The "Wind Chime Studio" stencils are made of 7 mil thick plastic that is perfect for a variety of crafts which include card making, painting, decorating planners, and airbrushing. The plastic is see-through which makes it easy to work with. The plastic stencils are also very flexible which makes it perfect for using them to airbrush makeup. Nancy Ibsen, the owner of Wind Chime Studio, sent me a couple to test out and see if they would work for my particular projects.
Test 1 - Koi Fish Painting:
The first stencil I tested was the Two Part Koi Fish Stencil. The outline stencil offers the outline and the actual Koi fish cut out which can be used as a mask for various painting techniques. Part 2 of the stencil set is the Koi fish detail stencil. Nancy Ibsen, the owner of Wind Chime Studio has included two square registrations on the plastic stencils that can be used to properly line up the detail stencil over the Koi Fish outline stencil. If you look that the photo below, you can see the two registration squares.
 |
| The two alignment squares before lining up. |
You just have to line them both up, so that one is perfectly matched up to the other (see photo below). Then tape them down so that they do not move.
 |
| The squares should be perfectly aligned before using the detail stencil. |
Supplies:
- Canvas
- Bright colored paints
- Paint brushes
- Stencil Tape
- Koi Fish Stencil and the "Botanical Stencil"
- Black Pigma Ink Brush Pen
- Glitter glue or glitter gel pens
Step 1:
Take the cut-out part of the two part Koi Fish stencil (you will find the fish inside the outline stencil or it might be lose in your package). Tape down the Koi fish cut-out and paint around it. I used removable tape on one side of the fish to hold it in place. If you don't have removable adhesive, you can always just hold it in place while painting around it. This step allowed me to have a clean white base to make sure the Koi Fish colors were not mixed with the outer colors. One you finish painting around the stencil, remove the cut out before the paint dries to avoid streaking the paint.
Step 2:
Tape down the outline stencil. Paint the Koi fish with some peach and orange paint to create the Koi Fish base color (or use any color you like). Allow the paint to dry before you do step 3.
Step 3:
Take the detail stencil and place it on top of the outline stencil. Once you line up the registrations, tape the stencil down to keep it from moving. Use a darker color paint to add the detail to the Koi Fish. Remove the stencils and allow the paint to dry. Don't forget to clean the stencils.
Step 4:
Add more details to the picture by using the "Botanical Art Nouveau Stencil". This is a single stencil so you don't need to worry about lining up any of the registrations. Just decided where you want the plants to be and tape it down before painting. Once you finish painting the plants, remove the stencils and allow the paint to dry.
Step 5:
Add any additional detail you may want to the painting. I decided to out line the flowers with colored markers. I also added some glitter glue to parts of the fish to make it look more dimensional.
 |
| Hobonichi Weeks decorated with the Cherry Blossom Stencil |
Test 2 - Planner Decorating:
I use a Hobonichi planner which is made of Tomoe River paper. The Tomoe River paper is 52 gsm which is great for Fountain Pens but can be tricky when using stickers. The planner I used last year got pretty thick from all the stickers and washi tape I added to it. Since then, I have been searching for a way to decorate the pages without adding so much bulk. I was interested to see if I could add designs and color into my Hobonichi planners without the added bulk by using the Wind Chime Studio stencils in my Hobonichi Weeks planner. I decided to test the "Cherry Blossoms" stencil from the Wind Chime Studio collection".
I taped the Cherry Blossom stencil down using stencil tape. Since the paper on my Hobonichi is so thin, I removed some of the adhesive from the tape by putting it on my hands then removing it. The oil from my skin made the tape less sticky and less likely to tear the Tomoe River paper.
I used the Tim Holtz Ranger Distress Inks and the blending tool to blend the color onto the paper. I wanted to be able to write over the design, so I decided to stick to light colors. I began to add the Tim Holtz Ranger Distress inks one at a time. Since the stencil is so thin, the application went smoothly. I love how I was able to achieve these results.
After I had stenciled on the inks, I added some details using the Sakura Pigma Micron Ink Pens. I love how they came out. I could have left the flowers as they were without the black ink outlines and it would have been great too. By not adding dark colored inks, I did not lose any writing space on my pages. I use the Hobonichi Weeks, the Hobonichi Techo, and the Jibun Techo which all have the same wonderful thin paper. I love that I will be able to use this stencil line in all of them and be able to decorate them without losing writing space nor making the pages too thick.
 |
| My daughter demonstrating make-up airbrushing techniques to other students. |
Test 3 - Air Brushing Make Up:
My daughter has done school events where she needed to air brush a lot of kids in a short period of time. She always needs an assortment easy to use stencils that allow her to cover a large area of the forehead or face. We decided to test out the "Milky Way Stars" stencil and see how well it would work for these type of events. Since the plastic that these stencils are made from are fairly thin, this makes them very flexible. She was able to bend them to use for airbrushing makeup onto skin.
Since she usually has so many kids to do, she tends to stick to one color per person. Then after airbrushing the makeup on, she usually accents the design with some glitter (specially made for using in make up applications). She used the "Milky Way Stars" stencil for a onstage demonstration at school and she found that this stencil worked great for her.
Nancy Ibsen sent me a note to let me know that she will be creating some smaller stencils that will be easier to use for airbrushing makeup. We enjoy applying fantasy makeup (fairies, witches, etc) for Halloween and Comic Con and stencils make it so easy to do various effects with the airbrush. I can't wait to see what new airbrushed makeup stencils she releases. Makeup stencils can be expensive and I found the prices at the Wind Chime Studio Etsy store to be really reasonable. If you are interested in seeing more of her designs, you can find her at www.etsy.com/shop/WindChimeStudio.
Note: I was not paid to do this review. Nancy Ibsen sent me some of her stencils for me to test out and review.
