nathalie-kalbach

Stencilbop Challenge Prompt 26

This is a recap of today’s Stencilbop prompt, August 26 – Homely

I just recently purchased an awesome VerDay Metal Paint kit by Relics and Artifacts which let’s you create different patinas on a variety of surfaces. 

I thought it would be fun to use Bronze and create patina with my Buenos Aires Stencil.  I painted the frame in Bronze, let it dry, repainted it, then added the stencil on top and sprayed with the patina solution over the stencil. 

After a couple hours the reaction was complete and I love the out come on the frame. I added a picture of my other half and cannot wait to put the frame onto my new studio mantle. 

Here are some of the supplies I used:

Leave a comment

Stencilbop Challenge Prompt 25

This is a recap of the Stencilbop Challenge prompt for today, August 25 – For You

For me stencils are a great way to add a special personal touch to kraft envelopes, which I use for shipping out my products.  

Sometimes when I am about to finish up a spray paint session I just grab a couple envelopes and add some color to them. 

Hope these make someone happy :)

Here are some of the supplies I used in this prompt:

Leave a comment

Stencilbop Challenge Prompt 24

This is the recap for today’s Stencilbop Challenge prompt: Eat Cake

Oh boy- this one could easily be renamed into “Eat Cake and Keep Calm” See I thought oh gorgeous idea, I am going get a wonderful plain ice cake from my favorite local ice cream shop Torico’s here in Jersey City…

…and then use one of my small 4×4 stencils (I used the Park Blvd stencil here) with cacao powder to decorate on top myself. 

Now – I am not a cake decorator and there is a simple reason for that ….hahahaha- I screwed it up. I looked at it and thought “oh maybe this is a sign and I need another one” –but I decided , nah that would be cheating and in the future I might leave the decorating to the awesome peeps at Torico’s as well . Anyway – LOL- here is the result with a little bit of a scrapping action using my Park Blvd Stencil. Just so you know…no ice cream cake was harmed during this prompt –it was delicious as always and has been devoured soon after ;) 

In addition to a small ice cream cake, here are the supplies I used for this prompt:

Play along with us and follow the daily prompts:

Leave a comment

Stencilbop Challenge Prompt 23

Here is the Stencilbop Recap for today, August 23 – Bebop

Did this one give you a headache? I hope not :)

Dance the Stencilbop with me by applying paint through a stencil like maybe my Chicago stencil here…

… then move it slightly to the left or right and apply a different color.

You can do this with any paint media but by far the most bopping results come with acrylic spray paint –I love the dimension this gives. This one is my Exchange Place stencil.

Here are some of the supplies I used in this prompt:

I hope you play along with us and follow the daily Stencilbop Challenge on Instagram. Here is the prompt list:

Leave a comment

Stencilbop Challenge Prompt 22

Today’s prompt is: Fabric

For this one I thought it would be fun to get out of the Art Journal again.

I played with some new fabric ink as well as with my Hamilton Stencil on a tote bag.

The ink was a little bit hard to control with a sponge as it would spread sometimes quite a bit.

I added to the design with my Circle Jumble Small rubber stamps and some silver ink details.

This bag is ready to go shopping :)

Here are some of the supplies I used:

Leave a comment

Stencilbop Challenge Prompts 20 & 21

Are you playing along with us? All month on Instagram we have been doing the Stencilbop Challenge and wow it’s been fun playing with our stencils in so many ways! Here is the recap for Prompts 20 and 21:

August 20 – Faux

Stitching on paper was always something I loved to do but I haven’t used my sewing machine in ages- and to be honest part of it is just the dread of having to set it up and then pack it away again after just a couple minutes of fun. 

So I thought for this prompt I would do a bit of faux stitching – using my Chicago Stencil as a template. I just created little dots along the stencil and then added some loose lines with the pen from dot to dot. 

I glued down some actual thread and voila – wouldn’t fool anyone hahahah- but hey it was fun. 

August 21 – Color

Ha that is a good one – right ? 

I thought I would just go with some nice bright colors and I used different colored acrylic markers to fill out and add elements to my Santa Fe Stencil.

I love how this came out – I def. will use the markers with stencils more. It is such a fun way to add some stenciling to a journal or sketchbook while traveling and they are part of my Art-On-The-Go- Kit anyway. 

Here are some of the supplies I used for these prompts:

Play along with us – here is the Prompt List in case you missed it:

Leave a comment

Boldly Going – Jennifer Gallagher

Welcome to a post from the Creative Squad! Today we have an art journal page from Jennifer Gallagher that will inspire you to work more boldly and intuitively. She is using my Clam Hex and Signals foam stamps and this month’s theme: Boldly Going – Go BOLD with color or pattern this month and really make something that is packed with visual POP! This is no time to be subdued or subtle. Go Bold!!!


This month we are “boldly going” while creating with n*Studio products. To me being bold means making artistic decisions quickly and going with my gut. I try to shut down the negative voice inside and create almost intuitively. While creating this art journal spread I made quick decisions about colors and patterns and just went with the flow. Let’s get started!

I began on the right side of my journal spread by penciling in a grid with my Clam Hex foam stamp. Having a grid determined before hand makes the stamping quick and easy.

I wanted to stamp with a gradient of two colors. I have applied bright aqua green and phthalo turquoise acrylic paint on a gelli plate and brayered it out and applied it to my foam stamp. I then pressed my stamp down in accordance with my grid across the entire page.

Next, I brayered bright aqua green acrylic paint onto a three inch triangular shaped gelli plate which I fixed to an acrylic block. Then I brayered quinacrodone magenta acrylic paint onto Nat’s Signals foam stamp and pressed that onto the triangular plate. Lastly, I pressed the plate down onto the right side of the left page, down the length of the page.

I decided where I wanted to place my tissue paper face and laid down a light layer of white gesso in that area. This helps the image to pop off the page. Then I adhered it and two tissue paper circles on the left side of the page with matte medium. Using a black and white gelly roll pen, To add a little extra interest, I doodled on both pages.

I chose a few tissue paper sentiments and adhered them with matte medium. Next, I used a stabilo all pencil and a waterbrush to add a little shadow around the face.

I love how this page turned out. Now it’s your turn! Pull out those n*Studio products and be bold. Don’t forget to share your creations with us.


Thank you Jennifer! Definitely love how “going with your gut” made for such a bold page :) You can find all of my Foam Stamps in my online shop. Here are some of the other supplies Jennifer used:

Feel inspired? Working on something yourself that you’d like to share?  I love to see how you interpret our monthly themes. Email me how you used my stencils and stamps with the theme and email me an image – I would love to share your projects in my next  “n*Spiration From Around the Globe“.

Leave a comment

Stencilbop Challenge Prompt 19

Are you playing along with us for my Stencilbop Challenge this month on Instagram? We started on August 1 but you can jump in and join us any time. Here is a recap of today’s prompt:

August 19 – Black & White

Always classy – I love painting the background with black gesso and then using a white signo pen through my stencils. Best way for anger management too ;) Totally calming and with a happy making result. 

I used a couple of my round small 4×4 stencils here. Cannot wait to see your black & white takes. 

Here are some of the supplies I used:

Play along with us on my insta feed by following the daily prompts:

Leave a comment

Stencilbop Challenge Prompts 17 & 18

Here is a recap of prompts 17 and 18:

August 17 – Distress!

I love the soft and chalky- kind of shabby chic ;)  look of white gesso.

So I used white gesso on a sponge to dab through my Art Deco and Ornament Wallpaper Stencils. I also used some of my rubber stamps with white ink to add to the fan of the Art Deco Stencil. 

August 18 – Pastel

I love pastels – especially pan pastels and they are perfect to use with stencils. 

For this art journal spread I first applied a layer of different pan pastels to the background. 

Then I used my Manhattan and my Kassel Stencil on top of the background and alternated between erasing the pan pastel through the stencil and apply a different color of pan pastel through the stencil. 

Pan Pastels are another perfect medium to play with Subtraction and Addition :)  …see math is a good skill even for an artist LOL

Here are some of the supplies I used in these prompts:

Play along with us on on my insta feed! Here are the prompts:

Leave a comment