I love blog hops. Today I’m sharing a fairly long collage tutorial as my part of a bigger blog hop with Julie Fei-Fan Balzer and Crafter’s workshop Stencils. (You can find stencils like this in our store, too!) I really love how flexible stencils can be. I even enjoy cutting my own stencils (check out the silverware I cut later in this tutorial!)
Any way, let’s get on with this tutorial! When Julie asked if we we’re interested in participating in the hop, I knew I wanted to but I also had to pick out a stencil. That was perhaps the hardest part of participating! I decided to go with the Wedding Ring design because it’s not the one I would normally go to, and I wanted a challenge!
Have you ever gone clothes shopping and tried on something you never would have thought you would like only to find out it was the most amazing, figure-flattering garment you’ve ever owned? Well, the Wedding Ring Stencil is kind of like that for me.
I decided to play with the Creatopia machine from Xyron and use the stencil to emboss my paper. Here’s what I did . . . keep scrolling down to see the final piece! (And it was such a lovely day I was working outside so that I could absorb a little vitamin D, hence the tree reflections in the water!)
 | Getting everything ready is the hardest part. I’m using the Creatopia without a cartridge so that I can use the wheels as a printing press. | |
 |  | The next part of the of the “printing” is to wet the paper. I’m using a mid-weight artist paper. You can use watercolor or printmaking paper or even a good quality cardstock. After you soak the paper for a couple minutes, lay it on a towel so soak up the excess water. |
 |  | Now we have to make a printing press sandwich.
First layer is a piece of thinish chipboard. Next we need the stencil and the wet paper. |
 |  | A piece of craft felt goes down on the wet paper. The felt helps the paper squish down into the paper where the stencil openings are.
Lastly, the top layer is another piece of chipboard. Depending on the thickness of the cardboard, you may need to play with this stack a bit. I set the Creatopia on the tightest setting and turned the handle to feed the stack through the machine. |
 | It’s subtle but you can kind of make out the embossing on this paper. The gray specks are just parts of the paper that are still wet. I discovered that stencils with smaller openings are more difficult to emboss, but it still works. | |
 |  | Next, I lined the stencil back up over the embossed paper and taped around the edge to protect it. Then I went at it with some Smooch SPRITZ! Then I carefully removed the tape and stencil. |
 |  | I added tape back around the stenciled/embossed area. This was a bit of a nuisance but it paid off in the end. I used an old hotel key card to scrape some iridescent fluid acrylics sporadically over the surface. |
 |  | You can subtly see how the embossed parts of the paper affect the scraping of the paint. After I added the paint, I used a baby wipe to rub the paint on in some places and off in others. At this point the embossing is almost disappeared in this small stencil. When you use a bigger stencil, it is more textural. |
 | Once the piece was dry, I pulled off the tape and this is were I was really happy that I had chosen the Wedding Ring design. Look at that background! It’s a little ethereal and a lot gorgeous!
I could have stopped here but I really wanted to immediately turn it into a collage, so on I went. | |
 | I layered some text from a vintage cookbook with matte medium and let it dry. | |
 |  | Then I used a palette knife to apply Absorbent Ground Medium to my hand-cut silverware stencil. The ground is a cool product that lets you create a watercolor on top of a non-watercolor friendly surface.
After the ground was dried, I added some purpley-blue shades of watercolors to enhance the silverware. |
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And this is the final piece. I will be showing it an upcoming show called Feed Me: The 7 x 7 show next month.
Julie Fei-Fan Balzer
Watch Julie stencil, and stitch!
Valerie Mangan
Check out Valerie’s use of the stencil on cookies!
Christine Urias
Christine is showing off a neat resist technique.
Michelle LaPoint Rydell
Has a two-fer with a card and a really awesome interactive art journal technique.
What do you like to use stencils for? What are your favorite techniques? Let us know here in the comments and…
Happy Hopping!
