Maps, Inspired

Hooray, it's finally Friday! 

During the past days, we enumerated different ways to recycle used maps. Today, I'll show you the work of three artists who created new maps, using old maps as inspiration.

The first set is made by Rebecca Peragine. Her Etsy shop has a section called "My Roots Collection". Here, she makes pastel colored maps that can be used as room decorations but with an interactive twist.

via Etsy 

The maps contain heart-shaped stickers. With the help of their parents, children can identify the cities or countries on the map where their roots lie. Let's say each parent was born in a different state. Or for blended families, where grandparents live. Or if the family is separated because a parent lives abroad. 

via Etsy

It's a good lesson in geography.

via Etsy

It's also a wonderful way to teach kids that even if family members live far away, that doesn't mean love is diminished. It reassures them that people from all over the world love and care for them.

The second artist is also an Etsy seller and her shop is called Here and There. She makes custom-made maps and these are my favorites:

via Etsy

She connects two states with tiny hearts and a 

romantic dotted line. 

via Etsy

Or this one connecting two countries. It's a thoughtful gift for long distance relationships or for anyone who's gone the distance for love.

The final artist is Lena Corwin who came out with a book entitled "Maps". It's a collection of beautifully illustrated maps she made for an interiors magazines. I love how whimsical and vibrant they are. Here are some examples:

via Lena Corwin

via Lena Corwin

via Lena Corwin

I hope these leave you inspired, too. Wishing you an exciting weekend!

Dress Up a Dresser

If you like to travel and still rely on maps to find your way, you can save these maps and use them for crafting. 

blah: old maps

via Pinterest

TADA!: use maps to spruce up a plain dresser

via Pinterest

Or if you want a simpler exterior, use the maps to line the drawers. It's TADA! and makes for a cheerful surprise.

Map Crafts

After completing my map projects last week, I found a few more brilliant ways to turn maps from blah to TADA!  These ones, I came across on Etsy:

via Etsy

These are seating cards for wedding receptions. The name of the guest is printed in front of the card and the corresponding table number is at the back. They also double as book markers after the wedding.

via Etsy

Here are stickers made from maps with calligraphy, too!

via Etsy

Aren't these attractive? These are map star books. When opened, they look like this:

via Etsy

TADA!

via Etsy

And finally, cut-outs from maps {and very precise, I might add} that can be used for scrap booking or card making. I can just see cut-outs of trains, planes and automobiles to illustrate a vacation. See you tomorrow!

Frame the World

Like last week, this week's blah to TADA! theme is "old maps" -- the ones that you've collected while travelling or picked-up at yard sales. And you don't know what to do with them.

You can frame them to create art work that has meaning to you. These ideas, I found on Pinterest:

via Pinterest

via Pinterest

via Pinterest

via Pinterest

via Pinterest

via Pinterest

Cool right? With maps on display, you can easily recount your honeymoon in Paris, your big birthday in Mykonos, that family trip to Disneyland, or that journey of self-discovery in India. Who needs souvenirs when free maps can do the job?

More Maps

Happy Monday! Last week was all about maps and how they can be upgraded from blah to TADA! Well, I found a few more uses for maps while browsing through Pinterest. 

Turn old maps into wall paper:

via Pinterest

via Pinterest

via Pinterest

via Pinterest

via Pinterest

via Pinterest

via Pinterest

Let's say you have a dream destination and you can't visit just yet...instead of going there, take that location right to your very own room with wall paper! With maps like these, you'll have traveled the world without leaving your bed. I think that's TADA!

Map Paintings

To end our map-themed crafting week, I'll share with you a Portland-based artist named Rachel Austin. I'd introduce her to you but Rachel and I have never met. I read about her on Etsy and how she quit her day job to be a successful full-time painter. Isn't that TADA!?

via Rachel Austin

Of her work, I really adore her map paintings. They're made of old maps mounted on wood. Then she adds a waxy layer. Once the wax is dry, she draws or paints on it. Take a look:

via Rachel Austin

via Rachel Austin

via Rachel Austin

The drawings have a child-like quality to them. They feature everyday objects like flowers, paper planes or birds in flight.

via Rachel Austin

They're colorful, peaceful and depict a simple way of life. Almost like observing the world from a quiet place.

via Rachel Austin

Each painting is named after a location on the map.

via Rachel Austin

They are framed using recycled wood pallets that have been trimmed and sanded down {another TADA!}.

via Rachel Austin

In an interview, she says, "I love the feeling of painting a piece and feeling right after it's done (as long as I like it). It sometimes feels spiritual, like God is painting through me."  


Being spiritual myself, I kinda like that.

via Rachel Austin

I hope you enjoyed these paintings and all the blah to TADA! ideas you can do with maps. Have a lovely weekend!

City Charms

One of the first things I do when I vacation in a new city is to get a map. I like to explore, and while getting lost is part of the fun, losing your way all the time is not fun anymore. 

After my stay, the maps find their way in my suitcase and make the trip with me back home. They're all in a plastic bin in case I need to refer back to them. And how often does that happen? Almost never! So I've turned them into crafting materials. 

Being a sentimental fool is my excuse for hoarding things like maps, labels and receipts. I've decided to get rid of the maps, but not entirely.

Let me explain with this picture:

found on Etsy

Here's another one:

found on Etsy

Aren't they cute? I'll get to keep a small part of the map, wear it everyday, and it'll always remind me of my holiday. 

Here is my blah to TADA! version of the map necklace:

blah: metal pendants purchased at a 

jewelry supply store

TADA!: My very own map necklace!

Choose a favorite borough, town, city or country 

from a map. Glue it on the pendant, finish with a 

coat of Mod Podge. Add a jump ring and string 

this on a chain. TADA!

Here's another one with a collection of cities I've been lucky to have visited and that have left a lasting impression on me: Rome, Paris, London and Amsterdam.

It's also a thoughtful gift for a friend -- find a city where she grew up, or where you met, or even a place she dreams of going to one day. Now I think that's TADA!