GARDEN MONTAGE Stencil and Friends

Garden Montage and Nosegay, both 9" x 12" stencils, have teamed up to create the two prints below.  After both prints had dried, I cut the blue and gold print (made with Garden Montage) to a smaller size, so I could collage it over the Nosegay-Garden Montage print.  And together they form the cover of a greeting card.

The two stencils in their entirety look like this --

Garden Montage, a 9" x 12" stencil 

Nosegay, a 9" x 12" stencil

Another collage greeting card is below --

Background was made with 6" x 6" stencil Sprigs; foreground, with Garden Montage.

The Sprigs stencil looks like this:

Above:  6" x 6" stencil Sprigs

Above is another greeting card cover, this one with a pale blue base that was printed with Garden Montage.  Over that, I first added a cut-out from a print created with lavender and gray acrylic paint and one of my Pods series stencils.  The main top embellishment is another print made with Garden Montage.  To the right of that is a strip of printed paper that balances out the composition.  
My Pods series of stencils are:

Dangled Pods Stencil (9" x 12")

Small Dangled Pods (6" x 6")

Tangled Pods Stencil (9" x 12")

Small Tangled Pods Stencil (6" x 6")

Above is today's last collage-covered greeting card.  It was made with three cut-outs from prints made with Garden Montage.
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BLOOMING WHERE PLANTED and FANTASIA 9" x 12" Stencils

The reductive (also called subtractive) technique works this way:  First, with acrylic paint, I paint a layer of new color in a limited area -- then, while this layer is still wet, I place a stencil over it.  Holding the stencil in place with one hand, I use a paper towel or soft cloth to rub off still-wet paint in the areas that are exposed in the openings of the stencil.  (What I mean by "new color" is that the substrate has already been coated with other acrylics.)
  

In the above and the below detail close-ups, I used the subtractive/reductive technique with parts of my 9" x 12" stencil Blooming Where Planted.

To create the print below, I used a sponge brayer loaded with heavy-body acrylic paint and rolled it over a substrate that had already painted with several layers of acrylic paint.

Above:  Loading a sponge brayer with heavy-body acrylic paint.

Below is an updated version of a stretched canvas that I had previously started.  After finishing the painted areas, I added stained stencils as collage elements.  Some of these were cut from the stencil Blooming Where Planted; others were cut from my 9" x 12" stencil Fantasia.

Above: unfinished mixed-media collage.

The stencils themselves look like this --

Fantasia

 Blooming Where Planted

Thanks for your visit here today!  To scroll thru the pages of my StencilGirl stencils, please start here.

Making Masks with Silhouette Stencils

Some time ago, I did a write-up at StencilGirlTalk on the topic of making your own masks using stencils, then applying the masks with the stencils in a technique that I call "Seeing Double."

Here on my own blog, I'm bringing out more greeting cards that I've made in much the same way....

Above: I've used masking tape to secure my 6"x 6" Heron and 6"x 6" Cats stencils to sturdy cardstock. 

Above:  Since this cardstock is black, I used a white pencil to trace around the shapes that I wanted to cut out to be used as masks.

Above:  I've used fine-detail scissors to cut out the three shapes I chose.  



Above:  I've placed the heron mask atop a greeting card blank.  On the left you can see the masking tape I used for covering the back of this card with scratch paper to protect it from the watercolor spray.  I used two spray colors (purple and orange), allowing the paint to dry between the two applications.



Above:  On the left, you can see the mask that I have lifted off. On the right is the card cover with its silhouette of the heron.

Above:  Here I have placed the stencil atop the masked-off silhouette.  In placing it, I made sure it was off-register with the image underneath.  After using masking tape to secure the stencil, I sponged on a layer of magenta acrylic paint blended with gel medium.  The reason I blended these two media was that I wanted a translucent paint that would allow the original image to remain visible.



Above:  Here, in the finished 6"x 6" greeting card cover, you can see that both images are clearly visible.



Above:  Here's another 6"x 6" greeting card, created with my Cats stencil and corresponding masks.  Again I used the masks first, followed by the stencil.  (I chose to mask off the stencil's upper left corner so that 4 cat shapes would appear; the stencil itself has 5 cat shapes.)  After the misty-look paints had dried, I used a marker to outline the two white shapes I had made with my two masks.

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CLUSTERED LEAVES, LOOPY LADDERS and Other StencilGirl Stencils

Please visit here to see StencilGirl Creative Team Member Louise Nelson showing a plethora of photos to describe the creative work she did in an art journal.  

I'm delighted that, among other StencilGirl stencils, Louise chose to include two of my 9" x 12" stencils, Clustered Leaves and Loopy Ladders.  

 Clustered Leaves 

Loopy Ladders

Curious to see these two stencils used in other applications?  Below is a work-in-progress of mine.  Its pale background has been established with acrylic paints and Loopy Ladders....

And ....

The above photo shows another background -- this time a dark one -- created with Loopy Ladders, while the foreground has been created with three leaves cut from a Clustered Leaves stencil; after cutting them free from the stencil, I added them as collage elements over the background.  

Stencils can be used in so many ways!

Thank you for visiting here today!

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

Botanical Imagery with Stencils

Today's first image is a greeting card with a two-part collage on the cover.  The outer frame was created with my 6" x 6" Mimosa stencil 6.  The orange and purple embellishment, center, was cut from a print made with my 9" x 12" stencil Garden Montage.

Below:  a 2-page art journal spread printed with my 9" x 12" stencil Garden Montage.

Next, a multi-printed paper developed with my Ivy 9 Frame stencil (9" x 12") and my 6" x 6" stencil Ginkgo.

Above:  a greeting card cover made with my 6" x 6" stencil Mikki's Flowers (which is also available as a mask.)

Above:  I used acrylic gloss gel and thinned acrylic paint over a molding paste imprint created with my 6" x 6" stencil Mimosa.  (This pattern is also available as a 9" x 12", here.)

Below is a sheet of watercolor paper painted with my 9" x 12" stencil Thistle.  (This image is also available as a 6" x 6" stencil, Small Thistles.)

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

One more for the road:  a collage created with cut-outs from my 6" x 6" stencil Silhouette of a Wildflower Bouquet and my 9" x 12" stencil Garden Montage.