Day 17: I've never met Gabriele in real life but I know we'd be instant friends if we did. She gets me. I've recieved wonderful things from her in my mail box – the real kind. Not long after I started this blog series she pops into my email-box with these two stunning covers. Aren't they divine? Here's what she said about them, "from Esslingen, near Stuttgart in the south of Germany". They are very similar but if you inspect closely you'll see some differences. So handsome. THANK YOU Gabriele for surprising me with these photos, and showing us what you walk over in your corner of the world.
Here's a quick project you can made with the manhole cover stencils I showed you two days ago. I used both chipboard and blank wooden coasters, but this same concept could be applied on paper, like in your journal. I explain the steps in the graphic below. Super easy.
First coat with gesso. Then lay stencil/mask in place, and apply more gesso. I scraped over the surface with an old credit card, then carefully lift off. Since these stencils/masks are nice and thick the second layer of gesso will dry with dimension. After it's completely dry, scrub on some Asphaltum glaze. You can kind of push into the depth with your brush while pulling sideways to lift off some from the top. The gesso will resist the glaze so don't rub off too much. Let it dry, then buff across the top with fine grit sandpaper to create greater contrast and reveal more of the dimensional shapes. If you're going to use as coasters you will need to finish with a sealant, and maybe attach a circle of felt or cork to the bottom.
Stencils used: NYC Manhole Cover, Manhole Covers II, from The Ink Pad NYC, and Sunbursts MW-008 from Green Pepper Press (also sold at Stencil Girl Products as Circle 9 #L016 .
Have you seen the GIVEAWAY? Visit HERE and leave your name in the comments to be entered in the drawing for manhole covers stencils on 10/22.
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