Wed, 03 Feb 2010 11:38:26 +0000

Today is my friend Louise's birthday so I made her a stencilled card. 
I often border my cards with a narrow stencilled frame.  I put the edge of a long stencil close to the side of the card and stipple paint along the exposed edge.  
  Take the paint onto the tips of a clean, dry stencil brush.  Work the paint into paper towel so that the end of the brush carries a light, even coat of damp paint.
Transfer the paint gently through the holes in the stencil design using either a tapping motion or circle the paint lightly over the shapes. I applied a layer of both iridescent and metallic colour through the stencil using a different brush for each colour.

As a finishing touch I added a wisp of crimson paint from a small stencil brush over some of the flowers.

 One of the things that I enjoy about stencilling cards is that it allows time to think about the recipient.  I have known Louise just over thirty years. Along with parents and school she was quite an influence on my early life.  As my model agent and then my friend she looked after me when I'd left home for the big city.  I had so much fun remembering our past adventures that I prolonged the project a little by stencilling an envelope to match.

Happy Birthday Louise James.

Helen

In celebration of young people and their passion for sports, the National Library Board invites all secondary schools to participate in the Sports @ Public Libraries - Design a Card Game Contest.

Step 1: Get a team of 5 with a teacher-in-charge.

Step 2: Submit the completed registration form & written proposal to showteens@nlb.gov.sg by Monday, 8th February 2010. The written proposal would include a proposed sports theme and 5 sports trivia based on the theme.

 (For the registration form and proposal template, please email showteens@nlb.gov.sg)

Step 3: 20 Qualifying teams will attend a 1-day workshop on Saturday 6 March 2010.

Step 4: To complete & submit the final design of the card game by Monday 22nd March 2010.

Prizes:

1st prize: $1,000 worth of prizes

2nd prize: $800 worth of prizes

3rd prize: $600 worth of prizes

4th & 5th Prize: $200 worth of prizes each

15 consolation prizes: $75 worth of prizes each

Results will be released in May 2010.

Here is a Sample of a written proposal