Ivy!

 The ivy plants in our yard and in our container gardens will hold onto their green leaves all year around...

Above:  a close-up of English ivy in our backyard. 

Long ago, I pressed some ivy-stem-and-leaf-cuttings till they had dried.  Then I scanned them into Photoshop.  From there, they segued into stencils...

Above:  Ivy Frame 9 Stencil L142 (9" x 12")

Above:  Ivy Frame 6 s096 (6" x 6")

Above:  Ivy 6 Stencil s097 (6" x 6")

Above:  Ivy 9 Stencil L143 (9" x 12")

I've used my ivy stencils to make prints with acrylic paints.  Some of those prints became bookmark gifts, while others went on to be greeting card covers...

I created a matching envelope for one of those greeting cards by gluing a leftover strip of print across the bottom....

... and finally, one of the full-size prints became a background page (or a starter page) in my art journal --

All of today's prints were made on "catch-all paper."  I use magazine pages and other papers for "catching" leftover acrylic paints when I finish my large painting projects.  Before placing my brushes into soaking water, I wipe the brushes as clean as possible on these papers -- so that less acrylic paint goes down the drain when I wash brushes at the end of the day.  It's better for the environment.  

Also:  Do you know about this?  If you enjoy making greeting cards the way I do, your production may exceed your needs.  If that happens, isn't it wonderful that you can send your beautiful greeting cards to an organization that makes good use of them?  I think so! 

Thanks for visiting this blog today!

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