Thursday's Dream Schemes: A Tutorial on Picasso, a Stencil Shield Extraordinaire

This month's challenge is all about clouds, showers and mists! You can take that literally or go a lot of different directions with it. Can't wait to see what people come up with...it's fun to see the way this creative group of followers interpret the monthly challenges. So link your card below on our Dream it UP link ...we will be choosing a random winner and it could be YOU! If you don't have a blog you are more than welcome to email me your creation and I will post it for you. lynell@dreamweaverstencils.com

Today I was given a challenge by Pam Hornschu, our fearless leader. She said that one of our facebook followers would like to know how to use the Picasso tool, which is a stencil shield (LL332). Stencilers have been using stencil shields in many different shapes and forms from the very onset of stenciling. I created the "picasso" shield when Karyn Busby and her sister Lori Bodnar traveled with me many years ago and they asked for a metal shield that would be long lasting for small stencils. Thank you ladies for the inspiration! So here is how I created my Clouds...Showers...Mists creation:

Sometimes I use "picasso" (LL332) to make clouds and when I do, I begin by taping out the holes so I don't stencil them onto my sky. I am very simply using removable tape (RMT). This tape happens to be my favorite, but painter's tape or drafting tape will work as well.

Load a large stencil brush (NHB 3/4") with blue pigment ink.

Offload the excess ink and work it out across a piece of scrap paper, so it is evenly loaded up inside the bristles as well as on the tips.

 Stencil the ink gently off the cloud edge of Picasso.

Reposition "picasso" and repeat over and over for a cloudy sky to your liking!

Now to use picasso as a shield...

I taped the palm tree stencil (LL379) onto the right side of the cloudy paper. And so that I don't have to use tape over and over as I work ...I use "picasso" to shield the green ink from getting onto the tree trunks as I stencil the palm fronds. This makes work go much more quickly! See how it is positioned onto the right side of the palms?

Please note the small red circle. If I were to try and stencil this small tip of the palm frond without a shield, my tree trunk may end up green. So I will take a small raindrop size hole from the shield and place it over this area and it will isolate the color.

Here is a picture of the small raindrop shaped hole in the stencil shield and it is now isolating the tip of that palm frond. You are now ready to stencil the green ink into that palm frond.

Later as I am stenciling brown ink into the tree trunk holes I place the shield on the right side of my work, thus covering the green frond that I just stenciled in the above step to avoid getting brown on the green this time around. This back and forth process becomes second nature as you move from one color to the next in the stenciling process.

On the opposite side of the shield from the rounded cloud area that I first showed you are some sharp tips. I am placing one of these tips at the base of the tree trunks and moving up the tree to create a palm bark. As you get better and better with the tool you will find the curves and holes are definitely the stenciler's friend.  I hope this tool will bring you as much creative satisfaction as it has me!

   

 To finish the card I stenciled the rain words stencil (LL738) using dark gray pigment ink.

I then paste-embossed the raindrops background stencil (LJ905) using the Dreamweaver Translucent Embossing Paste (DEPT). I taped out a portion of the raindrops so just about half of them showed up on the finished work. The paste spreader (LM2010) is especially wonderful for large background stencils like this...just one sweep across (maybe go back the opposite direction as well) and you are good to go.

Here is a picture of the raindrops all milky and white before they dry. Take a look at the finshed card at the top of this post to see how wonderfully clear they look when they're dry, also one last detail that I added to sharpen the image just a bit...I used a 005 Sakura Micron pen (30081) and outlined the palm tree stencil (LL379), this is also seen more clearly in the finished card above.

Thank you for joining me in this tutorial on the stenciler's friend...picasso! This tool will do other things as well, if you want to know more about a stencil shield read my two books and view any of my DVDs. Find them HERE or at your local stamp stores.

I am hoping you will have time to visit the new Dream Team's creations today, including our special guest designer, Alison Heikkila! Follow the list to see what they are creating for this month's challenge:

Dream It Up!
Alison Heikkila
Laura Drahozal
Lyn Bernatovich
Pam Hornschu
Heidi Erickson
Louise Healy
Jessica Griffin
Cyndi Bundy