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Carolyn Dube’s Stencils

OOPS…A No Fail Plan that Failed or Did it? thumbnail

O.O.P.S…This just wasn’t coming together.  The no fail plan I had in my head to use up the scraps from die cutting in my art journal flopped.  It failed big time compared to what was in my head.  But did it really fail? When things don’t come together, it is just an Outstanding Opportunity Presenting [...]

Letting Myself Get Lost in my Art Journal thumbnail

Knowing where you are going can be overrated.  Granted, if you are an airplane pilot, it is critical you know where you are going.   But I’m not flying a plane, I am playing in an art journal wandering around without any clear plan. It all began by gluing down some pieces and parts.  One is [...]

Where Will These Doorways Lead Me? thumbnail

The idea of doorways was stuck in my head the moment I saw these scraps. I became fixated on them the same way a song gets stuck in my head.  Little did I know what these treasured leftovers would get me thinking about. Once the bits, gel printed using my Arched Aqueducts stencil, were glued down on [...]

Finding Stress Relief in my Art Journal thumbnail

I have a therapist on call 24 hours a day and the sudden change in my world due to broken ankle, has me needing that therapist more than usual.  Who is this amazing helper? My art journal.  She’s always available and always accepting of whatever mood I am in.  Here’s a look at a recent session [...]

Using Gel Prints for Ransom Alphabet Cards thumbnail

The Streets of San Francisco were a big part of the inspiration for this alphabet stencil and these cards.  Many moons ago, when watching reruns of the tv show starring Michael Douglas and Karl Malden, there was a kidnapping and the ransom note was individually cut up letters from the newspaper. The stereotypical ransom note [...]

The Gel Printed Matisse Grid with my Geometry Fail thumbnail

OOPS! The plan was to build the grid with 3 colors by having each color in each row and no color touching itself.  I thought it was a solid plan. It wasn’t, since after row #2, I was backed into a corner.  Okay, that sounds a bit dramatic but for a fleeting second that is [...]

Leftover Scraps Become Mixed Media Art thumbnail

This play came from that thing I wasn’t paying attention to, the scrap paper from cutting out hearts.  I liked the hearts I cut out, but I loved this paper so much so that this is what I used first!  The muse is rather tricky some days. https://youtu.be/i3R5e_IqelI Watch Leftover Scraps Become Mixed Media Art [...]

Paint Couture…Gel Printing Rainbow Sneakers thumbnail

Paint Couture…fun to make and fun to wear!  Turns out finding a rainbow colored pair of shoes isn’t as easy as you might think so I decided to make some rainbow shoes!  Clearly, I did not cobble them myself but simply painted a cheap pair of canvas sneakers. Even though you don’t see triangles all [...]

PanPastels, a Baby Wipe, and a Castle thumbnail

PanPastels are vibrantly full of pigment…and work wonderfully with baby wipes so I decided to build an art journal page of castle towers with them. Want to win the stencils used in this video?  One lucky reader will win all 7 of my new stencils.  Leave a comment on this blog post for a chance [...]

Crayon Rubbings, Stencils, and Watercolors thumbnail

Why do I love crayon rubbings? Is it the historical significance that brass rubbings played in medieval times?  Is it the memory of first grade making leaf rubbings? A little bit of those but the biggest reason is crayon rubbings are immediate gratification.  No waiting for anything to dry.  The only prep work is taking the [...]