The Stencilfied Journal

Closeup of my Prayer Packet

I am participating in a collaboration organized by the genius Tina Walker. We are responding to weekly prompts in a small journal, the one caveat being the use of StencilGirl® stencils. Naturally, I wanted to be involved!

If you know me very well, you will realize this is not my forte. I have never been able to get on board with that 100-day project; don't get me wrong, I have great respect for those that do, I am just not one to manage that sort of discipline. I am trying to keep this commitment! 

Watch for my posts on FB and Instagram.

 When working on this week's prompt, I had just returned home from a week with my aging parents. To say the week was emotional is an understatement.  Top on my mind were numerous issues regarding family, health, mortality. Consequently, I turned my piece into a Prayer Packet of sorts and hung it on my studio door handle. 

Journal page, gessoed & then embossed with Seth Apter Patina Oxide

I also stenciled on the back side of the Journal page and wrote a prayer that I enclosed in the packet.

Final Piece, hanging from my door handle.

So far, so good. I know I'm only in week 2, but I am trying to keep up and exercise some artistic discipline, ha!!

This is the stencil I used, in case you were wondering.

StencilGirl® Products & Lindy's Blog Hop

You know, it occurs to me that I have a pretty darn fun job. I get to try out lots of new products and how fun is that? This time, when I got the Lindy's supplies, I decided to record my process so you could come along for the experimentation. 

Hope you enjoy!!

GIVEAWAY
One lucky winner will receive both a $25 Gift Certificate to Lindy’s Gang
AND a $25 Gift Certificate to StencilGirl Products!
Enter to win by leaving a comment below.
Then be sure to visit the other blogs in the hop and comment to win.
The more blogs you comment on, the more chances you have to WIN!
One winner will be chosen at random from all blog comments!
(One comment per blog please.)

You have until Tuesday, April 24th at 11:59PM Central Time to leave your comments.
Winner will be announced on
StencilGirl's Facebook page and Lindy’s Gang’s Facebook page on Wednesday, April 25.

Blog Hop Order:

April 18
Mary Beth Shaw
Gwen Lafleur
Mary C. Nasser
Debi Adams
Tina Walker
Kate Palmer
Cindy Wille
Natalie May
Pascale Bernard
Anat Weksler
Bertheas Peggy
Elena Martynova

April 19
Belen Sotelo
Cindy Gilstrap
Kiala Givehand
Torrie Gass
Janet Joehlin
Valerie Ouellet
Aga Baraniak
Sivan Amedi
Aleksandra Mihelič
Joanna Marquet
Phoebe Tonosaki
Caroline Parent

April 20
Carol Baxter
Sandee Setliff
Karen Gaunt
Louise Nelson
Sherry Canino
Kerry Fellowes
Yulianna Efremova
Kasia Bogatko-Skoczypiec
Olga Bielska
Olga Ravenskaya

Eight ways to use Embossing Powder & Stencils

Last year, my friend Seth Apter told me he was going to bring back embossing powder. Of course, I laughed because I am kind of snarky like that. But yes, I believe he has done it! His new line of Baked Texture by Emerald Creek is so darn cool that I find myself using them on all sorts of substrates. Take a look at some of the interesting options in this little video:

See what I mean! Nicely done, Seth!
To order, click on over to Seth's website here. Or his Blog here

StencilGirl Products & etchall®

I will confess that I am one of those people who just skim directions before I decide to 'wing it' by leaping into a project with zero forethought. Consequently, if something can go wrong, it will. I generally have to try a couple times before I get the desired result and I learn things in the process.  Or I end up with unexpected results aka mistakes. 

That has never happened with an etchall®  product. 

Seriously. The etchall® products work without fail every single time. You gotta love it, right?

At any rate, for this Blog Hop, my friend Karyl Howard suggested perhaps I could etch the glass of a picture frame and then put artwork behind it. Hmmm, cool idea, eh? And I just happened to have a frame on hand. 
I chose a stencil by Pam Carriker, Door to Heart 9, a beautiful 9x12 stencil. First I sprayed the back of the stencil with the stencil spray. I have found this spray to be very helpful when I am doing something precise (such as etching glass). The spray allows you to place the stencil into the exact position you want and it will stick. Which is really nice especially around the edges and the fine detail parts. The spray also allows you to reposition the stencil if necessary and you need to adjust the placement. Conveniently, I was using a dirty stencil, so it is easy to see on top of the glass. 

Once I had the stencil in place, I simply spread the etching creme over top. And then I set the timer according to the package. That is ALL YOU DO! Seriously, it is that easy.

When the timer goes off, you scrape up the etching creme and put it back into the container so you can use it again. 

I placed the glass on a piece of painted paper and was done. Could it be any easier? I think not. But, 

I got to thinking, it would be fun to paint on the backside of the glass, wouldn't it? Especially right behind the little heart.......or you could develop an entire painting behind the glass....or you could etch on both sides. Or maybe drop alcohol ink into the etched parts. Or collage on the back side. Or.....

Well, you see how my mind works, somebody just slap me already.

GIVEAWAY
One lucky winner will receive an etchall® Glass Etching Bee-ginner Kit,
reposition/reuse stencil spray
AND a $25 Gift Certificate to StencilGirl Products!
Enter to win by leaving a comment below.
Then be sure to visit the other blogs in the hop and comment to win.
The more blogs you comment on, the more chances you have to WIN!
One winner will be chosen at random from all blog comments!
(One comment per blog please.)

You have until Tuesday, March 20th at 11:59PM Central Time to leave your comments.
Winner will be announced on
StencilGirl's Facebook page and etchall’s Facebook page on Wednesday, March 21.

Blog Hop Order:

March 14
Mary Beth Shaw (you are here)
Gwen Lafleur
Mary C. Nasser
Debi Adams
Tina Walker
Cindi McGee
Nadine Carlier
Joe Rotella

March 15
Belen Sotelo
Cindy Gilstrap
Kiala Givehand
Janet Joehlin
Anita Scroggins
Erin Reed
Candy Rosenberg
Susie Bentz

March 16
Carol Baxter
Sandee Setliff
Louise Nelson
Terry Ricioli
Christie Troxell
Steph Ackerman
Julie McGuffee

Mixed Media Inspiration Deck™ Empowerment Edition Blog Hop

I bet I've never mentioned how much I enjoy decks of cards. I don't ever talk about it, but I have an enormous collection, ranging from Tarot decks (I own tons!) to Yoga decks, to a deck by my friend Orly Avineri to these decks by Kiala Givehand. Decks bring great pleasure to me. The cards feel good in my hand, and I truly enjoy the inspiration I gain from each and every deck I own. 

Watch along as I play with Kiala's inspiring cards and get to explore some topics out of my comfort zone.

the completed journal spread

Blog Hop Order

 

January 10
Mary Beth Shaw

Kiala Givehand

Tina Walker

Belen Sotelo

January 11Mary C. Nasser

Sherry Canino

Louise Nelson

Torrie Gass

 

January 12

Debi Adams

Cindy Gilstrap

Sandee Setliff
Karen Gaunt

GIVEAWAY

One lucky winner will receive both a $25 Gift Certificate to StencilGirl Products
AND a Mixed Media Inspiration Deck™ Empowerment Edition !

Visit these amazing artists’ blogs and comment there for your chance to win!

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

You have until Sunday, January 14th at 11:59PM Central Time to leave your comments.

Winner will be announced on
StencilGirl's Facebook page on Monday, January 15th.