I have a new mixed media / art journaling tutorial available today! Today on the StencilGirl blog I'm sharing a step-by-step photo overview of how I created this art journal page, including an amazing textured grid in the background. It's full of fun tips and techniques and I'm excited to also be showcasing a few of my latest stencil designs in this project. I hope you'll stop by and check it out!

Hi all! Just a quick post to let you know that I'm up on the StencilGirl blog today with my quarterly Paint & Texture column. This month I'm sharing three ways that you can incorporate watercolor and stencils into your mixed media projects and there are three mini tutorials to go with it!

​Here's a peek at each of the three projects I'm sharing:

Make sure to head over to StencilGirl Talk to get all of the details, including the step-out instructions for how I used watercolor and stencils to create each of these projects.

I'm excited to share that today is the big reveal for my next three rubber stamp sets designed for PaperArtsy. These sets continue the trend of 100% hand-drawn designs that mesh together influences from my travels and many cultures around the world. Below you can see each of the new sets (which are also now available in my shop,) as well as a few samples using them.

First up, EGL07 - the one I call my India set.

I love the motifs here... the lotus, hamsa, and elephant are all more detailed versions of some of my hand carved stamps. The paisleys and the octagon were drawn based on vintage Indian textile patterns. I love to combine these with my other stamps, but for the release I've done a few projects that just use this collection.

First up, a stamped background that could go onto a scrapbook layout, an art journal spread, or be done on a smaller scale for card and tags.

I've also made four little stamped spreads in one of my mini art journals (this one measures 3" x 3", so the double spreads are 6" wide by 3" tall.)

Next up is EGL08, or my Mark Making Circles set. I wanted a bunch of circles that were full of my own hand-drawn images and marks, but I also wanted to be able to layer them so I created two frames that will fit around all nine of the smaller circles. (I snip the centers out of my frame stamps so that I can see to position them when stamping around the pattered circles.)

​You can see more images of these art journal spreads on the official PaperArtsy release blog post.

For my Mark Making Circles set, I made a quick and easy card, stamping 9 of the 10 images in the set onto painted cardstock. Then I used acrylic and dye inks on collage for the background and repeated the circles to make a cruciform shape as the focal point. I love the versatility of this set.

The last set is probably my favorite of all of my sets so far... it's a bit of an odd duck, and a total and complete mix of many different influences combined with a large dash of whimsy. EGL09 is the one I call my "Tribal Faces" set.

I made a very quick card with a watercolored background and some marks to show how you can stamp these without doing detailed coloring and still get cool results.

I also made a set of accordion art dolls using all of the different elements in the set - not just the faces. To complete the look, I gave them all Ikat printed robes that I drew and colored based on Uzbek chapins and textiles. (I call this piece, "The Usual Suspects."

I also did one more mixed media piece that uses all three sets together:

You can see a short tutorial for the above piece on the PaperArtsy blog as well as more photos of the finished project.

I hope you like these new stamps as much as I do. And keep an eye open for an announcement tomorrow for a brand new live online class featuring one of these sets.

Just popping in to let you know that my quarterly column on the StencilGirl blog is up! Today I'm sharing part of the process for making this mixed media piece, which includes stencils, stamps, heat embossing, and water-soluble cold wax mixed with acrylic paint and water-soluble wax paints. Head on over to see more photos and get details on how it all came together.

The original artwork from this post is available for sale in my shop.

Hi all! It's been a while, but I was finally able to finish up a tutorial I've had in the works for about the last two months. I've used kraft-tex from C&T Publishing as the basis for a fun new mini accordion art journal. There's plenty of collage, some stamping and heat embossing, and even some stitching.

Here you can see a peek at the finished outside of the journal, but be sure to head over to view the full tutorial for details and step-by-step instructions and photos.

I have a new tutorial available today over on the StencilGirl blog! I'm sharing one of the ways I like to art journal on top of layers of paint and images left over from cleaning off my stamps and paint brushes on the blank pages of my journal.

If you'd like to see more on how this page came together, make sure to head over to StencilGirl Talk to see my step-by-step photo tutorial.

I have a new tutorial up today on the StencilGirl blog - in this post I'm sharing one of my favorite ways to use Posca paint pens with stencils to create layered art journal pages with bright, colorful "painted" focal images.

Hi all, it's time for my quarterly column on StencilGirl Talk - I have a new mixed media project and tutorial available showing how I complete this piece, "Butterfly Medallion," from start to finish:

You can head on over to see the whole thing, including close-ups of the finished piece. It's also linked from my Tutorials page.

For those who might be interested, the original is also now available for sale in my shop.

Hi all! It's been a while... in the last two months I've started a new job, done a little traveling, and moved from Utah back home to Northern Virginia. It's been a bit crazy, but I did manage to squeeze in the time to work on a new project for my quarterly Paint & Texture column on the StencilGirl blog.

This month's project includes a step-by-step tutorial that shows how I made this layered and textured mixed media piece using paint and stencils, collage with a bit of frottage, and embossing powder using both Baked Texture and my new Boho Blends from Emerald Creek.

Make sure you head over to the StencilGirl blog to see the tutorial as well as close-ups of the finished artwork.

(Sold - thank you!)

You've probably heard or seen me talk about this at some point already, but I'm thrilled that my new line of products with Emerald Creek is now starting to ship! The new goods are going to a few small independent stores right now and I should get the order for my shop soon - I anticipate being able to start shipping sometime this month. (I'll open pre-orders when I know better when I'll get my order.)

What's included in this new line, you ask? I have eight new embossing powders called Boho Blends and seven new crystal and semi-precious gemstone embellishments called Boho Bits. All of them are inspired by my travels around the world... from the colors, sights, and experiences of everything from the Spice Market in Istanbul to the mud brick houses in rural Uzbekistan to the local jewelry worn in Myanmar, China, and Turkmenistan.

These were officially released at the Creativation trade show in Phoenix in January and I was thrilled to have the opportunity to be there on the floor, in the booth, and at the demo table. In my demos, I shared some of my favorite techniques using both the Boho Blends and the Boho Bits and since coming home, I've been working on re-creating those demos as in-depth videos so that everyone can see them.

Without further ado, there are two new video tutorials now available; the first one focuses on the Boho Blends and in it I share my faux "painting" technique. The second showcases the Boho Bits (and of course there's some embossing too,) and shows one of my favorite ways to use them - creating a custom medallion embellishment.

​While the new products aren't widely available yet (I'm waiting on pins and needles for my order to ship!) I couldn't wait to start sharing ideas for using them... hopefully you'll be as excited as I am and ready to put them to work in your own mixed media projects, art journals, and paper crafts over the course of the next few weeks.