Enjoying Linda Robertson's Encaustikos Kit and its collaboration with StencilGirl Products

I was recently invited to experiment with Encaustikos' newest encaustic kit put together by Linda Robertson.  I am so impressed with this high quality kit!  It includes a cradled wood panel to paint on, encaustic paints, encaustic medium, carving tools, paint brushes, a cake of Pan Pastel, a StencilGirl stencil and more.  Whether you're just getting started with encaustics or want to add to your existing encaustic supplies, this very generous kit has just about everything you need.  (Heat gun/torch and griddle/hot palette are sold separately.)

 So here is my demo:

Before I prime my panel, I cover the edges with painter's tape.  When my piece is finished, I peel off the paint to reveal a nice clean edge.

I prime my panel with 3 layers of encaustic medium, fusing with a torch between each layer.   (A heat gun could be used instead of a torch.)

I paint a background layer using Ultramarine Blue + Zinc White with some medium as a thinner.

After fusing, I place painter's tape right over the waxed panel as shown.

I'm using StencilGirl's Eucalyptus stencil designed by Jane LaFazio here.

I paint right over the stencil with Pyrole Red and Cadmium Yellow Medium encaustic paint.

Slowly remove the stencil and voila! 

Now, before I fuse, I paint over my stenciled design with Ultramarine Blue...

...and remove the tape.  Then I fuse.

Did I mention that this scraper tool comes with the kit?   Love it!  Now I carefully scrape away the blue wax to reveal my stenciled design.

So now I see I need to jazz up the outer edges that were covered up with tape.

I'm once again protecting my existing design with the tape.

I will repeat the same process as before but this time I'll paint blue through the stencil, remove the stencil...

 ...and paint over my design with the red/yellow combination.  

 I decide to paint over the entire center section with Zinc White and try another technique.  I love lots of layers!  So here I am carving the outlines of Mary Beth Shaw's Retro Comets stencil from StencilGirl Products.

Filling the channels with Ultramarine Blue...

...and scraping the excess blue encaustic wax away before fusing once again.

I've decided to add Zinc White as shown.

Then, using this tool from the kit...

I carve some lines into the wax..

...sponge on some Pan Pastel, and fuse.

Same thing on this side:  Carve into wax with tool, add Pan Pastel, fuse.

You can transfer toner copies to wax by burnishing them face-down and removing the excess paper with water.

Here is the finished piece.

• Please note that this is a progressive hop meaning that you can hop from blog to blog all in one day. For example, I am Julie Snidle and you can click on any of the names below to take you to other blogs.

Blog Hop Order

Linda Robertson

Mary Beth Shaw

Carolyn Dube

Julia Kellogg

Julie Snidle

• StencilGirl Talk is hosting a giveaway. All comments on the hop are eligible for the giveaway. The more blogs you comment on, the more chances you have to win. Giveaway will close on Sunday, June 8th at 11:59PM Central Time. Good luck! Enjoy!

Giveaway includes:

(4) 9" x 12" Stencils from StencilGirl Products Retail Value $56

(3) Online Lessons from Linda Robertson (RobertsonWorkshops.com) Valued at $45

(1) Collection of Wax Snaps and Hot Sticks from Enkaustikos Valued at $75

All to ONE lucky winner!!

StencilGirl Blog Hop featuring Andrea Matus deMeng

Today I'm creating a little piece using Andrea Matus DeMeng's Rose stencil, a new release from StencilGirl Products.

I've chosen to work on a 6 x 6" claybord, a smooth carvable panel from Ampersand.
  I've added dabs of titanium white, paynes gray, and quinacridone nickel azo gold acrylic paint to the stark white surface.

I scraped the paint with a cardboard shim to achieve an interesting green background.

I wanted to create a raised image so I applied Golden's crackle paste through the stencil with a palette knife.
I added a swoop of crackle paste at the bottom, too, and wrote in it with a skewer.

Once the crackle paste was completely dry, I diluted some different inks with water and
applied them loosely with a small brush.

These are the inks I used.

I sprayed the final piece with a matte acrylic protective coating to keep the inks intact.

Thank you for hopping onto my blog today.  If you're hopping in order, Maria McGuire is next.
-Julie Snidle

Blog Hop Order

StencilGirl Talk

Andrea Matus deMeng

Mary Beth Shaw

Mary C. Nasser

Linda Kittmer

Carolyn Dube

Paula Phillips

Janet Joehlin

Kirsten Reed

Judy Shea

Julie Snidle

Maria McGuire

• This is a progressive hop which means you can hop from blog to blog all in one day but will have the entire week to comment for the giveaway.
  
  
• We will have a giveaway on StencilGirl Talk consisting of Andrea's new designs. Giveaway = Two winners-one will receive a set of the new 6"x 6" stencils and one will receive a set of the new 9" x 12". All comments on the hop are eligible for the giveaway. The more blogs you comment on, the more chances you have to win. Giveaway will close on Sunday, April 6th at 11:59PM Central Time.
  
  
• Andrea will be hopping with us (YAY!) and has 12 new stencils that are being released during the hop. If you would like a little more info about Andrea you can see her profile on StencilGirl Products HERE and HERE is a link to her website.

Live Links

L251 Abigail, A Timeless Woman

http://www.stencilgirlproducts.com/timeless-woman-stencil-andrea-matus-demeng-p/l251.htm

L252 Eve, A Modern Womanhttp://www.stencilgirlproducts.com/modern-woman-stencil-andrea-matus-demeng-p/l252.htm

L253 Dia de los Muetos Mask Stencilhttp://www.stencilgirlproducts.com/dia-de-los-muertos-skull-mask-andrea-matus-demeng-p/l253.htm

L254 It's All in Your Headdress

http://www.stencilgirlproducts.com/headdress-stencil-andrea-matus-demeng-p/l254.htm

L256 Doris, A Vintage Woman, Light Plate

http://www.stencilgirlproducts.com/vintage-woman-stencil-1-andrea-matus-demeng-p/l256.htm

L257 Doris, a Vintage Woman, Dark Plate

http://www.stencilgirlproducts.com/vintage-woman-stencil-2-andrea-matus-demeng-p/l257.htm

S201

A Rose by Any Other Name

http://www.stencilgirlproducts.com/rose-stencil-andrea-matus-demeng-p/s201.htm

S202 Precocious Peony

http://www.stencilgirlproducts.com/peony-stencil-andrea-matus-demeng-p/s202.htm

S203

Thanks a Lotus Stencil

http://www.stencilgirlproducts.com/lotus-stencil-andrea-matus-demeng-p/s203.htm

S204 Fowl Play Stencil

http://www.stencilgirlproducts.com/birds-fowl-play-stencil-andrea-matus-demeng-p/s204.htm

S205 A Little Birdie Told Me

http://www.stencilgirlproducts.com/bird-flying-stencil-andrea-matus-demeng-p/s205.htm 

Walnut Hollow collaborates with StencilGirl Products

TWO PROJECTS!   Narrow Arrow Pallet with Encaustic + Stencil

and

                                Card Box turns Travel Kit 

Narrow Arrow Pallet with Encaustic + Stencil:

I've painted and distressed Walnut Hollow's Narrow Rustic Arrow Pallet with encaustic paints and  StencilGirl's "Scribbles" stencil designed by Daniella Woolf.

As soon as I saw Walnut Hollow's WOOD selections, I jumped for joy!
Wood is the perfect substrate for encaustic painting.

I'm priming the surface of the pallet with two coats of encaustic medium,
 fusing with heat between layers.

I protected each neighboring slat with tape since I'm using a different color for each.

Can you see the bottom connecting piece that I painted black?
I had fun choosing the colors and deciding on different distressed looks.

The "Scribbles" stencil created a crackle look, which I like.

The final piece could hang by itself or in a grouping with other art pieces.
It could also serve as a signpost when hung horizontally.  Just add text.

Card Box turns Travel Kit:

This little Basswood Box by Walnut Hollow may have been designed to hold two decks of cards, but I've found it to be the perfect size for my StencilGirl travel stencils, ink pads, and applicator.

The first thing I did was paint the outside of the box with a base coat; I used a yellow ochre gesso.  After a light sanding, I painted over the ochre with titan buff (not pictured).

Once the second layer of paint was dry, I applied walnut ink to the surface to give it an aged look and let it dry.

Using gel medium, I transferred an ink-jet copy of an old slide to the lid of the box.  Simply spread a thin layer of gel medium right over the paper image, place face down on your desired surface and burnish to remove bubbles.  Carefully lift off after 30-45 seconds to reveal your image.  Let dry.

My little 4x4" stencils fit perfectly in the lid!  I fastened sticky-back Velcro to the inside of the lid (as shown) and made a 'strap' to keep the stencils in place when the lid is closed.  I covered the 'strap' section of Velcro with decorative tape.

I've got my stencils, ink pad, pan pastels and foam applicator all in one place.  I discovered that my little Altoid tin watercolor palette fits in this box too!  

I used my compass rose stencil and a couple of postage stamps to finish up.
I'm ready to go!  

 -Julie Snidle

Now it's your turn to hop on over to see what Jessica Sporn has on her blog.

Blog Hop Order

StencilGirl Talk/Judi Kauffman

Walnut Hollow

Mary Beth Shaw

Kirsten Reed

Carolyn Dube

Janet Joehlin

Linda Kittmer

Mary C. Nasser

Julie Snidle

Jessica Sporn

Judy Shea

Maria McGuire

• This is a progressive hop meaning that you can hop from blog to blog all in one day.
  
  
• There will be a giveaway consisting of StencilGirl and Walnut Hollow products. All comments on the hop are eligible for the giveaway. The more blogs you comment on, the more chances you have to win. Giveaway will close on Sunday, March 2nd at 11:59PM Central Time.
  
  
• Here is a link to the Walnut Hollow website. HERE is a link to the Walnut Hollow Blog where Chris and Sara will be posting. HERE is the link to the StencilGirl website.