Thursday 17 September 2020

StencilGirl® and Seth Apter - Wow! - Blog Hop

Hi, servus and welcome to an especially exciting blog post today!




As the banner indicates, it's time for another blog hop - this time "WOW!" and StencilGirl Products have teamed up to showcase the new fabulous embossing powders (and Mixed Media Embossing Brush) designed by wonderful Seth Apter and to demonstrate how well these can be used together with StencilGirl stencils to create the most amazing projects with the special wow-factor (sorry, couldn't resist the pun).


Designers from the WOW! and StencilGirl Products design teams are sharing their projects (WOW!'s designers have shared theirs already yesterday...today it's StencilGirl's turn) to inspire you and introduce several ways on how to use Seth's cool WOW! embossing powder Trios and - my favourite - the Mixed Media Embossing Brush (I will tell you why I love it so much a little later in this post in the tutorial section).

At the bottom of this post you will find the links to the other teamies' blogs and projects and learn how to participate in the blog hop and about the great  GIVE AWAY that is waiting for three lucky persons...


But first let's take a close look on Seth Apter's new WoW! embossing powders and how they go together with StencilGirl stencils!
This is the project I have created for this blog hop:





It was all done using - of course - Seth Apter Wow! embossing powders, StencilGirl stencils...and DecoArt Americana acrylic paints.
The panel my altered brush sits on is an old bamboo chop board that I created a background on using Seth's "monoprinting-with-paper" technique (one of my favs).

And as I love to use found objects and left over snippets of previous projects in my work (that I keep in a little wooden box on my desk for inspiration), there is also a left over piece of self made Dresden trim (done with one of the 3D Impresslits folders designed by Tim Holtz), a frozen charlotte, some dictionary scraps and a small piece of linen ribbon to find.





Here are the products and substrates I've used...I always love to have quite a stash of stencils at hand when I start a project so I can pick the ones that fit best while the project evolves and takes me on its own journey (so some of the ones shown here weren't used in the end).




 I've used these StencilGirl stencils to create my altered brush panel: 


- ATC Mixup Apter stencil by Seth Apter
- medium sized stencil from the October 2016 Stencil Club Set by Mary Beth Shaw




The two WOW! embossing powder Trios designed by Seth hold six amazing powders that go by the intriguing names of Blue Moon, Sea of Tranquility and Space Dust (from the "Cosmic" Trio) and Etched Platinum, Weathered Gold and Crusty Copper (from the "Metalz" Trio). The thin bottle with the yellow liquid to the left holds Seth's "Mixed Media Embossing Brush" and an embossing liquid that can be applied to almost any surface by using the brush that is included in the lid.

On my project I went wild and tried the powders and the Mixed Media Brush on as many different substrates as I could - on wood, on paper, on top of acrylic paint, on the brush's bristles and also the metal part, on left overs from chipboard tokens from some board games and on some linen ribbon...and it all worked like a dream!



What I especially love about the Mixed Media Brush is that the liquid has an extremely long open time (compared to other embossing liquids from embossing dabbers) and you can vary the thickness and amount of liquid applied by spreading some of it with the brush on a palette first and using a cosmetic sponge for dabbing only a really thin coat of that onto a surface (which also works extremely well with stencils).
A little of the liquid goes a long, long way and applying too much of it can cause your embossing powders to kind of swim on top and drift away during the melting process. So less is more in most cases, but on certain substrates - like the brush's bristles or fabric for example - you need a thicker coat than a dabber would provide. So the Mixed Media Brush is really versatile and opens up a lot of new possibilities (which makes my mixed media heart sing).

My bamboo board and the ugly red brush were primed using DecoArt Chalky Finish paint "primitive". 



Then I picked some DecoArt Americana acrylic paints and put together one of my go-to colour schemes. I applied layers of paint by first brushing it onto a piece of card stock and then pressing that onto the board - a kind of mono printing technique that is perfect for layering and creating depth and that I've picked up with one of Seth Apter's great online classes.




Voilà - the base for my altered brush and for the next layer that was to be done with stencils and embossing powders was finished!




To tone down my brush I dry brushed it with some dark brown acrylic paint. Then I used the Text and Texture Transform stencil and orange acrylic paint to add the focal word to the brush's handle. I applied the paint through the stencil using a very small stencil brush.




I added more orange words from the stencil to the bamboo panel. Before the paint was completely dry I sprinkled some Sea of Tranquility embossing powder on top, tipped off the excess and heat embossed the traces left on the stencilled words. This added a kind of patina look as it didn't adhere to the whole design.




To create a kind of metal rivets I used two different sizes of left over circles from board game chipboard tokens and heat embossed these with Weathered Gold and Crusty Copper.






The label was heat embossed using Space Dust embossing powder.

Then I fused the smaller "metal" bits with the larger ones by simply putting them together and re-heating. This way the bits on top sank into the molten embossing powder below and once everything had cooled down it was beautifully fused without the use of any glue.




Two stripes of embossing powders (Space Dust and Sea of Tranquility) got added to the very ends of the brush's bristles.




More heat embossing on the panel was to follow! I used Sea of Tranquility again together with a stencil to create the beautiful drip lines. You can see the cosmetic sponge to the very right. Right left to it I had spread some embossing liquid from the Mixed Media Brush flask on my palette (but that doesn't show in the picture). From there I picked some up with the sponge and applied it thinly through the stencil. It gave perfectly crisp outlines!
(I used the left overs on the palette about half an hour later and it still worked smoothly - that's what I really call a long open time!!!)




You can also see the crisp lines from the design from Seth's Urban Insiders Bar stencil - this time done in "Blue Moon" embossing powder.  I had again used the cosmetic sponge through the stencil to apply the Mixed Media Brush liquid from my palette.




Etched Platinum went to the widest section of the metal wrap of the brush and was also used to fix the frozen charlotte in place.




I added some more heat embossing here and there - trying to repeat all the colours used in at least three different spots to fuse everything visually.

Using a fine tip Faber Castell PITT artist pen I outlined some of the designs for better visibility and more interest.




I finally found I needed a kind of frame for my frozen charlotte, so I die cut a circular label holder from heavy cardstock and heat embossed that with Weathered Gold (using the still not dried out left overs from the Mixed Media Brush liquid on my palette!). The label holder looks almost like the real metal thing, doesn't it?!




Three more tiny circle chipboard left overs were heat embossed with Crusty Copper for two nail heads for the label holder and one nail head that was to go on the end of the brush handle.




The piece got finished off by adding some text from the dictionary page scraps and gluing everything in place. Before that I had also added thin stripes of Weathered Gold and Blue Moon the the brush - the latter was applied to the linen ribbon (to the right). With the Mixed Media Brush that was no problem at all.

The brush got fixed to the panel by using thick heavy duty sticky foam pads. The other bits were glued in place using tacky glue and matte DecoArt Decou-Page.





Some close ups: 












My panel tells about stories lost, stories within, stories that are yet incomplete (the stories of our lives), the acceptance of incompleteness in general, it tells about the "principles of trusting" - that come into play when we take a "leap" and put our art (and soul) out there and only dare to do so because we are able to "lean" on our faith in the quality of our own art.












And now let's finally talk about the ...



There's a $35 Gift Certificate to StencilGirl® Products,
a $35 Gift Certificate to Seth Apter’s Shop
AND a $25 Gift Certificate to Wow!

Enter to win by leaving a comment below.
Then be sure to visit the other blogs in the hop and comment to win.


Tina Walker
Debi Adams
Mary C. Nasser
Claudia Neubacher (you are here now)
Kate Yetter



The more blogs you comment on, the more chances you have to WIN!
Three winners will be chosen at random from all blog comments!
(Only one comment per blog please.)

You have until Tuesday, September 22nd at 11:59PM Central Time to leave your comments.
Winners will be announced on Wednesday, September 23rd.


Good luck, everyone,

and as always

hugs and happy crafting!

Claudia 
xxx



91 comments:

  1. I absolutely love the simulated paint drips. It’s so fantastic.

    ReplyDelete
  2. Great piece of assemblage- I love your style!

    ReplyDelete
  3. Very, very creative! janisgraham (at) yahoo (dot) com

    ReplyDelete
  4. I really like how you showed that the embossing powder can be used on different kind of things and not only paper its really neat how this project turned out

    ReplyDelete
  5. this is stunning. I love how old and weathered you made that bamboo board look. like it has years and years of weathered worn paint on it. I too love the Faux paint drips. a good way to control where you want the drips to go. Lots of inspiration to be found in your artwork.

    ReplyDelete
  6. I love seeing the process. I am new to this art form so seeing the art unfold is fascinating. This piece is an inspiration.

    ReplyDelete
  7. So creative! I enjoyed all the detail of the piece and your detailed explanation of your process.

    ReplyDelete
  8. What a great assemblage piece! I especially love how you used the chipboard game pieces with embossing powder to simulate metal brads/nails. Very creative!

    ReplyDelete
  9. This is new for me too and I was intrigued at how a paintbrush could be turned into a masterpiece. The process was amazing!

    ReplyDelete
  10. This whole piece has so many parts to it. Makes my heart sing!

    ReplyDelete
  11. Love this piece! Enjoyed reading how it all came together. Thank you for sharing.

    ReplyDelete
  12. Beautiful project. Love everything about it. Now I have to get another set of his powders

    ReplyDelete
  13. Awesome altered brush art piece, love all the embossing powder texture layers and the color combos. Brilliant idea to glue/fuse rivets with EP layers! melissa(dot)friedrich123(at)gmail(dot)com

    ReplyDelete
  14. What a fun piece, so much thought and fun

    ReplyDelete
  15. I love all the layering of the stencils and textures! The little embellishments are perfect!

    ReplyDelete
  16. OH wow, Thank you for showing so much of your process! I am fascinated! Thank you! And yes, I could comment today with no google accunt! Yay! This was an issue for a number of the sites I tried to comment on yesterday. Thanks so much!

    ReplyDelete
  17. Excellent assemblage. The altered brush sets the stage. Thanks ghoagland(at)msn(dot)com

    ReplyDelete
  18. So glad you shared this. Looking forward to reviewing all the details of this post over lunch. I love finding a new artist to be inspired by and follow for more ideas.

    ReplyDelete
  19. You made magic with this awesome assemblage.

    ReplyDelete
  20. Love what you did to the board! Very creative. Great description of your process.

    ReplyDelete
  21. The stencils, embossing powder, and paintbrush are perfectly integrated on this beautiful piece. Love it!

    ReplyDelete
  22. Wow....you are very inspiring!
    Love, love it!! Thanks for sharing your art and the process!!♥️

    ReplyDelete
  23. Your creation is glorious! Thanks!

    ReplyDelete
  24. oh the lovely grunge effect with these embossing powders is incredible.

    ReplyDelete
  25. Great mixed media assemblage.

    ReplyDelete
  26. What a great art piece! I appreciate the details of your process. Can't wait to experiment with these products.

    ReplyDelete
  27. Love this so much, it is sending me off to new products and classes! The effects are wonderful and I love the charlotte especially as I have some to use :)

    ReplyDelete
  28. Wow! (pun not intended) you have really shown so many ways to use the powders! Thank you for all of the inspiration. I especially loved the two-layer "rivets".

    ReplyDelete
  29. I love how u added color to the wood.

    ReplyDelete
  30. So creative and absolutely gorgeous! LOVE the embossing powder just on the ends of the brush, too!

    ReplyDelete
  31. Love the dimension with the paintbrush and other pieces you assembled! Beautiful colors and textures!

    ReplyDelete
  32. I have been thinking too small with my embossing powders, thank you! Love your project, Claudia.

    ReplyDelete
  33. Wow! This is really fun. Thanks for sharing so much about using the embossing fluid brush! That helps me a lot!

    ReplyDelete
  34. I love how you used embossing powders on so many different materials.

    ReplyDelete
  35. Fabulous Claudia, and a very detailed tutorial! xxx

    ReplyDelete
  36. How fun is this piece! Thanks for sharing.

    ReplyDelete
  37. Such stunning details, layers, colors and textures. Just amazing!

    ReplyDelete
  38. Amazing piece. Love all the embossing powder colors you used.

    ReplyDelete
  39. Awesome piece! Love the little details, like how you created those cool rivets. That extra touch with the embossing on the end of the brush is another great detail. Thanks for sharing your work.

    ReplyDelete
  40. Claudia, this piece looks amazing, I love the way you incorporated bits and pieces in such a unified way, the embossing and etencils add so much interest and beautiful color. Thanks for sharing your process. xx

    ReplyDelete
  41. Love altered brushes and the use of amazing colored embossing powders. Beautiful project 🥰

    ReplyDelete
  42. What a beautiful mixed media altered piece. Great use of the paint, stencils, and EP. Love all the details on the paint brush.

    ReplyDelete
  43. Love the embossing powders, stencils, and the circle chipboard!!!

    ReplyDelete
  44. (As Miranda tried to leave a comment yesterday and Blogger obviously didn't let her, I am posting the comment she sent to me via email (which is so lovely of her) on her behalf):

    So much to see on your project! Love the way you have embossed the hair of the paintbrush. Like the fusing of the smaller metal pieces, great idea!

    Hope it is OK that I left a comment here,

    creative regards
    Miranda (from the Netherlands)

    ReplyDelete
    Replies
    1. Thank you so much Claudia! Will see if Blogger helps me today......great work!

      Delete
  45. You took that leap and created a beautifully designed piece! I love all the grungy goodness!

    ReplyDelete
  46. Hi Claudia, will try again to leave a comment, maybe today is a lucky day.....I am glad you received the email though........So much to see on your project and I love the way you have embossed the paintbrush and the fusing of the smalle metal pieces.......great work!

    ReplyDelete
  47. Fabulous! I get so much out of these posts an I can't wait to try some of these techniques!
    Debbie Lamc

    ReplyDelete
  48. So many cool techniques and ideas! Thank you.

    ReplyDelete
  49. You so inspired me to try my hand my own here at home! Beautiful!!

    ReplyDelete
  50. Claudia, what a great piece. You not only used all the products but clearly embodied the grungy style Seth loves so much. Very creative piece!

    ReplyDelete
  51. Absolutely love your project! Thanks for the tips on using the embossing brush.

    ReplyDelete
  52. Grunge is great! Love the use of the old paintbrush! Thanks for sharing the techniques you used in this wonderful piece!

    ReplyDelete
  53. Hard to know which color I like best on your piece. The drips are fantastic.

    ReplyDelete
  54. I love recycling, sometimes I don't have the best eye for repurposing! Well done

    ReplyDelete
  55. So enjoy your work! Really enjoying seeing everyone's creativity! Blog hops are so much fun - some blogs I have not seen before!

    ReplyDelete
  56. Wow! Such an awesome piece! I love it. Great job on it.

    ReplyDelete
  57. What an absolutely awesome project! Just WOW!

    ReplyDelete
  58. Claudia, you are at the top of my list for inspiration (not perspiration). Your ideas pop with this piece of art. mmmm all that embossing yummy!

    ReplyDelete
  59. Wow! This is fantastic. I love everything about it. Great job.

    ReplyDelete
  60. Oh what fun. I need to try and create something like this. Have so many paint brushes my partner always forgets to clean when he has finished painting.

    ReplyDelete
  61. This is drop dead gorgeous. I love, love, love it. You have created the best entry.

    ReplyDelete
  62. Claudia, your embellished brush is the coolest thing ever! Love your art.
    dianehuge (at) yahoo (dot com)

    ReplyDelete
  63. Yummy. I would love to see it in person because I doubt the pictures do it justice. I love upcycled art.

    ReplyDelete
  64. This is a wonderful piece, so creative. I love the way you incorporated all of the elements and the textures you achieved. Nice work and thanks for sharing.

    ReplyDelete
  65. This is a great project. I love how you incorporated all of the different products and the texture you achieved. Thanks for sharing.

    ReplyDelete
  66. Wow - the embossing powders look great on the wood. I love how your buttons look like metal! Thanks! pinecone@cybermesa.com

    ReplyDelete
  67. You really have made the most out of the embossing powders and stencils a truly inspiring piece
    von907(at)gmaildotcom

    ReplyDelete
  68. What an awesome project!
    You inspired me to invest in
    Seth's Mix Media Embossing brush.
    Thank you!

    ReplyDelete
  69. Thank you for the detailed descriptions of the techniques and supplies that you used in creating this wonderful mixed media art work. The label holder and nails truly look like metal. Great ideas!

    ReplyDelete
  70. What a great transformation... never would have guessed that was an old chopping board as it works and looks great. Appreciate you describing in detail about the Mixed Media Brush and WOW Embossing powders.

    ReplyDelete
  71. Wow! This is an amazing project! I love the rustic look. And the embossing powders are really popping!

    ReplyDelete
  72. Hi Claudia--thank you for sharing your art piece. You have created an explosion of embossing techniques--the tips of the brush are beautiful--they tell a story of work and effort and beauty. Your use of tokens for rivets and then fusing the smaller pieces on the larger one --well inspiring. Thank you also for the care you took with not only the detail of your piece but in sharing the detail of your process.

    ReplyDelete
  73. So many uses for the embossing powders that I never would have imagined! This piece captures my imagination. Thank you for the great step out explanations

    ReplyDelete
  74. Enjoyed reading your very informative post. Thanks you for including those helpful tips and details.

    ReplyDelete
  75. Such an awesome post and thanks for sharing the DIY. Just awesome. That's a beautiful piece you could display! TFS.

    ReplyDelete
  76. Love Love Love this piece. Is it for sale?

    ReplyDelete
  77. Totally up my alley, I love this project! Thanks for inspiration.

    ReplyDelete
  78. Love this piece. Think might need the cosmic embossing powders

    ReplyDelete
  79. Really cool! Love how you explained every detail. Thanks!

    ReplyDelete
  80. I love the combo of stencils and embossing powders! Thanks for the details on the embossing brush and liquid. I was curious about that.

    ReplyDelete
  81. What a great description you gave of your process! So generous and I learned a lot. Good to hear about the open time the brush for embossing has. Will definitely purchase! I also really liked how you wrote about your assemblage. Very thoughtful and the subject reverberated with me!

    ReplyDelete
  82. What a stunning use of embossing powders! Love how you showed the steps. The unique color use has opened up some possibilities for me to explore—thank you!

    ReplyDelete
  83. Love the way you used the colors and textures.

    ReplyDelete

Thank you so much for your visit and especially for taking the time to leave me a short comment! This is highly appreciated! xxx