stencils and masks and fun, oh my!

It amazes me what things can inspire us. I've had a dry spell for awhile, with family situations and with our new cottage. But I've been aching to create lately, and stencils and masks have turned me back on! I needed to come up with an idea for our Creative Spirits group that meets soon, so I began leafing through Collage Lab, by Bee Shay, and spotted a section on masks and stencils. I've been curious about them since taking Michelle Ward's class last summer when we used them with spray paints. Then I began thinking about what could be used as a stencil/mask, and decided to leaf through some magazines in search of good silhouettes.

One of the magazines was the Fall issue of Vogue, which is jam packed with all kinds of artsy inspiration. I began cutting out figures of the models in various--sometimes comical--poses. I'm just beginning, but I will soon have a great stash of stencils/masks I can use in my art! Here's the first one I cut out.
I traced her onto a manilla file folder, then cut her out, using a craft knife. So I have both a stencil and a mask.
Here's a sample of using the stencil, with just some scrapbook papers I had handy. I added a few collage elements, and she's all done!
Here's another sample, again using scrapbook papers, this time using the silhouette as a stencil. I added a lacey skirt and some shading, and another quick fix for my creative need.
And another collage, cut out of some collaged paper I had made, glued onto an envelope I received from an artist friend at Christmas. And this is all, just using papers. Imagine what I can do with paint! Simple, yet effective. I think my dry spell has been healed!