Building a Village with the September Stencil Club Stencils

Hi - Jessica Sporn here to show you a small canvas I created with the inspiring September StencilClub stencils designed by Julie Snidle.

I started by creating collage papers with the 9 x 12 and 6 x 6 stencils.  I didn't have an idea of the project yet, but just started playing with the stencils and several colors of Ranger Distress Ink (using techniques I learned in Marjie Kemper's Craftsy Class, Inventive Ink).  I over lapped and gently nudged the 9 x 12 stencil to create a patchwork of little squares.  (For a great demo of this technique, check out this video by Carolyn Dube.)

As I worked on these pages, the idea of building blocks popped into my head, as well as the idea of maps that show population concentrations.  I decided to combine these ideas and create a village.  For that, I needed a background.  I pulled out a collage I had made in a class taught by Julie Balzer and Stencil Girl Nathalie Kalbach called "A Taste of Collage."  I had considered this a "fail," and saved it knowing it would morph into something else.  

I scraped molding paste through Julie's 9x 12 stencil.  Once it dried, I glazed the collage to create a ground and a pink sky.  While that was drying, I stenciled another paper using the 6 x 6 stencil, as well as a dictionary page, to have colors that would contrast with my "warm" page of yellows, oranges and pinks. 

I cut up my collage papers in the shapes of buildings, roofs and paths, and got gluing.

Lots of doodling, shading, and glazing followed, as I "built" my community.

I've started a little project of illustrating inspiring lines from Psalms.  I love that this canvas is part of this project.  

I hope this tutorial gives you a creative spark!  I didn't end up using the 4 x 4 stencil, but I know it will be making appearances in my designs very soon.

I look forward to seeing what YOU create with the September StencilClub stencils.