Rebekah Meier Stencils by Crafter's Workshop Blog Hop

What a pleasure to participate in this challenge with a very talented group of designers chosen by Rebekah to showcase her new stencil designs by Crafters Workshop.

The Crafter Workshop Stencils can be purchased from Bluemoon Scrapbooking.  We were sent four  6" x 6" stencils from this new line: Ring Doily Stencil,  Stain Glass Stencil, Byzantine Stencil and Rosetta Stencil.

Once receiving the stencils,  the hard choice was - "what should I do"?

Though all the stencils can be used together, I chose to showcase two stencils individually in two different projects.

Some time ago I was lucky enough to take part in a week-end workshop with Magdalena Muldoon.  I became interested in metal embossing.  During the two day workshop we were shown several ideas in working with metal.  One process was embossing with stencils.  After seeing the designs in Rebekah's stencils I thought it would be fun to work one of the stencils into a metal embossed design.     I chose the Stain Glass Stencil to work with for this project.  The metal piece I created was then used for a cover on a simple album.  The stencil design was traced onto a piece of metal with a metal tracing tool.  The design was refined by using a variety of metal embossing tools.  Once the design was embossed into the metal, I filled in the raised designs on the backside.  This is done with spackling paste or anything that will harden to hold the raised part of the design in place.  Because I had a small area to fill, I used Plaid® Royal Coat Dimensional Magic™.

To give the piece an antique look, the embossed image was cover with Black Soot Distress Paint and then wipe off with a paper towel.  The paint will embed itself into the embossed areas.  If needed, more paint can be added and rewiped.  To add a little accent, some Perfect Pearls was brushed over the image. The use of the stencil did not end with the metal cover.  I took a piece of solid fabric and used the stencil, along with Tim Holtz Distress Stain Bundled Sage.  I simply took the stencil and while holding it in place, I rubbed the Distress Stain over it.  The process was repeated over and over across the piece of fabric by overlaying the stencil and applying the Distress Stain.   The result of this process gave the fabric the look of batik that looked amazing on the fabric.  The fabric was than used to cover corrugated and chip board to create the album.  Add some binder rings to hold the album together and embellish with a variety of ribbons or cords tied to the rings for a finishing touch.

So I just couldn't stop and wanted to play with the stencils and paints.

Finding a canvas bag in my stash of items I thought it would make a great surface to repurpose.  The image on the bag was coated with two coats of white gesso.

For the bag, I used the Byzantine Stencil.  I began in the center of the bag by applying a layer of  US ArtQUest Heavy Artist's Cement.  Spread a layer over the stencil with a palette knife.  It is alright for it to be an uneven layer.  Lift and clean the stencil off with water.   Allow this to dry very well before continuing.  Using two colors and acrylic paints of choice, the stencil was held in place in the four corners and paint is applied over the stencils.  To add a bit more texture, the stencil was partially placed in any open areas and more heavy artist cement is added.  Once this dries, brush or sponge additional paints to add more color.  Black fabric was die-cut using Tim Holtz Wordplay die by Sizzix.  The letters were glued to the bag and the entire stenciled area was coated with a Sealer.  This repurposed canvas bag will now be added to the collection of reusable bags that I use for all my shopping needs.

I thank Rebekah for asking me to be a part of this blog hop and having the chance to work with her stencils.  I also look forward to seeing all the other projects the others will be sharing here.  I'm sure there will be inspiring and creative ideas flowing here.

Follow all the links to all the other blog posts to get inspired.   Answer Rebekah's question by leaving your comment on her post - you may be lucky enough to win her new stencils.


   

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