Friday, January 23, 2015

StencilGirl and Craft Attitude Blog Hop



Welcome to Inspiration from the StencilGirl Team using Craft Attitude . For me, Craft Attitude falls into a category not easily defined. I consider it a collage tool but it is really called a printable craft film.
You can use it on nearly any substrate - wood, canvas, glass, painted items, even fiber. You apply it with a glue stick, yes, a simple glue stick. Before you apply, you can run it through your inkjet printer and print whatever you might like. After you apply, you can go back and paint or embellish.
It's really that easy.

What did I do you might be wondering......well, I have this wee little obsession with the reverse of our stencils, like for this StencilClub design (see the big 9x12?) I really wanted to have the opposite of the pattern. Now I drew it, but the chance of me replicating it to my own satisfaction was rather unlikely.
November StencilClub
The first thing I did was pull up the original stencil image on my computer and invert it using Photoshop. This made the linear black. Then I printed it on the Craft Attitude film. Great, you say, but what about me!?! I don't have the original stencil file on my computer? No worries, cover the stencil with paint and flip it onto the Craft Attitude film. Depending on the amount of paint you have used, either brayer (if you have a thin coat of paint) or press with a paper towel over top (if you used more paint). You might want to practice this on scrap paper before you move to the film.
Stencil on Craft Attitude film
Next up, I pulled out a plastic folder I found at our Teacher's recycle shop. It holds a tiny notebook and I thought it would be cute to carry in my purse, but (for obvious reasons) I wanted to decorate it in a more appealing manner. 
I sanded it lightly to give it some "tooth" and then painted a coat of gesso. Then I collaged a piece of paper and blended a couple colors of transparent paint. 
Using a glue stick, I carefully applied glue to the entire outside of the folder and then positioned the Craft Attitude over top and pressed it evenly all around. Trimming it with scissors couldn't have been easier. You have a bit of time to move it around so I was able to position the design exactly as I wanted. 
I used Washi tape to make a faux binding and I also put Washi over the clear pocket inside. I replaced the tiny pad of paper and was done in probably 15 minutes. What a cool way to make a cute little item! 
I even had plenty of leftover film left to use in other projects such as my journal. 
Probably the coolest thing about the Craft Attitude is how seamless it looks. Once it is glued down, you can't even tell it's there. Love it! Plus I can go back and write or paint on top of it, such as in my journal. Easy peasy and you gotta love that!!


Now go see what Terri Stegmiller made today!!!!
GIVEAWAY
Leave a comment to win!
All comments on each post during the hop will be entered in the giveaway. 
Ends Monday January 26, 2014 @ 11:59PM Central Time.

One comment per post please.

Friday, January 16, 2015

Of Good Friends and CHA and Exclusive Stencils

Last week I flew to Anaheim for CHA Mega Show, that is the convention of the Craft and Hobby Association for the uninitiated. 
When I left Missouri it was 3 degrees. I got off the plane and it was 70. 
NICE!
The show was good too. 
It is so stimulating to see the new products of the various manufacturers. Serious eye candy. I particularly enjoy the yarn companies as their displays are so over the top, I mean check this out. The entire display was made from yarn. Yarnia, how darn clever is that??
My company, StencilGirl Products has never done the show because I'm a weeny about the idea of playing in that arena, scares me, don't ya know? 
But this year we did special release stencils - one each for me, Pam Carriker, Traci Bautista and Seth Apter - because we were all invited to be an Artisan teacher at the show. 
It was a B-I-G honor and I am so glad we memorialized the occasion with fabulous stencils that we provided to our students. The stencils were quite a big hit as you might imagine. 
But NOT to worry, you can get them too......the pack of stencils is on sale TODAY! Limited edition, go take a look and buy one of these exclusive stencil sets by clicking here.  Cause when they're gone, they're gone. You need to be quick like a bunny. 
Pam's new book arrived just in the nick of time, it was overnighted to the show! I had a chance to look through it and can't wait to get my hands on a copy I can keep, wowzers, lots of good stuff. 
She and I hung out at the North Light booth signing DVDs and doing demos. It is always fun to have the chance to talk to people and share techniques. 
I caught up with friends, wallowed in amazing eye candy, ate and drank, taught fabulous students, and thoroughly enjoyed the experience. A good time was had by all! Can't wait till next year.

Wednesday, January 07, 2015

A New Year is like a Mulligan

It's a do-over. Not that last year was bad, on the contrary, it was quite good. But turning the page always energizes me. Tomorrow I am headed out to CHA to teach and also do a Demo for my publisher. After I return I hope (fingers crossed) to be more regular with my blog communication. 
And my painting! Yesyesyes, she says, I will get my body of work back this year!!!!


In the meantime, I will leave you with these journal pages. 

These were done with Pam Carriker's ink, gesso and Golden High Flow Acrylic, dispensed from a needle point applicator. 
I envision them as inspiration for enormous works that fill a wall.