STENCILS FROM ALI EXPRESS
Recently I was searching for some suitable lids for the new cat food tins we are getting, and the only place I could find where they had them of the correct small size and not in multi-sized sets was AliExpress. I duly ordered two packs of eight, and they were very cheap. I may post about this later, once the tins are in use as containers in the studio.
While I was on there, I had a look for other art materials that might take my fancy, and found absolutely loads of fabulous, really cheap stencils. Some came in sets and some were individual. I now have plenty more to add to my burgeoning collection!
The majority of them are tag-shaped. This isn’t a problem because most of the time I would only want to add stencilling or texture to parts of an image or page anyway. The overall patterns are going to make great textures.
One or two of these are similar to ones I already have, a couple of which I have cut myself. However, for the price, I don’t mind a near duplicate or two, and the scale may be different. I might have been able to cut others myself, but again, for the price, hardly worth the hassle. There are some in the collection that would have proved very difficult to cut, such as the last one with the tiny circular holes. My cutting machine tends not to cope with this sort of thing very well. Some of the stencils are slightly inadequately cut, but any remaining pieces are easy enough to push out. Looking at the photos, I notice that I have missed a few!
These tag-shaped stencils came in two separate sets.
The remaining stencils are singles. The first one is quite small – about 6 inches square, I think.
These graduating stencils are very useful. This particular one would have caused problems for my cutting machine, with the tiny holes at the top right.
This gorgeous lotus flower ornament stencil is quite large – almost 12 inches tall overall.
Another one at about 12 inches tall. This overall swirls pattern is going to be very useful. The other swirls stencils in my possession are larger in scale, and smaller in overall size.
The final one is very large – a full 12 x 12 inches overall, a fabulous complete mandala.
This was the only item in my order that presented a slight problem. It was simply packed in a plastic envelope with no stiff backing, and it had been bent in transit, perhaps to push it through the letterbox. No warning on the package not to bend it. It isn’t a sharp fold, but enough to prevent one side of the stencil from lying flat. However, being so large, it is very doubtful that I would ever want to utilise the whole thing unless I was stencilling on a wall, for instance. It is a symmetrical design, so I shall be able to select a flat part when I use it for mixed media art. I put it under some heavy books for a few hours but it didn’t flatten it. My hubby suggested heating it, but I am reluctant to do that in case I melt it! I think I can live with the problem. The only other issue with it is that it is too large to go in my stencils folder, so I shall have to think of somewhere else to store it. Despite its drawbacks, it is rather gorgeous, isn’t it!
I recently purchased two other mandala stencils, smaller in size. Together they will be a useful resource.
