Blog: Stencils

designed by n*Studio features: Riikka Kovasin

One of the things that make me really giddy is when I spy someone using my new stamps by Stampendous or also my Stencils with StencilGirl Products :) So I thought once in a while I would feature the work of those wonderful talented people with a new Series called: designed by n*Studio features:…..

And today I feature: Riikka Kovasin

I met Riikka several times online and offline as my student in my Mixed Media classes and it has always been a delight to have this super talented girl. I love what she did with my stamps and templates so without further ado..here is what Riikka has to say and show herself :)

me

Hello there! I am Riikka Kovasin. I’m a mixed media style scrapbooker from Finland. I adore getting my hands into paints and mists! To me the process of creating is equally important than the finished page. I think that scrapbooking is a form of self-expression and I’m creating pages partly because of that and partly because I want to document our lives to my two children.

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I was fortunate enough to meet Nathalie during an event by her and Birgit Koopsen in the Netherlands. There I got the chance to see her stencils live and bought myself one of them. I immediately fell in love with the crackle stencil and now I only regret that I didn’t get other designs, too! I’ve used the stencil in several projects already and my husband was inspired by it when he was designing his guitar. In these projects I used it to make an embossed piece of vellum.

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I like how versatile the pattern is and how you can create a subtle effect with it or go bold. It goes perfectly to vintage style, but can also be used in modern ones!

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When I first saw Nathalie’s stamp designs I knew I had to get some! They are so perfect for backgrounds and layering! They’re unique in their designs and have a lovely mixed media feeling in them.

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I love the circular designs and my absolute favorite is the stitched style circle.

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And who wouldn’t like something extra – I love the fact that all the sets include a stencil, too!

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I used the extra stencil in the other layout to create the background and the “Wired” stamp set in both layouts and the cards.

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Thank you so much Riikka, I love how you used the Crackle Stencil on the vellum and the beautiful colorful way with embossing powders you used the stencil in the Wired Stamp Set as well as the Stamps. Gorgeous!

Here are the n*Studio products that Riikka used:

nSupplies




thank you for visiting today- have a gorgeous day
Nat

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Comments (5)

  • Kripa

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    Love the Los and d card too. You work magic with ur supplies riikka

    Reply

  • Kathy P

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    Hello, Riikka! Love what you have done in today’s post! You’ve made me decide that I must have those stencils!!!! Thanks for your inspiration!

    Reply

  • Riikka

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    Thank you so much for having me here Nat! <3

    Reply

  • Laura Strack

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    Love how Rikka used your Stencil and stamps. Love the texture and color on the vellum. Beautiful! Love seeing all the wonderful artist using your awesome stamps and stencils. It is so inspiring.

    Reply

  • Sue Clarke

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    Great cards and I love the LO’s too!
    I just used one of Nat’s stamps to do a background page in my art journal (the long one that looks like a weaving).

    Reply

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Painty Fun at Bizzy B’s in Toronto, Canada

It was so much fun to come back for the third time to Bizzy B’s in Toronto and teach some workshops. Barb and Tony, as well as the amazing students make me always fell super welcome – love coming back- it is a special treat to be reinvited :)

NatKalbachBizzyShrubbery17

 

I was pretty stoked to see my Signature Stamps with Stampendous! and Stencils with StencilGirl Products on the “Nat”Wall. It was fun incorporating them in my workshops and seeing the students playing with them was the coolest ever!

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We played also with the new Creative Palette by Stampendous! for Mono Printing on Friday

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Saturday we were going fully into Artvergnugen :) – a six hour Artjournal Class – it was so much fun!

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This is Marg – she traveled all the way from Newfoundland for the second time to take my class- Thank you Marg- that is a LONG way – I love your smile and creative fun!

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And sunday we had a wonderful Canvas Class- loved again to see all the 22 different canvases created with the same materials and technique

 

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Thank you Barb and Tony from Bizzy B’s and my sweet Canadians for having me again – you inspired me !

huge hugs

Nat

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Comments (9)

  • Krista

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    Hi Nathalie, hope you are feeling better. I see you are working with the Creative Palette. How do you get detailed prints? I M not having much success? Thanks!

    Reply

    • nathalie-kalbach

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      Kristia, I like it. I am not sure what might cause your problems- but it might be “too much” paint. Roll out thinner layers- you really do not need much paint for the prints. Hope that helps. nat

      Reply

  • nurse-ratchet

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    It was truly an amazing weekend…if anyone is wondering whether to take a workshop from Nat…never ever hesitate, Nat is a generous, inspirational task master, oh, I mean teacher. Your stamps are amazing, and your stencils sooo much fun to use!! Thank you, Nat and Barb and Tony and all the ladies that came out to play with us!,

    Reply

  • margm3c

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    I had so much fun. Learn a lot. Thanks Nat. Cannot wait till next time!

    Reply

  • Stampendous Stamps

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    Nathalie, it’s so great to see your photos of these classes! They’re just terrific and everyone looks like they’re having so much fun! Thanks so much for sharing our products with the world, we make a great team!!

    Reply

  • Felicia Aaron

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    Nathalie, I so wish I lived closer and could have been a part of the wonderful time it looks like you guys had! That studio looks FABULOUS!!! Wish it was around the corner from me!!! Maybe not…..I wouldn’t have a paycheck left!!! LOL!!! Thanks for sharing your fun, creative time!

    Reply

  • Marjolaine Walker

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    Looks like you had an amazing time, love all your new products!

    Reply

  • scrapinsue

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    I must get that crackle stencil!
    Lovely art journal pages and looks like a fun and creative time.

    Reply

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Wars on Canvas…or new Art Journal Page

NatKalbach_InnerWars01

 

“I’d rather fight my inner wars on canvas” by Nathalie Kalbach…because argggh ;) This inner fight was fought on paper in my art journal…apparently ;) And it helped …Good !

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Here are the supplies used:

nSupplies

Hope you have a wonderful day without inner fights today :)
hugs
Nat

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Comments (2)

  • Amante del Papel

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    Well, you have been fantastic. I love the colors and especially the signficado, it’s awesome!

    Reply

  • Sue Clarke

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    It’s interesting for me to see your shift from paper to paint.
    It inspires me to play more with paint and ink. I’ve yet to “let go” and really just have my emotions guide me with paint. You’ve done a nice job here of painting your emotions Nat.

    Reply

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Gel Medium Resist Technique

CJSUberMediaOWSLOGO

Those of you who were part of the Creative JumpStart 2013 saw the videos that me and my artist friends posted on my website throughout January. The videos are not available here anymore, since I have to make room for new fun things to come ..still thinking ;) …but I thought it would be nice to repost my 10 technique videos over the next couple weeks- so that you have access to them whenever you want.

And now let’s jump to the third video in my Über*Media Creative JumpStart 2013 Workshop which was a Gel Medium Resist Technique – which I love a lot :)

If you have no external speakers on your pc – turn up the volume a lot (the audio is very low in this video)

This and the other techniques are part of some of myÜber*Media Online Classes. They are there to free your creativity with techniques and how-to’s that go beyond one certain project. I want you to learn something new that you can adapt to your own style and can use for many projects to come.

Über*Media classes are dedicated to different kinds of media that cross a variety of materials.

I do have several Über*Media Workshops available right now for example Über*Media -PanPastel, -Acrylic Paint, -Gesso, -Acrylic Ink and -FoamStamplifier.

For my Creative JumpStart Über*Media Workshop I showed some of my favorite Über*Media Techniques that can be used in your Mixed Media, Scrapbooking, Altered Art and/or ArtJournal Projects.

 

And here are the supplies I used in the video:

nSupplies

I hope you enjoyed this little technique.

Have an amazing day!

nat

 

Comments (9)

  • Carmen Lucero

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    I always get a big smile on my face when I do the reveal – love this technique!

    Thanks, Nat!

    Reply

  • Deleted User

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    Yes!!!!! Thanks Nathalie, this is a great idea ….this way i can refresh what i did in a rush… thanks for repeating your videos!..

    Reply

  • Izzy

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    Thanks for keeping these great videos around, I loved reviewing and refreshing my mind!

    Reply

  • Amante del Papel

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    Thanks Nat for this fantastic opportunity of see again this amazing videos!

    Reply

  • Gerd Andersson

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    Thank you Nat, for reminding me about this nice technique! Love your page!

    Reply

  • Kathy P

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    Thanks so much for reposting this, Nat~ I really loved that class and wish that I had downloaded your excellent videos so I could look at them when I had brain failure (which happens a lot lately)!!

    Reply

  • Kathy Gledsdale

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    Oh that is so pretty thank you for sharing the idea. You English is very good.

    Reply

  • Lynn McNeill

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    Thanks for the refresher Nat.

    Reply

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Be Happy With Who You Are…

and Where You Are Won’t Matter

NatKalbachBeHappyWhoYouAre01

 

I love this saying- and with my move to the U.S. it totally had to be part of my art journal. Drycha from 3rdeycraft.com had sent me some of her amazing little stamps and chipboard embellishment to play with and I had a great time using the rib cage stamp and the heart stamp as well as the chipboard heart. I love anatomical stamps- I know some people find them scary – but hey…it is part of our body :)

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I had sprayed one of the chipboard hearts and then stamped over it with the heart stamp and placed it  into the rib cage. And if that is too graphic…I also did a small little thank you card cutting out a heart of book paper and placing a light bulb chippie stamped with a lightbulb inside.

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As I have only limited supplies before the container comes it was kind of fun to play with my emergency kit and just use a small amount. Here is my list of the other supplies I used with the art journal page and the card:

nSupplies

Have a wonderful heartful day <3

 

nat

Comments (8)

  • Carmen Lucero

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    Congratulations on your move to the US – Isn’t it amazing the things we can make with limited supplies? I have a room full of stuff and when I started paper crafting all I had was a table full of stuff!

    Welcome!

    Carmen L

    Reply

  • Kathy P

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    You do AMAZING things with the few supplies you have, Nat~ Thanks for the inspiration! And I hope you are getting settled in your new home!

    Reply

  • KateT

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    Love that quote.

    ~Kate~

    Reply

  • Sue Clarke

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    I think the page is very eye-catching. At first I saw the red as blood flowing down over bones and that may be because I’m reading AmericanPsycho right now by Ellis. Love the quote.

    Reply

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Stencil Blog Hop – Arabesque Stencil

NatKalbachStencilbloghop

 

Welcome to my 8th Stencil  Blog Hop! This time I invited 4 wonderful artist friends to hop along with me and show case my Arabesque Stencil designed for StencilGirl Products.  It is a 9×12 inch stencil.

NathalieKalbach_Arabesque

 

And I give away one Arabesque Stencil! Comment here 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 September 24, 2013 – midnight EST.

Edited : Congratulations

AMante del Papel you won the stencil- please contact me with your shipping information.

 

Here are my sweet talented friends joining me this time :

Stephanie Schütze

Marjie Kemper

Martha Richardson

Maria McGuire

 

Arabesque Stencil was born actually the same night as my Elephant March Stencil – I wanted a nice background stencil to go with it and I so love how the bigger pattern of the swirl gives you the opportunity to get the coolest layered results peaking through :)

Check out some samples here:

NatKalbachArabesqueStencilProjects

Here is what I created for today:

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I layered the stencil on top of a crazily painted background and sprayed over it with some Liquitex Spray Paint.

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On one of my studio walls I had a couple wall tatoos which I had to take off and then I was a bit sad that I would loose them with the move and then the brain functioned and I added them to my art journal. So love that I could include them in a new function and that I will not loose them :)

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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 :)

Stephanie Schütze

Marjie Kemper

Martha Richardson

Maria McGuire

 

Have a wonderful day

hugs

nat


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Comments (55)

  • Gail B.

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    This is a lovely design. It would be lots of fun to use.

    Reply

  • Cat Graves

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    This is a very beautiful stencil…another winner for you!! You have been designing a lot of awesome stencils and this one makes for an absolutely perfect background!! Thanks for the chance to win this great stencil!

    Reply

  • Deleted User

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    I love how the arabesque stencil creates the look of trees for the background. I can see many uses for it.

    Reply

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Necessary Ingredients in Living or Art Journal Page

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I played a bit with collaging the background and using my Elephant and Arabesque Stencil.

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I love how much texture and interesting effects the collaged flowers, die cuts, Fragments, Aged Embossing Powder and other elements added to my spray painted background and elephant.

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The journaling says: Fantasy is a necessary ingredient in living; it is a way of looking at life through the wrong way of a telescope. (Dr. Seuss)

nSupplies

I hope you have a lovely day!
hugs


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Comments (6)

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Stencil Blog Hop – Stand Up Bass

NatKalbachStencilbloghop

 

Welcome to my 5th Stencil  Blog Hop! This time I invited 5 wonderful artist friends to hop along with me and show case my 6×6 inch StencilGirl Products StandUp Bass Stencil.

StandUpBass Stencil

 

And I give away one StandUp Bass Stencil! Comment here 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 six 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 27, 2013 – midnight EST.

Edited on August 31, 2013: The winner is Cyndi from CeeCee Studio, Congratulations. Cindy, 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 this time :

Louise Nelson: My rocking friend from Australia- cannot wait myself to see what she has up her sleeves this time :)

Carmen Sanchez: Cuchy always has the most fun ideas – she is a wonderful artist from Madrid, Spain

Carolyn Dube: rocks the stencils on the StencilGirl Products Creative Team!

Michelle Hernandez: did a wonderful project last week already with my typewriter stencil- I cannot wait what this amazing Scrapbooker is doing this week

Maria McGuire: another stencil queen and the Creative Team Leader at StencilGirl Products

 

Why a StandUp Bass? Well…that is what I see when I walk into my husband’s music room next to my studio. I love this instrument. It is massive and beautiful and I love the sound of it too. I thought it can represent so many things like music, art, harmony, it is a good birthday card theme etc.

Here is what I created for today:

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This is a gift card holder. I created it using two manila tags and here is how:

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Starting with Tag 1

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After you used the chalk through the stencil on tag one- you have a lot of access of chalk on top of the stencil

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and here is the other side of the gift card holder after spicing it up with some fun stamps etc.

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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 :)

Louise Nelson

Carmen Sanchez

Carolyn Dube

Michelle Hernandez

Maria McGuire

 

Have Fun

Nat

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Comments (55)

  • Nancy Sapp

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    Nat – LOVE your stencils! You’re so talented. Would LOVE to win any of them! I hope U pick my name…
    Grandma Nancy Sapp

    Reply

  • Carmen Lucero

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    Nat, it looks like I just commented, but it was back in August. Thanks for the second chance to win the cello. I love the technique you used of double stenciling!

    Carmen L
    cal8007 at aol dot com

    Reply

  • Susan Stimson

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    Love the techniques! I especially like how the bass looks when using a second color and offsetting it a little and stamping.

    Reply

  • Carmen Lucero

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    What an amazing technique, Nat! I believe in not wasting anything! Love the gift tag and the stencil for what it stands for!

    Hugs,
    Carmen L

    Reply

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Stencil Blog Hop – Typewriter

NatKalbachStencilbloghop

 

Welcome to my 4th Stencil  Blog Hop! This time I invited four wonderful artist friends to hop along with me and show case my StencilGirl Products Typewriter Stencil. It is a 6×6 inch stencil.

TypewriterStencil

 

And I give away one Typewriter Stencil! Comment here 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 20, 2013 – midnight EST.

Edited on August 21, 2013: The winner is Lura Brown, Congratulations. Lura, please email me with your postal address so I can get this stencil sent out to you :) , Nat

Here are my friends joining me this time :

 

Martha Richardson: I know Martha now for some time- we worked together on a design team and she always blew me away with her amazing projects.

Maria McGuire: She is rocking it now for several blog hops- she is awesome!

Corrine Gilman: I discovered her because she is a member of the StencilGirl Creative Team and boy do I love her work – it is so beautiful!

Michelle Hernandez: Michelle is an awesome scrapbooker who makes me laugh a lot with her humor and who I finally had the pleasure to meet this summer in NYC

 

I designed this stencil because I love typewriters. When I grew up I had this gigantic old office typewriter from the 40s which I used to write my first novel on. The novel never made it to more then 11 pages, when it was replaced by a new idea- but anyway- I loved my typewriter. I am also one of those people that learned proper blind typewriting and I am quite quick and good at it – LOL. I bought a nice old one at a flea market and it must weigh a thousand pounds. There is a lot I connect with typewriters: vintage, office, notes, letters, work, messages….

Check out some samples I did already here:

Bildschirmfoto 2013-08-08 um 15.28.40

 

Here is what I created for today:

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It is a crazy art journal page ;) I do love to use random pages in my art journal and scrape off leftover paint, try out on an small area a little technique and often times I get this huge dimension and depth in a background which is ready to finish. I used the typewriter Stencil with some acrylic paint that stenciled through onto some marbleized paper.

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I cut out the typewriter – added a slid through which I put a piece of canvas with with a “note to myself” tag and then mounted it on small 3D Foam Pads. The journaling reads “Seriously don’t take others or yourself too serious!”

I also love using the typing keys of the typewriter by itself for mark making -and you can see I did it throughout the spread but also around the pages as a frame.

NatKalbach_Typewriter03

 

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 :)

Martha Richardson

Maria McGuire

Corrine Gilman

Michelle Hernandez

 

Have Fun

Nat

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Comments (57)

  • Dria Finn

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    I just found your site through another site..love blog hops and how they lead me to wonderful inspiration! wonderful! love the blog hop!

    Reply

  • Cindy J, Holland

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    Oh, what a lovely stencil! I am a secretary and also learned how to type at home on such an old mechanical one. It was painful for my smallest finger, because sometimes it slipped between two keys. Nice, colourfull artwork. Greetings, Cindy

    Reply

  • Marjie Kemper

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    This is one very happy riot of color… LOVE it and the typewriter is awesome as a solid sturdy base on top of all the rich layers of color.

    Reply

  • Lura Brown

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    you just keep getting better and better. i love all your stencils but i have to say that this has to be one of my favorites, i have always loved old typewriters and you did just an awesome job making a stencil out of this one. i will go to all the other blogs cause i love seeing what they did with it and get to meet new artists that i might not have ever found besides thru you. remember we met at CHA last year?? i sure am hoping that you are coming again in january. would love to see you and of course give you a hug. thanks for doing these blog giveaways, i cant afford to buy much living on disability so it is uber cool to have so many chances to win. you are the best! much love. xoxo

    Reply

    • nathalie-kalbach

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      Congratulations Lura- you are the winner of the typewriter Stencil- please email me with your address- so we can send you out the stencil! Nat

      Reply

  • textilerecycler

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    Love the stencil! Some years ago I made a quilt from a photo of vintage typewriters. Would love to get my hands on that stencil and use it in some quilts too! Thanks for creating it and sharing.
    textilerecycler@yahoo.com

    Reply

  • carolann

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    I love typewriters too so fun to see them as art now!
    I hope I win the stencil it would be way fun!

    Reply

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