Stencil Love

I have a real love affair with stencils. Over the next week I thought I would share some ways to easily incorporate stenciling into any project. Today I will share my favorite technique which is to create my own backgrounds using stencils from The Crafter's Workshop and Tattered Angels paints. 

Creating A Stencil Background

Grab your stencils, & favorite spray inks. I prefer to do this technique on 140 lb. watercolor paper. This will allow you to do both sides if creating a journal.

I randomly mist colors, try to not worry about where it's
going because this is only the 1st layer of color.

I created mist guards from an old spray mat. I like to be able to

control how the stencil appears on the background.

I often will flip the stencil to get a reverse design.

This is time to start experimenting with stencil placement.

Have fun with different themes & shapes with your stencils…

there are no mistakes when creating your own backgrounds.

Start layering with random shapes, sizes & colors.

Have fun because these backgrounds are created to be cut apart to

use on tags, cards or make into mini-books.

Here is another background being created and another method of
securing your stencil using Blue Painters Tape.

MATERIALS USED:

Strathmore 300 Series Watercolor Paper 140 lb.

Stencils from The Crafter’s Workshop:

Balzer Designs designed by Julie Fei-Fan Balzer ~ Burst, Circle in Squares, Triangle Plaid
Dylusions Stencils designed by Dyan Reaveley ~ Dotted Flowers, Luscious Leaves, Number Jumble

TCW ~ Flower Shower, Sunburst

Tattered Angels Paints:

Glimmer Chalkboard Mist ~ Boogie Board, Calypso, Cotton Candy, Fairway, Firefly, Mint Chocolate Chip, Splash, Teal High Heel, Tomate Cerise, Valencia

Glimmer Mist ~ Iridescent Gold, Marmalade, Pearl, Pumpkin Spice, Purple Pansy, Rum Punch

CREATING A SIMPLE TAG
Using backgrounds to create tags is one creative way to work with 
YOUR newly designed papers

MATERIALS USED:
TAG BACKGROUND
Ranger Craft Tags Size #8
Tim Holtz Distress Seasonal Inks Summer 
Unity StampCompany: ~ Quarterfoil Background  


STENCIL BACKGROUND
The Crafters Workshop: Balzer Designs in Circle Explosion
Tattered Angels Paint Mediums Used:

Glimmer Mist in Key Lime Pie & Pearl

Glimmer Chalkboard in Fairway & Calypso


COMPLETED TAG
Unity Stamp Company:: Itty Bitty Follow your Heart
HELMAR Adhesives: Professional Acid Free glue
Tim Holtz Ideaology 
Misc.: Washi Tape, Sticker, Ribbon

Thanks for stopping by because I so enjoy sharing my art. Do make sure you stop by over the next week to see some other possibilities of creating your own stencil backgrounds. Tomorrow I will share how I store my stencils and more tags.

The Whatever's #1 or Secret in the Attic

By now you may have heard about this new challenge called The Whatever's, an idea created by 3 friends who love to collect old photographs. It's a genius idea to incorporate old photos, paper crafting and creative storytelling. Here are the stories from the creators Catherine Matthews-Scanlon, Nathalie Kalbach & Vickie Chrisman. 


I've decided to create mine in a 9x12" format utilizing watercolor paper. I will bind the pages and create a cover as I work through the 12 months of this challenge. Here is how I interpreted Challenge #1 and the 1st photo:

The Whatever's or Secret in the Attic

Materials Used:

Balzer Designs Stencils ~ Peacock Feathers

Tattered Angels Paint Products: Chalk Chalkboard, Nougat, Partridge in A Pear Tree, Woven Burlap & Cinder Glimmer Mist

HELMAR Professional Acid Free Glue

Misc. Kraft Envelope

Strathmore Series 300 Watercolor Paper

Here is the story that goes with this journal page:

This will be the summer I will never forget…see I spend all summer at my Grandma’s beach house at Nags Head, NC. Usually days are filled with sand, sun and surf…some fishing and reading and just being lazy…the perfect thing for a 12 year old. But this summer would be different and let me tell you why.

I had just finished reading my favorite Nancy Drew mystery, The Secret in the Old Attic, and was getting ready to go find another to delve into but I couldn’t find one. Grandma wasn’t home but I knew where she hid the key to the attic. Now I know that I’m not suppose to go up there but I was hot on the trail to find another mystery…little did I know what awaited for me.

The attic was dark and you could see cracks in the roof, probably from all the wear and tear from seawater, rain and the tropical storms that would pass over the island called the Outer Banks. I quickly got busy looking for the box of books that I knew was kept up there but for some odd reason my eyes fell upon an old trunk that I don’t remember ever seeing before. I was drawn to it like a moth to a flame. It was covered with dust and cobwebs and I almost turned away but I noticed that it wasn’t locked…in fact it was slightly ajar.

Now being a Nancy Drew fan, wanting to grow up to solve mysteries like her, my curiosity got the better of me. The top looked heavy as I tried opening it…to my surprise it was quite light. I was disappointed to find that it was empty or at least I thought it was empty. I noticed what looked like an old piece of wallpaper at the bottom and as I turned it over, to my surprise was a picture of two children with a tattered envelope.

Who were these children, what were there names, where did they come from, why did they look so sad?

So starts the summer I will never forget...

I would love for you to join in! Here are the details for the challenge along with the 1st photo for the challenge & a video describing the concept.

I really enjoyed creating this page and can't wait to see what photo we will get to work with next month. 

Thanks for stopping by!

Harley-Davidson meets Art!

This week for a DT project at Helmar the Design Team I was asked to create a masculine project for the man in my life. I created this for my husband who rides a Harley...something that he could hang in his studio. I've been hoarding this embossed metal and metal tape knowing that it would get put to good use at some point. He is always so supportive of what I do but rarely reaps any projects so this was the perfect time to create something that honors what he loves to do. Now I'm going to tell you a little secret...I hang the cost of his Harley and all the added parts over his head whenever I see his eyebrow go up when a new package of supplies comes to the door for me. "Why honey, never in a million years will what I buy even come close to what you've spent on your Harley"...end of conversation...point taken ;)

Here are the materials I chose to use for this project:

Because this project would consist of 3 heavy layers from Wendy Vecchi's Studio 490 Art Parts, 450 Quick Dry Adhesive was my choice to complete this project.

First I would have to apply an embossed metal to 2 of the pieces from the Large Circle Frame {Studio 490 art parts}.

I then used Ranger's Metal Foil Tape that I wrapped around the outer ring of this project. I embossed this ring using the heads of different screws and a hammer. The metal was  darkened with Adirondack Tim Holtz Alcohol Ink in Pitch Black and burnished with a paper towel. The three circles were attached together with the 450 Quick Dry Adhesive along with the fabric patch. To ensure that the components stayed layered and not collapse on themselves I added Liquid Scrap Dots to  both the outer ring and the fabric patch. After allowing to cure overnight this project was ready to hang.

Here is the finished project:

Thanks for stopping by! 

HELMAR'S Father Day Blog Hop

Starts today!

Make sure you hop on over to the Helmar Happy Fathers Day Hop. It starts today and several of the Design Team members are so excited to share with you a variety of fantastic masculine projects. They've put the Helmar arsenal to good use and want to share with you some inspiration for those last minute Fathers Day gifts.

Are you ready for The Whatever's???

I always get excited when I see new and innovative ways to create art that tells a story! I must say these 3 artists...Catherine Matthews Scanlon, Nathalie Kalbach and Vickie Crisman have come up with a genius idea. Go check out all the details on their blogs...a cute video is also available.


Now you know I will be in on this challenge!!! Join in with these 3...I can guarantee that it will not only be inspirational but FUN also!

The Second Floor Challenge #5

It's that time again...Challenge #5 from the creators of the Second Floor Challenge...Julie Fei-Fan Balzer & Nathalie Kalbach.

Challenge #5 is create with a FOUND OBJECT

What are you going to create?? What am I going to create...hmmm! Stop back to check out what I'm create...now off to find a found object.

Have a creative & inspiring day!

Butterflies, Stencils & Tattered Angels

I He{ART} stencils...I love what stencils can do to create beautiful projects...I particularly love the stencils designed by Julie Fei-Fan Balzer and Dyan Reaveley. Stencils are a great way to add interest to a plain background and all the various Tattered Angels paint products can add that extra punch. I often create my own background paper just for this reason. I started with these 2 tags using different mediums. The blue tag was created with Tattered Angels Chalkboard Glimmer Mist in Boogie Board and Splash. Using the new stamp & stencils combination from Balzer Designs I stenciled the large butterfly with Boogie Board again adding a deeper colored layer.

I  used the corresponding  stencil overlay with Tattered Angels Glimmer Glaze in Shindig to create the butterfly wings. The green tag actually was a mop tag that I stenciled the butterfly with Tattered Angels Glimmer Mist in Woven Burlap and the stencil overlay I used Plain Jane Stained Glass in Purple. I then coated the entire tag with Glimmer Glam in Old Pages.

I created the 2 tags as experiments and decided to go a step further with the green tag.T

I grabbed more stenciled scraps from prior projects and you can see all the various stencils used on Strathmore 400 Series Watercolor Paper.  I love creating my own backgrounds and Tattered Angels paint projects just love the texture of the watercolor paper.

Here is what I created utilizing the above materials. The second butterfly was stamped utilizing the corresponding Butterfly stamp and I found the blue scraps and felt they were exactly what this needed. I love the vibrancy of these colors. With my trusty Helmar Acid Free Adhesive, Duck Brand Duck Tape, Dylusions Stamps Word Love and 7Gypsies Gaffer Tape I now have a cute clipboard where I can keep ephemera for my art journal.

Thanks for stopping by. I hope you will come back...there are going to be some big changes going on here!!! I'm looking so forward to being able to devote my full time efforts to creating art now that I have retired from teaching. I hope to be sharing on my blog much more often than I have!!