First up, I'm excited to announce that I'm back for the 6th year in a row as an instructor for Creative JumpStart 2021. CJS is run by Nathalie Kalbach and is a fabulous way to help you jumpstart your creativity in the new year with daily downloadable mixed media video lessons - all about 10 minutes each. This year marks the 10th anniversary for CJS and we're celebrating with more artists and videos than ever - you get 45! 

And for today only, all 45 videos are just $49. 

(Tomorrow through December 4th it will be $59, December 5th-31st it will be $69. After that, it goes to the regular price of $89. So make sure you jump on this incredible deal!)

This year's theme is probably my favorite so far - Storytelling. Not to give anything away, but I'm super excited about my lesson where I'll share a bit about telling your story with your supplies. Here's just a peek at one of the samples for the project I'll make in the video:

There are so many amazing artists participating in Creative JumpStart this year - I'm thrilled to be one of them and I can't wait to watch the videos! I hope you'll join me in jumpstarting your creativity in the new year.

Of course, it wouldn't be a Cyber Weekend without sales... my shop is having its last day of my annual Cyber Monday sale - save 20% off your entire order with the coupon Cyber2020 through midnight eastern tonight (November 30th.)

StencilGirl is having their annual Cyber Monday sale as well - today and tomorrow, you can save 25% on all stencils, which includes my latest release.

Last but not least, my last live online class of the year, Ornaments & Amulets, will be held this Saturday, December 5th. There's still time to sign up if you're interested! The pre-class video and downloadable bead pattern sheets are already archived in the group. Even if you can't make the Live, all of the videos will be saved for watching and / or re-watching at any time and registration will close before the live class begins, so if you want to get in on this class, make sure to sign up today!

I'm excited today to be releasing 7 new stencil designs with StencilGirl! I'm adding three new stencils to my Boho collection, a new mini Palmistry Hand stencil, and three new Suzani designs that coordinate with some of my PaperArtsy stamps as well as my July 2020 StencilClub collection.

The Boho Faces stencil was inspired by a piece of artwork I created as a sample for one of my rubber stamp collections. There was so much interest around the piece that it then inspired a set of rubber stamps with PaperArtsy. Of course, once I started playing with those small stamp designs, I started thinking that it would be even more fun to have different faces in a much larger size. Thus, the Boho Faces stencil was born.

There are two faces on this 9” x 12” stencil that are a mash-up of tribal influences from my travels as well as my imagination. You can use one or both of the designs and you can also mask them off to use bits and pieces. This stencil also coordinates beautifully with my new Boho Daisies Small and Mini stencils as well as the other designs in the Boho collection (as you can see in the sample artwork above.)

The Boho Daisy stencils were inspired by the daisies that I started drawing around the eyes of my tribal or Boho faces. I wanted to have two sizes of this daisy design so that you can use them together for variety in size or layer on top of each other in your work. They're also fabulous as embroidery patterns or for cards and tags, scrapbooking, and lots more.

The Palmistry Hand stencil was inspired by my experiences having my palm read while traveling through Bali and India. The design is a right-handed palm showing the Life Line, Wisdom Line, Love Line, Fate Line, and Marriage Line. This design also includes the symbols for Venus (love, sympathy, and grace,) Moon (courage, mysticism, and imagination,) and outside of the palm are Jupiter (confidence, wisdom, and leadership,) Sun (ambition, success, and creativity,) and Saturn (discipline, balance, and independence.)

My new Suzani stencils were inspired by inspired by the traditional hand-embroidered Suzanis (textiles – usually bed covers or wall hangings) found through Central Asia, and especially in Uzbekistan. I saw them in markets and and was especially intrigued by many displays of traditional Suzani motifs in a museum in a Summer palace in Bukhara. All three designs were intended to stand alone but also to coordinate with some of my PaperArtsy rubber stamp collections (EGL11 and EGL12) as well as my July 2020 StencilClub “Suzani” collection (which is exclusively available to StencilClub members.)

The Suzani Circle Flowers stencil has a detailed floral design that can also be repeated - turn it in different directions for even more versatility in creating backgrounds and larger designs.

The Suzani Circle Medallion stencil was particularly inspired by the large circular embroidered medallions found on many of the traditional Suzani textiles. This beautifully detailed design can be used with or without the thin circle border, or you can mask off other elements to use just the center section or other shapes in the design.

Finally, the Suzani Flower Medallion stencil is a lacy and detailed stencil that can be used as an embroidery pattern, but it’s also ideal for art journaling, mixed media, handmade cards and tags, and much more.

I'm super excited to be adding these to my repertoire of stencils available from StencilGirl as well as seeing how perfectly they coordinate with some of my recent stamp collections. I can't wait to make more art with them and to see how you all put them to work in your own projects.