Hooray! Stencil hop time is here again! I've got four massively talented ladies lined up to wow you:
Wilna Furstenberg: Wilna is someone whose work I've admired for about as long as I can remember. She is on the design team for October Afternoon and a Garden Girl at Two Peas in a Bucket, where she also sells lovely digital kits with a painterly feel.
Tammy Tutterow: Tammy's shabby chic style is so beautiful and delicate and her blog is constantly full of wonderful step-by-step tutorials. She is the Design Team and Community Coordinator for Sizzix and teaches across the U.S. and internationally.
Dion Dior: Dion is a painting queen. She was born in Australia and currently lives in Iowa with her husband and their two children. She is an avid art journaler and teaches online classes.
Joanne Sharpe: Joanne is a lettering diva. She has been published in many magazines including Cloth Paper Scissors, Somerset Art Journaling, CPS Studios, Somerset Apprentice, and Somerset Studio. She teaches classes online and across the U.S.
These four ladies are going to show off what they did with the Leaf Grid stencil:
I made this scrapbook page:
You can see that I used the stencil two ways to create this background. First, I sprayed through the stencil, and then I flipped it over and smushed it on to the page to create a print with the stencil. Having both types of prints from the stencil makes for a great background.
I used the same technique to create the tags you see here on this unfinished art journal spread:
Watch the video for the "Spray Two Ways" demo:
Of course, you can also isolate portions of the stencil, as I did when I created the cover page of this altered book.
That's a single bough of leaves -- simply mask it off with post-its or tape and you can easily create an adorable embellishment.
If you'd like to win the 6x6 and the 12x12 version of the Leaf Grid stencil, please leave an answer to the following question in the comments section of this blog:
What is the most recent project that you used a stencil on?
Several months ago a box arrived at my apartment. When I opened the box a styrofoam head was staring up at me.
Very odd.
I double checked the address. It was definitely addressed to me.
I checked the sender. It was a name I recognized and so I sent her an e-mail:
Hey Barb:
I hope we're not re-enacting a scene from the Godfather, but I got a head in a box from you. Am I supposed to be doing something with it? :)
J
She wrote back in the affirmative, jogging my memory about a conversation we had had at CHA. Barb is the owner of Bizzy B -- a great scrapbooking, stamping, and mixed media store in Toronto, Canada. And she is running a charity auction to benefit a Toronto-area high school art program. She sent heads out to loads of artists and they are going to be auctioned off in the store (Bizzy B's Stamp & Scrap, 2100 Bloor Street West, Unit 4, Toronto, Ontario, M6S 1M7) starting on May 25. The silent auction runs through June 3.
Here is my head:
And some details:
I had a really good time working on this strange and unusual surface. Very happy with the results and a little sad to see it heading out the door!
You can see all the heads here. I have to say that the photo of my head on that page is not of her "good side." But c'est la vie. If you live in the Toronto area, consider stopping by the store to make a bid!
Thanks for stopping by!
-----
P.S. The winner of the Wood Parquet stencil in 6x6 and 12x12 is...
Congratulations, Julia! E-mail me with your mailing address and I'll get those stencils out to you!
Thank you so much for all your kind comments on yesterday's post! I'm so excited about the stamps and stencils and I'm delighted to hear that you are too! Now onto today's post....
It's time for our May Book Club! Just as a reminder, each month I choose a crafty book from my bookshelf and create something inspired by the book. I hope you'll be inspired to do the same.
This book was written by a mother and daughter duo: Linda and Laura Kemshall. And though it is a book intended for quilters, there are many no-sew surface design techniques that I think would appeal to art journalers and mixed media artists alike.
When I went through my bookshelf to choose this month's book I was shocked by how many books on fabric surface design I own -- and many with the exact same techniques. (This is what comes of buying books and not reading them.) The Painted Quilt wasn't the first book I grabbed from my bookshelf, but after poking through several fabric surface design books, this one actually excited me.
There are nine chapters:
Introduction: The two ladies talk about why they quilt, share some work, and discuss what to expect from the book.
Inspired to Design: Linda and Laura are sketchbook enthusiasts. They work out most designs in their paper sketchbooks before moving to fabric. In this chapter they discuss design principles, inspiration, techniques, and more. This is one of the chapters I think would be universally appealing to all artists and crafters.
What Fabric? What Colour? This is the most technical chapter, and the briefest. From pre-treating fabrics to the basics of dyeing to health & safety, Linda and Laura cover it all.
Colour Before Quilting: A series of techniques for adding color, shape, and pattern to fabric.
Colour After Quilting: A series of techniques for adding color after the fabric has been quilted.
Removing Colour: A series of techniques for removing color both before and after quilting.
Adding Detail: A fun series of surface design techniques that have some precision involved in them.
Pictorial and Figurative Images: Printing from your computer, transfers, and painting are all discussed in this chapter.
What to Do with What you Know: In this final chapter Linda and Laura both share pieces they've made and discuss both their inspiration and the techniques they used. These are not, however, project instructions.
The reason that this book stands out to me is the writing. Most crafty books are heavy on pictures, with some directions of varying quality. The Painted Quilt has both photos and instructions, but more importantly, it is filled with truly interesting text. Philosophically I am very much of the same mind as Linda and Laura in many aspects of their creating. I think they're a bit more scientific about how they approach things -- testing, sketching, planning -- and I'm more of a "just do it" kind of gal. Nonetheless, there is a meeting of the minds, for me, in the pages of this book. I appreciate how they mix their media -- something I'm a strong advocate of.
I'm pretty sure I will end up making a number of projects inspired by this book, but I roped my Mom into modeling the first one:
I mixed painted and quilted fabric I made inspired by The Painted Quilt...
...with commercial black & white fabrics for the sides, strap, and lining.
I'm thrilled and delighted with the finished bag and can hardly wait to wear it around town. Can you believe that gorgeous fabric started out a plain white? It blows my mind.
Though this is a quilting book, remember that there are many other possibilities (like this purse) within its pages.
I'm so so so so proud of this concept of matching stamps and stencils. I don't know of anybody else who is doing this. As far as I can tell, it's an entirely new concept!
Each stamp set works independently.
Each stencil works independently.
Each stencil has a matching stamp set. Each stamp set a matching stencil. And they work together.
Let's walk through all six sets, shall we?
This first one is the easiest to understand:
And some tags:
Next up: Flowers!
This set is extra cool, because not only do the stamps and stencils layer together, but the stencil itself is a layering stencil! And some tags:
I'm hoping that I'm blowing your mind! This next set has so many possibilities:
Again, the stencil has multiple parts that layer.
And then you can layer the stamps and stencils together as well!
Here are some tags:
I think this set would be perfect for card making and art journaling. I plan to make some very pretty thank you notes, myself.
I don't know if you've noticed, but I have an obsession with circles. I explored that obsession in this next set:
And, of course, the stencil layers just with itself and/or with the stamp set!
And some tags:
The fifth set is one that I designed specifically for Project Life. However, as you'll see from the tags, there are lots of other ways to use the stencil and the stamp set too!
And finally, I couldn't stay away from the butterflies!
I hope that you're as super excited about these new coordinating stencils and stamp sets as I am. One of the things that has me most excited is that there are just so many mix-and-match possibilities! These tags barely scratch the surface of what fun there is to be had. I can't wait to see what you do with them! I know it's going to be amazing!
If you're new to Art Journal Every Day, all the posts can be found here. Please read this post first. There is a flickr group for sharing right here. Remember, it's just ten minutes of nourishing your creative self every day! No need to finish anything or even like it. If you've done some art journaling this week and you've blogged about it, or put it on flickr, please leave a link in the linky list at the end of this post. Thanks!
You may recall a post from me many months ago called "Letter Ladies" where I shared my reluctant contribution to the Sketchbook Project. Today we have an enthusiastic guest post from Lenna Young Andrews all about that super popular Sketchbook Project. I'll let her take it from here!
A big hello from Lenna!
I am honored to be writing a guest post on Julie Balzer’s blog for Art Journal Every Day. I am a big fan of Julie’s. When I read her blog posts I’m always so inspired and often blown away by her ideas. When she asked me if I would be interested in writing about my experience with The Sketchbook Project, I said -- Yes!! Let me start by telling you a little bit about the Sketchbook Project.
This project is a traveling library of artists' books, created by thousands of people from across the globe. It is hosted by Art House, an independent NY-based company that organizes global, collaborative art projects. Art House is a world-wide community of artists all brought together by the Art House Co-op website, but they also have a brick & mortar gallery space in Brooklyn, NY. Below, is a short video peek into the Brooklyn Art Library, home to the Sketchbook Project.
I signed up for my first Sketchbook project in July of 2010. I’ve completed three now and already registered for a fourth due in January 2013. My first experience was the 2011 project - due at Art House no later than January 15, 2011. At the time, I did not have a lot of experience with art journaling. I found out about the Sketchbook Project through one of my art swap participants - Sharon Walworth, who sent me a link with a note saying, “This might be something that would interest you”. . . she was right! The idea of a huge, worldwide collaborative journal project really appealed to me, even with my limited art journaling experience. I signed up!
To sign up for a Sketchbook project you need to go online to their website, fill out the registration form, pay the required fee and choose a theme. After you do this, Art House will send you a specially designed sketchbook (sized 5”w x 7”h) containing 32 pages. It was created just for this project. There’s a label with a barcode on the back cover of each and every sketchbook. It includes your name and your chosen theme in order to identify your book and so people can check your sketchbook out. You fill the book up and return it to Art House by the deadline. Then, your sketchbook will go “on tour” with all the other books in the project –sometimes as many as 10,000 sketchbooks! Important: When the tour is complete, your book will not be returned to you. Instead, it will be permanently exhibited at the Brooklyn Art Library where it can be checked out and admired by anyone at any time. Imagine . . . . here is a peek at the Brooklyn Art Library, filled with shelves of completed sketchbooks:
(photo courtesy of Art House Co-op)
(photo courtesy of Art House Co-op)
For the 2011 project I simply jumped in and started working in my sketchbook. The theme I chose was: “This is not a Sketchbook” - which I thought would distinguish me from the participants that were actually sketching in their journals! I did not really know what I was doing but did not let that stop me. I painted and collaged and wrote things in my book, then shared the process on my blog. This first sketchbook was larger (5.5” x 8.5”) with thinner pages that I glued together for strength like I was working in an altered book. Below is a spread from my 2011 sketchbook where I used a favorite old photo of me above a copy of an old ID card I had. On the right side, I placed leftover paper from trying a spectra tissue technique into the sketchbook and I added circles to both sides to join them together. Then, I added journaling and a line of faux stitching. I was deliberately trying to put myself into this sketchbook through my photos, journaling and my art. I have counted at least 10 photos of me inserted throughout my 2011 sketchbook.
Another favorite spread including a baby photo of me is below. It was done with an old calendar page that hung on the wall of my childhood home and somehow had been saved all this time. It is the December calendar page, my mother’s birth month. The photos I used for this spread were printed on a clear transparency sheet in order to better see the calendar underneath.
I also used the sketchbook to try out new techniques, like a ripped paper and fabric background:
This ripped paper background was a great base for another photo of me with my 2 young sons in the 1980’s in Connecticut. This photo was printed on vellum. A photo I took of a local street in Florida was printed onto watercolor paper with my ink jet printer. I used my water brush to migrate the printer inks. I had lived in Florida for less than a year at the time and was adjusting to my new home base.
For the 2011 project = 10,000 sketchbooks were returned to Art House from 94 countries by the deadline. Over 28,000 people registered! View all of my posts about the 2011 Sketchbook Project here.
*After finishing the 2011 project, I found Julie Balzer’s blog and her Art Journal Every Day. I was so excited to find more info and techniques related to art journaling after doing the Sketchbook Project and subsequently participated in AJED on a daily basis from May 1 to August 30, 2011. I was amazed at how much Julie shared and how inspired and prolific I was because of this. You can take a peek into my four month long journey doing Art Journal Every Day as well as view all three of my Sketchbook project journals in this collection on my flickr account. One of the benefits of doing my Art Journal Every day journals besides being more prolific is - I get to keep them! I pick them up from time to time, look at them and smile.
The 2012 project had odd timing for me, but it actually saved me in the end. My husband and I moved to Florida from Connecticut in 2009 because my father, who was living in Florida had cancer. We wanted to be near him and my mom. I received my sketchbook in August of 2011, but did not start working on it until November because my dad was quite ill and passed away on October 1, 2011. I credit the commitment I made to participating in the Sketchbook Project to bringing me around to my creative mixed media art again after my dad’s death. I was especially motivated by an idea I had of re-binding the Sketchbook and doing something different from the normal pages I did for the 2011 project. And so, I did just that. I took the pages out of the cover, put two pages together to create a folding panel and re-assembled the sketchbook by re-binding it.
I think you can best see how my 2012 sketchbook was re-designed by watching this short video I made to show viewers how the pages extend.
For the 2012 sketchbook project = 7,502 sketchbooks came in from around the world and they are now all on tour, from April – November, 2012. This tour of sketchbooks is also going to the UK and Australia!
The Sketchbook Project Limited Edition Vol. 1 -due April 30, 2012, this project was a little different from the other two projects I participated in. Registration was limitedto 5,000 artists from around the world. One spread from each of these artists’ sketchbooks will be chosen to be published in a series of art books published by Art House. I really had fun with this project and from start to finish it only took me 10 days to complete -- wow! I had the time to devote to it and was inspired by an idea I got when I started working on the cover. The theme I chose was “create and capture”. In the past year I have really stepped up my photo taking as a creative experience. So I got the idea to use some of my favorite photos in the sketchbook with a window on the page before it peeking in, to view just a bit of the photo.
To sum up my experiences, what I can say wholeheartedly about the Art House Co-op projects and the Sketchbook projects in particular is that they give me a reason, a structure, a purpose and more of a desire to create. I enjoy being part of these large world-wide collaborative art projects and registering and paying for the Art House’s organizational efforts pushed me to follow through and do it! The projects are all very well organized, quite massive in scope and the heart of the matter is the organizers want to see more people – not just “artists” – participating and enjoying. Right On!
Below are excerpts from a question and answer post I wrote on my creative lenna blog - August 8, 2010
I’ve had questions in regards to The Sketchbook Project, mostly from those of you who are considering signing up and participating in this project yourself. I’ll share both the questions I have received via email and my answers here – just in case you are wondering the same things!
"Do you think you’ll be okay with “letting it go” next year, when it’s chock-full of all your wonderful stuff? Or is the possible regret of giving it up outweighed by the idea that it will be “out there” to be shared with others?"
I replied: I am already okay with letting the sketchbook go. It is a weird thing, but I would guess because I make a lot of art, I don’t want to or can’t keep as much art as I make. Because I can scan or photograph my art to remind me of what I have done, I really don’t need to physically keep it. I am actually happy to be sharing my art and then sending it off as part of this huge collaborative. I will have no regrets! I think it is the most amazing thing and I can’t believe they have over 10,000 participants. I did opt for the digitized sketchbook and I do like that I can receive comments via the bar code when people check my book out. But my basic idea is that I am going to put myself and my art into this sketchbook and send it out into the world on purpose, to share myself and my art with the world --or with whomever thinks my sketchbook looks interesting!
"I am curious though, can you do pretty much any art form in your book, excluding the items listed in the rules, or is it geared towards sketching, painting, etc. (mostly flat medium)?"
I replied: Yes! You can do pretty much any form of art in the sketchbook; it does not have to be sketching. The best information is here: http://arthousecoop.com/projects/sketchbookproject - then scroll down to the bottom for the FAQs/rules. As I understand it, your book must remain within the dimensions of 5.5 x 8.5 inches (it has now changed size now to 5”x7”). It may open up to something wonderful of any size, but it must fold down to the original width & height dimensions. You are welcome to unbind, rebind or alter the book in almost any other way –but it should end up being no thicker than 1” or they cannot take it on tour. If you want to use thicker stock of paper, they say go for it. I don’t believe it has to stay flat as long as it folds down to the same size, height & width. I am very excited to be part of this amazing project!
"How many double page layouts are there in the book?"
I replied: Well, I have done 5 or 6 double page spreads so far, but in most of the cases I glued two pages together because the paper in this moleskin journal is very thin (it’s been re-designed and the paper is a bit thicker now). I counted and there are about 30 single pages left which would really translate into 15 spreads or less, when gluing pages together, depending on how many pages you glued together. You have until January 15th to finish & mail your sketchbook.
"How did you learn about this and have you ever done it before?"
I replied: I learned about it from one of my swap participants, Sharon Walworth. She wrote to me and said she had found something that she thought I would like and gave me the link. She was absolutely right. I love this idea and I am having a great time doing it. I have never done the sketchbook project before and I have never kept an artist journal before!
"What theme did you choose?"
I replied: I picked one of the themes the project offered, “This is not a sketchbook”. That was perfect for me and gives me a lot of options. They have a wide range of themes when you register. Hope to see you in the project if it appeals to you - or just enjoy the art and the project as the pages unfold!
Here's the linky list for you to leave a link to this week's art journaling:
Thanks for stopping by!
lenna young andrews loves to dance, take photographs, throw paint around, collage, document her life, be creative, tweak her online sites and usually thinks to herself, “what if I did this?”. She likes to collaborate, learn new things, dive in, rubber stamp, organize, teach, sew, host art swaps, share and inspire. She lives on the sunny gulf coast of Florida with her husband and 2 dogs. She takes Nia classes barefoot on the beach and considers herself extremely blessed. You can read more about her art and life on her blog: creative lenna.
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