Nothing like starting a new blog only to be interrupted after three days by technical difficulties. I'm not sure what happened, but it seems to be straightened out now. So, without further ado, here is Friday's post.


Awhile back I decided to try my hand at my own homemade stencils. I got out an old file folder that was no longer needed, traced some designs onto it, and began cutting them out with a craft knife. Last Thursday I finally finished cutting them out.

     
  
I tried some scallops.

                                   
Some arrows. 

                                         
 A brick pattern.

                                    
  And an intricate swirly pattern. (This is what took so long to finish my stencils.)

                                 
Here is a look at the open folder. I decided to leave it as a folding, thinking it would be easier to store. And it may be, but it is definitely not easier to use this way. I think I may ultimately cut it in half.

          
Once I was done cutting I was ready to try it out.  This seemed like a good time to try out my new hot pink Tempera paint as well. To see what the fluorescent shade could do  I chose a couple of dark shades of cardstock as well as a white piece.

I randomly chose a piece of card stock and a stencil and went to town, sponging the paint on with a sponge brush.

After stippling the paint on I flipped the stencil over and pressed the leftover paint to the page.

I did this not only to clean off the stencil, but also to see what the negative impression would look like.

 As I mentioned above, the folder is a bit cumbersome to work with but the stencils worked out pretty well. Though, the scallops were the most difficult to use.  I really like the way the paint shows up on the dark backgrounds and how vibrant it is against the white. I could definitely make use of these as back ground for a larger piece. Oh wait. I did just that after testing them out.

 





 Fist, I blobbed on a few shades of blue craft paint then swirled them around; blending until I liked what I saw.

 

(This is why you shouldn't work on the kitchen counter.)

Next, I stenciled on the swirly pattern with the hot pink tempera. I flipped the stencil over as I went, pressing in the reverse image as well. I tried to keep it loose, haphazard and not overdone.

After that, I applied a scalloped edge to two sides of the paper. I cleaned off the stencil randomly in the middle of the page. And then I was stumped. What to do next?

 Of course, a skull! Makes perfect sense.

 I sketched the skull onto tissue paper. Then I used gel medium to adhere it to the picture. I decided on the skull after stumbling upon the word in my dictionary. So, of course, I attached the definition too. I decided to place it beneath the skull to sort of evoke the idea of an old anatomy poster. Or the label on a piece at the museum.

It's obviously not finished yet. But I'm not quite sure what to do with it next. Any ideas?

So, not too shabby for half an hour or so of play and experimentation. Would store bought stencils look more polished? Sure but I had fun making my own and playing with them after. Besides that distressed look seems to be in at the moment.