valentine card was made on a 6" x 6" bronze metallic foldover blank greeting card from JAMPaper.com.  With a gluestick, I embellished the abstract image using strips of papers, leftovers from previous projects, as well as the pair of hearts.  The large orange heart was freehand-cut.  The small dark heart was made with a Marvy hole punch. 

Another bookmark, shown below, started with a tag and the image Fantasia from ATC Mixup Swatton #1 -- a design based on my 9" x 12" stencil Fantasia.

I used an old credit card, or an artist's spatula, to spread modeling paste thru Fantasia, then placed the stencil into a basin of water to keep this thick medium from hardening on the stencil.  (I don't clean stencils used with thin media, but thick media will clog some openings if allowed to dry on stencils.)  After the modeling paste had dried, I brushed the tag with thin black acrylic paint.  Later, my last step was to dry-brush across the tag's uneven surface with heavy-body metallic gold acrylic paint.  Dry-brushing is a technique described in detail in earlier posts, but anyone with questions can leave them in the Comments, to receive a detailed answer.

   

Today's last Valentine-themed art sample, below, was created in the same way as described for the bookmark above.  Instead of modeling paste, I used crackle paste.  (To better see the crackles, you can click on the image below to enlarge it.)

This bookmark also started with a tag and the image Fantasia fromATC Mixup Swatton #1-- a design based on my 9" x 12" stencil Fantasia.

After the crackle paste had dried, I brushed over the tag with translucent blue acrylic paint.  Finishing touches included adding a heart cut from gold metallic paper with a Marvy hole punch.  

Thank you for coming to see my blog today!  I will continue posting daily art samples to show ideas for using my new 9" x 12"ATC Mixup Swatton #1 and ATC Mixup Swatton #2.

To scroll thru the pages of my StencilGirl stencils and masks, please start here.