DLP Week 2 Is Finished...

The art challenge for week two of DLP was to use gesso and the journal prompt was the quote "The beginning is always today" by Mary Shelley.

As is so often the case, I got busy having fun and forgot that I wanted to capture pictures of the process for those of you who requested seeing them.  This first image has several layers of found papers, pretty napkins (serviettes...or whatever you call them), and paint, applied with my fingers.

I then used a fun spiral stencil and dabbed on white gesso with a make-up sponge.





More paint was added to soften the contrast and then I added some subtle finger painted circles.

 Using a couple of different sizes of paint brushes I added more circles. I also traced along some of those wonderful spiral shapes with a black marker and added black dots to create a bit of a swirly border for the page.

More circles...

Haha...more circles in the form of bubble wrap...

And finally, some big bold text.  I chose to use a different quote with a similar theme.

I added some more white, using my favourite white pen (Signo) to highlight the text and I'm calling it done.

It's pretty busy, but I love all the layers.

Graffiti Piece Finished!

In my last post (here) I showed the photograph inspiration for this piece, commemorating my first Future Dog Guide puppy, Dime. Thanks to some very tired puppies, I found more studio time and managed to get this piece in my Graffiti series done!

I free motion stitched the bricks using a cream thread before adding the letters to make up Dime's name.

As with the first in the series, I carried some of the brick and paint elements over the side so they would add interest to the sides of the canvas.  You can see that in the next two images.

And finally...the puppy wall...I can't wait to foster more puppies and keep adding to this commemorative wall!

Dime Graffiti Has Been Started...

Another busy weekend has just passed, but I did manage to fit in a bit of time in the studio to start my Dime piece in my graffiti series. I did the first piece (see post here) with Yoshi, my current Future Dog Guide puppy, as the subject and I liked it so much that I've decided to make a keepsake piece for each of the puppies I foster.  That of course meant I had to go back and do one for Dime, my first foster puppy.

This is one of my favourite pictures of Dime, so I had to incorporate it in the piece.  I imported it into Photoshop and started having fun! 

Once digitally altered, printed and transferred onto fabric, I pulled out some of the new acrylic paints from the DecoArt Media samples that were recently sent to me, and I started adding elements with various found objects, stencils, and a small paint brush to add to the digitally altered image I had created.

Hopefully I'll find time in the next few days to get to the sewing machine to add some stitch.

And for those interested...puppy update...

(L - R) Shamus, Gracie and Yoshi, all Future Dog Guides

This weekend Yoshi and I babysat Gracie for another foster family.  While she was staying with us, we participated in two more Santa Claus parades, one Saturday afternoon, and the other on Sunday evening.  

Fortunately the parade in the afternoon and a long evening walk tired the girls out enough to give me some studio time Saturday night.

Yoshi (7 mths) in back, with Gracie (5 mths)

It sure is fun having a puppy friend for a sleep over! Yoshi and Gracie had some wonderful 'bitey face' sessions and really enjoyed running around the yard together.

Blog Hop - Mary Beth Shaw's Book: Stencil Girl

The inspiration for this piece came from Mary Beth Shaw's book, Stencil Girl (and when you buy the book, you get an exclusive stencil/bookmark with it!). Mary Beth uses paper for a wonderful paper batik 'quilt', but since I have other plans for the finished fabric I have used cotton muslin instead of paper.

Since it was a cool day and we needed a little fire to warm up the cottage, I melted my wax on top of the wood stove.









After melting the wax, I kept it at temperature using an electric melting pot while I worked on the kitchen counter.  I layed the stencils over the fabric and applied the wax with a brush. I used soya wax since it was all I had on hand, but I wasn't thrilled with the results. If I do this again I'll go back to a combination of bee's wax and paraffin. I've used this combination for batik before with good results.

Once the wax was appied I used these liquid dyes in little misters to apply the colour.








This image shows how the soya wax let some of the colour through.  Not quite what I was going for, but the end result is pleasing non the less.

The pieces were put into little ziploc bags and left over night.

 The pieces were then hung to dry outside on the line.



Unfortunately, when they were rinsed the colour became a little more pastel than I was counting on.  Oh well, they're still lovely bright colours.  These next images show the quilting that was done, inspired by the stencil patterns.

 And these images show a few of the stencils that were used. Some of the pieces didn't turn out as well, so the original stencilled image was lost.

Stencils used:

Buildings Stencil by Carol Dube 
Gears Stencil by Mary Beth Shaw
Greek Key Stencil by Mary Beth Shaw
Dots and Dashes Stencil by Jessica Sporn
Trees Stencil by Mary Beth Shaw
Pods Stencil by Jane LaFazio

My plan for this wonderful piece of quilted fabric is to make myself a carry all puppy 'diaper' bag for all the things I need to have with me for my Future Dog Guide foster puppies. I'm still designing the bag, complete with lots of pockets inside for maximum organization.  I'll post a picture of the finished bag when it's done.  Until then, thanks for visiting and joining in another fabulous StencilGirl blog hop! Please make sure you visit all of the other blogs on this wonderful week long hop!

Giveaway: 

One lucky winner, chosen at random, will receive Stencil Girl the book with exclusive stencil bookmark and (3) 6" x 5" stencils designed by Mary Beth Shaw. 

All comments left on all of the blogs will be entered into the draw.  
Giveaway will close: Sunday, September 21st @ 11:59PM Central Time

Good Luck!

Hop Stops:

StencilGirl Talk

Leslie Tucker Jenison

Linda Kittmer - you are here!

If you missed the first few days of this week long blog hop go here to find the start.

Didn't win the giveaway...buy this incredible book here

StencilGirl and Craft Hoarders Blog Hop...

It's time for another blog hop.  Actually, this one's going on all week so if you missed the start of it, head on over to StencilGirl Talk or Craft Hoarders Anonymous Challenge Blog and you can catch up on the other stops.

Challenge #10 Spray It! Ink It! Paint It! Smear It! Emboss It!

Show us your inner mixed media diva! Use spray mists, inks, paints, modeling paste, embossing powder, pastels, chalk, and whatever messy media you can find! Let's dig into that hoard, pull out some of that "messy stuff," and use it up! There is a mess-maker hiding in all of you! Let her/him out to play!

I'm not sure how messy I got...messy stuff is my usual for art journalling, but I pulled out gesso, Dylusions Spray Inks, Pebeo Expandable Paint, acrylic paint, permanent pens in black and white and some Kroma Crackle.

Since this was about messy, I thought what better page to use than one that had Copic markers that had bled through from the other side as my starting point.  I used a knife to cover it with gesso, mostly to protect the journal page on the other side from having anything bleed through.  The extra colour in the background was good texture as far as I was concerned.

 I had a little collection of some circles and a piece of a non-slip mat which I cut into a couple of diamonds and a rectangle. These became masks which I sprayed the Dylusions inks through.

 

Using Terri Stegmiller's Tall Birds stencil, I traced one of the birds on to each of the circles, flipping the stencil as required to get the orientation I wanted.  I did a bit of journalling within the shape of the bird before using translucent acrylic paint to paint over what I had written. The paint allows the text to still show through.

Using a fine paintbrush, I added some paint to the legs of the birds. And because I still had paint on my palette, I doodled some random circles down the left side of the page with the brush.

Black and white pen doodles were added, particularly those the circles.  I also drew in some larger words and added white highlights to those.

Using the expandable paint, I added some drops here and there, letting the wet paint activate the ink under it, before using a heat gun to activate it and let it 'puff' up.

A thick layer of Kroma crackle was added to each of the birds (it's hard to see, but it goes on clear and then dries and crackles over a couple of days).

Once the crackle was completely dried I added a bit of a metallic paint rub (using my finger) over each bird. 

What would a Blog Hop be without a GIVEAWAY??!!!

StencilGirl Products will be picking FIVE winners this week--one from each day!

Take your time and visit each blog showcased every day this week and leave a comment. 

The more blogs you comment on, the more chances you have to WIN! 

One comment per blog please.

You will have until Sunday, June 22nd at 11:59PM Central Time to leave your comments. The winners will be announced on the StencilGirl Facebook on Tuesday, June 24th.

Thanks for stopping by today!  Have fun checking out all of the other stops on this week long hop!

Craft Hoarders Anonymous Challenge Blog

Ginny Nemchak

Glenda Brooks

StencilGirl Talk Blog

Gwen Lafleur

Linda Kittmer

I'm Featured on StencilGirl Talk Today...

Please come visit me over on StencilGirl Talk today where I'm using Julie Snidle's Curvy Ladder stencil as I play with some more drywall compound and encaustic medium...

Another StencilGirl Blog Hop Featuring Newly Released Designs by Andrea Matus deMeng...

I'm excited to be participating in this blog hop in which we're featuring these newly released stencils from the talented Andrea Matus deMeng. I first saw these stunning designs a couple of weeks ago, and it's been really hard to keep them a secret until today's unveiling!

I'm lucky enough to be able to use this beautiful design, called Precocious Peony today. 

I'm experimenting with a technique, based on a piece of art I saw a couple of years ago.  Sadly, I can't remember where I saw it and I don't really know how it was made, but I know the final piece had Silks Acrylic Glaze painted onto black gesso.  Based on what I remembered, and some things I found in my husbands workshop, I decided to experiment and see what I could come up with.  Happily the end result turned out alright so I'm able to share it with you!

If you want to try this, you'll need:

-drywall compound

-a piece of wood (or other sturdy material) cut to the finished size you desire. 
-a putty knife

-sandpaper

-something pointy with which to 'draw' (I'm using a seam ripper, but a ballpoint pen, an awl or a stiff piece of wire will work.)

-black gesso

-Silks Acrylic Glaze

-paint brushes (a sponge brush for the gesso and smaller paintbrushes for the Silks)

-a water jar for cleaning brushes
-Golden Self Levelling Clear Gel

-patience...because this has to be done over a couple of days!

Step 1:

Sand the surface of your wood to roughen it up a bit so the drywall compound with stick well.

Step 2:

Read this whole step before starting...Mix up a small amount of drywall compound to a nice spreadable consistency, but not too runny. (I only mix enough for each thin layer each time). Using the putty knife, spread a thin layer of the drywall compound onto the piece of wood, keeping it as smooth and even as you can so that the entire surface is covered. Let dry completely-my drywall compound says it is dry in 45 minutes but some take longer so read the package (this is where the patience comes in...not my strong suit!). 

While that's drying, scrape any excess compound into the garbage and wash the container and putty knife with water. 

Repeat this step several times until you have about a 1/4" - 3/8" layer of compound. It is better to add thin layers many times to avoid cracking. (See what I mean about needing patience!). 

Step 3: 

Using sandpaper, sand* the final dry surface of the drywall compound until it is completely flat and smooth. Sand the sides of the block too, to get any little bits of drywall compound that may have got on them. (You can see from the image on the left that my 'before' was not terribly smooth but it still sanded up beautifully).

*Drywall dust is messy, so do this outside if possible.

Step 4:

Position your stencil onto the surface, and using your pointy 'drawing' tool etch the design into the surface of the drywall compound. Consider flipping your stencil over to give you another variation of the design. You can add any additional drawing/doodling you wish by etching into the surface.  

Step 5:

Paint the entire surface and the sides with black gesso, ensuring you get into the grooves you created while 'drawing' but without filling those grooves up with excess gesso.  A sponge brush works great for this because you can dip the pointy edge into the groove to soak up the excess gesso. Let dry completely (there's that need for patience again...)

Step 6:

Using the small paintbrushes and the Silks, paint your design however you like. Notice I took the design over the edge with the paint.

Step 7:

Wait...more patience...According to the jar, Silks required 48hrs to fully cure so go find something else to do for the next couple of days!

Step 8:

Add a layer of the Golden Self Levelling Gel to the top and sides of the painting.  I set mine up on another jar of Golden product to elevate it up off the table while I added the layer of gel and let it dry.

Step 9:

Sit back and admire your handiwork!  

Great news...StencilGirl has a giveaway! 

Two winners: one will receive a set of the new 6"x 6" stencils 

and one will receive a set of the new 9" x 12"

All comments left on the hop are eligible for the giveaway so 

the more blogs you comment on, the more chances you will have to win. 

Have fun and GOOD LUCK!

The giveaway will close on Sunday, April 6th at 11:59PM Central Time. 

Please Note: Although this is considered a one day hop, 

you have the ENTIRE week to comment to win the prize.

Note about replies during blog hops: Blogger seems to cut me off at a certain number of replies (no sure how many) and then stops letting me post comments from you. Since I want anyone to have a chance to win the giveaway prizes,  I have decided to only reply if someone asks a direct question.  

Please know that all of your comments are much appreciated.  I do read them all, and I thank you for all of your kind and thoughtful words!

Blog Hop Order

StencilGirl Talk

Andrea Matus deMeng

Mary Beth Shaw

Mary C. Nasser

Linda Kittmer- You are here

Carolyn Dube-Your next stop...

Paula Phillips

Janet Joehlin

Kirsten Reed

Judy Shea

Julie Snidle

Maria McGuire