New Stencils coming out Tomorrow!

New Stencils
Hey everyone! As I said in my last post featuring my new Stamp designs, I was going to do one big post with my New Releases but I had WAY too many photos to share with you! I'm breaking up the news into two posts. Here's the Stencil portion...
These stencils are all 6" by 9" laser cut from Mylar. I tried to design them so that you can use parts of the design or the whole thing to make them as versatile as possible. Hope you like them! They'll be available on my site along with my new unmounted stamps on Wednesday March 11th!!!

Gingko S-5

Above are my first experiments using my Gingko stencil. In the first image I used modeling paste. When dry, I put the stencil back overtop and sponged pearlescent paint on. When dry, I sponge on green paint. You can see the pearlescent paint shining through. Love that effect!

The second image is a mix of Distress ink through the stencil (in the background) and the same modeling paste technique in the bottom right corner.

Japanese Anemone S-6

In the first image I used the same modeling paste technique as with the Gingko leaves. The second is Distress inks rubbed through the stencil.

Hibiscus S-4

The first image of Hibiscus was done by rubbing Distress inks through the stencil. For the second card I used modeling paste. I haven't added colour to it yet so that is the colour of the paste.

My Design Process

Thank goodness for the built in camera in my phone. It makes gathering research pics when out and about so much easier! This Gingko lives in my neighbourhood. I also collected some leaves from the ground to study them close up. Here are my rough sketches and first inkings.

I started with many lines in the leaves (true to life) and ended up simplifying as the design progressed. I think they look much better with less linework.

I still prefer to draw on paper instead of directly into my computer. It takes more time this way because I have to scan and then clean the images. I think it's worth it though.

You may remember that I posted on Facebook asking for your help in identifying this beautiful plant. Thanks to you I now know that it's a Japanese Anemone :)

Gathering research photos at my local garden center...

As you can see the designs get a lot more refined as I go. I try to start loose and then tighten the images by smoothing the linework etc...

There's the added complication of engineering when designing stencils as well. The design has to hold together. I think of the linework as little bridges. They can't be too thin or they might collapse but to keep the design flow I don't like making them too fat either. These are my 4th, 5th and 6th stencil designs and I think I'm slowly getting the hang of it.

Here's a very happy me when I received the proofs for my stencils and saw that the designs worked out really well! Thanks so much for stopping by my blog and for reading about what I'm up to. I so appreciate your support and enthusiasm :)

Bye for now,

Ryn