2019 #5 Maps & Plans: Vintage Travel Spool with VID/ I&D {by Jennie Atkinson}

2019 Topic 5: Maps & Plans

Jennie's sumptuous spool is a dreamy project showing how just using vintage maps, canvas and some stamping create a miniature art piece chock-full of character.

Hi everyone, it's Jennie (Live The Dream) with you today, and I'd like to share with you a vintage travel spool, or "snippet roll" as they are sometimes called on Pinterest.

My husband made me some wooden spools from scraps left over in his workshop recently and I thought our current Maps and Plans challenge would be the perfect opportunity to use one. After all we have plenty of maps sitting in a box in the study! However when I went to look through them all they were all lovingly marked with our cycle trips over 20 years and so I couldn't really use them. But I found a really old map lurking in the bottom and it fitted the bill perfectly being vintage browns. Having never been to the Lake District it is not one of mine!

I wanted to combine the map with some stamping on linen and knew that this would involve sewing elements onto the linen after stamping. I have used both linen cloth and some tape for the smaller stamps as it frayed less and stamped with Potting Soil Archival Ink.

I have used a number of my favourite Vintage Ink and the Dog stamps sets:

Vintage Ink and the Dog (IDO2EZ) A5 stamp set

 Ink and the Dog Collection Travel 2 (T2) A6 stamp set

Ink and the Dog Collection Travel 4 (T4) A6 Stamp Set

I started with pieces of the map and my stamped pieces on a strip of the linen. At only 2.5" wide there is not much room so it did require a fair bit of experimentation! And not everything was used in the end. There were some lovely titles on the map which I wanted to use as well.

I stamped onto the linen background before sewing each piece onto the linen ...... actually it wasn't too laborious and I was pleased with the effect.

The hardest bit was stitching the linen to the spool so it is a bit loose! but in the scheme of things both looks and works well.

Finally a strip of map was attached to the back of the linen (hiding all the horrible bits of sewing and threads!). I was impressed at how well the map paper stood up to being sewn like this.

As you can see this is probably a map from the 70's so perhaps the paper is thicker and more capable of being stitched. I don't think I would have been able to stitch the more modern flimsy maps of today.  It is probably worthwhile looking out for older maps in your local charity shop.

The combination of linen and maps works well and means it wraps nicely around the spool. I remembered just in time to add some ribbon between the two layers before finishing the sewing.

The wee chappy is from one of Tim Holtz's Paper Doll sets and I think just finishes the spool off perfectly.

To be honest I wasn't too sure whether this project would come together. Combining the map paper with linen seemed a good choice but did require sewing to hold everything together. The VI&D and I&D stamps were just perfectly sized and it was possible to use smaller pieces of some of the larger stamps as well. 

I think I could get a little hooked on making these little vintage spools .... and they do look so cute!

As always thank you for joining me and happy crafting.

Jennie x

Blog: Live the Dream

2019 #3 Mail Art: Authentic Mail with ESC {by Jennie Atkinson}

2019 Topic 3: Mail Art

We have an extremely elegant envelope tonight that involves a masterclass in masking! Jennie has created a beautiful vintage inspired piece of art with lots of super helpful tips on masking,this is a great way to create your own collage of images, and the scripts help it all hang together beautifully ~ Leandra.

Hi everyone, it's Jennie (Live The Dream) here sharing something quite new to me. I have always admired the Mail Art I have seen on Pinterest but never had a go myself. There are SO many individual PaperArtsy stamps that can be used for this topic and I had a job limiting myself to just a few to stamp alongside Raquel's wonderful Floral Stamps released recently.

I thought the best way of creating the Botanical style of Mail Art I wanted was to go down the route of single layer stamping. This is a technique I am turning to time and again for birthday cards to get a layered look but which can be posted at the normal postal rate! It takes time, but well worth the effort.

I couldn't just make the envelope ..... I had to make a card to go inside!

Initially I played around with some stamps to see how they would fit onto the envelope and to decide what I wanted in the foreground and what would sit behind.

I have used stamps from all of these wonderful sets:

ESC18

HP1005

Travel 4 (T4)

Words 4 (W4)

Letters 6 (L6)

Believe me I could have done a whole series of  envelopes from my PaperArtsy stamp collection!! 

I masked out an area for an address and then stamped my first two uppermost images with Potting Soil Archival Ink and then made a mask for them from A Post It Note. If you stamp your mask near the top of the pad you get a little sticky bit which helps to adhere it to your envelope.

A tip about envelopes: make sure you use one that doesn't bleed through the back (this was a linen type envelope left over from the days when I made wedding invitations) and it helps if you cut a piece of cardstock to fit inside the envelope while stamping.

As each layer was stamped there were more masks to make. The flower was too big for a Post It Note, but a thin piece of paper is all that is needed. If you make the mask from too thick paper or card it doesn't allow the next layer to be stamped close up to the image.

It is now getting even more complicated with the last of the stamping and wondering whether it will actually work!

And hey presto, it did!

I used the same stamps and technique on the back of the envelope and painted in the area of the flower with Fresco Finish Acrylic Paints: Magic Moss, Mulled Wine and Key Lime.

I wasn't very happy with the ragged edge on the Jubilee Rose stamp so tried a butterfly, but that didn't work either. So I had to resort to placing my wax seal over the space. Not quite where I intended it to go....

I did blend some brown ink around the edges to give a bit of definition.


Be warned ..... it is rather addictive!

This was a very enjoyable craft session! I think my two elderly Aunts will be delighted to get one of these envelopes through the post on their birthday - and the fact that there is a matching card inside will probably win me the brownie points for this year!  The single layer stamping using masks is so very effective and there are so many PaperArtsy stamp sets which include stamps, tickets, little postcards and handwriting that the possibilities are endless. And don't throw away the masks - you can use them over and over again.

As always, thank you for joining me!

Jennie x

Blog: Live The Dream