October's Challenge is HERE
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Hello everyone, Sammy again with our mid-month tutorial for October. Believe it or not, when I first thought about what I was going to make this month, I had all kinds of ideas involving dark colours, skeletons and all things spooky for Hallowe'en...
And then this happened:
It may be possible to get further removed from my original idea, but I'm not sure how!
Now many of us mixed media addicts have a bit of a stencil-collecting habit, and I am no exception. But when it comes to making things, I always seem to gravitate towards my favourite half-dozen or so, and the rest sit in the box, neglected.
So for this project I thought I'd use lots and lots of different ones, and make it a real stencil showcase!
First of all, I covered a piece of 8"x8" MDF with book paper and gave it a coat of Gesso.
Next, I added a coat of pearlised pink paint. Don't worry about little air bubbles and such, as 99% of this is covered up eventually, and is just to add a little interest in the background.
I then cut some mixed media card stock (literally the only thing I buy from Hobbycraft. It is fantastic stuff, and will take anything thrown at it, including copious amounts of water. It is also quite smooth, unlike watercolour paper, which I like) into rectangles and stencilled a different design onto each of them.
Most of the stencils I used for this are from AALL and Create, with one or two others to make up the numbers. Once they'd all dried, I arranged them on the board, so I could see which designs I wanted where, and which way up I wanted to put them.
Next I coloured the individual pieces using different colour spray inks. When that dried, I attached them to the board and sprayed with a coat of pearlised glimmer mist.
For the focal point I made a clay unicorn, using a Katy Sue Designs mould, and painted it in corresponding colours. I used a clear pearlised paint to add sheen to the face and neck.
I then attached the unicorn to a coaster I had painted with the same pink pearlised paint that I used on the background.
Finally, I added my focal point to the board and finished it with flower arrangements, gems and pearls, and a sentiment spelled out with Tim Holtz Typography letters.
And there you have it. A simple, yet effective way to show off all those gorgeous stencils, which resulted in a shimmery, girly wall decoration about as far from Hallowe'en as it's possible to get!
I hope you're feeling inspired enough to come and play with us this month!
Have a fantabulous day!
Sammy-x
