Using STENCIL BUTTERS with stencils!

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With so many colours to choose from, The Crafters Workshop STENCIL BUTTERS are so much fun to add sparkle and dimension to you mixed media projects. Michelle loves to use the creamy, sparkly Stencil Butters in her mixed media art journals and junk journals, as well as on top of gel prints and printed ephemera.

In this video, Michelle shows you some examples of the stencil on different surfaces, plus shows you how to apply the paste through a stencil.

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You can see our full range of STENCIL BUTTERS in the Mixed Media Art online store
[shipping across Australia]

You can see our current range of STENCILS here – our range is always evolving and the stencils used in this video may no longer be in stock but we will have lots of other fun stencils to choose from!

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Black Altered Book Page

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This article is written by Linda Giese

The process and materials for this page spread are fairly easy, but when people turn the page and come upon it, they often say,”Wow!”  It is bright and active with a lot of pattern and color.

Materials & Tools

  • Americana lamp black acrylic paint in the bottle(not tube paint)
  • 3-5 different sheets(I used some scraps) of origami paper.

mixed media collage

  • Scissors
  • Small punch like heart, flower or star
  • Aleenes tacky glue (or other white glue)
  • Sakura metallic gelly roll pen set, 10 count.
    [Ignore my note on the package, “can’t mod podge over”.  You can work over the pens if you let them dry completely first.]

mixed media pens

Technique

mixed media collage

1. Paint your page spread with black acrylic . Let dry.

2. Cut and punch origami paper and adhere with glue. Origami paper comes in two styles.  The washi papers are more expensive and have a toothy, fibrous texture.  The less expensive papers are like thin wood pulp papers.   For punches the less expensive papers work better.  I used washi for the corners and some cut papers.  I tried to spread the colors around the page with some of the flowers going off the edge.  This way you can punch partial flowers along the edges of your papers to use every pretty bit of them.  I apply a small amount of glue with a toothpick so I don’t get it on the other parts of the background which makes the surface better for the pen work.

3. Draw a pathway (or several of them) with one of your pens to contain your writing.  You can write a favorite quote, something you want to say, or perhaps about your joy in creating art.  I used words I had chosen on the page spread (before I painted with black) to tell me what to write.  One page had the words “the technique” and the other “between two extremes”.  On the technique page I drew the parallel lines over half the page spread and expanded them as needed.

mixed media collage and writing

On the extreme page I wound my lines across both pages and turned and came all the way back across. I used my spears of origami paper to help find the route.  My words happened to cover it all.  I don’t preplan, just start writing, but if they hadn’t filled the space, I may have filled in the line with stars or other symbols.  I don’t really stress over it.

4. The last part is all the fun.  I usually begin with borders along my lines.  These can be as simple or elaborate as you like.  Then I start to fill in areas with my favorite zentangle patterns.I try to repeat patterns in different areas and to repeat colors in the same way.  This helps move your eye around the composition.

There are wonderful zentangle books and many online sites for patterns.  Zentangle was created by artists Rick Roberts and Maria Thomas.  Their website is www. zentangle.com  Other sites I like are www.LifeImitatesDoodles.blogspot.com and TanglePatterns.com

Finishing

I put a coat of gloss varnish over the extreme page spread.  Although I like the look of acrylic paint with varnish over it, I think it detracts from the brightness of the metallic pens.  The technique page has no finish on it.  I hope you have as much fun as I did with this page spread.

I encourage questions and comments!

Hugs to you,

Linda

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Linda Giese encourages comments, questions, and sharing your art journey at linda.giese@yahoo.com

She teaches classes privately and at a local scrapbook store, The Stamp Addict

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Fixing Your Gel Prints

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When getting started with gel printing, it’s easy to create gel prints that we just don’t like! Sometimes with our first gel prints there is too much white space or the second print, also known as the “ghost print”, hasn’t turned out as we had wanted. But do not despair, we can fix these minor problems with a few more layers.

beginner prints mistakes

Here Michelle introduces us to techniques to solve the three major problems when we  get when starting out with gel printings.

Argh! Due to technical difficulties, only the first part of the video is playing – we are working on fixing it!

This video was originally shot on Periscope, so it’s a bit slow to get started!

When you try these techniques to fix your gel prints, remember the that translucency of your paints makes a big difference with your results. This is where the glazing medium is so important – it makes your paints more see through, which is just what we want when fixing our gel prints, so we can see the lovely layers underneath.

gel print techniques

 

And we’d love to hear from you – what ways and techniques have YOU found to help “fix” your gel prints?

Leave a comment below.

 

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How to Create Mini Altered Houses

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Melanie Statnick has put together the materials list and instructions for these cute mini houses.

Supply List

To create your own village, you will need:
  • Wooden houses
  • wooden pieces including hearts, tags, bingo tiles, fence , rulers.
  • Tissue paper,
  • decoupage,
  • flat brush/glue brush,
  • glossy accents,
  • letter stickers,
  • Walnut Ink Spray
  • a heat gun.

Creating Mini Altered Houses

Instructions

Step 1. Decoupage tissue paper to wood houses. Apply glue directly to wood. The tissue paper will move around and might rip. This is the look we are going for. Grungy, wrinkled look. Dry with heat gun and set aside.

Creating Mini Altered Houses

Step 2. Spray all wood pieces with your Walnut Spray Ink. Dab with paper towel and dray with heat gun. This will the wood an antique look with some grunge.

Creating Mini Altered Houses

Step 3. Using glossy accents glue fence onto front side of your houses and continue with the other wood pieces. You can arrange them how you like.

Creating Mini Altered Houses

Creating Mini Altered Houses

Step 4. After your pieces are glued and dried, you can now add your word art. Last use Glamor Dust, Liquid Pearls, or Stickles to add details.

Creating Mini Altered Houses

Happy Creating!

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I’m a Canadian Mixed Media & Collage Artist out of North Carolina . I create art daily from my private studio and my artwork is fun and whimsy . I teach mixed media and art journaling online  and I hold mixed media workshops around the USA.

 

My artwork can be found in art galleries and shops extensively in NC with international private collections. I have created my personal line of original stamps to purchase and use in your art.  Look in my Etsy shop for my line.

Please visit my website to learn more about me and my work at www.melaniestatnickart.com or become fan on Facebook.

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