Stenciled Projects

The creative process is a tricky thing. Sometimes ideas just come to you and you’re able to create exactly what you had in mind. Other times you just stare at the blank page, completely unsure of how to start. And let’s not forget the times...

Years ago, I would spend hours in my craft space just playing around. Seeing what happened if I mixed these two paint colors together, or if I stamped with this medium instead of ink. Music playing, my creativity flowing, I just played. As social media...

  Do you ever get that itch to just play around with your art supplies? No project in mind. No need to actually finish anything. Of course you do.   Most of the time when I’m in my craft space, I spend my time making a specific...

Dina Wakley’s new stamps capture all my inner weirdness. There are party hats, book text, and zany sentiments for me to enjoy with all the exuberance of an artist at play. This project required bright colors, courtesy of her new scribble sticks,...

Every time I see a Hello stamp or stencil, I can’t help but singing “Is it me you’re looking for?” in my head. In this ode to Lionel Richie and Adele, I have embellished these Hello Tags with sentiments best-expressed in these hit...

  I recently took an online class with Dina Wakley on JeanneOliver.com, and what I remember most about the class is Dina's lesson on white space. I for one have always had a problem with white space... I mean, if I see any, I impulsively want to...

My mother always topped her Christmas tree with an angel bedecked in all white. It held a candle and she uses it every year. The rest of the year, it is packed away carefully in the original box. One year, we lost an entire box of Christmas decorations...

“If you have good thoughts, they will shine out of your face like sunbeams and you will always look lovely.” — Roald Dahl I’ve been practicing drawing faces for almost two weeks. I’ve been drawing face after face, playing...

All my friends are certain of two things — I love my dogs and I’m obsessed with Jane Austen. Mr. Darcy and Mr. Bingley, my two dogs, get their names from the characters in “Pride and Prejudice” so it is only fitting that Mr...

In the July/August issue of Somerset Studio, there were tons of inspiration for using plain shipping tags to make beautiful artwork. Taking the cue, these tags are beautiful pieces of mini artwork that can be tied to a package, hung on the wall, or...

These tags capture a tropical paradise. From Calypso Teal to Vibrant Turquoise, the spray inks on these cards are soothing and beautifully vivid. Pair these tags with a floral stencil or a pattern to create an almost stained glass appearance when the...

Anyone who has spent five seconds with me has probably heard about my dogs, Mr. Darcy and Mr. Bingley. They are my best friends and always bring a smile to my face. They are both named after characters in “Pride and Prejudice” by Jane Austen,...

There is a breathtaking portrait by Gustav Klimt called Woman in Gold. When I saw this image from the postcard set by Ingrid Pomeroy, the posture of the lady reminded me of that portrait and I knew that I had to create something as an homage to the...

Finnabair’s new Metallique Waxes are vivid color that’s easy to apply and add detail with. Just create your textured background, then rub on the waxes to make everything pop with vivid shine. For this canvas, I paired Ingrid Pomeroy’s...

I’ve been reading “Les Miserables” for the past two years and have been slowly whittling away at this behemoth of a book during roadtrips, vacation days, weekends, and while waiting in line at the pharmacy. After two years of 5 minute...

I was inspired by a favorite necklace to create this canvas. It is made of flattened copper pennies and has touches of blue and turquoise in the beading. This necklace is cherished and handmade, but matches nothing that I wear, so I’ve had it...

Explore three different ways to create mixed-media masterpieces with the same coloring page. Original coloring page by Crystal Brashear from The Coloring Studio Summer 2016 and artwork by Renee Zarate. The Coloring Studio Mixed-Media Pages Three-Ways...

I was saving this piece of clip art for something special when I came across this quote by Roald Dahl inside Bella Grace: “Above all, watch with glittering eyes the whole world around you because the greatest secrets are always hidden in the most...

This week, we’re celebrating Teacher Appreciation Week with this stamped and stenciled tote bag. My mother is a teacher and carries her supplies to and from work in tote bags, so this seemed like the perfect gift to thank teachers for all the hard...

With spring fully in bloom, these colorful tags are sure to inspire and encourage someone. Attach them to a gift, or give to a friend just because. Dream as If You'll Live Forever — Inspirational Tags Project Instructions: Using the shiny/glossy...

Create this necklace, and one-of-a-kind custom gift tag to let mom know just how much you love her this Mother’s Day. We’d love to see what you are making. Share your artwork on Instagram using #StampingtonMade for a chance to be a featured...

Join us as we continue on our year-long journal challenge. In January, we created a set of journal prompts that you can find here, in hopes to keep you inspired to create your own art journal that you can carry along with you no matter where you are...

When Distress Crayons arrived at our offices, I couldn’t hold myself back from incorporating their bright colors into these tags. This technique uses their water-reactive pigments to create a fun background that can be the basis for an art journal...

When I was growing up, a trip to the drugstore would inevitably end with me asking my parents to buy me a pack of stickers. I loved them. I loved putting them all over the place, and I loved just looking at them in their package. Decades later, and not...

Our new Papaya Art clip art books are an endless source of creativity. I already have at least 10 art journal pages just waiting to be painted, stenciled, and embellished from the different designs. This first page uses the image “Night...

I hate to wait for paint to dry. I mean, I really hate it. I fixed this problem while art journaling by using a heat tool, but sitting there with a heat tool isn’t exactly my idea of a good time. Plus, I melted a huge dent into my craft table one...

Recently, during one of my trips down the Internet rabbit hole, I stumbled across a video on YouTube that showed someone using Color Bursts, a watercolor product I wasn’t familiar with. I was instantly captivated by the idea. Watercolor powders...

Ken Oliver’s Color Burst watercolors just arrived in our offices and I knew that we had to create something bright and bursting with color right away. I transformed this white watercolor paper with plenty of warm color and grungy touches to create...

There’s just something about the color pink. It’s feminine, cheerful, sophisticated. It’s one of my favorite colors to work with because there’s so many different effects that can be conjured with the color pink. For this...

When I first saw the artwork by Leslie Sabella inside The Coloring Studio, I knew that I had to transform her feathers into a dream catcher. However, I wanted to create a fresh take on dream catchers and incorporate some of my favorite mixed-media...