Another Crusade, another great learning experience!! I've never tried my hand at making or using stencils so this was a great way to begin. After going to Hobby Lobby for the stencil material, Hotmark tool, and picture glass, I sat down on the floor of my sunroom to cut stencils. Lots of great light and I didn't have to worry about the kiddos getting near the hot cutter or it flying off my desk (I am a terrible klutz). Cutting the stencils was easier than I thought it would be, thanks to the great instructions Michelle gave. Wheww!! I didn't realize it would be so stinky! The smell of burning pastic, gackk! I should have known better. Melting plastic gives off all sorts of noxius fumes, no wonder my asthma acted up. Next time I'll have better ventilation or a mask.
Here are a few pics of my foray into stencil land:
After seeing Michelle's flame stencils, I just had to make a set of my own <G>. Here are the journal pages I made with my new stencils:
Watercolor using the bottom flames stencil in the previous pic.
Watercolor and charcoal. The top flames stencil used twice, plus a firebird and tall flame stencil.
My favorite. Watercolor on crumpled, singed masa. When I pasted it into my journal, the stark white journal paper surrounding it was rather jarring. I rubbed some pastel on the journal paper so it blended better with the paste-in.
Colored pencil on pastel. I went back and reworked almost all of the images, but this one needed the most tweaking. I think the original's lines were too thin and needed to be made larger in the stencil for a pencil to fit into them easier.
WOW!!! Look at all these terrific stencils - so YOU ms. ffyrebird! Loving how you did all your pages too! I'm so pleased to see you are really running with this one - a new trick, a new tool. *high five* Thanks for sharing with the team.
Posted by: michelle ward | April 30, 2008 at 08:13 PM
Wowie zowie! When I first saw the stencil, I thought it was a face - some sort of of laughing goat with eyelashes and spooky things [which ithought was pretty cool] and now I see it is a phoenix - even cooler. Lovely variations
Posted by: susan w | April 30, 2008 at 10:16 PM
Wow, those are awesome. I think your favorite is my favorite too. They all turned out beautifully, though.
Posted by: Carrie | May 01, 2008 at 08:05 AM
Wonderful stencils, one and all, and they made great pages! Some plastics are stinkier than others, I've found styrene to be especially smelly! :)
Posted by: ArtKat | May 01, 2008 at 07:13 PM
These are amazing! I just love the designs and colors.
Posted by: Roshanda | May 02, 2008 at 08:39 AM
OMG! I love your ffyrebyrd... it's fabulous. You have more patience than me - although I haven't bought the tool yet, but I'm saving up!!!!
Posted by: Rosie | May 06, 2008 at 05:00 PM
WOW!! Your flames are really AWESOME looking!
Posted by: Julie Prichard | May 08, 2008 at 09:11 PM