Clarity Challenge 32 – October 2015

 Stencils

Hi there - greetings from Shelagh-land again. So sorry the extra posts have not materialised but I've been nursing a very sick computer and despite shelling out a fair amount to return it to full health, I'm writing this on my brand new laptop. I've yet to learn how to shut it down but at least it's working and connected to the printer! 

This month's Clarity Challenge is entitled 'Stencils' and I decided to go down another route by drawing inside the stencil shape with my Micron pen, an idea which took shape whilst doodling in a 'zentangle' book in Schipol Airport. I knew I wanted to use the 'Flower Power' stencil and from there it was a question of sorting through my collection of Clarity stencils and selecting a suitable one for the background. I also wanted a bit of texture so I used water-colour paper for both butterfly and background. Once the stencils had been outlined, it was again back to doodling to fill them in and quite therapeutic it was, too. (All materials are all available from the Clarity website.)

Materials:-

·         Watercolour Paper

·         Clarity Stencils: - Flower Power, Leafy Strip, Filigraphy Butterfly  

·         Micron Pen

 Instructions:-

1.       Tape the butterfly stencil onto a sheet of the watercolour paper. Using the Micron 01 pen, outline the butterfly stencil and all its markings twice.  

2.       Using the Micron pen, doodle Zentangle-type patterns inside each shape pattern.

3.       Cut out each butterfly and set aside.

4.       Tape the Flower Power stencil onto another sheet of watercolour paper and when happy with the placement, outline the desired flower pattern again using the Micron pen. Remove stencil.

5.       Over this outline, tape the Leafy Strip stencil to suit and draw in the outline with the Micron pen, ensuring the leaves are behind the flowers.

6.       Again using Zentangle-type patterns, create line work on each leaf.

7.       Cut black then white mounts to suit and place in a frame.

8.       Remove the head from one of the butterflies (quite painless, really!), cut into the wings of the same butterfly and manipulate to create shaped wings.

9.       Attach this over the second butterfly and attach to framed picture to suit.

N.B. I wasn’t happy with the frame as the white was tinged with yellow so I painted it twice with Fresco Finish Snowflake. It now was the right ‘white’ but too matte so I found a tin of lavender floor polish in my cleaning materials and sat for an evening working this in around the empty frame with my finger. It was actually quite therapeutic! Once it was fully absorbed, I repeated this another couple of times until the required look was achieved.
Below are a few of the trials before I settled on the final draft.

Many thanks again for tuning in to my blog; I do greatly appreciate you spending your valuable time reading it.  Once more I am very much looking forward to your challenge entries; you never disappoint! If you have not entered before, please consider doing so either by your own blog or emailing your contribution to claritystampchallenge@hotmail.com

The Clarity website can be found at www.claritystamp.co.uk and Clarity also has a Facebook page - https//:www.facebook.com/claritystamp.co.uk

Have fun!

Warm wishes to all,

Shelagh.