Stencil it Bright and Cheerful!

Hello Monday, my friends! Welcome back to a new challenge - this week we are into stenciling, so let's Stencil It! 

We have had the wonderful pleasure this month of having Anne with us as our guest DT. I know you have been inspired by her wonderful takes on the challenges, and I want to wish her the very best! Be sure to pop over to Redanne and check out what she is creating!

I headed to my big art journal for this week's challenge, and went to one of my "junk" pages - that's where I brush off excess paint from other work, so I don't waste it. 

I started on a sheet of watercolor paper and taped the stencil into place. Then, using a mix of Distress inks and Oxide inks, I sponged the colors in. 

As you can see, I smudged a bit, but I can live with that. 

I decided to spritz a bit, and in retrospect, maybe I should have just spritzed the flower and butterfly and left the words alone. Since I didn't, I went in with a pen and doodled around the images a bit, and added a bit of cross-hatching in the background.

CHANGE OF PLANS: Then, I slept on it....I thought I was done and could leave it as is, but came up with an idea in the middle of the night to fix it. So, this morning, I did this...

I decided to redo the stenciled area and started with the flower. While the stencil was in place, I lightly spritzed water over this section to activate the oxide inks I mixed in.

I am much happier with this one than my smudgy one, especially with the lettering. 

Next step was adding in the border design with texture paste and a stencil. Once dry, I spritzed the bright Dylusions sprays on it, and wiped off the excess with a baby wipe. I went around the edge with black ink. 

I used Inka Gold to bring out the lovely lace stencil design and a bit of white pen. 

(new and improved version with a bit of doodling)

If you look closely at the bottom of the page, you can see an echo of the stencils I used. 

Do you ever finish a piece and look back at it and think - I should have stopped there...I should have done this...It would be better if I had...? Well, yes...I do that too, but most of the time I am ok with how it turns out even when I see the flaws. Or, I sleep on it and often wake up with a solution. How do you react to this when it happens to you?

Thanks so much for stopping by! I hope I have inspired you to join us in our Stencil It challenge this week, and I am looking forward to seeing your creation! 

You could win a generous $50 voucher from Simon Says Stamp! 

SUPPLIES:

                                       

                                       

A great place to shop! Super fast and friendly!!

Check out Simon on Instagram. Use #sssmchallenge when you post.

Be sure to head over to the challenge blog to see how the DT is interpreting this week's challenge!

Simon Says: Let's Take Vacation!

Hello Monday, my friends! We have a brand new challenge for you this week at Simon Says Stamp and it's Let's Take Vacation! Fun one for this time of the year, right? I grew up camping with my family, and have gone camping ever since. We've done camping trips and adventures for years with our sons and traveled to some of our favorite destinations - the Southwest, the Rockies, Maine, the eastern provinces of Canada - all in tents! So of course, I thought of a camping theme for this challenge, but went with this cute tiny trailer...maybe someday! 

I repeatedly stamped the trailer design on the Oasis pack from Crate Paper.

Laying things out trying to figure out my piecing.

Ok, I like this!

Working on the tag background, starting with strips of paper I've used for the trailer.

Layering on some paints and adding some stamped designs.

I decided to use both transparent and opaque texture paste on the tag. 

Adding in some lovely worn lipstick Distress Oxide by wiping the ink pad on my craft sheet, spritzing it with water, and laying the tag down repeatedly. 

I added some lovely fibers to the tag and one of Tim Holtz's new Assemblage charms. 

I had fun thinking of words I associate with types of vacations and places to go, and pulling out my Mint typewriter to jot them down. 

I hope you've enjoyed my tag and are inspired to create a project of your very own and join us in our challenge! 

Simon Says Stamp is offering a generous $50 voucher for the challenge!

SUPPLIES:

                                       

                                       

A great place to shop!!

Simon is on Instagram! Use #sssmchallenge when you share.

Let's head on over to see what the rest of the DT is up to with this challenge - We know it will be amazing!!

What Does a Gal with a Gelli Plate do?

I had a beautiful summer day recently, and had to try out my new DecoArt Premium Acrylics and some new Neons I had recently gotten. So, I packed everything up, took it out onto my deck, and laid down a big sheet of paper on the table, and started playing. I wanted to try to make my own washi tape with the gelli plate. 

I started by laying down some Dina Wakley Media tape onto a sheet of deli paper.

Using my gelli plate and a brayer, I added the first layer of lovely blues and greens. I am loving the new Premium paints - very smooth!

Adding in a stamped layer with one of Nathalie Kalbach's Art Foamies.

A cosmetic sponge and neutrals work beautifully with some Carabelle Studio stencils to add another layer. 

Decided to try out my Neons and add in a bit with these masks. (Carabelle Studio)

Time to pop it up with some bright white and the flower stencil. (Carabelle Studio)

I used a lot of the same materials to make this gelli print on a piece of deli paper.

I used some of my washi tape for an art journal page. I will have to come up with a way to use the strips left on the deli paper too.

I also monoprinted a number of sheets of paper, since it was such a lovely afternoon to be outside, and I wanted to try out my new paints. I added some stamping on these sheets.

Some stenciling on these....

...and combined my prints into an art journal page along with these great book stamps from Darkroom Door and a bit of Quinacridone Gold.

Here is the full page, which I made for my Wanderlust 2017 class. My idea was to make the washi tape look like book shelves (for the most part). As you can see, I combined paper I mrnoprinted with the washi tape.

I will definitely set up my "outdoor studio" on the deck on another lovely day this summer, and get out my gelli plate and paints to play - I highly recommend it!! 

Paris Blues

I am over at the DecoArt Mixed Media blog today with a full tutorial on how to make this! Please stop over and check it out!