Let’s Play and Use a Toy as a Stencil

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Art play doesn’t have to follow the rules. If something looks like a stencil to me it doesn’t matter if it was intended to be a stencil or not. This art journal page fit perfectly with this month’s Let’s Play theme of turning non art supplies into art supplies!

While cleaning out a closet, I found this Christmas toy buried deep. I’m not a train aficionado but those tracks called to me in a big way as potential stencils.

At first I saw a Japanese bridge, Monet style. That thought left as fast it came and then rainbows popped into my mind. Shocking right? That rainbow idea led me to grab some Lindy’s Stamp Gang spray inks in rainbow colors.

How does this help me play? There is no wrong way to do this so the pressure is off! After all there is no “right” way to use train tracks with spray inks!

What is Let’s Play? It’s a series of videos all about rediscovering the ability to play. Each month I share a specific strategy that helped me ditch the stress and rediscover how to play. You can see all the previous ones here. Each month has a theme, and this month’s theme is turning non art supplies into art supplies.

Giveaway! This month’s giveaway is a $50 gift certificate to Dick Blick! Leave a comment to be entered -details at the end of this post.

In the video, you’ll see how I handled keeping the spray inks from going where I didn’t want with a paper towel and why it made things so much easier!

Watch Using train tracks as stencils in an art journal with spray inks on YouTube.

This month's Let's Play theme is all about turning non art supplies into art supplies!

Want to see more Let’s Play videos? You can find all the weekly posts here.

Sharing your play: I, and a whole bunch of others, would love to see what you’re creating! We’re sharing it in the Facebook group called A Colorful Place to Play. Why Facebook? I’ve listened to your feedback about how and where you’d like to share your play instead of the link parties.

Monthly giveaways: Leave comment on any (and all for more chances) of the weekly Let’s Play blog posts to be entered and one winner each month will be chosen by random.org. Want more chances to win a $50 gift certificate to DickBlick.com? Pin any of the images from the page or share about it on Facebook- then come back and leave a comment telling me what you did and you can have more chances to win! Giveaway closes the Sunday, July 3rd at 11 pm EST and the winner will announced on the blog the following Monday.

Here are the supplies I used. Some of these links are affiliate links which means I get a small percentage. It doesn’t cost you anything extra and you are helping me keep this blog and my videos ad free! Thank you- I don’t like ads any more than you do!

InLinkz.com

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My Mixed Media Play Was Just Like an Episode of the A-Team

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Video tutorial full of stenciling tips and tricks for making this painted sign by Carolyn Dube

My muse was in an A-Team kind of mood today, minus the explosions and exotic locations. That 80’s tv show followed a formula which I loved so it shouldn’t surprise me that it showed up in my studio as I made this mixed media sign.

Here’s how most episodes of the show went:

There was a problem.
The team had a plan to solve the problem.
Something went wrong with the plan and gave the impression they were about to fail in their mission. It usually involved some kind of explosive car chase.
Then somehow, the team pulls together, miracles happen, usually with more exploding cars, and in the end the good guys win and the problem is solved.
Finally, Hannibal Smith delivered his signature line, “I love it when a plan comes together.”

In the video there were no car chases and nothing went kaboom as my muse followed the formula BUT there are all sorts of stenciling techniques like how I space the letters without measuring, how to use Inka Gold with stencils, stenciling over wet paint, and more!

Watch How to stencil a wooden sign mixed media style on YouTube.

In the video I mention the free workshop Permission to Play. Click here to join in the mixed media fun!

So here’s how my “episode” went…

Problem to be solved? I had a piece of wood from the garage. I wanted to play but didn’t know what to make.

My plan was to make a postal/mail art themed sign. That’s why I grabbed my Mixed Media Mail stencil for the background. I had visions of envelopes and postage stamps and air mail.

What went wrong with the plan? The color. This is when my original plan fell apart…instead of mail art I was thinking flowers. It seemed impossible to take this background with postal words all over it and turn it into flowers.

How the muse pulled it all together Using the Playful Bloom and Imaginary Bloom masks by Rae Missigman with some butterflies from my Butterfly Journeys stencil and Inka Gold, this was starting to look springy.

A title added with 3D Stamping Paint and my Vintage Typewriter stencil finished this off.

So how am I going to hang this? I’m taking the easy way out and using some Command Picture hanging strips. Seconds to attach, and can easily be removed from the wall.

In the immortal words of Hannibal Smith, I love it when a plan comes together!

Here are the supplies I used. Some of these links are affiliate links which means I get a small percentage. It doesn’t cost you anything extra and you are helping me keep this blog and my videos ad free! Thank you- I don’t like ads any more than you do!

Butterfly Journeys Stencil	Mixed Media Mail Stencil	Vintage Typewriter Alphabet Stencil	Imaginary Bloom
Playful Bloom	3d Stamping paint	Inka Gold	Heavy Body Paint
Golden Gesso	Command Picture Hanging Strips

InLinkz.com

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Silly Fun with a Fishy Art Journal Page

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This silly art journal page was a complete surprise to me. Why the surprise? I had no plan when I started so I had no idea where it was going to end up.

It all started with the waves, created with this month’s StencilClub stencils that I designed for StencilGirl. This was just me dreaming of my feet in the warm sand and snorkeling at my favorite beach instead of being land locked this summer.

When I think oceans, I think about snorkeling. I used a silly fish crossing sign from a digital kit from Tumble Fish Studio at Mischief Circus and some Craft Attitude. If you’re new to Craft Attitude, you can how it works in this video.

Naturally, there had to be a fish. This is courtesy of a napkin I glued down with some matte medium.

I did a rather sloppy job with the matte medium because it dries clear and this is a white page so it wouldn’t matter one bit. Why be careful when you can be carefree! And yes…that will come back to “haunt”me as an Oops (Outstanding Opportunity Presenting Suddenly) soon.

Once the fish was dry, I grabbed a Distress crayon to turn him green. It was a wonderfully bright color…but I needed more color. There was way too much white space here for me.

So turned to my Dylusions spray inks. I didn’t spray them because I didn’t want it everywhere. In order to control where it went, I grabbed a paint brush to apply it.

That is when the Oops appeared. In the Instagram video below you can see the moment I realized what had happened. OOPS! While you’re there- hit that follow button- because there are things I seem to only share there!

A silly art journal page oops on Instagram

As usual, an Oops is really an opportunity I hadn’t considered, and in the end, I love how the page dried with the ink on the matte medium.

This was a silly page from the start. So don’t expect anything serious or meaningful in the words I glued on. “Edward smiled. Edward was always flawlessly polite.” Thank you Edward for a fun afternoon of art play!

Here are the supplies I used. Some of these links are affiliate links which means I get a small percentage. It doesn’t cost you anything extra and you are helping me keep this blog and my videos ad free! Thank you- I don’t like ads any more than you do!