Stencil Test Drive

Fun Borders

 

It's time for another Stencil Test Drive!
Jessica Sporn has created a new line of stencils 

(available at Stencil Girl Products). She asked me and some other artists 

to "test drive" the stencils of our choice and 

I was immediately drawn to the Fun Borders stencil.

I really wanted to try out this varied collection of creative stencils!

So many different styles on one sheet,

but I have to say I was drawn right away to

the stars and spirals on the left side.

So much so, that I created a painting that I used as my 

Christmas card back in December when I first received the stencil.

It's perfect for  a night time sky!

I had a lot of fun using the stencil to make washi tape...

(the borders and a long strand of tape are meant for each other :)

The top one is the checkerboard pattern with a bit of embellishment,

and the purple one was made with a portion of 

the ornate, swirly stencil, third from the left.

The one below was made with my favorite stars and spirals, of course.

I've used the tape in an art journal...

This journal is starting on its round robin travels today.

I'm mailing it off to Priti Lisa, the first stop on its nine-month journey!

Another journal page, using one of the borders.

This stencil reminds me of ancient art, maybe Aztec or Egyptian?

Before I added the flowers:

I stenciled this border onto a Gelli Plate print...

I love these ornate patterns!

One more thing I created that I forgot to add last night.
I was reminded of it when I saw the awesome bookmarks
Judy Shea has made with the stencils and polymer clay.

I used this elegant border to make a bookmark using glass beads.
I love the raised, shiny texture of the beads and the intricacy of the stencil.

I actually just wanted to experiment with glass beads and the stencils,
but I love the way this came out, so I think I will use it as a bookmark!

There are 4 other artists who selected Fun Borders for their test drive.

Drive on over and see what they've created:

 

Marjie Kemper

Natasha May 

Maria McGuire

Judy Shea

And visit Jessica's blog as well for her wonderful art

and to see all of the Stencil Test Drives as they happen! 

 

Some journal pages for

The Magical Journal Journey

Our journal swap is getting ready to start!

It even has a name right at the beginning this time

thanks to Lisa, the Wright One who is so clever with words!

This is the cover of my journal.

I chose Orange, Yellow, and Gray as my color scheme,

and frankly I loved it at first but I'm really looking forward to

using some different colors, which I will be able to do because

each of the nine artists have chosen a different combo.

The first book I'll receive is Gemma's and ooooh ~

I will get to use Purple, plus bits of other colors like magenta,

turquoise, and lime green :) I can't wait!

Inside front cover. You may have seen this before (my February Face).

I added a bit more of a February feel to it, but the hope of Spring is

peeking out in the orange glow at the top. I may add some writing 

somewhere on the page.

I added this flap between the 2 pages because I didn't like 

the way they looked right next to each other.

I will add some writing somewhere on this page.

I love this little girl in the car. She's ready to do some serious driving.

This is also for Mandarin Orange Monday.

Last page I have completed...

I have a couple more to do, and then it's in the mail to Priti Lisa!

(The stencil in the background is from Jessica Sporn's Fun Borders, 
one that she created for Stencil Girl Products, and
one that I am "test driving" on February 27!
I hope you'll check back for the blog post about that!)

“Keep your face to the sunshine and you cannot see the shadows.

It's what sunflowers do.”    ~ Helen Keller

February Holidays

at Inspiration Avenue

Even though I was tempted to pick a more obscure holiday for my entry

in this week's challenge, in the end I chose Valentine's Day

because I just can't ever resist the color red.

My second choice would have been Gumdrop Day

(the spicy RED ones are my favorite, also the black ones), 

and after reading Lou Anne's post,

I had to go out and get a bag of spiced gumdrops.

I'm still not sure if these are made-up holidays or not.

But since I had an excuse to buy a bag of candy,

I'm not asking questions.

Here is the front and back of a tag I made when we had our 

Tag Swap

Coming soon, we will have blog posts featuring 

the tags that were made and sent. 

Stay tuned to Inspiration Avenue for that.

Head on over to see the entries in the February Holidays challenge:

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Gelli Plates

Am I the last one to jump on the Gelli Plate craze?

I've been hearing about them constantly, and finally got tired of

watching everyone else have fun. Didn't want to spend the $27 + shipping

if it was something that would eventually end up mouldering in a drawer.

Yes, I have things like that, but I do mostly use all of my art supplies,

so I talked myself right into it. 

I'll say this: if you like layered backgrounds in your art,

this is a fun, quick way to get some that look like you spent hours

(or at least many minutes) creating. And it is astonishing

how many different looks it's possible to get. Okay, I'll admit it:

it's actually hard to stop making them. I played for about an hour

yesterday, using stencils, stamps, and a few other things like 

bubble wrap to make some textures in the paint.

Here are a few others I made:

I concentrated on these colors because my color combo

for the art journal swap is orange, yellow, and gray.

I thought I might use some of these as backgrounds

in my journal. Or cut some pieces out and use as collage. 

I have a page or two still to do. I'm trying to 

have it in the mail to Priti Lisa by the end of the week.

When it's ready to go, I'll post the completed pages here.

It will be the last time I'll see it until . . . November?

Yes ~ I think, November . . .

Enjoy the rest of the weekend!

29 Faces

February face

Day 5

I'm 2 days behind...I'll be back with 2 or 3 more faces . . .

29 Faces is back!

29 Faces: days 1 ~ 4

and a Magical Journal Journey update . . .

Day 1

Day 2

Day 3

Day 4

This is a figure I made and cut out.

She has a candy wrapper skirt.

I'm planning to use her soon in a collage or

mixed media piece. Just trying to find the time to do it!

She sits on my art table saying:

“You're not going to leave me like this, are you?”

And I tell her, “No no! Of course not!!” *fingers crossed*

The 2 middle faces I've published before, very recently.

Never used for 29 faces before, I promise! lol!

*******************************************

Another journal swap is getting ready to start!

I'll be posting more about that in the next months,

but wanted to post my journal itself which, I am proud to say,

I have assembled entirely from scratch!

The covers were cut from an old book about Billy Graham that

I got at the Goodwill store. It was rather dated-looking and I thought

Mr. Graham might not mind. So far I have the cover almost complete,

and part of the inside cover. This time we have each selected a

color combination for our journals to be loosely followed 

as the journal travels around. My colors are 

orange,  yellow , and gray, 

plus any other bits of color anyone would like to add. 

I certainly don't want to hold anyone to that color scheme 

and hope everyone feels free to do what they like!

Stitching the binding was time consuming, but

not as difficult as I thought it would be.

A glitch, though: even though I pulled the thread as tight as I could,

now it seems to be stretching and there is space

between each of the signatures:

Ugh.

The other pages are alright though.

The instructions called for waxed linen thread. My thread was

waxed, but not made of linen. Maybe linen thread

would not stretch so much. I'm thinking about cutting the

binding and doing it again with linen thread...

I have until March 1 . . .  :)

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Speaking of March. And Spring.

Phil the Groundhog made his prediction yesterday

about the weather and the coming of spring.

And what he said is that we will have an early spring.

Apparently he did not see his shadow and this foretells

an early spring. Mind you, his success rate is only 39%.

You'd think it would be better. He has a 50-50 chance

since there are only 2 answers: Early Spring or Not an Early Spring.

Still, I'm hoping he's right this time!

The Year of the Snake

Happy New Year, again!

Chinese New Year is coming up on February 10.

And it's the theme of Inspiration Avenue's challenge this week.

I feel very relieved that I finally managed an entry 

to one of my own challenges.

Considering I was born in a Snake year, 

I thought I had better get the pedal to the metal.

Okay. I said that so I would have a chance to show you this

a-d-o-r-a-b-l-e picture I purchased from IrelandRosesNostalgia on Etsy

to use on an art journal page and also in Kelly Hoernig's Life Book lesson.

Is she not the most precious little child?? 

How can you not love that serious face. 
Driving is clearly her cup of tea.

Alright. Back to the Year of the Snake.

As I said, I am a snake. *shivering*,

they are not my most favorite creatures.

But I didn't ask to be born in a snake year, now did I?

I thought a Zentangle would suit the Snake very well.

I really prefer Zentangles to be black and white, but

couldn't resist adding a bit of color just for fun:

All the best snakes are green, aren't they?

I mean, like the non-poisonous ones...I'm not really a snake expert.

Feel free to correct me if I'm wrong :)

Here is some Snake 4-1-1:

Horoscope and Numerology Elements
Element: Fire
Yin Yang: yin
Auspicious Directions: northeast, southwest and south
Lucky Colors: red, light yellow, black; Avoid: white, golden, brown
Lucky Numbers: 2, 8, 9; Avoid: 1, 6, 7
Lucky Flowers: orchid, cactus
Best match: ox, rooster; Avoid: tiger, pig
Best Month: June
Time of Day: 9:00 am to 10:59 am

I do love red. And I'm not married to a tiger or a pig.

But my hubby's not an ox or a rooster either, he's a rat! LOL.

I don't play the lottery. Maybe I should give it a try

now that I know my lucky numbers :D

The only places I've ever lived have been in the

northeast (PA), southwest (CA), and south (VA) of the US.

My favorite month is June
(see http://www.thefancifulmagpie.com/2011/01/inspiration-avenue-weekly-challenge_23.html)
and I'm most definitely a morning person. Uncanny.

Orchids? Cactus?
Hmm, I love all plants, but neither of these are my most favorite.

Do you know your sign?

Check HERE if you don't.

And head over to Inspiration Avenue to add your

Chinese Astrology entry and to visit the entries already posted.

Happy Weekend!