Stencilbop Challenge Prompts 10 & 11

Here is a recap of prompts 10 and 11:

August 10 – Paste

There is something utterly satisfying about spreading modeling paste or embossing paste through a stencil and create a nice small crisp raised pattern on top of a flat surface ….or it might be that I am just weird. But try it yourself ;) 

I used my Hamilton stencil on top of my Hamilton stamp – the middle part is almost identical in size. I found some metallic embossing paste in my stash and applied it with a palette knife over the middle. 

I love how this turned out. A little bit of sparkle and a little bit of texture- nom!

August 11 – Texture

Texture is – besides Color – one of my favorite elements to use in my artwork and it is no coincidence that one of my very first stencils I designed in 2013 was my Crackle Stencil. 

I loved adding crackle texture to my artwork but boy did I dislike how long the different applications with mediums took – or how messy it was with some of the “old school” ways like Vaseline and acrylic paint. And so I was dreaming of a Crackle stencil – there was none out there and I am so glad Stencil Girl liked my idea and design. 

To this day it is one of my favorite and apparently one of your favorite stencils of mine as well. It has found a home more than any other stencils of mine. One of my favorite ways to this day to use the Crackle stencils is with heavy bodied acrylic paint. Simply spread over the stencil with a palette knife- let dry and there crackle bliss!

Here are some of the supplies I used:

Here are the daily prompts. I hope you play along with us on on my insta feed!

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Be Present – Art Journal

“Be present!” – always a good thought to remember :)

The colorful centers are from collage paper which I had stamped using a stamp buddy and the Versailles Foam stamp with different acrylic paint colors. I cut out the centers and glued them to the art journal.

Around it I stamped my Fanfare stamps in teal archival ink and my Fantastic Large stamps in gray archival ink. Then I filled in with the Floral Tile Small set and Moonlight duo inks.

Here are some of the supplies that I used:

Comments (2)

  • Gunvor

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    I just love the colour contrasts! Thanks for the inspiration!

    Reply

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Stencilbop Challenge Prompts 8 & 9

Here is a recap of Prompts 8 and 9:

August 8 – Jam Session

Mixed Media always has been my super love – mixing different materials, paint media and tools is just my jam. 

Besides looking for which paint media work together with a stencil , I love to go on a hunt and see which of my stamps fit with my stencils to get to a total new pattern. Here is combined my Mesa Verde Stencil with one of my Floral Tile rubber stamps and Fan-Fare Rubber stamps. 

I love how this came together. As for paint media, I used Spray paint over the stencil, an inkpad for the stamping and an acrylic ink marker for the little dots. 

Can’t wait to see how you interpret the theme Jam Session.

August 9 – Reverse

I love using the reverse of the stencil – meaning the opposite of what the stencil usually shows when applying paint media over it. Sometimes that can be archived by stenciling and then taking the stencil that still has some paint on top and printing with it. 

For this spread I sprayed over my Flower Maze stencil on a different piece of substrate and then flipped the stencil over and printed onto my art journal. I love using white as well as other colors.

The reason I love to use spray paint is that the pattern is applied in a nice thick “plasticky” way, which actually is perfect when you apply thin paint or ink on top. The spray painted pattern will resist the ink longer and can be wiped off the pattern making for a nice and really cool effect. 

Here are some of the supplies I used:

Here are the daily prompts. I hope you play along with us on on my insta feed!

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That’s Why – Art Journal

They told me I couldn’t… that’s why I did it.

In this case, you shouldn’t really show stuff on social media you are not happy about and so that’s why I do it hahahaha. Because it is all part of the process …the good , the ugly and the in between.

I used my FANtastic Mixed Media Chip as a stencil and monoprinted directly into my art journal.

I added paint and stamped with my FANtastic Large rubber stamp set and my Fanfare stamp set.

At the end I took matte medium and adhered part of the mixed media chip right into it all, framing the stamped fans and giving a bit of texture to the page.

There are elements of the page that I really like – like the monoprinted area and the chipboard as well as the muted stamping but then there are others that I DO NOT LIKE. Basically the colors are totally out of my comfort zone and the very rigid pattern of the chipboard and the stamps was competing with the messiness of other areas. Sometimes that works but here for me it didn’t . It was fun to play though …and sometimes just showing up and doing something creative is ok too …

Here are some of the supplies that I used:


Comments (2)

  • Susan Archibald Debourguignon

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    at first i thought this was a guest post because these are not your colors, Nathalie. great job going waaay out of your comfort zone. i like bold, jewel-toned colors … mostly blues and violets and i can stretch to add reds and greens. you inspire me to go create with pastels and all shades of yellow and orange, thank you!

    Reply

    • nathalie-kalbach

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      Ha- I know LOL- WAY out of my comfort zone- I am personally torn between liking it and not liking it …still contemplating :)

      Reply

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Stencilbop Challenge Prompts 5,6 & 7

Here is an overview of Prompts 5, 6 & 7:

August 5 – Fusion

I love layering stencils with bigger openings with small pattern stencils. For this art journaling spread I used my Elephant Parade Stencil on top of my Art Deco Wallpaper stencil.

It is such an easy way to combine or fuse stencils.

Later I used the mask of the elephant, which is also included in this stencils to trace the elephant and also to stencil with my Lily Wallpaper Stencil for the background. 

August 6 – Print!

Using stencils with a printing plate like the Gelli Plate is super fun. One technique I do enjoy a lot is using different plates and inkpads with stencils and then print into my art journal. 

For this spread I used a small round gel plate and first added some ink onto the plate. I used a hybrid inkpad by Moonlight Duo which doesn’t dry too fast, it also creates some nice gradients in color due to its dual pads. I applied my Star Struck Stencil, and printed off to another piece of paper (you can make cards or use those prints as collage paper). Then I lifted the stencil and turned the plate around to print on top of my journal page. 

I did this in different colors and then masked off those areas in my art journal – repeating the same process with a bigger gel plate and my Beacon Stencil

Here is the finished page:

August 7 – Quilt

Now I cannot sew very well …might have to do with my dislike of rulers and measurements ;) But inspired by the different colors and patterns quilts are often made of, I use this process quite often in my art journals. 

I paint the background in different color swatches…

and then apply different stencils on top of those swatches using any of the other colors that I had used before. Here I used my Hamilton, Van Vorst, and Toledo 9×12 stencils.

This way I make sure the repetition of color ties the design together. A fun and easy way to create the foundation for an art journal spread. 

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

Here are the daily prompts. I hope you play along with us on on my insta feed!

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Boldly Going – Tania Ahmed

Hello from my Creative Squad! Today we have a sweet suite of cards from Tania Ahmed using my Clam Hex and Signals foam stamps. Check out her video below. This month’s theme is 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, I decided to keep things simple and create some quick and easy cards using Nat’s Art Foamies called Signals and Clam Hex. In fact, you can use any of Nat’s Foamies because I used the backside of the stamp to get a solid hexagon! This is a fantastic way to get your Art Foamies to do double duty and you can achieve some very unique shadow or halo effects if you use both the flat back and the designed side of the Art Foamies.

The Jane Davenport Hybrid Squid Inks were perfect to use with this month’s theme of keeping things bold which is right up my alley!

I hope that you enjoy the video tutorial and play along with the Creative Squad! Thanks for watching ?

My process was something you could do with just a couple foam stamps – I used Nat’s Clam Hex and Signals stamps. I started by stamping with the back of the hex stamp.

Then the Signals stamp in another bold color…

Next I cut my patterned paper down to a size that would fit on blank cards.

And then I put them together with some word stickers.

You could use this method to make a variety of cards.


Thank you Tania – what a perfect quick and easy Summer Stamping project! You can find all of my Foam Stamps in my online shop. Here are some of the other supplies Tania 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“.


Join me on Wednesday at 2:30pm EST for a facebook live Kaffeeklatsch chat!!!

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Imagine – Art Journal

“… You may say I’m a dreamer but I’m not the only one…” – John Lennon

After watching a netflix documentary on John Lennon and Yoko Ono I was inspired to do this page. I sketched John’s face using a Monolith 8B pencil and stamped with my Space Oddity stamp from both the Hex Set Large and Hex Set Small.

I used some left over stripes of my Suminagashi paper that I couldn’t bear throwing away- LOL. And I stamped my Groovy and part of my Gnarly foam stamp over them.

Here are some of the supplies I used:


Comments (2)

  • Sue Clarke

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    Love your sketch of John and the page as well.
    I read a biography about him and I was surprised at some of the not so nice things that he may have done.
    I still love his music and vision for peace.

    Reply

    • nathalie-kalbach

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      Hi Sue, thank you! Yeah the documentary I saw about him also showed a pretty tough person to be around with – so many facets a person can have.
      I agree on the love for his music and vision for peace

      Reply

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Stencilbop Challenge Prompts 3-4

Here is an overview of Prompts 3-4:

August 3 – Line 

I love using my stencils with markers and create different variations of lines- it is a total zen approach – better than a coloring book in my opinion ;)

Here I used my Santiago Stencil and some Derwent Graphik Liners and just lined up some colors  – pun intended ;)

Easy peasy but don’t be fooled …this takes a while.

August 4 – Stained Glass

Watercolor might not be the first medium to use with stencils that comes to mind but I do love the stained glass effect.

For this journal spread I added some watercolor very loosely through the Downtown and through my Buenos Aires Stencil – I didn’t care too much about crisp lines but always started spreading the paint out from the middle of the opening towards the edges of the stencil.

Later I defined the stencil pattern by using a thin black micron pen. 

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

Follow along on the prompt list and on my insta feed!

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Call for NEW Creative Squad Members!

Creative Squad Call!

Our current Creative Squad is in search of 2 new members. Read on and let us know if we should be looking at YOU. International applications are welcome so come one, come all!

Do YOU fit the bill???

+ Are you a Mixed Media Artist, Art Journal Maven or Card Maker Extraordinaire with a unique style and a passion for creativity?
+ Do you love to use stamps and stencils in your work and love to try new techniques and media?
+ Do you love to share your projects on social media and engage with other artists?

If the answer is yes, yes, yes, we are looking to fill some spots on our n*Studio Creative Squad and would love to hear from you! 

How to Apply:

Email nat(at)nathaliesstudio.com with “Creative Squad Submission” as the subject. Please include:

1. Full name, email address, links to social media sites/blog/website where we can see your work
2. A couple sentence bio or description of your work
3. 4-5 low res images of your work that best represent your style

Enter by August 10, 2019  :)

What exactly does a Creative Squad member do?

As a Creative Squad member for Nathalie’s Studio you will serve a 6-month term beginning 10/1/2019. As part of the Creative Squad, you will receive a variety of Nathalie’s Studio products. You will create one project per month, using specified products or groups of products and inspired by a monthly theme. You will be featured once a month on the nStudio blog, Facebook page, and Nat’s Creative Squad Instagram page, and you will be part of an amazing team of artists with a legacy of awesomeness!

Don’t be shy, apply today – we would love to see how you are rocking your creativity!

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