Keeping a visual record of your stencils with a sample book

I made a mini book not long ago to remind me of what types of stencils I had and what they looked like when sprayed with ink.  Every month I receive new stencils from Artistcellar and need to keep track of what I have so I don't have to experiment too much when creating projects.  I just received a series of stencils called the WATER series so I've added their images to the book using the 4" by 4" art cards.  Here is what the book looks like.

Progressively adding more Art Cards with stencil designs

Blank book before adding Art Cards

First I placed the art cards in with the Kaleidoscope stencils designs on them.

Now I have added the Water Series of patterns to the back empty pages.

I was surprised when I sprayed each of these with ink by the patterns that came out!  The first one called Ripples almost looks like a wood grain stencil.  When there are samples like this it can really help the artist to see the possibilities quickly.

Thanks for stopping by today, I hope this has given you some stenciling ideas.  I will keep you posted each time I add art cards to my mini book.  I look forward to seeing you next week on my usual stencil day, Tuesday.  Take care, hugs~Renee xx

A Gratitude Mandala for Craft Stamper November Challenge

This is the half way point for the Take It, Make It Challenge.  You still have plenty of time to enter your artistic creations for a chance to win prizes and be published in the Craft Stamper magazine.  This week I made a gratitude mandala using a few winter and spring stamps in a different way than their original purpose.  I have a snowflake stamp around the edges, an acorn stamp, a butterfly stamp and my wonderful feather stamp.  I am still surrounded by the colors of Fall since we are having a very mild season and the leaves haven't completely fallen yet.  Great for Leaf Peeking tourists.  So my color choices have reflected that.

For the mandala circle I can use pre-cut circles out of card stock or in this case I cut my own out of water color paper using a compass.  I drew a circle around each of the areas I wanted to stamp on with a pencil that could be erased later.

After I have achieved a look that I'm happy with using my stamps then I start to color in the images.  On this mandala I used Inktense pencils and Dylusions in a water pen.

When I was finished with the coloring I used a Micron pencil to write on the side of each leaf the different qualities I want to show in my life such as love, joy, peace, gratitude, etc.  Then using the same pen I wrote my feelings about the things I am grateful for each day.

Next I used a Delicata Golden Glitz ink pad and re-stamped the snowflake images and the acorn images again to highlight them.  I have a bottle of Liquid Pearls in the Bisque color that I brought in at the end to highlight the butterflies and add some sparkly interest.

We have so much to be grateful for each day.  Just the sun and the air we breathe are things we can be thankful for every day.

Thanks so much for stopping by today, I always appreciate your visits and the comments left here.  I noticed several new followers and I want to say thank you to them for taking time out of their busy lives to follow along on my artful journey!  Big hugs to all of you, I am grateful for you!  Sincerely ~ Renee