Storytelling with Collage

I was delighted (not to mention flattered!) when Roxanne Evan Stout asked me to participate in her book. I had admired her work from afar for many years and the topic of collage is near and dear my heart since collage jumpstarted me into the mixed media world. And, well, you know my pieces always involve a story.

My submission is an encaustic piece, one that is embedded with personal meaning. As sometimes happens, this piece came to me fast, a spilling over of emotion packed into  an 11x14 painting. 

Roxanne's book is exactly as I imagined it would be. 

Thoughtful and Contemplative, full of earthly visual delights, something to savor.......

One of those books where you read every single page. Artists I know like Orly Avineri, Seth Apter, Lorri Scott. But also a lot of new faces who are making wonderfully inspired work.

Everyone has a story. 

Learning to tell it is a gift, doing it with art and collage is the icing on the cake, at least for me. I am honored to be included in this special book. 

Check out Roxanne's Blog. 

And her book (you are going to want it, hint, hint) is available everywhere. 

StencilGirls love StencilGuts

Before we had stencils and masks, we had Guts. Guts are the parts that drop out of the Mylar once the actual stencil is cut. When we pull the stencil off the machine, the guts are the leftover parts in the machine to be cleaned up and, uh, well, discarded. At least that is what most normal people do, most stencil companies too. 

Except you know me.......

I can't discard something so darn cool and we here at StencilGirl have been saving them all this time. I've been using them off and on for years. One of my students, Anne Holliday, named them Guts and I thought that was very descriptive and clever. 

Today, we offer them to you, our customers, 

StencilGuts! 

Sorted and packaged for all your crafting pleasure. 

So, why would you want StencilGuts and what can you do with them? 

• You want them because they have so many interesting uses; that is what we are showing you in this Blog Hop. Ways to use Guts. 
• You want them because they are cheap fun. And who doesn't like cheap fun.  
• You want them because we have very limited quantities. My grandson and I sorted them and pretty quickly realized it was a crazy amount of work. So I'm not sure when we will do it again, just sayin'.....
• Help us save landfills by using Guts as an art supply.

The photo above shows StencilGuts covered with Washi tape and I love the way these turned out, just so darn cute! Plus fun to make.

The photo above shows Random Guts mixed in with Gel Medium (and some Fluid Acrylic paint) They make such an unexpected texture that is quite intriguing. I can see this with a metallic dry brushed over the top, yumyumyum.

And a potential layout. Carol Baxter imagines this one as a Gourmet Chef! I didn't even see it at first, but it made me laugh when I did! The shapes can be assembled in so many different ways. 

Imagine them painted with alcohol ink? Or you could assemble them on your Gelli Plate and make lovely printed papers or Deli sheets - think of them as baby masks.

And finally, one of my very favorite uses, shown above. Collagraph plate!! To make the plate, use a scrap of matboard or cardboard and glue the StencilGuts in place with Glossy Gel Medium. Be sure and carefully coat the front and back of your Collagraph Plate with Gel Medium so it will be fairly water resistance and will withstand paint. Allow the plate to dry thoroughly before using. 

Use a brayer to 'ink up' your plate with acrylic paint and pull prints. I find it more effective to spritz your paper lightly so it will receive the plate better. I don't have an actual printing press but have found it is pretty easy to rig up ways to make this work. 

So there you have it. StencilGuts! I hope you enjoy them as much as we do. To see what everyone else has made, hop along with us. Links below:

StencilGirl Talk
Mary Beth Shaw (you are here)
Mary C. Nasser
Janet Joehlin
Gwen Lafleur
Carol Baxter

 And you knew we would be giving some away, right?? Cause that's how we are.

StencilGirl Products will be giving away package of StencilGuts
from EACH category
(Geometric Shapes, Birds, Cats & Rabbits, Flourishes, Hands
& Body and Dirty Random Guts)
to one lucky winner!
It's the mongo StencilGuts collection.

Visit all the blogs on today’s hop and comment to win!

The more blogs you comment on, the more chances you have to WIN!
(One comment per blog please.)

You will have until Saturday, March 26th at 11:59PM Central Time to leave your comments.

Winners will be announced on
StencilGirl's Facebook page on Sunday, March 27th. 

My Life Book Post is nearly Live

Tomorrow, my main part of The Life Book goes live. I am excited, it is probably the largest venue of people I have ever taught. My lesson was a surprise even to me; I hope you like it. Although I am not allowed to share the art, here is a teeny weeny snippet. 

Add caption

Not signed up yet? There is still time. Click HERE. 

It is definitely worth it, there is so much value, I am very proud to be involved and also proud of my contribution. 

Valentines - Look, Ma, no glue!?!

Back in the day I kept an enormous box of supplies specifically for Valentine's - doilies, foil, glitter, sequins, you name it. I started working on my cards in January, laboring over each and every one so each was different and significant. 

Flash forward to 2016, 

I had one afternoon. A few hours. 

Here's what I did:

1. I had already bought THESE cards. Simple heart shaped cardstock with an envelope.

2. I pulled out my massive assortment of Washi & other assorted tapes, started randomly placing tape over the front side of each heart, just butting the tape up next to each other, overlapping in places, really trying to not think too much. I trimmed around the edges. Added stickers in some spots.

It simply couldn't have been an easier. And I felt good because I was finally using all those Washi tape. That moment when you put your stash to good work.

3. I used my new text stencils to put a message on the back.

And called it done. 

Quick and simple. No glue, no fuss, no muss.
You can find my new alphabet stencils HERE at StencilGirl Products.
But you knew that.

StencilGirl and Art Squares (from inchie arts) Blog Hop

A long long time ago in a galaxy far away, I participated in an Inchie Swap. 

Remember when those were 'the thing?' At that time, we were using card stock that we handcut into squares.  

I about lost my mind because the squares were so little, as in one inch by one inch (duh) and I had an awful time decorating them, it was as if my brain simply wouldn't work that small. I famously (or infamously?) declared inchies were not my thing. 

Flash forward and my team here at StencilGirl developed the idea to do a Blop Hop with inchie arts llc. I'll fess up; I agreed to participate just to be a team player and, because it is (after all) my company, right?

Imagine my delight when I found out how totally cool and fun the Art Squares are! 

I love these little substrates!!

Art Squares of various sizes 

The minute I took them out of the packages, I started to see their potential in a new way. Yes! They looked like tiny substrates to me and I imagined working on them as part of an overall piece. 

I took some tape and arranged it sticky side up so I could lay out the Art Squares in a pleasing composition. I used delicate surface tape because they are made of museum grade mat board and I didn't want to tear the surface. There is a 'right' side and 'wrong' side to the Squares which is clearly explained on the packaging.

Once I had my layout, I started painting and working on the Squares just like I would any other piece. 

Initial painting using Golden Fluid Acrylic paints and white gesso.

The Art Squares tolerate quite a bit of water which was a pleasant surprise. During the course of this project, I created several layers and the squares held up beautifully. Naturally I used stencils, my own Grid stencils seemed made for this project, right??

Mary Beth's Grid Stencils

I also used Carolyn Dube's Building Stencil which is a 'must have' for a grid obsessed girl like me.

Carolyn Dube Buildings Stencil

Painted batch of Art Squares

I ended up with a gorgeous batch of square is a variety of sizes. Not wanting to be influenced by my initial layout, I took them all off the tape and contemplated them anew. I used the larger Art Squares as the background and painted them Raw Umber to blend with the smaller squares. Then I arranged them mosaic style and created a piece of art. I did a little bit more embellishing with stencils and ink, then called it done. I even have several leftover squares to use in other pieces.

So much fun to make, I adored working with the Art Squares. 

GIVEAWAY

We'll be picking one lucky winner

to receive a $25 StencilGirl Products Gift Certificate and

1 package each of White 4", 3", ATC (2.5" X 3.5") and Swatch (2" X 4") size Art Squares!

All comments left on the hop list participants’ posts will be entered. 

One comment per blog. 

Comments close on January 30^th @ 11:59PM Central.
Winner will be announced on StencilGirl Product’s Facebook Page on January 31^st.

Below are the hop list order (with links embedded) and attached is the giveaway image!

Blog Hop Order:

January 25
StencilGirl Talk
Mary C. Nasser
Mary Beth Shaw
Lisa Lee

January 26 StencilGirl Talk
Maria McGuire
Gwen Lafleur
Dina Kowal

January 27 StencilGirl Talk
Janet Joehlin
Sharon Harnist
Kae Pea

Thanks to everyone for hopping!

All Aboard, 2016 - the year of the Mulligan

Today I am starting 2016 over. 

Yep, it's a do-over 'cause I've had a shitty year thus far filled with way too much death, illness, miscellaneous mayhem and more. 

I don't want to talk about it particularly, that's what my art is for. 

But really, it's time for a Mulligan.

Starting right now.

All Aboard!!

mulligan

A Mulligan, in a game, happens when a player gets a second chance to perform a certain move or action; usually due to lack of skill or bitter luck. A "Do-Over". Like getting an "Extra Play" in pinball due to sinking the ball before obtaining an arbitrary amount of points.

by Isaiah Hall February 22, 2006

These pieces were made using stencils and stamps by Seth Apter. The stencils are (of course) available at StencilGirl Products.  I am especially fond of Seth's stencils because he incorporates words that nearly always help me process the things going on in my life. Plus the extra gnarly little shapes are just plain fun to use! His rubbers stamps are available several places, you can find out more information on his blog. 

These paintings are 4" x 4" painted on all sides. They are available for $45 each. If you are interested, just leave me a comment below. 

Who else is on board the Mulligan Train of 2016?

Art Journal for 2016

Typically I have a bunch of journals 'in process' at the same time. Naturally that doesn't stop me from starting a new one like yesterday when I got a hankering for a smaller format than my mongo Moleskine.
Here it is, a small size Canson Mixed Media XL, the 5x8 one.

I used scraps of fabric and just glued them onto the cover. Then I stenciled some marks using Rae Missgman's Repetition stencil.  I am a wee bit obsessed with that stencil, it pretty much looks good on everything. Here, I used white Gesso.


My new journal makes me so happy.
I intend to use it primarily for Gratitude journaling.
If you want a peek at my journaling space in my house, click over to StencilGirl Talk to watch my video.

Cool Classes

I am honored to be part of two upcoming online experiences, Creative JumpStart and Life Book. Both events include awesome artists, many who are friends of mine, others who I have admired from afar. The events are distinctly different (hint, life is short, you might want to do both). 

Here are the details.

One of my abstract paintings, you get to watch me painting an abstract in CJS!

Creative JumpStart takes place in January 2016. I have participated before and found it quite inspiring, I like that you get all the videos during January to 'jump start' your year. Wowzers is it a lot of good stuff.

For only $50 (on sale right now for $45) you’ll get:

• A series of 25 technique based videos from 24 artists from around the world.
• Downloadable videos – download before November 2016 to keep them forever.
• Information about new creative and innovative products and techniques you might not have used before.
• Inspiration to jumpstart your own artwork.

Click over HERE to watch a video preview and sign up now. Treat yourself, I think you deserve it!

“Life Book, a celebration and honouring of YOU” is a year-long mixed media art class organized by Tamara Laporte from Willowing Arts. This is my first time and I will have to say I am very rocked to be involved and plan to play along and do the assignments each week. I am absolutely smitten with the concept and have already filmed my segment; it is chock full of techniques and ideas. 

Tam is joined by 23 incredible art teachers who are all gearing up to share their mixed media techniques, tips and tricks with YOU! Themed around self-development and healing, you’ll be creating several loose mixed media art journal pages per month which by the end of the year you will bind into a glorious journal (a Life Book)! You will have a wonderful keepsake that you can treasure for the rest of your life!

So if you want to start the year with a fabulous creative BANG and spend 2016 with a wonderful creative community of like-minded souls, learning more about art and how to be kinder and more loving towards yourself, be sure to CLICK HERE so you can sign up. 

Truly, I think this is exactly what I need. I have felt a bit scattered in the past months, and the idea of grounding myself on a weekly basis totally appeals to me.

Hope to see you at one or both of these terrific events. 

Creative JumpStart 2016

I'm excited to announce that I will once again be participating as an artist in Creative JumpStart (CJS) 2016, run for the 5^th time by Nathalie Kalbach. If you're not familiar with CJS, it's an online event to kick your creativity into high gear in January 2016. I love this event, there are videos nearly every day and they are so innovative and inspiring. I will be playing with some new products which is quite exciting for me and the theme this year totally rocks ( I can't tell you yet, but trust me, it is good) !! 

I love starting the year with fun techniques, discovering new materials, and connecting with artists and crafters. 

So here's the deal......throughout January participants get 25 downloadable videos from 24 featured artists, called “JumpStarters.” See for yourself:

Creative JumpStart 2016 Teaser from Nathalie Kalbach on Vimeo.

Head on over to Nat's website where you can find out more details and also sign up. You get 25 videos for just $45 (USD). And......for a limited time, as my valued reader, you’ll get $5 extra of. Just use this coupon code during checkout:

cjs2016

*This is a limited offer valid from 10:00 am Dec 4, 2015 to 11:59 pm EST on Dec 11, 2015.

So what are you waiting for? Sign up here, do it quick so you can get the discount. And don't forget to apply the coupon code during the check out process. 
I think this is going to be great fun!

Papercraft Clubhouse!

About a month ago, John and I snuck away for a li'l vacation before selling stencils at the Art is You retreat in Stamford, CT. We had an unbelievable relaxing time on the coast of CT where we could see Rhode Island from our house, right across the river. The towns were quaint, the food was good (can you say Lobster!) and we melted into bliss. 

Of course I bought toys. 

Seth Apter stencils, canvas bookmarks and slap bracelets to decorate, Tropical Gelatos, Dina Wakley bag!

On the way to Art is You, we stopped at a terrific store, Papercraft Clubhouse, in Westbrook, CT. They sell our stencils and we wanted to stop in and say hi! Imagine Tracie Larson's shock (she is the owner) when she saw me, hehehe, I love to surprise people. We had met at CHA earlier in the year plus I have heard lots about Tracie from our lovely Gwen Lafleur. So I feel like I know her. 

Tracie has the cutest darn store, here's their FB page. 

I so wish we had a store like that here in the St. Louis area, we just don't have access to so many of these mixed media supplies, ooh la la, I saw things I had heard about but didn't know where to get! And I saw stuff I had never even seen before. Yeah, I bought some stuff, more than what is shown above. 

And the STENCIL WALL! 

Check it out!!

Panorama of StencilWall at Papercraft Clubhouse

Oh my goodness, I have never seen anything like that before. Wow, just wow. You can tell by the number of tables what a large room this is, I mean there are LOTS of stencils. I am happy to report that StencilGirl Products holds its own. I felt really proud.

Here is a picture of me and Tracie in front of the wall. I am standing on a platform because Tracie is really tall and I am not. 

Tracie Larson, Mary Beth Shaw

In my opinion, this is a destination shop. If you are anywhere nearby, you gotta make time to visit. I hope to get back there myself some day soon. Thanks, Tracie and staff for doing such a great job!!

And also, a reminder.......I am teaching At Life Book this year, click on that link (right hand column) to find out more and sign up. One of the best deals on the Internet, I kid you not. I'm working on my video and will have to say this is going to be good. Very very good. I am super excited!

Golden is Rocking my World

All my adult life I have wanted to go to Art Basel in Miami, FL. This is the year and it is all because of Golden. You know I am a certified artist educator for them, right? Well, they are having a meeting of all us educators and working artists. It just happens to be in FL. During Art Basel, oh be still my heart. 

Yesyesyes, I am going. I am so flipping lucky. 

I am still pinching myself. 

And......yep, there is more......Mark Golden, the head dude of Golden, is friends with an artist, Frank Hyder, who has has so generously invited all of us to submit a piece that will be on display. 

Here's the one I have submitted. The show is called Square Foot Art Basel Miami. The concept is one foot square pieces, like getting a foot in the door. Wildly exciting to say the least. 

Musing about life and today Life Book is open!

I recently took a class from Laurie Doctor. She is one of my all time favorite teachers; I met her back in the day (2001?) right when I was getting started.

She never fails to inspire me with her contemplative style of poetry meets calligraphy meets bookmaking = spirit. Her workshops are hard to explain, but suffice to say the classes help me with personal restoration and I think they are rather sacred, at least to me. 

I made this book. The process was simple yet looks more complicated, yay for that! 

The workshop was held at Madeline Island School of the Arts which is a pristine campus located way way way up north in Wisconsin, a remote location on Lake Superior found via plane, then car, then ferry. No trains, but you get the idea. There are only 200 permanent residents on this island, it is that kind of place. 

The synchronicity of this recent class, with my preparation for Life Book has not been lost on me. (for more information about Life Book, you can click here). Imagine a year where you experience artistic self development activities each and every week. That is Life Book and I am so very honored to be one of the 23 teachers. My class will be a reflection (of sorts) about my recent experience and how I work to maintain harmony and balance in my life. Here is my class description to give you an idea of what to expect: 

With Praise for the Present

Using collage, acrylic paint and stencils, Mary Beth will guide a mixed media journey of celebration that honors the one and only you. We will create glorious collaged words that memorialize the idea of being present and the present that is life.

I think that Life Book is going to be life-changing and I want to share it with as many people as possible. You may sign up starting today. I hope to see you there. 

And in other news......

Over at StencilGirl Talk, we are bringing back the Mary Beth's Musings feature. 

Yep, they are letting me talk about whatever I want, hehehe. 

You would think I own the company or something.

Feeling Groovy with the Groove Tool and StencilGirl Stencils

Welcome to Day 1 of our Blog Hop with Art-C and The Groove Tool. I want you to read this entire post while humming 'Feeling Groovy." Because that's what I did while working on this post. Could.Not.Get.It.Out.Of.My.Head.

I'm going to confess that I didn't expect to like this tool. I'm not a tool junkie in general, I am kind of old fashion and tend to do things the way I always have. When Art-C sent me one I didn't know what to make of it. First of all, I had just purchased a Clarisonic (for my face) and the Groove Tool looked suspiciously similar, ha! Note to self, keep it in the studio.

Here is a picture of the little guy, isn't he cute! There are four heads the come with the tool, moving from the left, we have a sponge, brush, coarse sander and fine sander. Being a stencil maniac, I knew I wanted to try the sponge tool for sure. And if you are a regular reader of my blog, you surely know how picky I am about my stencil sponges. Ahem.....

But I digress. 

As I was trying to figure out what to make, I opened my journal to find two pages totally stuck together, I hate it when that happens. Being up for an experiment, I snapped on the coarse sander and went to work: 

breaks my heart when this happens, argghhh......

I sanded the damage and then painted over it.

First I used the brush tool to cover up the damage with a similar color. Then I snapped on the sponge tool and stenciled a pattern.

Newly stenciled areas.

Wow. Honestly I was so impressed with this darn sponge, I went ahead and added pattern in a couple more areas. It requires hardly any paint! Seriously, I used just a few drops and it made such a nice clean result, check out this close-up. It is a real fooler - I could barely tell I was depositing any paint and when I lifted the tool it was such a crisp pattern I was super pleased. 

Closeup up of stencil parts. 

Next I wanted to distress something because I like doing that but my hands are arthritic and using sandpaper is not their favorite thing.  

Journal page thick with paint.

This journal page had some thick paint and I feared it was going to be a sticky mess, so I used the coarse sanding attachment and went over the white circle area. No pressure whatsoever. The tool does all the work. And amazing, I got this cool distressed look. 

Distressed with sanding attachment.

To sum up:

• Groove Tool sponge rocks with stencils - use very little paint, you get a terrific result
• Groove Tool sandpaper will knock the sticky edges off your journal pages easy peasy
• Groove Tool sandpaper will distress a painted surface with ease
• I think that Groove Tool is going to seriously help my arthritic hands.

The Groove is available now at EVERY Hobby Lobby store.  Most Michaels and Joann Fabric and Craft stores have it now, as well. At Hobby Lobby and Michaels, it is in the stamping isle.  At Joann, it is in the paint and stencil aisle, near the unfinished wood.  Of course, it may be ordered directly from Art-C by calling Customer Service at 800-448-6656.

Thank you Art-C. I love this Groove Tool!

Life Book 2016 Blog Hop & Give Away!

Congratulations to Jennifer Van Pelt, the winner of Life Book 2016. 
Thank you so much for all the heart felt entries. I hope to see you all in Life Book 2016.

I am so thrilled to be teaching on Life Book 2016. The lineup of teachers is 'pinch me' amazing and I have a sense this year's instruction is going to be transformational.

I am ready, are you?

Well..........drumroll please..........I get to give away one (1) space to this amazing year long course. I mean how cool would that be to win a spot!?!?

Keep reading if you want to find out more about Life Book 2016 and if you want to find out how you can win a spot! :) 

First let me tell you a bit more about Life Book in case you haven't heard about it yet! 

MB Shaw Journal Spread

“Life Book, a celebration and honouring of YOU” is a year-long mixed media art class organised by Tamara Laporte from Willowing Arts. Tam is joined by 23 incredible art teachers (including moi) who are all gearing up to share their mixed media techniques, tips and tricks with YOU! Themed around self-development and healing, you’ll be creating several loose mixed media art journal pages per month which by the end of the year you will bind into a glorious journal (a Life Book)! You will have a wonderful keepsake that you can treasure for the rest of your life!

Truly, I am so rocked by this concept that I am going to work along because I mean who wouldn't want to be part of this??

You can find out why this course has been so popular (joined by over 8700 people in the past!) by clicking HERE.

I am pretty excited about the class I am developing and will share tons of my journal and painting techniques such as those seen here.

Close up drips MB Shaw

Registration opens on October 5th 2015 and the class begins on January 1st 2016. 

So if you want to start the year with a fabulous creative BANG and spend 2016 with a wonderful creative community of like-minded souls, learning more about art and how to be kinder and more loving towards yourself, be sure to join once registration opens! :) Keep this page bookmarked so that you can sign up the moment it goes on sale!

Closeup neon MB Shaw

Now then, onto the give-away and blog hop! 

I can give away 1 space in Life Book 2016. And if you follow the blog hop (see below for links and dates) you can increase your chances of winning a space by entering all the other give-aways also.

To enter my Give Away, all you have to do are 2 simple things:
1. Sign up for the StencilGirl newsletter, found toward the bottom of the StencilGirl home page. 

2. Leave me a comment below as to why you would love to join Life Book 2016 

I will announce the winner on October 1st.
Here is the list of the other amazing teachers who will be teaching on Life Book – they too will be giving away a spot on Life Book so go check them out and enter their give-aways! :)


Blog Hop Order

7 Sept 2015 Tamara Laporte

8 Sept 2015 Annie Hamman

9 Sept 2015 Kristin Dudish

10 Sept 2015 Effy Wild

11 Sept 2015 Faith Evans-Sills

12 Sept 2015 Gillian Lee Smith

13 Sept 2015 Ivy Newport

14 Sept 2015 Jane Davenport

15 Sept 2015 Jenny Grant

16 Sept 2015 Angela Kennedy (Pennystamper)

17 Sept 2015 Lisa Viger

18 Sept 2015 Martha Lever

19 Sept 2015 Mary Beth Shaw THAT'S ME!

20 Sept 2015 Melody Ross

21 Sept 2015 Pam Carriker

22 Sept 2015 Pauline Agnew

23 Sept 2015 Rae Missigman

24 Sept 2015 Renata Loree

25 Sept 2015 Roben-Marie Smith

26 Sept 2015 Roxanne Coble

27 Sept 2015 Shiloh Sophia McCloud

28 Sept 2015 Donna Downey

29 Sept 2015 Tracy Verdugo

30 Sept 2015 Wyanne Thompson