Aloha and Merry Christmas using Stencils and Gelli Printing

Aloha and Mele Kalikimaka which is Merry Christmas in Hawaiian.  A few years ago my husband and I traveled to Hawai in November right before Thanksgiving and noticed how the islands were beginning to prepare for the holidays.   We got there in a massive rainstorm and our taxi driver mentioned that it was their rainy season and the weather had been a little chilly, naturally we were a little concerned as we were counting on nice weather since we were coming from Montana.  Not to worry though we thought the weather was perfect.  The locals were all wearing light sweaters or sweatshirts while we had t-shirts and shorts on and thought the weather was perfect, you could easily tell that we were not locals.   I really felt at the time that I could spend Thanksgiving and Christmas in Hawaii and enjoy 80 degree weather.  What a hardship.  (Giggles and Grins)  Santa was displayed in Hawaiian finery and Rudolf and his friends were dressed for the beach and I thought how fun!!!!   I was inspired to design a Hula Girl and thought how fun would it be to design a Christmas card with a Hawaiian theme. 

During and earlier post we discussed using stencils for a background to be used for a fall themed card and I thought that this post might be a good time to do something similar but geared toward Christmas and immediately thought lets go HAWAIIAN!!!!  Ok, ok, I will also show something more traditional as well.  LOL.  But why not use some of the techniques that we’ve discussed to design a card for the holidays or how about gift tags. 

I adore using my home made sprays as they make such short work of any project and when used in conjunction with stencils can really be stunning.  When I start designing papers to use as background or even as journal pages I always do a number of them so I have a stack to go to when I am starting a new project.   I also save my scraps as they can easily be used in a card.  You can see in the following card that I used my hula girl stamp, home- made sprayed scrap- papers in the background, colored Monstera Leaves and cut out the word Aloha for the sentiment.  I used my Copic Markers to color this but could easily have been painted.  You can see the stamp that I used for this card at http://www.treasuredtimesrubberstamps.com/products/our-stamps/hartman/  I love her and have used her in a card in an earlier post. 

 

The Santa card uses my Santa Face, the line art for this is found on my blog under the archived November 2010 section.  I attached Santa’s face to homemade patterned paper, a tag which has some stenciling and Gell Printing on it; how fun to cut out tags from those gorgeous patterned papers that you are going to design.  We now have a lovely card and would make a gorgeous gift for anyone.  Just add some lettering and bit of glitter and Amazing!!!  Ok so they aren’t terribly traditional but fun none the less. 

 

 

 

Pantone Fall Forecast

Fall in in full swing.  As my husband and I came home today from a long weekend we enjoyed the fall colors on our 5 hour car trip.  It was gorgeous!   I wanted to stop and take photos along the way but we were both so tired that each one of us just wanted to continue on.  I am hoping to get up into the mountains this next weekend so can share the gorgeous colors of the Tamarack Pine Tree!!!  Amazing this year!!!!!!!!!

 

With each new season comes the newest color choices as is determined by Pantone, that mysterious group of “it” people who determine what the home wares and clothing industry will feature as the current color trend.  Yes, I admit I fall prey to the color forecast for each season.  As a designer I like to see what colors are going to be hot for that particular season and try to them into my designs.    I looked at the selection of colors this year and was particularly taken; warm rich tones which had me heading to my paint container to find those paint colors.  Then I thought about incorporating the new fall colors with a stenciled canvas.  HMMMMM…….  See you soon.  I have to get busy creating, the warm Sage Green is calling me.  Take a look at the Pantone web site to see for yourself the gorgeous selection of colors forecast for the year. 

Stencils used in either Mixed Media, Paper Crafting, or Decorative Painting

I love stencils!!!  I can’t tell you how much I love them.  Why wouldn’t you want to incorporate something into your painting that requires very little effort from you and is so versatile?  Part of my “art hoarding” compulsion is my rather large box of stencils which sit right next to my painting table on the floor.   I want them easily accessible and naturally have to keep them where it is easy to just grab one.  I warn my family to watch where they step when they come into my painting area; otherwise I am not responsible for anything that might occur.  LOL.   I should post that on the door. 

 

As I mentioned in an earlier post there are a number of really wonderful stencil companies on the market right now.  A number of Decorative Painting artists have moved into the area of stenciling, Laurie Speltz, Tracey Moreau, Renee Mullins, and Patty Rawlinson to name a few that I have personally had experience with and their stencils are all fantastic.    Did you know that there are other companies that are specializing in stencils, many of which only sell stencils?    Two of my favorites are Crafter’s Workshop and Stencil Girl.  Like the stencils I mentioned above they are made out of a very durable material which will hold up to repeated use and clean up very nicely.  These companies work with a number of artists in the art world to design their stencils and offer an incredible selection. 

 

Stencil Girl is owned by Mary Beth Shaw who is an author and published artist, many of you may have heard of her.  She works with a wonderfully talented group of artists to design the stencils that she offers on her website http://stencilgirlproducts.com/  There are a wide variety of stencils that she carries from stencils to help you draw a face to random patterns for backgrounds and in a wide variety of sizes.  I have a number of her stencils and love them all but one of my personal favorites is the Spider Web Stencil.   They are high quality and will hold up to repeated use and you might just find something that you can’t live without.  I know I have a number on my wish list right now. 

 

Crafter’s Workshop is another of my favorite stencil companies.  They too have an incredible assortment of stencil designs and I often find myself adding the new releases to my wish list and counting my pennies until I can order.  http://www.thecraftersworkshop.com/The_Crafters_Workshop/Home.html  One stencil that I recently used on a canvas is a 6”x6” sized template called Mini Busy Bees and it was darling.  I can see myself using this one frequently.  Take a look at their border stencils, all I can say is AMAZING!!!  Whether you are a painter, card maker, journal enthusiast, or a crafter you are going to find stencils that you just can’t live without.  I’m sure you too will be adding to your stash and causing your family concern over your “art hoarding” tendencies. 

Jump for Joy Angel Wood Pieces

They're Back!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!  These quality wood pieces are so worth the wait, the quality of these is amazing!  I have been so thrilled, overwhelmed, and grateful for the response to these little characters and I have the wood pieces back in stock.  I couldn't believe that these angel wood pieces sold out so quickly, if they sell out again I can easily get them back in stock.  No Worries, my supplier is amazing! 

Watch for a new Christmas Ornament set that is ready to be out on the market and think..... Santa, Mrs. Claus, and Mr. and Mrs. Elf.  There is a bit of a theme going on here.... Couples.  LOL.  Seriously these are a mix of paper piecing and painting and they are so adorable.  Can't wait to share them with you and of course I will carry the wood pieces for the set.

Jump for Joy Frankie and Spring Erik Stamp Card Samples

During my last post I mentioned that I was busy on Saturday demoing my line of stamps at Memory Lane Scrapbooking for National Card Making Day.  What fun I had!!!!  Here are two additional cards that I made using two of my stamps.  My goal is to make a card for each stamp that I have, not quite there yet though.  LOL. 

This card uses Spring Erik and one of the sentiments, You're a ray of sunshine on a cloudy day!  I put this together on a watercolor card using  my Dylusions Sprays in the background, using clean water "ghosted" or lifted the texture in the background using a Dreamweaver's stencil.  Used Washi Tap on the base and stamped the border.  Behind Spring Erik you can see Gelli Prints cut out using my Spellbinder's Dies.  I colored Erik with Copic Markers. 

 Here you see Frankie colored with Copic Markers, the background colored using shades of blue Tombow Markers and washed onto the background.  I stamped texture using a variety of stamps from my Tim Holtz collection, cut out the shape behind the house using a Gelli Print and my Spellbinder's Dies.  The house I cut out of black cardstock and added Washi Tape to the  base of the card. 

You can see my line of stamps at http://www.treasuredtimesrubberstamps.com/products/our-stamps/hartman/ 

Fall Card Sample using Fall Erik Jump for Joy Stamp

Here are two cards that I did using Fall Erik from my line of stamps available at www.treasuredtimesrubberstamps.com I wanted these cards to have the look of a chalkboard and used my white Gel Pen on black cardstock, added Erik colored using Copic Markers.  Added some rub-ons and embossed the leaves.   I have been working on my lettering skills because I want to add more of my own art lettering to my projects and hand lettered both of these samples.

The background for this card is another stenciled background paper using a variety of layered Crafter's Workshop Stencils using a variety of acrylic paints.  What do you think?



Jump for Joy Stamps and Cards Aloha

Phew!!!  It has been a busy Fall for us and October is looking like it will also be a busy one.  I enjoy being busy but it also puts a crimp in my painting and designing time.  LOL.  Needless to say my blog posts have been sporadic. 

I was fortunate enough to  have been asked to spend some time Saturday at Memory Lane Scrapbooking sharing my new line of stamps on National Card Making Day with Stacy and her card making group.  It was a blast and what amazing projects those gals produced, what a talented group they are.  The cards they were making were simply inspirational. 

I had made a few samples of my cards to share with them and tried to "think outside the box" using techniques that they may not have been familiar with.  That was hard because I have seen the samples of the cards that they make and I was a little intimidated to say the least.  LOL.  I used background papers, made by me, which used techniques that I use frequently in my art work with layered stencils, my home made sprays, and Gelli Printing.  They all seemed very interested in the stamps and some of my techniques.  Most of you have seen my background stenciled papers so I won't share all of the ones that I used but you can access those in my archived blog posts.  However I did a new one to use with my Hula Girl Stamp.

This background began with spraying Dylusions London Blue, Vibrant Turquoise, Calypso Teal, and Pure Sunshine randomly onto the background.  I then sprayed clean water around to make the colors blend and blotted with a paper towel some of the areas that I wanted to be less vibrant.  I then sprayed clean water through my Crafter's Workshop Mini Punchinello stencil to "ghost" some images and blotted them with a paper towel.  A technique that Dyan Reaveley uses frequently with her line of sprays which you can see on You Tube.  Love her!!!!  This gave the background a starting point for texture.  I then chose some random paint colors, yellow, blue, and white and began to stencil using the Mini Punchinello to add more depth and texture.  When everything was dry I stamped my Aloha stamp onto the background randomly.  As I told the gals yesterday you could easily use what ever you have at home for sprays and could easily make your own with any re-inkers that you might have if you don't have the Dylusions brand of sprays. 

Here is the finished card and you can see the background as well as the layered background elements that I cut out using my Spellbinders Die-cuts and my Gelli Prints.  I thought it turned out really well and I was delighted with it. 

Tomorrow I will share a couple more cards that I did as samples using the stamps that I was really pleased with and had a great response from the gals at Memory Lane Scrapbooking.   Thanks to all of them for such a great day. 

You can view my line of stamps at http://www.treasuredtimesrubberstamps.com/products/our-stamps/hartman/ if you would like to purchase any of them.  I may be prejudiced but I think they are fantastic.