For the Love of LaFazio: Creating With My Jane LaFazio Stencil

I've had a crafty crush on Jane LaFazio's work for a long time, so imagine my delight when I was selected to participate in a blog hop featuring one of her beautiful Stencil Girl stencils! Speaking of StencilGirl... they've got a great give-away on their blog, StencilGirlTalk. To enter, just leave a comment here or on any of the blogs in the hop (see the list below.) The more blogs you visit and leave comments... the more chances to win!

For my blog hop post, I chose Jane's Sweet Gum Balls stencil because it reminded me of fall, my family, and our blog hop theme: grateful. I am extremely grateful for my family and so many wonderful times with them. My grandparents had a sweet gum tree in their backyard and I have so many memories of collecting (and stepping on) those sweet gum balls during happy visits. These memories and the gratitude I have for them inspired me to create a patchwork paper cloth that incorporates these images and feelings.

Supplies I Used:
Freezer paper
Masking Tape
Roll of Rice Paper
Niji Splash Ink, magenta and yellow
Paintbrush, medium
Drying rack covered with plastic wrap
Scissors
Stencil
Pan Pastel (black) and applicator sponge
Deli Paper
Acrylic craft paint, hot pink
Spray fixative
Black Pitt Pen
Scissors
Liquid matte medium

Paint and Stencil Rice Paper

Step 1: Prepare your surface by taping down a piece of freezer paper, shiny side up.

Step 2: Cut a 2' sheet of rice paper

Step 3: Mix Splash Inks and water to create color washes.

Step 4: Cover the entire sheet of rice paper with color washes. The paper will be very wet and delicate.

Step 5: Carefully lift the sheet of painted rice paper. Place it on the drying rack and allow it to dry completely.

Step 6: Repeat steps 1-6 to create another sheet of painted rice paper.

Step 7: Once dry, take one sheet from the drying rack. Randomly stencil the sweet gum ball images using black pan pastel. Take the sheet outside and spray it with fixative. Allow it to dry completely.

Stencil and Paint Deli Paper

Step 1: Randomly stencil the sweet gum ball images onto the deli paper using black pan pastel. Take the sheet outside and spray it with fixative. Allow it to dry completely.

Step 2: Paint a thin coat of acrylic craft paint onto the non-stenciled side of the deli paper.  Allow it to dry completely.

Create Journaled Rice Paper

Step 1: Cut a 1-2' piece of rice paper. Using a black pitt pen, write a poem, journal entry, or random words to cover the entire sheet of paper.

Step 2: Follow steps 1-6 above in the Stencil and Paint Rice Paper section.

Put the Pieces Together

Step 1: Cut random rectangles from each paper: stenciled rice paper, painted rice paper, journaled rice paper, and stenciled deli paper.

Step 2: Use liquid matte medium to adhere the rectangles to a long sheet of rice paper. Arrange the rectangles in a random pattern. Coat the front and back of each piece as you adhere it to the rice paper.

 
Step 3: Cut smaller pieces of each paper and use these pieces as tiny "patches" to bring the piece together.

The final result is a long sheet of beautifully patterned paper.

This paper can be used in a variety of ways. It can be hung, placed on a table, or sewn like fabric to create three dimensional pieces.

Thanks so much for visiting today! I hope you'll take a few minutes to visit all the beautiful blogs in our hop. I'm grateful you stopped by! 

The hoppers...

StencilGirl Talk

Jane LaFazio

Mary Beth Shaw

Linda Kittmer

Jenny Lee Cochran

Kirsten Reed

Janet Joehlin

Corrine Gilman

Helen Shafer Garcia

Leslie Tucker Jenison

Ruth de Vos

Deborah Boschert

Julie Snidle

Mary C. Nasser

In the Midst of Chaos, Make Bracelets

October whizzed by. My house and studio make that quite obvious to me.

We've got interseason wardrobe pile-up (tank tops and sweaters wedged into crowded drawers, winter storage boxes left mid-raid on cold mornings, flip-flops and fuzzy boots jumbling up by the back door.)

My studio is also in complete disarray. As the staging area for Halloween costuming and decorating, it's been polluted with feathers, glitter, felt, and zombie blood.

Way too much pizza has been eaten in the last two weeks.

But in the midst of the chaos, I found time to sneak in a few experimental bracelets. I found these easy-to-braid leather bracelets for around $3 at Hobby Lobby.

I created this charm by riveting a brass star to a flat brass disc. Next, I embossed the piece with Ice Enamel powder. I put a layer of Ranger Melt Art UTEE (Ultra Thick Embossing Enamel) on top and melted the metal piece in my Melt Art melting pot. The Ice Enamel and UTEE are not designed to work together, but I wanted to see what would happen. The result was a really neat frosty effect.

For this one, I used a brass bezel. I painted the background with Vintaj patina paint in turquoise. After sanding it, I added some Ice Enamel powder around the edges. I crinkled hot pink wire into a heart shape and placed it into the bezel. Finally I put UTEE into the bezel and heated it in my melting pot.

Isn't it funny how random craft projects manage to sneak into our busy lives?!