Hello TCW creatives!

Tammy back today to share some artiness and inspiration. Today I’ve created an Art Journal page inspired by the incredible artist Frida Kahlo.

TCW provided me with awesome goodies to play with, but the opinions and creations are my own

Inspired by the bright colors of Mexico and her famous floral headwear.

Firstly, I add a layer of TCW9001 White Gesso. I apply with a brush and love the light dreamy feel it has.

Once dry I add Dylusions paint in ‘Lemon Zest’, ‘Funky Fuschia’ and ‘Calypso Teal’. I add the paint quite quickly and randomly allowing them to blend a little so they blend and I get new shades in purple and orange tones. Do not overthink this part, just slap the paint down. NOTE – I didn’t cover the entire page….I left a few white spots.

Now whilst the paint is still wet, I lay on top TCW899 Striped Mandala, and using a wet baby wipe, rub over the top of the stencil, so it removes some of the paint. I chose this stencil as I felt it had a real ‘Mexican’ vibe to it so would make a perfect background.

Now for the magic….. when you lift up the stencil!! I love how the colours blend together by using the wipe.

This technique results in lots of stunning parts, but always results in a few sections that you aren’t happy with (you may have little patches of ‘mud’ or sections that haven’t printed as well ). To fix this I used one of my most loved stencils TCW450 Deco Leaves, and add a touch of paint to a dry baby wipe and rub it over to cover those little sections. I chose to use Dylusions ‘Cut Grass’.

Whilst this is all drying, time to create some flowers for Frida’s hair. To begin I paint a section of smooth cardstock with yellow paint.

Once dry I add pink paint to a small amount of TCW9008 Clear Modeling Paste. Once mixed, I chose TCW601 Poppy Field stencil and lay it on top. Then using a spatula, I rub it through the stencil in broad strokes.

Lift up that stencil whilst still wet…… more magic ……

Whilst this dries, I created some leaves in the same way using TCW450 Deco Leaves stencil, TCW9008 Clear Modeling Paste and green paint.

I decided to leave my background white as I find when working with lots of bright colors, adding white somewhere really ‘lifts’ them all.

Once completely dry cut out your flowers and leaves…..

Now it’s time to work on your Frida. I had found a magazine image of her, so I adhered this to the bottom of the page using TCW9011 Matte Gel Medium. I applied the gel medium to the back of the image and then once I added it to my page, I also applied TCW9011 Matte Gel Medium on top.

I really wanted to make the Frida image more ‘mine’, so I decided to paint over the top of it with acrylic paints and then add some details with markers. I often do this with magazine faces – it gives a guide if you aren’t super confident painting your own face. Plus it gives you a painted look, rather than a digital image and allows you to tweak the image to suit your art.

Now it’s time to add in those flowers and leaves you created earlier. I did this using TCW9052 Super Thick Gel. I just applied a very small amount to the back of each piece using a spatula. This adheres immediately and allows them to sit up, adding extra dimension to your page.

I also added pen work to the leaves and centre of the flowers, just to tie it all together.

There you have it…….

We love to see what you create with The Crafter’s Workshop products – the possibilities are endless! You can share with us on Instagram, Facebook or Pinterest and tag #TCWStencilLove.

Tammy Klingner aka Tambarambaa

The Crafters Workshop Design Team Member