Blog: Stencils

It’s All in My Mind – Art Journal

I love how this page turned out. I had seen a page by my sweet friend Birgit Koopsen where she had used a black art journal and then doodled in white on top of it and that set off this page. I painted my art journal page with black gesso, let it dry and then added some white watercolor ground into the the middle area.

I then used different stencils of mine and used a white Signo Pen to outline some patterns on the black gesso

I stamped the different houses from my Stroll Around The Block Set with archival ink and then added watercolor and the journaling.

The watercolor ground gives a lot of tooth- so the watercolor looks a bit different on it when on normal watercolor paper- but I love the texture.

It was fun playing with different media and a different ground

Here are some of the supplies I used for this spread:


Nat

Comments (2)

  • Sue Clarke

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    I love how the white pattern on black sets the background for the rest of the page.
    I must try this soon in my new art journal!

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Keep Your Eyes on the Price – Art Journal

Another sketch on deli paper with ink and a bamboo sketching pen which I pasted into my art journal.

I used the Grove Street Foam Stamps with the Artgraf Primary set- oh gosh – I love how the blue and yellow mixed into the green. Simply rub the graphite blocks onto your slightly wet foam stamps, mist it again and stamp.

I mixed the titanium acrylic paint with a hint of blue and stenciled it through the Amsterdam Stencil.

Love how the different paint media, flat and dimensional, shiny and matte work together.

Here are some of the supplies I used


Hope you had a wonderful week and you are ready for the weekend. Watch this place for the next couple days- there is a lot of stuff coming up – starting tomorrow :)

Nat

Comments (2)

  • Karen Bearse

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    Very cool art journal page! Love how the colors blend on the foamies.

    Reply

    • nathalie-kalbach

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      Thank you so much Karen- it is really fun to blend different paint media on the ArtFoamies that are not acrylic paint- so many possibilities here.

      Reply

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Just in Case or In My Art Journal Today

“Just in case no one told you today: Hello! Good Morning! You are doing great! I believe in you ! Nice butt :) ”

Played with paint, which I applied partly with a cosmetic sponge to create some texture and then also stenciled and stamped with acrylic paint.

I wanted to see how certain colors look with my metallic paint which I had made in my Acrylic Paint workshop recently. I like the blue and purple the deep red not so much …but it was fun  trying :)

Here are some of the supplies I used – some links are affiliate links:



Hope you have a gorgeous day :)

Nat

Comments (4)

  • Jackie P Neal

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    I laughed so hard when I saw this page! haahaa Thank you- yours is not bad as well! heeheee “)

    Reply

  • Faigie

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    NatalieI just wanted to make you aware of a funny spelling error in you post so you can fix it. I know English is not your first language so you wouldn’t realize it. You wrote nice butt. When it should be nice but. A butt is a rear end ??

    Reply

    • nathalie-kalbach

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      Faige, thank you for your concern. If you look closely again though, you will realize that there is a smiley face behind the “BUTT”- which should indicate that I indeed meant the rear end …Happy weekend, Nathalie

      Reply

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Glowing Empty Page – Art Journal Spread

“I saw that my life was a vast glowing empty page and could do anything I wanted”

That is how I feel what happened to me while I was living in Hamburg.

and so I used my Hamburg Stencil and sprayed in black over the colored background. I added some off white in the middle to add my journaling.

 

I like how the background pops vibrantly up through the stenciled area. I added some white splatters to get an even more vibrant effect.

Here are the supplies I used for this spread – some links are affiliate links:


Wishing you a gorgeous day!

Nat

Comments (1)

  • stephanie

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    What an awesome quote! I love the composition on this page.

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Stenciled Storage Pouches For All Your Bits and Bobs!

This week my friend Kim and I had a DIY morning again. I love our monthly creative time and this time we decided to stencil canvas pouches.

We each had five pouches and my friend Anna Dabrowska aka finnabair had just sent me a box with her new acrylic paints to play with and so we used those.

We both grabbed our favorite stencils and started dabbing through the stencils with cosmetic sponges. We added some plastic to the inside of the pouches to ensure that no paint seeped through the fabric.

For this pouch I had first stenciled with green and teal through the Hamburg Stencil and then after it dried went over again with purple and white color – it leaves some of the initial color peeking out which I really like.

Ok…Kim…if you have to take a picture of me ;)

Kim used the Chicago Stencil  with Blue and purple and I love how she created a darker middle area with the dark blue and then went to purple.

I used different colors through the Santa Fe Stencil – stenciling just one row of three squares of the pattern.

I also added some of the thicker paint with a palette knife through the stencil – here with the purple and Buenos Aires Stencil, which worked extremely well and was fast . After the thicker paint had tried, I made sure to place the stencil back on top in the same spot and used a cosmetic sponge to stencil the sides and make it all look nice.

Yessss- Kim has paint all over her fingers- SUCCESS ;)

Kim using the Amsterdam Stencil 

and then the Art Deco and Lily Stencil – I liked the yellow and green mix she used with both designs.

It was a nice morning project and easy and fun – and here you go

So many things that can be stored away

my new embroidery thread ….ohhhh- I should embroider on top of the pouch …bingo …just had this idea while looking at the photo :)

Hubs got a new pouch for his cable salad …although of course the German plug on top is mine as you can see as the paint specks give it away ;)

Travel pouch for games….

Mini Art-on-The-Go Kit

And hey a make up pouch…

or a good old pencil case

We will be so organized with our Bits and Bobs- HA

Hope you liked our litte fun DIY-project and don’t forget, if you are eyeing the stencils we used and that are listed below – the n*Studio SALE is still going in the n*Store where you can get 20% off Stamps, Stencils, Mugs, Cards, and DVDs now through Sunday 7/16/2017. Just use the coupon code JULY20 when you check out to save. Start shopping here :)

Here are the supplies we used for the pouches – some of the links are affiliate links:


have a wonderful day!

Nat

Comments (4)

  • Ally

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    As soon as I saw the email, I thought of embroidering on top of the stencilled paint, I already have a pack of pouches ready to play with! Time to get inky! Thanks Nat xxx

    Reply

  • Sue Clarke

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    Yes, please put some stitching on that gorgeous blue one.
    How perfect for gifts since you can personalize the designs and colors.

    Reply

  • Maura

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    Nat and Kim, I love these! What a great idea, and they turned out beautifully! I think I may have to try the canvas ones (I’ve done plastic before) and thanks for the tip about putting plastic inside. I see some gift making in my future! Maura

    Reply

  • Delores

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    What a fun idea! Thanks!

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Not Your Door – Art Journal

“If it doesn’t open…it’s not your door.”

I had this template from a shrine kit (I show you that one later ) which I found intriguing and just placed on top of an crazily busy art journal spread and spray painted over.

I made some marks with brushes , stamps and stencils. A quick and fun page- and I do like how dimensional the masked off areas come out.

Here are some supplies I used – some of the links are affiliate links:



Nat

Comments (1)

  • Jean Goza

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    Cool layout. Love the quote!

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Open Mind – Art Journal Spread

It is always good to keep an open mind – don’t you think?

For this art journal spread I played with my still fairly new Montana spray paints. I do like their look as they are matte and result in a pretty soft look.

You can see a free video  on how I created the page and my thought process while doing it in the free classroom accompanying the challenge if you haven’t yet. You can sign up here . The videos and class room are still available until the end of July.

Not a color combination I use often but I really like it …maybe a little bag like this would be cool?

Here are the supplies I used for the spread -some of them are affiliate links:


Nat

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Art is a Line Around Your Thoughts

This is an art journal spread entirely inspired by Gustav Klimt- the patterns and colors.

I love breaking up stenciled patterns with hand drawn patterns. I also loved playing with all the different shapes and doodles- it was a very relaxing page to create .

You also see I am still on a little Gold-Hype :) Here are the supplies I used in this spread -some links are affiliate links:

What are your favorite shapes to draw?

Nat

Comments (6)

  • Julie B

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    EEK! LOVE THIS! Absolutely love the layers, colors, texture, shapes and design. Love how the gold gesso pops the page. Thank you once again for the inspo!

    Reply

    • nathalie-kalbach

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      awe thank you so much, Julie! cannot wait to see all your go,d adventures :)

      Reply

  • Shelley Graham Turner

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    Loving your gold hype! The mix of gold and orange, with the black and white pops? YUMMY!

    Reply

  • Torsa Saha

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    It’s amazing!!

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Kind Heart – Fierce Mind – Brave Spirit

Pretty much how I want to feel right now with everything!

This spread started out as a demo page at my workshops in San Jose in January . I actually showed how to use spray paints with stencils and we used some Montana water based spray which I really fell in love with. They have a matte finish – and the look is so different from the look of the more shiny glossy finish of my Liquitex Spray paints. Plus…they come in those mini spray cans! I am still debating if I should buy those…because I do have…enough …spray paint…but ….you know ;)

I used the Versailles Stencil on the left and the Buenos Aires Stencil on the right. I added some of the background color and added it with my finger to the middle top, smoothing it out and bringing both sides together by journaling over that part.

This page makes me happy – happy memory from the process of making it and my awesome students , happy colors and good message :)

Here are some of the supplies I used for this spread – some links are affiliate links



Wishing you a wonderful day!

Nat

Comments (4)

  • Julie B

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    Thank you for the inspiration to integrate two very different pages into one whole piece (God only knows how many of those pages i have; now i just need to carve out some time). I love this page…it makes me very happy two and brings back fond memories of your visit. Thank you, thank you!

    Reply

    • nathalie-kalbach

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      So glad you like it Julie! Go get your time :) Even if it is only 10 minutes a day- I am always surprised how much you can actually do in just 10 minutes ….the downside is …many paint splatters on clothes that are not meant for painting “oh ….I am dressed for going out but hey…only 10 minutes and I should not get paint on my clothes” yeah – sure ;)

      Reply

  • Sue Clarke

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    You can never have enough paint as it gets used up…just saying. Enjoy your day Nat.

    Reply

    • nathalie-kalbach

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      Hehehe- I know ;) I bought it …ahem ;) Enjoy your day too Sue and have a wonderful weekend!

      Reply

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