Hi friends! We’re celebrating Love & Friendship today over on the StencilGirl blog & I’m sharing a fun & easy “Whats New is Old Again” project. Drop by for a look!

Hi friends! We’re celebrating Love & Friendship today over on the StencilGirl blog & I’m sharing a fun & easy “Whats New is Old Again” project. Drop by for a look!
Hi friends! I hope your week is off to a wonderful start. Today I’m over on the StencilGirl blog sharing how I created this set of coasters using acrylic paint and a few stencils.
With the holidays fast approaching, these make wonderful gifts. They’re also a lovely way to protect your furniture at your next dinner party.
I hope you’ll stop by the StencilGirl blog for my tutorial and be inspired to create your own set.
Cheers! -Belen
Today is my turn to jump in on the StencilGirl / Imagine Crafts blog hop action that has been happening since the 19th. There’s been so much artsy goodness going on, I hope you’ve had an opportunity to follow along in the fun.
I’m going to show you how I used StencilGirl stencils, Tsukineko all-purpose inks from Imagine Crafts, and a few other supplies to turn a plain ol’ canvas zip pouch into a colorful travel pouch, perfect for taking with me for art on the go.
These are the supplies that I started with:
When I set up for a project I tend to select my stencils before hand. I may not always use them all, but it’s good to have them handy. For this project I set aside:
I started by washing my zip pouch to remove any sizing it might have, drying it, and giving it a quick base of color using my gel plate. This step is optional. You can give it a base layer by hand, or omit this step altogether.
Since I opted to use my gel plate, I first covered the zipper with tape to help make sure it stayed clean of any paint.
Once that base layer was dry, I used the Bittersweet stencil to add another layer of color.
I then used my Smudgee applicator to dab Tsukineko ink, in Cherry Pink, onto a background stamp, to add additional texture.
Next I stenciled on a design using Circle Play and heavy body paint.
I used the other side of my Smudgee to pounce StazOn Ink, in Black, through my Mini stencil from Private Collection 17.1.
To add additional dimension, I pounced more Cherry Pink ink through Screw Heads Mini.
Because Travel Note, is one of my fave stencils, I just had to use it! I also added more StazOn through the Hashmarks stencil to add more visual interest.
I had stenciled on some white paint through Screw Heads Mini and wanted to tone it down, so I sponged on more Cherry Pink.
Lemon Yellow ink helped bring back the dots I had previously stenciled on, then later covered up with additional layers.
I used StazOn ink and the Travel Note stencil to add a bit of texture to the pouch’s wrist strap then turned the pouch over and performed the same steps on the other side.
After setting it aside to dry for a bit, all that was left to do was to load it up with my fave 4×4 mini stencils, a few pens, brushes, scribble sticks, and a waterbush. There was even enough room to add my Painty Papers Journal and I was ready to art on the go!
One lucky winner will receive both a $25 Gift Certificate to StencilGirl Products
AND a $25 Gift Certificate to Imagine Crafts!
Visit the fabulous designers from both teams and comment for your
chance to win!
The more blogs you comment on, the more chances you have to WIN!
(One comment per blog please.)
You have until Sunday, July 23rd at 11:59PM Central Time to leave your comments.
July 21
Belen Sotelo – You Are Here
July 20
Sandee Setliff
July 19
Mary C. Nasser
Janet Joehlin
Gwen Lafleur
Carol Baxter
Jennifer Vanderbeek
Nadine Carlier
Winner will be announced on
StencilGirl’s Facebook page and Imagine Crafts’s Facebook page on Monday, July 24th.
I hope you’ve enjoyed this tutorial. If you have any comments or questions about this post, I’d love to hear them.
Wishing you a beautiful week full of Whimsy!
XO, Belen
Hi and welcome to the StencilGirl Mermaid Madness Blog Hop!
It’s such a joy to take part in this event. There’s something so magical about the sea. The smell. the sound, the feel of the sand between my toes. It all speaks to me on a deep level.
For this page I used the Love Mermaid stencil, an assortment of paints, gesso, my art journal, some misc fishnet-like embellishment and of course, more stencils! You can use an assortment to create texture and movement on your page. I used: Random Circles, Shoreline Mini, and Rolls.
After giving my page a quick coat of gesso i began building layers a little at a time. I used an assortment of blue, mint & teal paints and ink inks. I also added in some gold to mimic the color of sand. Without really waiting for anything to dry, I started sponging on white through my stencils to create texture.
To add some depth and dimension to my page, I darkened it towards the bottom. The gradual process of getting my background to where I wanted it was one of creating layers, covering them up, and adding more back in.
Once I stenciled on my mermaid I painted in her body and face with flesh tone paint, gave her some makeup, and added a some shading details.
To finish things off, I cut the vinyl embellishment that I picked up at the craft store to size and stamped a sentiment on old book paper.
I adhered both to my page with gel medium.
And done my journal page was complete.
Three luck winners will be chosen on July 17th at Noon CST!
Entering is easy. Just comment on this post. When you’re done, swim on over to each of the blogs listed below and leave a comment there as well.
The more blogs you comment on, the more chances you have to win. One comment per blog, please. Good luck to all who enter!
XO, Belen
Hi artsy peeps. Today is a Big day for me and I’m so excited to share it with you. Today is my first post as part of the Faber Castell team!
I created a quick art journal page using Gelatos, Pitt Pens, and a few other Design Memory Craft supplies.
The full post can be found over on the Design Memory Craft blog.
xo, Belen
Hello Lovelies! Today I’m sharing the final week+ of Art Marks. Since it’s a 30 day challenge, you’ll see the last couple days of the challenge tacked onto the end of this blog post.
Wowzers, it was such a FUN month! Art Marks really helped me loosen up in my journal. I played with abandon, embraced those oops moments and had such a memorable experience. I’m so happy that I decided to jump in!
A huge, heartfelt thank you to everyone that followed my participation in Rae Missigman’s #artmarks30daychallenge , here and on Instagram.
Thank you for the kind comments and all the Instaluv!
I’m crossing my fingers, hoping she does a third round. In the meantime, I think I’ll pick some prompts from the first round and finishing filling up my Painty Papers Journal.
Wishing you a week full of art and full of whimsy!
xo, Belen
Good morning & Happy Friday. Week three of Art Marks is done and it was another great one! I don’t know that I’ve ever felt as much creative energy flowing as I do now. This challenge has really helped me open up, have fun and just enjoy the process for what it is.
If you didn’t jump in on this round, and kinda wish you had, I encourage you to do it. It’s not too late to grab your journal and go at your own pace. If you’re on Instagram, tag me @ArtandWhimsy and I’ll be there to cheer you on.
Today’s prompt reminded me of how I used to struggle to cover things up in my art journaling. Sometimes it was bits of “precious” ephemera that I’d hoarded since the beginning of time. At others, maybe a particularly juicy spot on the page where the paint had pooled just so.
I used to be so resistant. What if I didn’t like it after I covered it? What if I ruined my page?
It took me a long while to learn to Be Open to other possibilities in my art… Open to other outcomes. Even to Be Open to not liking the end result, but learning something in the process. Nowadays I don’t let that old hesitation stop me. There will always be more ephemera and paint. I’ve learned to trust in myself, enjoy the process and embrace those learning moments when they present themselves. ?
Thank you for following along. I wish you a weekend full of art and full of whimsy!
xo,
Belen
I can hardly believe that we’re already at the halfway point of the Art Marks (Part 2) Challenge. I have to admit that I’m a bit proud of myself for managing to keep up on the daily prompts, which is a huge accomplishment for me. I think that limiting how much time I give myself on each prompt has had a lot to do with making this art challenge manageable for me.
If you want to get in on the fun, there’s still time! New people are joining everyday, so grab you Painty Papers Journal and jump in! You can find all the challenge details on Rae Missigman’s blog.
Thanks for following along and sharing in my art journey. I wish you a wonderful week full of Whimsy.
xo,
Belen
It’s beginning to look a lot like Christmas and you know what that means to many of us planner girls… we get to deck not only the halls, but our planners too! I’ve added a touch of Holiday Cheer to some of my inserts to help keep us organized and on track during this busy holiday season.
Enjoy!
All of my free planner inserts can be found HERE and are yours to enjoy for FREE. All I ask are that you:
Oh! Just one more thing… I would love, love, love it, if when you use the printables and post photos to social media, if you would give me a shout out so I can show your post some love and see my creations in action.
IG / twitter: @ArtandWhimsy
Facebook: ArtandWhimsy
Thank you and Happy Planning!
I hope that today finds you all busy with plans for a fabulous day tomorrow. However you choose to spend it, whether you celebrate the Thanksgiving holiday or not, I wish you a day filled with love, laughter and something yummy to eat.
This month has flown by and it’s hard to believe that I’m already sharing Week 3 of NanoJouMo with you!
Often times we wait for the huge moments to be thankful, leaving the moments in between… the everyday, ordinary moments… to slip by unnoticed. Creating this page prompted me to remember to take time to be thankful for each and every one of those ordinary moments as well; they’re called LIFE.
Thank you for looking and sharing in this experience with me.
xo,
Belen