Cecilia Swatton

Once, I called today's technique "double exposure" -- because the result is a double-print image.  But more recently  I've learned the word more commonly used is "bumping."

First, a stencil or mask is used in one position on blank paper.  Then, when that paint has dried, the stencil is "bumped" so that it goes off-register from the original print.  When it's off-register this way, it's used again, with a different color paint.

The same stencil can be used for both prints, or -- to take the bumping technique one step farther -- a near-twin stencil can be used for the second print.

It was that one step farther that I took using my 9" x 12"  Tangled Pods and Dangled Pods .  (Dangled Pods is a reversed version of Tangled Pods!  They are near-twins, as shown below.  They can work together as a set, but are also available separately.)

Tangled Pods (9" x 12") -- a mask

Dangled Pods (9" x 12") -- a stencil

Starting with Dangled Pods, I printed papers to decorate two 5.75" x 5.75" greeting cards with this version of the design; this version, being a stencil, leaves the pods and vines white, while a coat of paint fills in the negative space around the pods and vines.

After that first print dried, I used Tangled Pods -- which is a mask -- carefully placing it somewhat off-register from the reverse-version, original print.  

As you can see in the photos below, this two-step approach results in a double-image, which differs just slightly from the look that's achieved when the same stencil is used twice.

  

The sizes used today are 9" x 12."  6" x 6" sizes are also available -- Small Tangled Pods and Small Dangled Pods.  To scroll through the pages of my StencilGirl stencils and masks, you can start here.  Many thanks!