3 More Christmas Cards

I've challenged myself to use earlier/"old" mask- and stencil-printed papers -- regardless of their original design -- to make new Christmas cards.  

What's put teeth into this adventure has been Paper Wishes stickers.  AmazonSmile has been my place to buy them but they may well be available elsewhere.

The surface decoration of the above card started with glossy black cardstock.  I loaded a sponge brayer with metallic silver acrylic paint and ran the brayer down the middle of the black cardstock.  

On separate white paper, I placed one of the nine Artist Trading Card-sized stencils included in 9" x 12" ATC Mixup Swatton # 1 L768.  (I find it easier to use these stencils and masks when I cut the 9" x 12" sheets into nine pieces.)  Inside the stencil of the hot air balloon, I sprayed blue paint, spattering it on the white original color.

Using fine detail scissors from Fiskars, I cut out the hot air balloon and glued it (with a UHU glue stick) to the silver area on the black cardstock.  With bigger scissors, I trimmed the cardstock to fit on a 6" x 6" fold-over greeting card blank.  (The 6" x 6" size is getting hard to find.  My original source, JAMPaper, is phasing out that size.)

The finishing touches were Paper Wishes snowflake stickers.

The Christmas card below ....

... sports similar stickers, enhancing the print I'd made using the penguin stencil that's included in 9" x 12" ATC Mixup Swatton #2 L769.  (This print was made on a piece of sturdy white cardstock previously spattered at random with blue and purple watercolors.)  The background white paper with decorative edges is found here.

Below:  This print started with a sturdy sheet of red paper that I brushed randomly using metallic silver acrylic paint.  Atop the silver surface, I made a print with black acrylic paint and 6" x 6" Bonsai Tree s198.  I used decorative scissors to trim the red paper to the 5" x 7" size of the cover of a red fold-over greeting card blank.  Once again, Paper Wishes stickers supplied the glitz.

Thanks for checking out my blog today!  To scroll thru my StencilGirl stencils and masks, please start here.

Need near-last-minute cards to house holiday tips for your mail carrier, your kids' teachers, etc.?  Just about any paper printed with stencils or masks can be used for decorating giftcards.

It helps to have on hand stickers; I use these.  (Note:  when I use these stickers, I often cut thru some of the sticker strips to get "leftover" trim because some projects call for narrow, less ornate sticker decoration.  You will see these leftover trims on today's art samples.)

Greeting card blanks are handy but not necessary; I buy mine from Jam Paper because their card blanks are cut from cardstock sturdy enough to stand up to stencil printing or collage making.  For Christmas cards, I buy their metallic-finish and glitter-finish card blanks,  5" x 7" and 6" x 6" (or something close to 6" x 6").

At times I utilize my own stash of sturdy cardstock to make card blanks of a larger size.  To make these cards, I fold 8" x 11" cardstock into half.  Today's first art sample measures 8.5" high and 5.5" wide.  (Yes, there are envelopes big enough to house this size.)

Above:  This cardstock was first coated with assorted colors of acrylic paints; then printed 3 times using Hot Air Balloon & Mask M185.

What other stencil- and mask-printed papers did I have lying around?  I found a few....

Above:  Papers printed using 9" x 12" Mimosa L141.

Above:  Printed using 6" x 6" Pavilion Shadows s464.

Above:  This multi-layered print was created using 6" x 6" Looking Up Through Trees Small s793 and 9" x 12" Looking Up Through Trees Large L753.  In making each print, I turned the paper 45 degrees.  Criss-crossing patterns resulted.

Working with the last print directly above, I used a freehand-cut template of a Christmas tree ....

... and a gold metallic Sharpie pen to trace Christmas tree shapes.  Above:  I arranged the template so that the bar shapes would run diagonally across the tree; for me, these diagonal lines hint at garland wrapped around the tree.  The next two close-ups show my results.

More cards....

6" x 6" Pavilion Shadows s464

9" x 12" Mimosa L141

Below:  This square of stencil-printed paper, metallic silver paint on red background, had been already cut to size.  All I needed to do was add stickers to its metallic gold card blank:

Above:  Printed using 4" x 4" R & E m268.

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

Christmas Angel

How I love making Christmas cards and giftbags!  

Back when my 6" x 6" Sprigs s523 was released, a fellow StencilGirl StencilClub member commented that, in it, she saw the figure of an angel.  I wish I could remember the name of this member so I could give credit where credit's due -- because she saw the angel before I did!  The angel figure was an unintentional part of my overall design, which I'd titled Sprigs because to me it was a stylization of the sprigs you see when springtime leaves are just starting to bud.

For today's angel project, I used my favorite tool, a sponge brayer.  But a Gelli Plate, or the traditional sponge-pouncing method, would work too.

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 (also called "metallic") acrylic paint
a flat, small paint brush
masking tape (optional)
6" x 6" Sprigs -- which looks like this:

 

 

Above:  Do you see the angel in the center of this  mask?

 

For starters, I rolled the brayer in heavy body acrylic paint till it was well-loaded.  

Then I placed my (red-paint-stained) Sprigs atop gold-marbled paper, as shown below.  I started in one corner of the sheet since this paper was large enough to hold 4 imprints if using a 6" x 6" mask or stencil.

 

 

 

 

If you've never used a sponge brayer with a mask or stencil, you may want to start with anchoring it using masking tape.  For today's post I've skipped that step; having often made prints this way, I've learned how to hold the stencil or mask securely with one hand while running the brayer over it.  Just be aware that a paint-loaded sponge brayer is likely to move the stencil or mask while it's in use, unless something is holding it firmly in place.

The photo below shows my first print (on the left); to its right, I've placed Sprigs atop a fresh area of the paper.  I'm ready to make the second print ....

 

 

 

 

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

 

Next, I brought out my glitter-glue (in a squeeze-bottle), my "metallic" acrylic paints and a small flat brush. (I also assembled some color pencils and Gelato sticks; I later decided not to use them, but they appear in some photos below.)

On some of the prints, I used the small flat brush to add metallic paints around the angel-like shapes in the center of this 6" x 6" mask.

On other prints, I used that paint to highlight the angels' wings.

With the glitter, I outlined the angel figures by following the lines already established by the prints themselves.

 

 

 

 

My last step was to cut apart the prints and collage them onto Christmas cards and giftbags...

 

 

Above:  the angel shapes were outlined with green acrylic paint, instead of the metallic acrylic paints used above.

A variation on this idea is to use some of the red-on-white prints as backgrounds for a simple collage:

(1) Use green acrylic paint to make a print on white paper with Sprigs s523. 

(2) From the green and white print, cut out the angel shape that you can see on the above examples.  

(3) Glue the green and white angel to the red and white print, like this:

Above:  I added a gold halo using glitter glue in a squeeze-bottle.

For a future Christmas, I plan to print and cut out more angels, to create hanging ornaments for the tree!

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

Stencil Art in Christmas Cards

My last post hosted a parade of my stencil- and mask-printed papers that I've cut into pieces and used as collage elements.

No longer is it "too early" to start making Christmas cards and other Christmas-themed projects with stencils and masks, since the Postal Service is warning us of longer delays in mail delivery.

So, today's parade hosts a parade of Christmas cards, gift-tags and bookmark gifts created in the same way. 

My StencilGirl masks and stencils are here -- 1 or 2 pages of them, depending on how you have your options set up -- so I won't identify the ones that I've used in each of today's collage art samples.  But if anyone has a question as to what was used in the making of any specific piece, please let me know in the Comments section.

I hope today's samples will spark your own ideas for creative adventure! 

 

Above: Two Christmas cards side by side.

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

Here's My Christmas Giftwrap Idea -- What is Yours?

Giving any extra-large gifts this Christmas?  

Want to make your own giftwrap with stencils and/or masks?  For me it's double the fun when I make my own giftwrap.

You may already have large sheets of paper on hand, but if not, you may want to check here.

This idea popped into my head when I made a print using my 9" x 12" Branching Blossoms Silhouette L284 with red heavy-body acrylic paint on a background that was nearly white:

When I took a second look at the print, I pictured it with gold glitter-glue garland draped across its branches, and the branches dotted here and there with a scatter of Christmas dangling glass balls ... and those balls could be made with my squeeze-bottle glitter glue or with collage, using my hole-puncher to cut circular shapes from papers that have been stencil-printed with dark green or metallic silver or gold.  And a big star shape belongs at the very top!

Then my fantasy swept on to envision multiple prints of Branching Blossoms Silhouette L284, some in bright red as above, others in bright cheerful green.  Those prints could be pieced together across the width and length of the giftwrap, green alternating with the red ... somewhat reminiscent of an old-fashioned quilt --

Above, I've done a quick computer sketch of the idea, since pictures are worth a thousand words.  Just imagine that in each of the these rectangles of alternating color, there's a print made using Branching Blossoms Silhouette L284.  Each print could be further decorated, perhaps in the way I've pictured.  But I think that, easily, the patterned prints would hold visual punch all on their own.

In what ways is your own imagination tickling you today?

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

Christmas Fun

Working on silver-tinted paper, I used deep red acrylic paint with my 6" x 6" Tiger Lily s524.  After cutting out the print, I used a gluestick to add it to a 6" x 6" greeting card blank from JAMPaper.com.  

  

Above:  I repeated the same steps with Sprigs s523.  The 3-dimensional stars at the center of these two cards are embellishments bought years ago at Michaels Arts and Crafts.

The above two art samples are Christmas cards, but I use stencil- and mask- printed papers of the same size to decorate giftbags.  (I get my giftbag blanks here.)

 

Above:  This giftbag is decorated with a partial print made using 6" x 6" Quilted Flower Garden s237.  My reason for using only part of the print is that I wanted to suggest the shape of a pillar candle.  I used squeeze-bottle glitter glue to add sparkle both to the pillar and the flame.

Above:  This decoration uses a rectangle and a triangle cut from a print made on gold marbled white paper.  I made the green print using 9" x 12" Mimosa 9 L141.

Above:  Likewise, this giftbag decoration uses a rectangle and a triangle cut from a print made on paper laminated with gold foil.  I made the top print with 6" x 6" Tiger Lily s524.

  

Above:  Here's a giftbag decorated with a Christmas tree cut from a full-size print made using my 9" x 12" Winter Berries Mask L677.

Above:  This Christmas tree decoration was cut from a sheet of cardstock that I've covered with bits and pieces cut from multiple stencil- and mask- printed papers.

I hope today's post sparked some ideas for having creative Christmas fun!  To scroll thru the pages of my stencils and masks at StencilGirlProducts.com, please start here.

Christmas Tree, O Christmas Tree!

 Flipping thru my collection of stencil- and mask-printed papers, I unearthed prints I'd made with gold interference acrylic paint on glossy black cardstock.  One of the designs caught my eye because I could visualize it trimmed down to Christmas tree shape.

In the lower left above, I've placed my Christmas tree template atop a print I'd made using ATC Mixup Swatton # 1 L768 (which measures a total of 9" x 12" and contains 9 stencils of Artist Trading Card-sized stencils, as well as bonus masks.)  

It's easy to draw a template for a Christmas tree -- on scratch paper, combine a small rectangle under a larger triangle.  My trees are symmetrical but that's only personal choice.  "Wonky" or "lopsided" trees can be a lot of fun!

I used a red pen to trace Christmas tree shapes on two of these prints.  After cutting out both, I mounted them on textured background paper, which then was glued to red blank greeting cards (from JAMPaper.com.) 

Paper Wishes stickers are my favorite way of adding glitz to Christmas decorations of all kinds.  In the two photos above,  these stickers supplied the snowflake-stars and lengths of garland.  Altho it doesn't show easily in photos, these bits of glitz are highly reflective.

In its entirety, ATC Mixup Swatton # 1 L768 looks like this--

More ideas for Christmas fun are coming up!  Thanks for checking out my blog today; to scroll thru the pages of my StencilGirl stencils and masks, please start here.

Christmas Goodies with Stencils and Masks!

It's time to use stencils and masks -- or papers printed with them -- to make Christmas cards, Christmas tree hanging ornaments, stocking stuffer bookmarks, giftbags and gift-tags.

Today's post offers Christmas-themed projects that I hope will ignite new ideas ... new ways of having fun with stencils and masks ... while making unique artwork gifts for yourself and others.

You can scroll thru the pages of my StencilGirl stencils and masks starting here, so you can easily find the stencils and masks I've used in developing today's projects.  

But if you have any questions about any of today's specific art samples, please leave your question in the Comments box below this lost.  I'll gladly give answers!

Thanks for coming to see what's offered here today!  A short "how-to" write-up for new Christmas art will be posted here tomorrow.