Today's post at StencilGirl Talk briefly previews my two-part project for using crafters' wooden blank hearts --

-- with "leftovers" in creating 3-dimensional embellishments to become refrigerator magnets, hanging ornaments, or decorations for art journal covers, greeting cards, gift-tags, etc.

Because of space limits, a lot was left out of the StencilGirl Talk post.  Today's two posts here on my blog will fill in the gaps to avoid any possible confusion. 

Here is the supply list for the first of these two projects--

1.  heavy-body acrylic paints

2.  a palette such a tablet of disposable palette papers

3.  crafters' wooden blank hearts 

4.  glitter glue 

5.  miniature iridescent beads 

6.  fine-detail scissors (or a cutting board and knife)

7.  extra-strength gluestick 

8.  any kind of beading tray

The second project in today's post at StencilGirl Talk shifts the focus to using leftover stencil-printed papers with crafters' wooden blank hearts.

On my own blog today, I'm describing the same project, but here I'll use a different set of stencil-printed papers.  These papers were printed using my 9" x 12" mask Garden Montage, which looks like this:

Three examples of these papers--

The photo below shows crafters' wooden hearts and scraps of papers printed with Garden Montage; both are ready for me to take them into the next step.

 

Below:  a photo showing stencil-printed paper scraps flipped backside-up, with hearts glued to them; for that, I used an extra-strength gluestick.

My next 2 photos show two ways of cutting away the excess papers; the first is to use a cutting board and crafters' knife:

 

 

Below:  Option Two is to use fine-detail scissors ....

Above:  A collection of hearts decorated with leftover scraps of stencil-printed papers.

Below:  Two photos showing greeting cards decorated with hearts.

NOTE:  To mail greeting cards with 3-dimensional embellishments, I recommend using padded envelopes.  You can find US postal requirements here.

Thanks for your visit today here at my blog and at my corresponding post at StencilGirl Talk!  

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Inspired by one of the videos of StencilGirl's MaryBeth Shaw, I've tried something new -- using stencils and masks with low-viscosity media.  Using low-viscosity ("runny") media means taking risks!  And getting surprises!  Because runny media will flow under the the areas of a mask or stencil that would otherwise remain paint-free.

For this series of experiments, I chose Sumi ink.  This black ink beads up when brushed across paper with glossy surfaces as well as paper previously coated with acrylic paints.  Sometimes the beads are small; other times, they stretch out into pools.  Either way, the lift of the stencil or mask will bring a surprise.  No two prints will match, nor will any of the prints be exact replicas of the stencils or masks used in their creation.

For my approach, I wasn't stingy in the amount of ink I used; instead, I brushed it in generous swipes over the stencils and masks.  This guaranteed a lot of beading and pooling on the papers under the stencils.

Above:  On acrylic-painted paper, I used the 6" x 6" stencil Kaleid.

Above:  On acrylic-painted paper, I used 6" x 6" stencil Pavilion Shadows.

Above:  On acrylic-painted paper, I again used my 6" x 6" stencil Kaleid.  Besides being coated with acrylic paints, this paper was textured.  Its original source had been an outdated Braille catalog.

Above:  On acrylic-painted paper, I again used 6" x 6" stencil Pavilion Shadows.

Above:  On glossy photo paper, previously printed with a photo, I used Sumi ink with my 6" x 6" stencil Trivet C.  Trivet C is one in a series of trivet stencils I've designed for StencilGirl.

I encourage you, too, to try something new ... it's good for you!

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

Three-dimensional art can created with stencils and masks in several ways.  Today's post shows one approach that I took, using my 9" x 12" Tangled Pods.... 

... along with matte gel medium, a spreading tool, masking tape, a soft terrycloth rag and a sturdy substrate -- in this case, I chose a large sheet of glossy cardstock that had already been monoprinted with blue and green acrylic paints.

After taping the substrate to my work surface with masking tape, I covered it with Tangled Pods and taped that down, too. 

For my next step, I spread a generous layer of matte gel medium across the top of the stencil, as shown in the two photos below.  (Gloss gel medium work work, too.)

After spreading the gel medium, I lifted off the stencil:  

Since 3-dimensional gel can just about ruin a stencil or mask if allowed to harden, I immediately cleaned the stencil 

And I set aside the art to dry overnight.  Once it had dried, I coated it with acrylic paints, first brushing them on, then using the soft rag to wipe away paint from some areas. 

The two photos directly above show the first couple of paint layers.  I continued adding layers, working toward a result that would please me.  The final piece is shown below.  One of its top  layers, a gold "metallic" paint, covers about 2/3 of the surface:

Tangled Pods

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

If you're indoors because of the weather, or because of precautions for health safety -- or both -- you may want to try a project that's the brainchild of artist Shel Cee .... and to make it really easy, her how-to video is right here.  (It first appeared in a post in the blog StencilGirl Talk.)

Among other goodies from StencilGirl Products, Shel Cee chose to use two of my 9" x 12" botanical designs, each of which comes in two versions:

Winter Berries Stencil--

Winter Berries Mask --

And Longwood Florals Stencil --

as well as Longwood Florals Mask --

Each of these two designs are direct reversals of one other.

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

Thanks for visiting my blog today!

 As I look ahead to a brighter 2021, getting ready for new projects, I want to symbolically finish 2020.  One way for me to step forward is to "clean up" by collecting "odds and ends" from past projects of expressing myself thru use of my StencilGirl stencils and masks.

The simple collage above features a detail cut from a print I'd made using blue paper and 3-dimensional white metallic paint with my 9" x 12" stencil Two Fans, which, in its entirety, looks like this--

 

My reason for leading today's post with this art sample is that thinking outside the box is a great boost to creativity.  So, for example, the above design opens itself to possibilities that stretch beyond this image of a pair of fans.

Below is another collage; this one starts with a doily paper from InLoveArts.com; atop that rests a print I made on glossy black cardstock using Golden's garnet gel and a stencil of Artist-Trading-Card size, Ginkgo.  After the gel had dried, I outlined the gingko leaves with silver glitter glue from RangerIndustries.com.  The final touch was a butterfly created with a decorative hole punch.

The Ginkgo stencil is part of a 9" x 12" sheet-collection titled ATC Mixup Swatton #2 and it looks like this:

Today's third mini-collage was posted here in my blog some time ago, but that was before it got dressed up using laser-cut lovlies from InLoveArts.com; and atop them, another butterfly created with a decorative hole punch.  The base of the collage is a tag printed with my Artist-Trading-Card-sized mask Ornamental Iron Curls; this mask is, likewise, included in my 9" x 12" sheet-collection titled ATC Mixup Swatton #2, shown directly above.

Next up:  Two simple prints; both were created with my 9" x 12" stencil Boxed Vines.  But the top, purple print was made as a reverse print; right after I'd made a print in the usual stenciling way, daubing purple acrylic paint thru the stencil's openings, I had flipped the still-wet stencil over and pressed it to a clean sheet of white paper -- using it in the same way I would use a rubber stamp. 

The multiple-layered print above was made using textured acrylic paint and Boxed Vines; the background's earlier print had been created with Webbed Stencil (MaryBeth Shaw, designer.) The blue, dangled leaves and vines that hang down the right side of this artwork were freehand-cut from sturdy paper.

Boxed Vines in its entirety looks like this:

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

 More "odds and ends" from 2020 that I want to show, while moving ahead into the new year:

First up, below, is a collage I created in a 6-month-long online workshop that I started nearly a year ago.  Jeanette Goulart was our class leader; I highly recommend her as a teacher!  This collage incorporated a subtle use of stencils.  I'll highlight those with green shapes in today's second photo....

Above:  In this over-large photo you can see the areas where I used transparent (Zinc) white acrylic paint to make subtle textures along some edges to help merge them better into the white background.  Stencil used:  6" x 6" Swatton Grid Stencil --

Below:  This is one of two collages that incorporate papers cut from a print I'd made using acrylic blue paint with my 9" x 12" mask Clustered Leaves:

In its entirety, my 9" x 12" mask Clustered Leaves looks like this--

Below is another collage -- this one still in progress -- that incorporates more papers cut from that blue print:

Above:  Four other stencil-printed papers (top right, center left, center and bottom right) were cut from a sheet made with my 9" x 12" Palm Fronds Silhouette Large using acrylic paints topped with art crayon shadings.

Below are two prints developed using my 6" x 6" Garden at Nemours Mask....

Above:  This illustrates how much fun it is to use magazine ad graphics as backgrounds!  Below:  By way of Photoshop magic, the above print was flipped horizontally and combined with a photo that I'd taken of my work surface after a wild painting session! 

Thank you for coming to check out my blog today!  To scroll thru the pages of my StencilGirl stencils and masks, please start here.  To follow this blog by email, please use that option in the upper right sidebar.

 "Odds 'n' Ends" is an umbrella title that I pin to a post that gathers art samples culled from a variety of stencil-print approaches, and clump them together.  Time for that now!

Starring in today's clump:  6" x 6"  Garden at Nemours Stencil S844.

Above:  This double print was done on photo paper originally printed with an orange design, then spattered with orange paint.

Below:  I made this stencil-print on a page from an old encyclopedia that had a central botanical image.  Before using the stencil, I framed that central image with generous widths of dark green acrylic paint....

Below:  The base for this double print was an ad in an old magazine.  Using a "found" background is half the fun!

Below is a mixed-media collage that had begged me to add more layers of paint.  I turned the base around when adding the stenciled layers, going for a mostly abstract look.  It kind of reminds me of the kind of print on a Hawaiian shirt!

Below:  Once again, the base for this double print was an ad in an old magazine.  

Above:  This stencil-print was made on a multi-layered background.  One of these background elements (visible in the upper left) was a print made with my 6" x 6" Looking Up Through Trees Small.

Below:  Yet another print made using Garden at Nemours Stencil S844 on the page of an old magazine.  But this time around, I had used acrylic paint to mute out most of the background imagery, while retaining its colors.

Below:  This print, like the one at the top of this post, was done on photo paper originally printed with an orange design, then spattered with orange paint.

Below:  A second example of a print made on a page from an old encyclopedia, with the goal of having a background that includes at least  one botanical image.  Before making my print, I ran a paint-loaded brayer down the middle of the page.  After making that print, I sprinkled the whole page with yellow paint to tie the foreground in with the background.

Today's final art sample, a double print, was made on yet another colorful page from an old magazine.  Before making the 2 prints, I used acrylic paint to alter some areas on that magazine paper.

Thanks a lot for taking time to stop here and scroll down thru these prints made with 6" x 6" Garden at Nemours Stencil S844!  To scroll thru the pages of my StencilGirl stencils and masks, pleases start here.

 I have another winner !  -- because there were only 2 minutes between her guess and the guess of my first winner, Ophelia Chang.  A difference of 2 minutes is as good as a tie!  

I'll be happily mailing a free 6" x 6" Ornamental Iron Curls to Lynda, my second winner, as soon as (1) I can discover which Lynda she is and (2) I have her mailing address.

Congratulations, Lynda, and thank you for your interest in my stencils and masks at StencilGirlProducts.com!

 I have a winner!  That winner is Ophelia Chang, and I will be mailing her a brand-new Ornamental Iron Curls, which in its entirety looks like this --

Have fun using this mask, Ophelia!

 2021 marks the start of my ninth year with the happy privilege of being among the designers for StencilGirlProducts.

I'm celebrating this way -- 

Seeing just this tidbit of a 6" x 6" stencil or mask of my design, can you guess its name?

Please enter your guess by adding a Comment.  First person to guess correctly will win this stencil or mask, brand-new and still packaged.

(Bear in mind that even if you already have this one, having two means you're free to cut up one of them, any way the whim strikes, customizing it to make it uniquely your own.)

When I announce your name as the winner, I'll ask you to send your mailing address in another Comment on this blog.

To get a leg up on winning, you may want to skim thru the pages of my StencilGirl stencils and masks, starting here.