StencilGirl Blog Hop Featuring Seth Apter's New Releases

Welcome to another fun StencilGirl blog hop stop!  Today I'm using Seth Apter's new stencil called Inside Out for a mixed media encaustic piece.

I started by lightly misting a sanded board (see here re: my use of recycled art boards) and then using Caran D'Ache Neocolor II wax crayons to create the first layer.  Since these are water-soluble crayons, I sprayed the piece with a fixative before adding the first layer of encaustic medium.

Some layers of tissue paper, one on which I had written a quote, were added next.

In my fibre art group, Group of Eight Fibre Artists, we participate in two challenges each year. The current challenge is "Secrets", so although I have another piece I'm doing for the challenge, I thought I'd also use that theme for this piece.

The quote reads, "...there are two types of secrets...the kind you want to keep in, and the kind you don't dare to let out."





Seth's stencil, in addition to having many fabulous design elements, includes the words 'inside', 'out', and 'secret'.  Perfect for the quote right!?

I used oil pastel to add some of the elements from the stencil onto the surface, and then used a heat gun to slightly melt and fuse the pastel with the encaustic medium.

I drew some simple dots with the oil pastel and doodled circles around them with either a permanent black pen or my Signo white pen, again fusing the ink into the wax.

Great news...StencilGirl has a giveaway! 

Two lucky winners will each get a set of Seth Apter's newly released stencils!

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, May 4th 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

Seth Apter

Mary Beth Shaw

Mary C. Nasser

Linda Cain

Carolyn Dube

Kirsten Reed

Linda Kittmer--YOU ARE HERE

Janet Joehlin--next stop...

Judy Shea

Leslie Tucker Jenison

Paula Phillips

Rusty Encaustic...

I've been exploring encaustic a little more.  The other day, while out walking with Dime, I found a few interesting rusty bits.  Since I have lots of rust dyed fabric and some rust dyed paper towels in my stash, I thought I'd use them for a small encaustic piece.  I started with another of those recycled art boards (see here). My first layer was a rusted paper towel, and then I layered on some strips of rusted cotton and added the found objects and a dried cedar 'tree'.

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...

Exploring Encaustic Medium...

I've been wanting to try encaustic for a long time, but for some reason I just kept putting it off.  I think I was a little intimidated by some of the technical 'stuff' even though I've used similar tools and heat for resists, batik, etc.  Anyway, I've got Daniella Woolf's fabulous book and DVD, The Encaustic Studio so I finally pulled them off the shelf, spent time reading and watching and then I felt ready to jump in!

For my substrates, I'm recycling some picture boards (not sure what to call them but you can see them in the picture).  I get them for pennies at a recycling depot in town, so they're perfect.  I sand them, cover them with gesso* and then I'm ready to go (research gesso vs. encaustic gesso if you're planning to do this).


I wanted some heavy texture in this piece, so I pulled out the drywall compound again, and using a stencil I applied a thick layer of compound with my fingers, making it easy to control where I was applying it without having to mask off the stencil.

Needless to say, this needs a bit of time to dry, especially because of the fairly thick application.

I'm now ready to add some collage elements and start playing with the wax medium!

I'd say I still need to work on my use of this medium...a lot!...but, here's my first attempt at encaustic. It's a very interesting medium to explore, but as you can see, I have a ways to go before I get a handle on this.