Imagine That: Moonlit Leaf Stenciling

In The Studio

Fact: Stencils are super-versatile in the craft room.

Another fact: I so often forget to use mine!

This month one of our prompts was to use stencils in something. I always have such fun with them, I really need to get in the habit of using them more. Without needing to be nudged.

At any rate, I had a blast making this simple, yet striking, background using a leaf stencil, VersaCraft, and All-Purpose ink. The light chalk ink stood out just fine on the dark background, but when I added the Plantinum API, it really popped!

The effect I went for with the fourth layer of color (all with the same stencil) I thought looked like the ripples of a pond or a soundwave echo, so that’s why I’m calling it a Stencil Echo technique.

Head over to the Imagine Blog to check out how I did it and give it a try yourself!

Strut Your Stuff with Stencil Girl and Imagine

In The Studio

It’s Blog-Hop time! This month Imagine teamed up with Stencil Girl for a product/design team collab as well as a giveaway (more details below–make sure you scroll all the way to the bottom!).

I had a lot of fun working with my new tools from Stencil Girl and used them to put together a mixed-media canvas. It started with an acrylic paint base and then–why I don’t I show you, instead.

Strut Your Stuff Process Video

As you can probably guess, I took my biggest inspiration from the peacock feather stencil and chose colors that worked with that idea. I was more amused than I necessarily should be that I turned the dancing figure into a fan dancer, but it worked (I think?).

Once I had all the basic layers in place, I ended up leaving it on my work table for almost a week, trying to decide how to finish it. The overall look was really bright, which is not my usual goal, and I wanted to add a stamped phrase but I wasn’t sure of the best way to do that at first.

I ended up adding a couple layers of ink buffed over the creative medium bits to highlight the textures and then stamped the message onto vellum, applied it with the Shimmer Artist’s Medium, and called it done!

Here’s the full product list for this project
(any amazon links are affiliate links, thank you for supporting this blog!)

Imagine Products:

Stencil Girl Products:

Other Products:

One lucky winner will receive both a $25 Gift Certificate to StencilGirl Products AND a $25 Gift Certificate to Imagine Crafts! Visit the fabulous designers from both teams and comment for your chance to win! The more blogs you comment on, the more chances you have to WIN! (One comment per blog please.) You have until Sunday, July 23rd at 11:59PM Central Time to leave your comments. Winner will be announced on
StencilGirl’s Facebook page and Imagine Crafts’s Facebook page
on Monday, July 24th.

 

the 5th Art: Cutouts

64 Arts

Cutting out small stencils from paper or peel for marking the forehead or other parts of the body with patterns.

You know what this makes me think of? Eyebrows.

Momma is the type to sit (for what seems like hours) and pluck pluck pluck her eyebrows into neat lines. Me? I don’t have the patience. I groom as necessary but I’ll invariably spend too much time on one and be exhausted before I can even get to the other.

Please, someone, tell me you do this, too?

I’ve tried a bunch of shortcuts, too. Those pre-cut eyebrow wax strips? Never fit my face, always needed to be trimmed. So I moved to the ones that came in the square strips since I’d have to cut them anyway.

Folks, when they say not to rewax the same place twice on the same night, please listen. For the love of all that’s good, do NOT rewax your brow ridge twice in one night to catch those few stray hairs. They’re not trying to make you walk around semi-unkempt, they’re trying to avoid potential lawsuits you ripping a few layers of skin off on that second pass. And that hurts. A lot. For about a week.

So, thanks to my German heritage, I just deal with the Brooke Sheilds-look and let my glasses distract.

For the record, the one time I had my brows waxed professionally I was broken-out for a full week. My skin and wax just don’t mix.

Anyway! Getting somewhere near the topic at hand.

Have you seen those plastic eyebrow guides? I can’t tell if they’re throw-backs to the era of drawn-on eyebrows (hello, Joan Crawford eyes!) or something “new” (no such thing, really, but you know what I mean). I understand what they’re trying to do, but I think it’s kinda far-fetched to spend $20 on a set of templates to shape a statement of your face that isn’t even fitted to the canvas, you know?

We’re not one size fits all. We’re not even symmetrical, generally. The most beautiful things about a person are the little quirks (physical or otherwise) that make us individuals. Which is why I like the idea of, if you must have a template, making one yourself (easy instructions over at the Makeup Files).

There are other fun ways to use stencils for body art. Simple stencils can be used to aid in face painting for young ones (or those young at heart) or for temporary tattoos for a fun night out. While you can purchase plenty of ready-made stencils in a variety of designs, making your own is fairly simple as well.

Things to consider:

  • Stencils should be flexible to easily wrap around curves of the body
  • Acetate sheets will last longer than paper ones
  • Clean lines are easier to follow, so use a fresh craft blade or heated stencil cutter for the best results
  • Paints, pencils and powders should all be safe for use on skin (and keep in mind that lipstick, while handy, can really clog your pores so make sure to use it sparingly away from the lips and thoroughly wash it all off as soon as possible)

So, whether you intent is frivolity or allure, have fun with it! Tomorrow we’ll get into some different cutout projects that have nothing to do with face paint or eyebrows 😉