Stencil Scavenger Hunt!

 I haven't posted in over a week, because I have been preparing a ....

What is that you ask?  Here's how it will work.

• Every day next week, beginning Monday, I will post a different page from my art journal in which I have used 3 or more stencils from Stencil Girl.   
• There will always be at least one of mine, but I will also be using gorgeous stencils from other Stencil Girl artists.  
• Each day, I will post a finished page, plus some step out photos.  
• I will not tell you which stencils I used.  
• To play, YOU have to go to the Stencil Girl website and figure out which stencils I used.   
• Once you know, EMAIL ME at jessicabethsporn (at) gmail (dot) com instead of commenting.  (Of course feel free to leave a comment to say hi!)  Why?  Because if you comment, then EVERYONE will know the answer!  
• I will compile all the correct comments each day, and put the names into a hat and pick a random winner.  
• The winner will receive one of the stencils used in that day's design.  Clear as mud?  Here's an example:

Here's the finished page in my art journal (although I added the quote in digitally).   Maybe you can already pick out the three stencils I used...

Here are the step outs.  It all started with this stencil.  Do you recognize it? 

 Then I added two more...

Then I added some color:

I added some outlining and detailing, and it was done!  Can you name the three stencils I used?  Since this is a practice post, I'll tell you!

They are:

Words to Live By by Carolyn Dube,
 Loose Dress 2 by Sue Pelletier,
and Flowers Positive by me, all at Stencil Girl.

The real scavenger hunt starts Monday....

I hope you'll play along, and share this with your friends and on facebook and wherever else you post.  

Remember, every day, from Monday through Sunday of next week, there will be a Stencil Scavenger Hunt and a prize!  That's 7 days of posts and prizes!  Sound good?  Think you'll play along?  I hope so.

In case you're wondering why I'm doing this, here are the reasons...

I am so grateful to be a part of the wonderful community of artists at Stencil Girl.  Every day at Stencil Girl Talk, there is such wonderful inspiration.  Stencil Club is such a supportive community and everyone cheers each other along.

I am just shy of 2000 likes on my Facebook page!  (If you haven't "liked" me there yet, please hop over and nudge me above 2000!)

I just hit the 400 mark of subscribers to my newsletter!

OK - those are reasons enough to celebrate - don't you think?

Linking to Paint Party Friday and Art Journal Every Day.  I hope some of my friends at these blog hops will play along.

Your comments make me so happy and let me know you were here. I read and treasure every comment and will happily answer any questions as soon as I can.

 

A is for Angels

Do you ever get so excited about all the new products out there that you forget to use the ones you have?  I know I do.    

For example, I have been so caught up in designing new stencils for Stencil Girl, and trying all the cool new stencils designed by other artists, that I forgot to use one of the ones I first designed - 6 Point Starry Night!  It was once one of my favorites!  So I decided to pull it out and use it.

This page is from a book I am gradually altering.  I had covered one of the pages with collage.  I covered the collage with a light coat of white gesso.  Then I pounced through the stencil with turquoise, blue and yellow paint, changing the position of the stencil each time. 

Then I covered the page with a layer of glazing medium mixed with blue acrylic paint. 

I repositioned the stencil, and pounced through again with the white gesso in the upper half of the page.  (The other side of the spread shows the Medallions stencil, which I'll write about in another post.)

Inspired by this stained glass window by Chaggall,

an angel appeared on my art journal page.

It must be because the presence of angels in my life has greatly lifted me these past weeks.

Once I got caught up in the process, I forgot to take step out photos as my angel took flight on my art journal page.  But you can watch it here:



You can also find "Starry Night Art Journal Page" on You Tube here.    

Do you want a chance to win the Starry night stencil?  Comment below and I'll pick a winner via Random.org on Sunday night!   The challenge at Simon Says Stamp and Show is A is for... and so that's where this Angel is headed.

You can also purchase "A is for Angels" on Society 6 here!  

Linking to Art Journal Every Day and Paint Party Friday.

Comment before Sunday for a chance to win the Starry Night stencil!

UPDATE!  The winner is Kay Wallace!  I am sending the stencil to you tomorrow.  Enjoy Kay!

Your comments make me so happy and let me know you were here. I read and treasure every comment and will happily answer any questions as soon as I can.

 

Stencil Girl Talk With a Cecilia Swatton Stencil

I'm on the Stencil Girl blog today demonstrating how I used "Trivet A Stencil" by Cecilia Swatton to create backgrounds for a series of tags.  Be sure to visit Stencil Girl Talk for a detailed description of my process and lots of step out photos!

I ended up with 8 tags I really love, which all started out with inspiration from Trivet A Stencil by Cecilia Swatton.

Here's a short video:

You can also watch Making Tags with Stencils on You Tube.  

 Leave a comment before Friday, 1/24 and I will pick someone by Random.org to receive this tag!

Thanks for stopping by!

UPDATE:  The winner is Nancy Eaton!  I've sent her an email and look forward to sending her this tag.

 

One Little Word UP - ASPIRE!

Today's word-up at One Little Word is ASPIRE, defined as:  to long, aim, or seek ambitiously; be eagerly desirous, especially for something great or of high value.

What better thing to aspire to than to embrace ourselves for the beauty, goodness, and, yes, even the flaws, within us?

I created this art journal spread using a gelli printed background paper, and stencils from January Stencil Club from Stencil Girl, which goes live today!  I also used lots of collage materials from magazines, and gelli print scraps on my work table.  The body of the peacock is from this Jump for Joy stencil from Stencil Girl. 

To what do you aspire?  I hope you'll participate in OLW and let us know!  I will give away a "Jump for Joy" stencil to one of the participants, so make sure to create something and link up between now and February 15!

Your comments make me so happy and let me know you were here. I read and treasure every comment and will happily answer any questions as soon as I can.

 

Stenciling with Thoughts of Grace

One of the most profound teachings I was ever given in my study of yoga and Buddhism is of the changing nature of everything - including my own mind. 

The truth that "things change" can be extremely comforting, especially when life is hard, as it is for so many of us from time to time.  It is easy to think that we'll feel a certain way forever.  This brings pain when life is sad, and also when life is happy, because those conditions will change and shift too.

When life hurts, it is so important to remember that love and Grace are always there for us.  We forget that the door to Grace is always open.  We just have to walk in.







This was on my mind as I worked in my journal with one of the stencils from January Stencil Club from Stencil Girl.

I started with this spread in my art journal.  I had created it in this great class at the Ink Pad with Marybeth Shaw, Pam Carriker, Michelle Ward and Andrew Borloz. 



I painted in the door that I had stenciled using my Doors and Windows Stencil.  Then I decided to use the 9 x 12 Peacock stencil to bring together the two sides of the page.  (Here's a post and video of this process, where I harmonized two different gelli prints in my journal.)

I used scraps of paper that were on my table to mask off the door, so that the pattern from the Peacock stencil wouldn't get on it.

Then I placed the stencil down and pounced.





Here's what it looked like:

I added in embellishments I cut from different gelli prints.  

 

I also used words I have been working with, to remind myself that even when all seems dark and gloomy, every day offers blessings.  Every day is sacred.  There is grace all around us.  That door is always open.  We just have to walk in.  Or, in other words:

Linking to the lovely blog hops at Inspire Me Monday, Creative Every Day, and Make It Monday. 

Your comments make me so happy and let me know you were here. I read and treasure every comment and will happily answer any questions as soon as I can.

 

Using Stencils to Spark Your Inspiration

Often, when I don't have a lot of inspiration, I pick a pattern stencil and just start using it on a blank page or a page with leftovers from another project.  I'll pick several different colors of paint that compliment one another (close to each other on the color wheel),  and start pouncing with a cosmetic sponge.   (In a recent class I took with Donna Downey, she gave a great tip to how to remember which colors are friendly enough to be mixed when wet.  If you think of the ROY G BIV acronym for the rainbow - ROY (Red Orange Yellow) colors are friendly, and BIV (Blue Indigo and Violet) colors are friendly, G (green) is a little picky - friendly only with the colors on either side -- Yellow and Blue.)

For this page, I used Michelle Ward's Marrakech Mix Stencil from Stencil Girl.  I love how there is a "mix" of large and small openings.  Once a layer is dry, I turn the stencil and use another color until there are no white spots on my page.   Then I'll go back in with white paint or gesso, and lighten it up a bit.  Here's how I ended up.














 At this point, the page will sometimes suggest something to me.  What it said here was "live simply and gently."  So I took out black paint and a skinny brush and started sketching.  (I like to sketch with paint because there's just NO WAY to be too precious about it - it's going to be messy, and that's OK!)

On the bottom, I used Pam Carriker's Zig Zag Stamp.  And I sketched in a girl surrounded by animals and a tree.  

More painting.  I'm using matte fluid acrylics, which are very translucent.  I love how the stenciled background shows through, giving lots of depth and texture.

I wanted her skirt to be made in part by feathers.  I have a cool feather stamp that I used on white tissue paper.  I then adhered it to her skirt with matte medium.

I love how the original painting and texture shows through the tissue paper, which melts into the page.  I did the same thing with a french text stamp - used it on tissue paper and adhered it to the page.


I wanted leaves on the trees, so I pulled out my "Judy's Trees" stencil from Stencil Girl, and stenciled some leaves onto tissue paper using green and brown paint.

Then I cut the leaves up and adhered them onto the page. This way, I wasn't stuck to the original arrangement, but could place the leaves the way I wanted for this particular journal page.

I also used the curly branches of one of the other trees on the stencil around the bottom of the page to suggest tree roots and grass.  Can you see them?

My daughter painted out that the lady's legs were too short - so I lengthened them.  This caused me to add additional texture and pattern to her dress, which I really like.  I added words, and here she is!

And to think she emerged from a mostly blank journal page and Michelle Ward's stencil!

"Live Gently" is available for sale as a print, tote bag, pillow and phone cover on Society 6!





In case you didn't see it previously, I wanted to post a video of how I painted this portrait. 


I often "clean" my work table by gluing whatever is on it into my journal.  That will sometimes "suggest" to me what the page should become. 

The page started out as a collage of stenciled tissue paper using my Medallions stencil from Stencil Girl.  Some of that pattern shows through her face.  I finished her off using June Pfaff Daley's starfish stencil, which became a flower in her hair. 

You can see her as a print and more here!





You can also watch Fast Forward Face Painting with Jessica Sporn on You Tube here.

Have you found any of this helpful?  Let me know in the comments, which make me so happy and let me know you were here. I read and treasure every comment and will happily answer any questions as soon as I can.