Category: Stencils

Acrylic paint, Art Journal, Stencils, The Crafters Workshop, Tutorials, Uncategorized

Make Today Count

Robyn Wood

Eeep….seems my poor blog has been left neglected. Sorry readers, my year started with a bang and has continued to be busy. Time to refresh and restart this blogging habit I think!

The first half of this year has been filled with creativity in a variety of forms. In February, I started a degree in photography and took initial subjects in photography and drawing which set me up for a busy start to uni life but also gave me a pair of subjects that I was already comfortable with. Turned out to be a brilliant choice and I have loved every minute of my first semester.

It has been a little while since I sat down to play with no plan in place so I thought I’d share the results with you. Needing to concentrate on the final weeks of assessments meant only the ‘necessities’ of creative play were attended to, but teaching classes and creating design team project are luckily among the necessities! It was time to pull out my collection of The Crafters Workshop Stencils and have some playtime.

I’ve created this art journal page in my favourite Dylusions Dyalog journal which has lovely grids printed on the pages. Not sure what it is about grid paper but it has always been a go-to choice for notepaper. I started with a page that had been painted in calming blues and greens and stencilled over the top with Distress Oxide inks using the large circle stencil. 

Next I gathered a bunch of painted & Gel Press printed scraps and stencilled all over them in a random fashion using acrylic paint. I layered stencilling and painting of small areas without a lot of thought to create busy looking pieces. For a bit of cohesion, I kept my paints to warm colours plus a blue. Then I drew circles of various sizes over all the pieces. While drawing the circles, I tried to get a mix of pattern and empty space on each.

Once the circles were fussy cut I layered them onto my journal page until I had a pleasing arrangement. I decided not to use the strongly blue coloured pieces. Some circles were layered over each other and I made sure I had a couple overlapping the page edges.

Next I stencilled over several of the circles using circular stencils and black paint. This helps give a strong pop of pattern and contrast to the page.

Some circles got just a small portion stencilled in black.

I used black and white paint pens to give the circles some extra line work and edged each of them with a sponging of black paint prior to adhering them in place with Helmar Tacky Craft Glue.

I’m lucky with the variety of stencils I own, I can usually find the perfect one for a corner – like the one I’ve stencilled using texture paste.

A Tim Holtz quote finishes the page.

Supplies:

  • Stencils – The Crafters Workshop – 6×6: Spikey Wheels, Quattro Motifs, Screen Print, Harlequin, Kaleidoscope, Well Rounded, Circle Squares, Blazonry, Stencil Patterns | 12×12: Script Dots
  • Helmar Tacky Craft Glue
  • Journal – Dylusions Dyalog Squared
  • Ranger Ink Distress Oxide – Cracked Pistachio, Mermaid Lagoon
  • Acrylic paint, texture paste, black & white paint pens
  • Tim Holtz quote

Thanks for following along!

Art Journal, Bella Paperie, Stencils

Mixed Media Art Journaling – Abstract Textures & Found Poetry

Robyn Wood

Found poetry is one of the joys of serendipity – that magical result of leafing through some printed pages and just seeing what catches the eye. No planning, just following intuition to create something meaningful with words that fit together but perhaps not as they were originally intended.

The Beauty of the Unexpected - abstract, textured art journal page by Robyn Wood
The Beauty of the Unexpected

During January, I’ll be teaching a class on how to use abstract techniques of texture and colour and then combine them with found poetry to create a unique art journal page. Why don’t you join me?

The Beauty of the Unexpected

the joy of serendipity

The class will lead you through the combination of a bunch of techniques that can be used in a variety of other journal pages. We will have a colourful, splashy time!

Bella Paperie is located at Shop 33, 302 South Pine Road, Brendale. Phone 3205 5911 to book. Class runs 10am – 2pm, January 6 & 18 and costs $30 with some supplies provided. You can find information on what to bring along to class on the store blog at www.bellapaperie.net.au

Bella Paperie, Stencils

Mixed Media Art Journaling Workshop – Underwater Wonderland

Robyn Wood

A huge thank you to everyone who visited and commented on the Darkroom Door/Karen Burniston blog hop last week! I’m so glad you all liked my projects!

Now onto sharing about the mixed media art journaling workshop I will be teaching this weekend. Do you like splashing in colourful, delicious watercolour & shimmery spray inks? This might be the class for you;)

I’ll be sharing how to get more texture into your journals and reveal how to use inks and texture paste for interesting background effects. We will invite our inner child along to play as we create a school of quirky fish using watercolour techniques.

Bella Paperie is located at Shop 33, 302 South Pine Road, Brendale. Phone 3205 5911 to book. Class runs 10am – 2pm, August 5 and costs $30 with some supplies provided. You can find information on what to bring along to class here on the store blog.

Acrylic paint, Stencil Girl, Stencils, Tutorials

Stencil Girl – The Plain Box Society

Robyn Wood

Ages ago I saw a call on Facebook from Tina Walker for artists to join a unique type of challenge. We were to decorate a plain box, just 3″ square, however we pleased – the only requirement was to use stencils made by Stencil Girl.

Easy! Well so I thought, seems I need slightly more direction when doing a challenge;)

But in the end I’m so happy with how my box turned out, it is a little different to my usual project but still so me. Here is how it came together –

Many participants used a pre-made box but I decided to make my own from some heavy watercolour paper. Then I painted parts of the pieces with an analogous colour scheme, I always find these more soothing than jarring colours.

Next I mixed a little colour with some water and created random drippage along the sides.

Time to stencil! But which ones? How many to fully showcase my design? I settled for just two, one for the lid (Encouraging Scribbles) and another for the sides (Mix & Match Scalloped Edges). I left the border stencil intact to emphasise the lines of the shape.

The sides looked a little plain just stencilled but a bit of doodling with a fine black pen soon fixed that!

 

 

So pleased with how it came together. A huge thanks to Tina Walker for organising the challenge! You can read more about the challenge and see all the wonderful boxes created in Tina’s article for Stencil Girl. There is a fantastic variety and so much to inspire you.

 

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Art Journal, Bella Paperie, Darkroom Door, Darkroom Door Stencils, Monoprinting, Quotes, Stencils

Mixed Media Art Journaling Workshop – Courage is…

Robyn Wood

Do you have the courage to leap into pattern making without the end result in sight?

Why not join me this Sunday at Bella Paperie as I share my favourite pattern taming techniques to help you create a page that you love. They are sure to become techniques that you will return to many times in your mixed media journey.

We will start the class with a play session using our Gel Press plates and then I’ll guide you through calming the myriad of patterns into wonderfully, drippy shapes. To finish we will have fun doodling and adding yet more patterns and complete the page with a quote.

If you already art journal – bring along your usual kit, if not check the requirements list for a guide on what to bring. You will need an approx. A4 sized journal to begin with – please check in store for details. We would love to know where you are at with mixed media so let us know when you book in – absolute beginners are very welcome but the more experienced will find something to challenge them in each class.

Robyn Wood - Courage is... - mixed media art journal workshop

We will be working in an A4 sized journal and please have on hand –

    • Gel Press monoprinting plate (I will have some to share but your own will save waiting time)
    • A variety of acrylic paints including some dark colours and black
    • A variety of stencils with different sizes of patterns for printing & stencilling
    • A variety of paint brushes
    • Pencil
    • Scissors
    • Black Stabilo pencil
    • Sponges for stencilling
    • White gesso or paint
    • Gold acrylic ink or paint
    • Black paint pen of medium nib size
    • White gel pen or fine white paint pen
    • Paint palette – one with separate wells will be very useful
    • Paint spatula
    • Non–stick craft mat
    • Spray bottle for water
    • Baby wipes
    • Paper towel
    • Container for water
    • Heat tool

Bella Paperie is located at Shop 33, 302 South Pine Road, Brendale. Phone 3205 5911 to book. Class runs 10am – 2pm, April 8 and costs $30 with some supplies provided.

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Art Journal, Bella Paperie, Darkroom Door, Darkroom Door Stamps, Darkroom Door Stencils, Quotes, Stencils

Mixed Media Art Journaling Workshop – Dreams Have Wings

Robyn Wood

Do your dreams have wings?

Perhaps your dreams are full of colour and texture and you would love to capture that feeling in your art journal? This might be the class where you learn to delve into another world and play with collage and paint for the pure fun of it!

Why not join me this Friday as we jump into the wonderful world of mixed media and art journaling. This will be the first of regular Friday classes featuring mixed media and art journaling at Bella Paperie. Although aimed as a ‘beginner class’, my regular students and ones familiar with mixed media will still find lots to learn and challenge them.

If you already art journal – bring along your usual kit, if not come along to this weekday class to learn what you might need to purchase as the materials list is a brief guide. You will need an approx. A4 sized journal to begin with – please check in store for details or we can provide a sheet of heavy watercolour paper to get you started.

For this first weekday class, I will bring along most of the supplies to share but please bring what you have from the materials listed to save time waiting. I have listed a kit of ‘basics’ that you will need to bring to every class. As always, the listed supplies are available to purchase from Bella Paperie before class.

We will be working in an A4 sized journal and please have on hand –

  • 2-3 acrylic paints for background – I have used shades of pink
  • 2-3 stencils with small patterns for background
  • Dye based markers for colouring butterflies, Ecoline, Tombow or Distress markers are perfect. We will have some on hand to share.
  • Chalk inks in pale flower & leaf colours (if you have them)
  • Fine scissors for fussy cutting butterflies
  • White gesso
  • Liquid glue for adhering butterflies

Basics – required for each class

  • A sense of fun and the will to get painty;)
  • Pencil, rubber
  • A variety of paint brushes in different sizes. Bella Paperie sells great starter packs of brushes.
  • Aquash brush is handy to have on hand
  • Sponge for stencilling
  • Paint palette – one with separate wells will be very useful or a small plastic plate
  • Paint spatula
  • Non–stick craft mat
  • Spray bottle for water
  • Baby wipes
  • Paper towel
  • Container for water
  • Heat tool (only if you have one)
  • Apron

Bella Paperie is located at Shop 33, 302 South Pine Road, Brendale. Phone 3205 5911 to book. Class runs 10am – 2pm, March 23 and costs $30 with some supplies provided.

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Art Journal, Bella Paperie, Quotes, Stencils

Mixed Media Art Journaling Workshop – Live in the Moment

Robyn Wood

Live in the moment…take time to notice the small details of life

Creating multi-layered, textured backgrounds can become quite an enjoyable, calming exercise in play. Why not join me this Sunday and I’ll show you how to easily create beautiful backgrounds in your art journal and then we will paint a pretty butterfly in an impressionistic style.

This workshop will focus on creating background textures with a variety of materials and using clear crackle medium for a subtle effect.

We will be working in an A4 sized journal and please have on hand –

  • White tissue paper for background texture, approx. half the page is covered. I use tissue recycled from packaging
  • Stickers for a word/quote if you wish to add something to the page at the end
  • 2-3 acrylic paints for background – I have used a mix of blues, green and an earthy colour (see note below)
  • Acrylic paints in butterfly colours for main image
  • DecoArt Media Crackle Medium or other clear crackle medium (see note below)
  • 2-3 stencils with open patterns for background
  • A variety of paint brushes
  • Wide paint brush for use with matt medium
  • Pencil, rubber
  • Black Stabilo pencil – now available from Bella Paperie
  • Liquitex Matt medium
  • Sponge for stencilling
  • White gesso or paint
  • Paint palette – one with separate wells will be very useful
  • Paint spatula
  • Non–stick craft mat
  • Spray bottle for water
  • Baby wipes
  • Paper towel
  • Container for water
  • Heat tool

N.B. For this workshop, we will be using DecoArt Media Crackle Medium & Fluid Acrylics and some paints will be available for use in class. If you have your own, please bring them along to save waiting. I will also provide the cheesecloth which forms part of the textural element on the page. A butterfly image will be provided for use in workshop, you may wish to bring your own to trace if you would like something a little different.

Bella Paperie is located at Shop 33, 302 South Pine Road, Brendale. Phone 3205 5911 to book. Workshop runs 10am – 2pm, March 4 and costs $30 with some supplies provided.

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Acrylic inks, Art Journal, Bella Paperie, Darkroom Door Stencils, Mixed media, Stencils

Mixed Media Art Journaling – Fantasy Flower Garden

Robyn Wood

Are you looking to start your year with some mixed media creative play? Why not join me for in my monthly art journaling classes and learn the basics, or extend the skills you already have? Themes and techniques change each month but the thing that remains constant is the fun we have!

What would your fantasy flower garden look like? Would it be filled with colour? Alive with bugs and beetles? Perhaps it will have a teensy shed in the corner for the resident fairies? Why not join me as we play with the new Royal Talens Amsterdam acrylic inks and doodling techniques to create a fantasy flower garden.

We will be working in an A4 sized journal and please have on hand –
Acrylic inks (not Dylusions ink sprays) – I have used blue, yellow, gold plus a variety of flower colours
Quotes or wording relating to flowers or gardens for journaling
Fine black pen for journaling
Black & white paint pens in various widths or fine paint brushes and paint
Pencil, rubber
Scissors
White gesso
Liquitex Matt medium
Permanent brown ink
Stamping ink in shades of green. Class inks will be available.
Sponge for stencilling, the Tim Holtz mini ink blending tool and a few sponges will be handy to have
Variety of stencils for pattern making, small patterns plus one with a large open pattern will be useful
A selection of paint brushes for mark making, a #6 round & narrow filbert will be useful
~ 1” wide, flat brush for matt medium
Small amount of thin collage paper
Paint palette – one with separate wells will be very useful
Non–stick craft mat
Spray bottle for water
Baby wipes
Paper towel
Container for water
Heat tool
N.B. For this class we will be creating with Royal Talens Amsterdam acrylic inks which are new to Bella Paperie. Please bring whatever acrylic inks you have and we can talk through the various differences between them. I will have a selection of inks available for use in class.

Bella Paperie is located at Shop 33, 302 South Pine Road, Brendale. Phone 3205 5911 to book. Class runs 10am – 2pm, January 7 and costs $30 with some supplies provided.

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