Blog: Art Journal

Stencil Blog Hop – Circuit

NatKalbachStencilbloghop

 

Welcome to my second Stencil  Blog Hop! Again I invited four wonderful artist friends to hop along with me and play with my StencilGirl Products Circuit Stencil which is a 9 x 12 Stencil

Circuit Stencil S161

 

And I give away one Circuit Stencil!Comment her for an entry into this giveaway! And if you also comment on all the other listed blogs I will  give you an entry into the giveaway for each blog you comment on–how cool is that! You have five chances to win it. Leave a comment on each of the listed blogs and on my blog  and let us know how you like the projects and I will pick randomly one lucky winner. You have time to comment till August 6, 2013 – midnight EST.

 

Edited August 8, 2013: The winner is Dorothy McCarthy – Congratulations. Dorothy please email me with your postal address so I can get this stencil sent out to you :) , Nat

Edited September 23, 2013: Although I tried hard to get the winner’s addy – I never heard back. I will do a new drawing from a different post soon as I am sure someone else will be happy to receive the stencil :)

 

Here are my friends joining me:

Stephanie Schütze who joined me last week already and did some amazing cards and a layout- I love her style!

Birgit Koopsen a close friend of mine, not only do I love teaching together with her…she is also super duper colorful in her work!

Marjie Kemper, I met Marjie in NYC a while back when I was teaching workshops- and she is doing amazing things on her blog – check her out!

Samie Harding  – is a huge art journaler who also does a lot of fun videos on her art journaling.

 

I designed the Circuit Stencil because I do love technical signs in my work -I love when something is whimsy and then you can put some straight technical background to it. I also wanted to have a stencil which you can use as a background stencil but also to frame your work.

Check out some samples here:

Bildschirmfoto 2013-07-29 um 14.31.15

Here is what I created for today:

NatKalbach_CircuitStencil01

It is a very simple yet colorful sparkling art journaling page :) I used Wendy Vecchi’s Golden Embossing Paste over the Stencil- simply scrape it over with an old credit card or hotel key card.

NatKalbach_CircuitStencil03

I let it dry and then used three different colors of Dylusion Sprays over it.

NatKalbach_CircuitStencil04

At some areas I dabbed the color off while still wet – so it got sparkly gold again, at some areas I just let the color sit and dry on top of the circuit pattern.

NatKalbach_CircuitStencil05

Next I used a water mister and laid out the Circuit Stencil over areas that weren’t covered yet with the pattern, spritzed over the stencil and used a rag to rub through the stencil. As the Dylusions get reactivated by water, you take off some of the colors and get a little Circuit Ghost Effect :)

NatKalbach_CircuitStencil06

 

Voila- a nice background that you can add photos, journaling, stamping etc. I simply used a little quote I liked, by Pablo Picasso – I love filling my art journal with quotes.

NatKalbach_CircuitStencil02

Here are the supplies I used:

nSupplies

Now hop on over to my friends and check what they did :)

Stephanie Schütze

Birgit Koopsen

Marjie Kemper

Samie Harding

 

Have Fun

Nat

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Comments (98)

  • Nancy Sapp

    |

    Also saw you are doing a redo so thought I’d sign in TOO!
    Thanks for the 2nd chance. I’d LOVE to win 1 of your stencils.
    Grandma Nancy Sapp

    Reply

  • Susan (Sanna) Burgess

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    Just saw you are doing a redo so thought I’d sign in for a chance~! Hugs, Sanna

    Reply

  • Carmen Lucero

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    Nat, thanks for the second chance to win this awesome stencil! I had left you a comment before, and I still love this!!

    Carmen L
    cal8007 at aol dot com

    Reply

  • Susan Stimson

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    I love all the creative things that you did with this stencil and would love the opportunity to win this.

    Reply

  • Dara Lynn

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    Have loved this stencil from the beginning …..would love to play with it on my gelli, make tags…..layouts…totally a favorite to be for sure!!!

    Reply

  • Lynn Parker

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    Love it!

    Reply

  • Lynn Parker

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    Very inspirational- thank you for your clear instructions too!

    Reply

  • Lynn good

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    WOW fantastic work. Would love to win and use this stencil.

    Reply

  • Barbara I.

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    I love the circuit stencil Thanks for showing us how you used it on your journal page and sharing some new supplies that I am not familiar with. Your techniques have my brain percolating with some new ideas! I appreciate the chance to win this stencil. It looks like it would be a lot of fun to use in many art projects.

    Reply

  • Grenae

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    Great stencil! Would like to try the embossing paste. Your finished art journal page is so colorful – love it!

    Reply

  • wendy

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    Oh my, this is a stencil that’s right up my alley! I’m a software engineer by day, art journaler whenever I can get away with it, and this stencil would be perfect for my pages! I love what you’ve done with it – just gorgeous!

    Reply

  • linda trapp

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    love this stencil! The energy in your work vibrates off the page.

    Reply

  • Cuchy

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    Those are colours!!! awesome background.
    Your stencil make it shine!

    Reply

  • Louise

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    What a fabulous page, I adore your colours and love the way you have used your fabulous funky stencil- by adding and then subtracying, its like an acho <3

    Reply

  • Carmen Lucero

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    Nat, your project is absolutely fabulous. The way those inks shine and your stencil plays with them is great! Thanks for sharing and for the chance to win!

    Carmen L

    Reply

  • Gemma maggs

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    I love this stencil and the colours you have used are beautiful. The journal page is beautiful.

    Reply

  • Buttons

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    Love this stencil design! Reminds me of London Underground. Hugs, Jenny x

    Reply

  • KrisKreates

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    Love the stencil and I want to get out my modeling pastes and play!! I’m a scientist and a papercrafter and technical art items always appeal to me!! Great design and ideas

    Reply

  • Suzanne

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    What a great mouth watering new stencil!! It’s just perfect and I’m dying to get my hands on it. Absolutely stunning work with it too. Suzanne

    Reply

  • Susan

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    Wow! This stencil is great! I would be jumping for joy to win. You are very talented!

    Reply

  • Linn

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    Ohh what an awsome page, love how the gold circuits pops through! Also that stencil lordy lord it has seriously so much creative play and potential. I almost short circuited when I first saw it. It is a MUST have stencil for sure!

    Reply

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Harmony and Happiness or…5 mins for arting

It is been crazy busy the last couple weeks and it will be even more with the move soon. One of the things that keep me sane though is that I really make an effort to do at least something for five minutes in my art journal every day or sketch. I know …not much – but somehow it makes me feel really happy to have this “who cares of the outcome- I need this” time

NathalieKalbach_Happiness01

For this page I just real quick the Pam Carriker liquid pencil – so much fun to get this dimension with it. I had before just use the access on my StandUp Bass Stencil with Black and my Crackle Stencil sprayed with White Liquitex Professional Spray on the pages and then used watercolor over it. I love how the white crackle resisted the watercolor and also how the crackle pattern got combined with the StandUp Bass. I cut out the third image from paper and layered it on. I like this really simple page- It made me think of some more possibilities of using different media together and combining stencil…so five minutes well used I think ;)

NathalieKalbach_Happiness02

 

Here is what I used on one spot:

nSupplies

Are you trying to make time to be creative eyer day- or do you just see whenever there is some “me”-time for you left to get creative?

Have a wonderful day

Nat

Nat

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Stencil Hop – Oldtimer

NatKalbachStencilbloghop

 

Welcome to my first Stencil Blog Hop! I invited four wonderful artist friends to hop along with me today and play with my StencilGirl Products Oldtimer Stencil which is a 6 x 6 Stencil:

NathalieKalbach_OldtimerStencil

 

You have four chances to win this stencil. Leave a comment on each of the listed blogs (Jamie’s comment function didn’t work in the morning – so if you posted on all blogs a comment that worked I will count them as if you did comment on hers too;) ) and on my blog  and let us know how you like the projects and I will pick randomly one lucky winner. You have time to comment till July 30th, 2013 – midnight EST.

Edited August 4, 2013: The winner is Gerd Andersen – Congratulations. Gerd please email me with your postal address so I can get this stencil sent out to you :), Nat

 

Here are my friends joining me:

Jessica Sporn who does wonderful Mixed Media art and has her own amazing range of StencilGirl Product Stencils.

Stephanie Schütze – a super talented Scrapbooker from Switzerland

Jamie Dougherty – who is a super good workshop teacher and does stunning Mixed Media- and Scrapbooking-Projects

Maria McGuire – she does beautiful scrapbooking and Mixed Media Projects and coordinates also the awesome StencilGirl Products Blog called StencilGirl Talk

 

I am a big fan of oldtimer cars and so I knew I wanted to do this stencil for all kinds of projects. Check out some samples here:

OldtimerStencilProjects

 

Here is what I created for today:

NatKalbach_OldtimerStencil01

I do love to create some depth with my stencils -so here is how I did it here. I sprayed through the Stencil with Liquitex Spraypaints- but you can use any other paint media.

NatKalbach_OldtimerStencil03

 

Then I cut out the car – just around the outline

NatKalbach_OldtimerStencil04

I picked a page in my art journal where I had already played a bit with a background and gathered some repositionable double sided adhesive, distress ink and a blending tool.

NatKalbach_OldtimerStencil05

I adhered the old timer with the repositionable adhesive  and then applied a bit darker distress ink with the blending tool – to outline the car.

NatKalbach_OldtimerStencil06

 

I used another distress ink color and the stencil again, which I laid over the car again and went over it again with the blending tool.

NatKalbach_OldtimerStencil07

As you can see it gave a another shadow- as the first sprayed stencil image still peaks through- and it adds already more depth to the oldtimer

NatKalbach_OldtimerStencil08

 

Now I peeled of the oldtimer car and then carefully rubbed off the adhesive dots.

NatKalbach_OldtimerStencil09

 

Next I placed the car directly onto the background into the before outlined borders-

NatKalbach_OldtimerStencil10

 

I do this so later when you raise the car with foam pads- there is a shadow visible.

NatKalbach_OldtimerStencil11

 

Then I cut out some faces that would fit behind the windows

NatKalbach_OldtimerStencil12

 

and I cut out two windows of the oldtimer car on the paper

NatKalbach_OldtimerStencil13

 

I applied foam pads to the backs of the faces

NatKalbach_OldtimerStencil14

 

adhered them using the image of the oldtimer on the background and slightly a bit off

NatKalbach_OldtimerStencil15

 

then I stacked two foam pads on top of each other- to give more height -to the back of the oldtimer car on the paper

NatKalbach_OldtimerStencil16

 

and adhered the car also slightly off

NatKalbach_OldtimerStencil17

 

and there you have it :) I think it is a great way to add dimension and depth with stencils.

NatKalbach_OldtimerStencil02

 

Here are the supplies I used:

nSupplies

 

Now hop on over to my friends and check what they did and comment for some changes to win the stencil :)

Edited August 4, 2013: The winner is Gerd Andersen – Congratulations. Gerd please email me with your postal address so I can get this stencil sent out to you :), Nat

Jessica Sporn 

Stephanie Schütze

Jamie Dougherty 

Maria McGuire

Nat

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Deserted Island Question or…Nat’s Emergency Art Kit

NatKalbachEmergencyArtKit

 

Have you ever been asked what art supplies you would bring to a deserted island? I always had fun answering this question – of course in a light hearted way *yeah-easy-duh!*. But now…although I am not really going to a deserted island, I actually have to give this question some serious thoughts. In less than nine weeks I will move to the U.S. which means that my art supplies and my whole studio will be in a sea container from 4 to maybe even 8 weeks. I will also not be able to ship certain supplies like my beloved Liquitex Spray Cans, Alcohol Inks, certain adhesives, oil paints etc. which means I will have some serious expenses on art supplies once over the pond. So in a way I am going to a deserted island and I pretty early came up with the thought to put together an emergency art kit to ship ahead of time to the States, to keep me able to work and the costs low in the beginning.

NatKalbachEAK01

 

As you can see I was going back and forth a bit on my list. For example I decided against taking embossing powders or an embossing ink pad because my heating gun won’t come with me to the States (220V) and I have to buy a new one there- so that can wait a couple weeks. The first item is my art journal- so the surface question is answered right away ;)  I picked a shoe box and a 12×12 flat box to put all supplies safely in, which also makes it safe to ship with some of our other emergency items we need in the first days (some kitchen stuff, towels etc.).

NatKalbachEAK02

I packed some of my favorite Liquitex Heavy Body Paints and then also some of my Ranger Distress Paints-. They are so different that it made sense to pack two different kinds of acrylic paints and they do not take that much space. I packed actually 4 Dylusion Ink Sprays – it was hard to decide on the colors . All these supplies are perfect to use on their own for backgrounds, with stencils, or with each other. The Gesso bottle was actually an extra. I had Gesso along with Gel Medium, Cosmetic Sponges, Liquitex Spraypaints and the Heating Gun on my list to buy in the States, but since this bottle is brand new and still sealed I decided it makes just sense to bring it and safe on that bit of money. Plus remember – Gesso is my Dumbledore ;)

NatKalbachEAK03

 

I then also packed a Gelli Plate- actually it is a cut piece of a Gelli plate – so just a small piece in order to be able to do some fun things with stencils and perfect also to use with the Ranger Distress Paints. As I always love to incorporate text and lines and love to use alpha stickers for titles, I decided to pack a small text background stamp, a stamp with wavey lines and my wooden alpha stamp set – which gives me more freedom when a couple packs of alphas where I will be missing the most important letters pretty soon. Going along with it, my Archival Ink Pad- of course re-inked. You see my three favorite Distress Inks with a Blending Tool – I love to use it to give depth and it is also perfect for stencils. Then a black journaling pen, my favorite foil writer, a white Signo Pen and a Water Mister -as you can use it with so many techniques for with the Acrylic Paints, the Distress Inks and the Dylusion Sprays in the kit. Furthermore you see in the picture my two favorite scissors – the bee cutter for finer cutting and the Tonic Scissors for heavy duty stuff.

NatKalbachEAK04

 

I also packed some of my favorite Paint Markers – as I use them for so many different techniques in my work nowadays and they really do not take that much space.

NatKalbachEAK05

 

I packed a brayer- I love using a brayer for many different background techniques, with the Gelli Plate and even to smooth out adhesive – so that was a given thing to pack. The Paper Cutter wasn’t actually super necessary but I am a klutz when it comes to cutting straight lines with a craft knife – so I am sure I will be pretty happy to find it in my kit later ;) I also packed a craft mat. Also some brushes – different ones and a palette knife -not a necessity but it really wanted to come with me because I love using this one ;) I also threw in a roll of Crafty Power Tape (not in the picture) – as this is my favorite adhesive for mixed media stuff.

NatKalbachEAK06

 

And at last stencils- and I decided to just pack my six stencil designs and a set of alpha stencils. As I am a stencil junky it was hard to leave the others behind for now but I am also looking forward to work on new fun projects with my own stencils.

And here is the whole list of what I take in my emergency art kit:

nSupplies

I hope this will cover me till the container arrives  plus it is going to be fun to be so restricted on supplies :)

What would you take with you ?

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Whatevers Round 2 #1 or Choice

the WHATEVERS 2 A

 

Are you ready for the 1st of the Second Round of Whatevers? If you missed what the Whatevers is all about or want to see all the past photos and takes…check it out here.

Click here to see what Cat, Vicki, Martha and Cuchy made out of the photo and which story they tell.

Here is my take:

NatKalbach_Choice_05

 

Journaling:

In a wicked and not understandable way, Elizabeth and Matthew had decided to live a miserable life. You’d never see them smile, always clinged to each other with an aura of tragedy and hard to grasp sadness. And in a weird and very brain twisted way…this choice made them life a very happy and fulfilled live together.

NatKalbach_Choice_04

 

When I saw this picture of the siblings and how sad they looked , this journaling came instantly in my mind. And as you know from the first round of the Whatevers – I like to give my Whatevers a dark twist- LOL- so here we go again.

NatKalbach_Choice_03

 

I used Liquitex Acrylic Paints, Liquitex Spraypaints and Markers on this art journal page as well as my Stencil Girl- What’ s The Point Stencil and Jessica Sporns Cascading Leaves Stencil. I love white colored journaling and in order to make this work, I usually journal first with a black marker and then go over with a white marker.

NatKalbach_Choice_01

And here is the photo of this month’s Whatever for you:

 

July2013_Whatevers01

 

Here is how it works

  • Vicki, Cat, Cuchy (Carmen), Martha and I and I have made a one-year commitment to each other and picked twelve photos with Whatevers whom we will give a story.
  • Every month – if possible always on the 15th –  each of us will do a post with an individual story that goes along for us with the same photo.
  • If you want you can play along and we will have the photo for you to download and show us your version of The Whatevers. The photo will be posted at the end of our blogposts- not on Facebook!
  • There is no rules to the story itself- it can be funny, sad, uplifting, breathtaking- WHATEVER
  • There is no rules on the length or the form of the story– it can be a short sentence, an essay, a poem or a soap opera – WHATEVER
  • There is no rules on the artform you choose – it can be a scrapbook layout, an altered art project, an artjournal page – WHATEVER
  • Here is a rule though: if you take the photo you have to link back to us and show us your story.
  • These pictures are from our personal stash and are for personal use for you only! If you want to use them for a publication whether a book or magazine in print or digital form please ask for permission!
  • If you want to participate we’ll have a linky list for each Whatever Post.
  • You can also join our The Whatevers -Facebook Page

 

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There Is No One Way To Art

There is no one way to art. There is many ways. There is YOUR way. – Robert Ryman

I love this quote and it makes me fall even more in Love with Robert Ryman and his approach to art.

NathalieKalbach_YourWay01

Lot’s of fun playing with my What’s The Point Stencil and some silhouettes I cut.

NathalieKalbach_YourWay02

I had cut out the silhouettes and played with the mask and the stencil which I got out of the two figures. I layered the stencil over too and sprayed with Liquitex Spray Paints over it -I like the effect.

NathalieKalbach_YourWay03

For the paper I used some Distress Inks – I just love how the Distress inks make every color pop.

NathalieKalbach_YourWay03

Here is what I used for the page:

nSupplies

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I Am Enough Art Journal Page

NathalieKalbach_Iamenough01

I played a bit around in my art journal and I love especially how the left page turned out . Sometimes it is good to just play because accidentally you might find a fun new way for a background – like I did :)

NathalieKalbach_Iamenough02

I also got a new color combo crush…you better get used to it- hehehe- I might use it again ;)

nSupplies

Have a creative day today :)

Nat

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Closed Doors …or Word Emesis

My art journal is not only my technique-play book, it is also my way to express feelings and often an outlet for emotions. I think art is an amazing therapist- LOL- so much cheaper actually when a real one ;) This page was done after I was REALLY upset a couple of weeks ago – LOL- doesn’t happen to often- but hey…can happen ;)

NathalieKalbach_ClosedDoors01

Lot’s of Liquitex Spray Paint over Stencils on here and then I played with the Liquitex Paint Markers-I love how you can paint with them over magazine pages, use them for writing or sketching and to blend areas in.

NathalieKalbach_ClosedDoors02

I wanted a grungy look here ….I guess I archived it. Actually I want this page as a wall of my studio- that would be cool- LOL.

NathalieKalbach_ClosedDoors03

If you art journal would you agree that it helps you deal with emotional stress better?

nSupplies

have a beautiful day

nat

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Whatevers #12 or Girls Just Wanna Have Fun

Are you ready for the 12th Whatevers? If you missed what the Whatevers is all about…check it out here.

Click here to see what Cat made out of this photo and which story she tells

Click here to see what Vicki made out of this photo and which story she tells

This is supposed to be our last Whatever photo…but mmhh – well….maybe we have news for you in the next days ;)

I love this photo – I will definitely use it again- it totally cracks me up! I had only a couple of art media with me when I was traveling- which was kind of fun to create with limited supplies and limited time too.

Girls Just Wanna Have Fun

NatKalbach_GirlsWhatever01

Finally a day without husbands- all these household chores were just so boring all three of them had been looking for a fun day together. If they’d only knew how to get the boat going…gosh – why couldn’t they make it work without men?

NatKalbach_GirlsWhatever03

Their names: Margariete, Mary and Myrtle

NatKalbach_GirlsWhatever04

I used Ranger Distress Paints, Distress Inks, a white Sharpie Poster Marker and a Liquitex Professional Paint Marker as well as a new bought item I have to play more with: Liquid Pencil by Pam Carriker. The Fabric Tape is actually by a German Brand – I am not really sure which one it was though -I need to find out – LOL- I love it and need more ;) You can also see some negative prints of my new What’s The Point Stencil.

And here is the photo of this month’s Whatever for you:

12_May2013

Here is how it works if you want to play along:

  • Vicki, Cat and I have made a one-year commitment to each other and picked twelve photos with Whatevers whom we will give a story.
  • Every month – if possible always on the 15th –  each of us will do a post with an individual story that goes along for us with the same photo.
  • If you want you can play along and we will have the photo for you – just right-click on it to safe it to download and show us your version of The Whatevers.
  • There is no rules to the story itself- it can be funny, sad, uplifting, breathtaking WHATEVER
  • There is no rules on the length or the form of the story– it can be a short sentence, an essay, a poem or a soap opera – WHATEVER
  • There is no rules on the artwork you choose – it can be a scrapbook layout, an altered art project, an art journal page – WHATEVER
  • Here is a rule though: if you take the photo you have to link back to us andshow us your story.
  • These pictures are from our personal stash and are for personal use for you only! If you want to use them for a publication whether a book or magazine in print or digital form please ask for permission!
  • If you want to participate post in the comment section .
  • You can also join our The Whatevers -Facebook Page

Nat

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