SSS Monday Challenge - Bloom Where You Are Planted

Hi Everyone! I'm excited to join in the Simon Says Stamp Monday Challenge. This month's challenge is "Stencil It" and I couldn't be happier. I LOVE stencils and use them on almost every project I create. For my project, I used several different stencils with ink, molding paste and distress spray. Below is the step-by-step process I used to make my art piece. There are so many techniques you can use with stencils and they are all fun! Click on the icon below and join the challenge and see how much fun it is to work with stencils.

As always, I gathered my supplies to create my project and tried as hard as I could to stick to only those supplies. (This is very difficult for me and a system I'm trying to stick with throughout the year.)

I cut a 4 1/2" x 6 1/2" panel out of white card stock and applied gesso. Because I was using Gelatos, I needed to apply gesso to the base so the medium could move easily on the paper. 

I applied Faber Castel Gelatos in Bubblegum, Red Cherry and Guava to the card stock in different directions just as if I were coloring with a standard crayon.

I sprayed water over the panel with my Tim Holtz Distress Sprayer and smudged the Gelatos over the panel with my fingers.

After the panel was dry, I began adding stencils using archival inks and molding paste. I used many different stencils to give depth to my project: Tim Holtz Splatters, Mesh, Schoolhouse and Dot Fade along with Dylusions Small Hearts and Dina Wakley Daisies.

After the molding paste was dry, I went over the daisies stenciled image with the bubblegum gelatos and rubbed it in with my fingers. This will cause the gelatos to embed in the crevices and make the image stand out and blend in with my project.  I noticed some of the inked images were too faint for my vision so I carefully realigned the stencils and went over them with more ink. When I was happy with the panel, I used a baby wipe and gently wiped over the entire project to lighten it up thus exposing the stencil images and making them pop. (If you remove too much of the color, you can always reapply the gelatos, where needed, and continue the baby wiping process until you are happy with the outcome.)

Here I wanted to lighten the panel where my stamps and cut out would go so they would be a focal point on the panel. I used Paper Artsy Fresco Finish Chalk Acrylic Paint in Snowflake to complete this process. I also added one of the images from the Tim Holtz Splatter stencil with the same acrylic paint at this point.

I wanted to add some of the color back to the panel, so I rubbed in gelatos where needed and added the Tim Holtz Dot Fade stencil with Candied Apple Distress Spray Stain. 

The flower I had envisioned for my panel is from the Paper Artsy Jofy 36 stamp set. I like to get a crisp image and sometimes need to stamp the image more than once to get it the way I like it. I have found my MISTI tool to be one of my most treasured tools and it never fails in allowing me to get the image just the way I want it to stamp out. (I'm often asked if I feel the price is worth spending on the tool and I can tell you, without a doubt, it is worth it! If you only purchase one tool this year, this is the tool to purchase.)

I cut out the flower and painted it with acrylic paint. First, I painted the petals orange and let that completely dry. I went over the petals with red acrylic paint and let that sit for a minute or two and then used a baby wipe (very gently) to rub off some of the red paint so the orange paint underneath would be exposed. This allowed the beautiful orange color to peek through and gave my flower the depth and interest it needed. After painting the center of the flower red and yellow, I decided I didn't like the red color in the center so I very carefully went over it with my Black Faber Castel Pitt Pen.

Here you can see the flower after it was completed.

The image I used for the stem and leaves is from the Paper Artsy Eclectica ELB15 stamp set. The image was too large, so I masked off part of the image with a post it note before inking it to get the size I needed to fit the flower for my panel. 

 

I wanted to add a border to my panel and used an image from the Paper Artsy Eclectica EDY01 stamp set and colored in the leaves with green acrylic paint. Notice how the image didn't stamp over the stenciled daisy image. That's an easy fix! I connected the lines in the image over the molded stencil with a black fine point sharpie pen.

I created my own sentiment with black card stock and a Uniball Signo White Gel Pen. I cut the sentiment down to size and distressed the edges with my Tim Holtz Tonic Paper Distresser and adhered the pieces to my project with 3D foam tape to elevate it and give some depth. I used my Black and Deep Scarlet Red Faber Castel Pitt Pens and sketched along the edges of the sentiment on the panel and quickly rubbed it out with my fingers before it dried to make the sentiment pop.  I colored in the leaves using another of the Faber Castel Pitt Pens in May Green and adhered the flower using the same 3D foam tape to elevate the flower off the panel. Here, again, is my final art piece.

I hope you enjoyed seeing the process of how I made this beautiful, stenciled art piece and that it inspired you to grab your stencils and start creating your own beautiful art piece! Have a great weekend!!