Hello, it's Lauren Bergold, a StencilGirl® superfan, and I'm thrilled to be a guest here on StencilGirl Talk. Today I've got a brand new project... with vintage flair. I've collected postcards since I was about ten; but I also love making my own. For this post, I've made a set of travel-inspired 5x7" postcards, using four of Mary Nasser's beautiful designs: Map Stencil, Metro Map, Map with Roundabouts (are you sensing a theme?!) and one of her travel word stencils, Let's Go 2, which has the best typewriter font ever!
I started by making base collages of torn vintage paper, just slightly over 5x7". I used bits of old train schedules, foreign text paper, aeronautical diagrams and... well, a little bit of everything that felt travel-related, but fairly neutral. I covered the reverse side with an old NYC Subway map. Since my favorite postcards as a kid were those which came in a special little folder, I made one of those, too, out of a piece of wallpaper from a retired sample book.
The first thing I do with any new StencilGirl® Stencils is test them out; ok, actually I just play with them, lol! I try different inks and pastes on various types of paper; I experiment with colors and blending; I consider outlines and doodles using my favorite pens. For this project I chose Distress Oxide Inks, in strong but muted colors. I outlined the map images, but left the words alone.
I don't always cut out all my vintage images before I start, but in this case I had a pretty strong vision and I knew I wanted a car, a ship, a plane and a train. I chose a few travel-related quotes and typed them on vintage labels. There's no earthly reason for flowers to make an appearance, but as in many of my pieces, somehow they worked their way in.
I used the travel words from Let's Go 2, in a medium grey ink on all four cards, scattering them across each panel and letting them run off the edges. I used the three map stencils selectively, sometimes taping off bits of the design, to get a more interesting shape. For example, I used the deepest curve of Map Stencil, to convey the idea of waves under my vintage ocean liner image.
My vintage car collage has words from Let's Go 2 and an angular section of Map with Roundabouts in a strong but muted yellow.
The airplane collage is built around the 6x6" Metro Map in a soft shade of blue; and once again the words from Let's Go 2 are nestled over and under bits of the background.
The ocean liner is floating on the "wave" from Map Stencil, with a sky adorned by that perfect typewriter font from Let's Go 2.
The railroad image is again paired with the finely geometric details of Map Stencil, in a soft green that echoes the foliage. You cannot exactly *read* the words from Let's Go 2, but they definitely add more of the travel spirit just by being there.
My folio has a small car, a huge floral and the anchor of Metro Map, in amber, on a piece of a vintage latitudinal chart, which I cut out with scissors, to capture the beautiful circle shapes.
The four cards tuck neatly inside their folder and tie with torn strips of sari silk. They will be winging off to a travel-loving friend.
I hope you'll be inspired to make your own map-inspired art using StencilGirl® Stencils; until such time as we can all dream of traveling again in real life!
loves vintage paper, colorful inks,
and (especially!)
Great inspiration. Thank you!
ReplyDeleteThese are fantastic!
ReplyDeleteDelightful cards! Thanks for sharing your process :-)
ReplyDelete