Thank you StencilGirl® Products for providing me with these
stencils so that I can share what I create with you on this blog and a special
To see more of my work please visit my Instagram page.
A blog for the StencilGirl® Product line owned by Mary Beth Shaw for people who love stencils like we love stencils.
Thank you StencilGirl® Products for providing me with these
stencils so that I can share what I create with you on this blog and a special
To see more of my work please visit my Instagram page.
1. Collage
was calling me, so I started by making a collection of papers to collage with.
Most of them already had some colour as they were produced for previous
projects or used to clean up brayers and brushes. There were copy papers as
well as deli papers.
2. Using
a 9 x 12” gelli plate and stencil
L117 X-12 I added acrylic paints to the gelli plate with a brayer, put the
stencil on top and took partial prints on the papers selected in step 1, then
removed the stencil and took more prints. I used a variety of acrylic paints,
including some metallic ones. Pic2A, 2B and 2C
3. I’m
working on a black Arteza DIY frame sketch pad, where a pre-scored sheet of
black paper can be folded into a 7 x 8.6” frame.
4. Collage pieces of the papers from step 2 onto the frame. Start with a potential background lay-out and take a photograph as a reminder before gluing them down.
5. Using gold acrylic paint and a cosmetic wedge, stencil on the frames (I worked on two frames simultaneously) through stencil S200 Illegible.
6. Using stencil S104 Flowerhead, a cosmetic wedge and titanium white acrylic paint, add flowers to the backgrounds on both pieces.
7. Outline the flowers with a permanent red pigment marker.
8. Glue
on the vintage text and outline with a black Stabilo All pencil
9. Outline the edges of the frames with a gold permanent marker.
Admittedly, about a year and a half ago I thought I wanted to do more quilting and had recently heard about TEMU the knock-off online shopping giant. (If you watched the Super Bowl this year you saw the millions they spent on advertising.) I shopped their app, spent about $50, and a couple of weeks later my cheap, plastic quilting tools arrived.
It just felt wrong. And since then I deleted the app and have not gone back.
There is controversy in our Mixed Media World about Temu. They sell products at DRAMATICALLY discounted prices claiming they can do so because of their direct-to-the-consumer approach. But scratch below the surface and you find out that is not the entire story.
Part of the reason they can sell cheaper is they steal designs from artists. I don’t want to lead you there but if you know StencilGirl Stencils and take a gander at Temu’s stencils there are some shocking similarities.
For the record, I am biased - I am a StencilGirl designer. StencilGirl is one of the most ethical art supply companies I’ve had the pleasure to deal with. It is an Angel Company meaning you can use their stencils in the artwork you sell. They pay quarterly royalties to artist designers so we receive a portion of every stencil sold for as long as StencilGirl is around. Finally, StencilGirl is a small family-run company that is based in Missouri, transparent, generous, approachable, and charitable.
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Great image from The Cranston Herald Online |
When Temu sells designs lifted from StencilGirl images, they are stealing from the company, the shops that sell StencilGirl Stencils, the designers, all of their communities, and the charities they support.
Temu has come under scrutiny for its lack of transparency regarding labor practices. According to the BBC “US lawmakers are warning of an "extremely high risk" that products sold on the Chinese online shopping site Temu have been made with forced labour. The claims arise from an ongoing investigation into compliance with a 2021 US law that bars the import of goods made using forced Uyghur labour.” So, if you don’t pay your workers or your manufacturers don’t pay their workers, you can sell far below the average retail price.
The quality and customer service of Temu is questionable. As of February 2023, the Better Business Bureau (BBB) gave Temu a C+, and the FTC had received 3,323 complaints since the company began operating in September 2022. The items they sell are unbranded and knockoffs of other products.
Finally, although Temu states it doesn’t “sell” your information, they do “share” it. As explained by ZNet “Per Temu's privacy policy, the company does not "sell" your data -- for money, at least. However, Temu does share your information with shipping affiliates, marketing providers, and consumer research companies, which in turn generates revenue for Temu. Temu also "shares" your data with third-party advertising, marketing, and analytics companies to target you with ads.” When you download the app or buy from Temu you agree to this.
It is enticing to think you can spend a fraction of US prices for art supplies, but please consider the costs to the forced workers, designers, and small businesses when you do.
It’s probably not a secret that I love creating grungy background papers. I use these papers to add to the mixed media layers in my artwork.
However, these papers aren’t just for future art. One of my favorite ways to “meet” a new stencil is to spend time getting to know it through creative play. A stencil always looks different unused and even in another artist’s work. It’s through using my own style, color palette and creativity that I discover new ideas and the wheels start turning on how I might use it in the future.
To begin, I always lightly gesso whatever papers I’m going to use. I use white gesso as it helps tone down some of the yellowing in old book pages, and because I like how it mingles with the paint and ephemera. You could also use clear gesso if you want to keep the page as is.
The process is simple, and I don’t really worry if I have the entire page covered. I just add a dollop of gesso on the page, spray with water and quickly spread it with a large flat brush.
Do you have to use gesso? That’s completely up to you. My answer would be yes, because it not only adds a bit of integrity to the old pages, but it helps seal them for all the paint, water and mess that will be layered on top!
For this entire play time, I’m using papers from an old ledger. It’s important that you use papers that aren’t brittle or too thin. If you aren’t sure if the papers you have will work, use several types to get to know them, too! Ledgers aren’t always easy to find, so if you want to add that fun handwriting layer, you could always stamp all over paper before adding the stencil. I also often use old book pages as well. They look just as neat as the ledger pages.
Once all the gessoed pages were dry, I grabbed my paints of choice, an applicator, my stabilo all pencils, palette paper and a spray bottle to begin.
A lot of my play is intuitive, paint-throwing, fun!
You can watch the play in my video below:
And, here are a few short and simple instructions. For each one the general rule is to use an applicator with paint through the stencil, add water + watered down paint, scruff up the stenciled image to distress it, sometimes add walnut ink, and use a hair dryer on the cool setting to move the paint around + help dry. Sometimes instead of drying completely, I mop up the puddles with other gessoed pages. This adds a first awesome layer of grunge to stencil over.
Once dry, layer the other stencils on top (two of the stencils I’m using are ones that layer) or even add additional marks with my stabilo pencils. Most important, however, is to have fun and be creative.
Paper One:
I began by stenciling with Payne's gray on the top and bottom. Before each one dried, I added watery paint for some grunge. Then, I flipped the stencil for layering. I added titan green pale to the larger side and sepia India ink on the smaller. I finished with some loose stabilo traces around the shapes.
First, I prepped the pages with some walnut ink. Then, I added Payne's gray through each stencil and lots of grungy water and ended by topping it off with more walnut ink splatters. I love that these papers are going to be ready for me to rip out a "listen" or "dream" when I need to add it to my art.
Decorative Flower Stamen Medallion S577
First Set:
For this first paper, I stenciled with titan green pale and then added partial stenciled images with Payne's gray.
-Nicole
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Decorative Flower Stamen Medallion S577
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