Saturday, March 1, 2014

Make More Use of Your Stencils

I don't know about you, but when I have a tool, I like for it to have many different uses.
Here are some techniques that you can use with your stencils that are just slightly different than the run-of-the-mill use.
I call this first one "Shifting Stencils". This look can give a shadowed look, which is fun, especially with lettering stencils. 
I started out with my Split Circles stencil that you can find in my Etsy shop here. This comes in an A10 tag size, as well as an 8x8".
I just used a piece of cardstock, and I marked the corner. 
Then I just used a make-up sponge and sponged some distress ink in the circles (I think this is Fired Brick).


Here's the entire tag, inked up.


Then, I shifted my stencil. You can shift it any way, but I chose to shift it up and to the left, using my initial registration mark as a guide. This works especially well if your stencil is more random.





Then, I inked the stencil with a contrasting red (Ripe Persimmon, I believe). It gives a really cool shadowed look.


Here's another technique that I call "Rotated Stenciling". I stenciled the circles in Peacock Feathers, then I rotated the stencil 90 degrees and inked through the stencil in a different green. 


Then while the stencil was still in place with the second color, I spritzed it with some water. 


I dabbed some of the water off.


And here's the look.


And don't forget, you can use your stencils to doodle. I did some random doodling on one of the colors.


And then I cut it up to put on a card. I added some rubons on the top, a merci sentiment that is elevated with some pop-dots, some washi tape, a button, and a little bit of doodling. 


Here's another look at the shifted stencil technique with my Grunged Numbers tag stencil. I started out with Black Soot Distress Ink. 


Then I shifted it and used Peacock Feathers. This has a very cool look, and almost makes me think I have double vision. 





That's it for today, Folks. I hope this inspires you to keep on making art!
Fondly, Tami