Design Inspiration. Planet Stencil Library.

Pinning the jewels on the crown

Late last night I stencilled two pinboards.

I was on a deadline to finish one for our village's  Portrait of The Queen Exhibition.  I thought I would make my portrait useful.

by using the pins to hang things from.  I tried two similar styles,

one with a border and contrast frame

 

and the other without.  I liked the industrial look of the plain frame but friends preferred the contrast so I repainted it, what is your verdict?

They are prototypes for a new collection created for For Queen and Corgi.

They started life as a plain cork pin board from IKEA. Very soon I shall post a project on stencilling an IKEA pinboard. I used our SIB14-S Dogs stencil from the Stencil It book. Tomorrow I will visit the Portrait of The Queen exhibition in Stocksfield.  I'm dying to show you what my For Queen and Corgi partner Sabina painted.

For Queen and Corgi now has a Facebook page, we have had some lovely press recently and you will find it there.

Til then, 

Helen.

Restoration of a stencilled ceiling

I am back to my office after several days up a scaffold in Cumbria, stencilling a ceiling.

A flood destroyed the ceiling of this beautiful room in a grand, English country house. The owner wanted it putting it back exactly as it had been.  Chips made a stencil from photographs of the motif. I spent time researching and mixing the colours and made a sample board. The shimmer on the motifs had to sparkle and that was achieved using mica powder. 

I worked with a very patient and conscientious decorator from Newcastle called Eddy.  He and I had not met before this commission and at the end of two and a half, twelve hour shifts he was still talking to me! If you have ever stencilled a ceiling you will know how exhausting it can be. So, if you are looking for a decorator in Newcastle contact me for his details.

I hope that the home owner will be thrilled to see the decoration restored to its former state.

Helen.

Good news For Queen and Corgi

For Queen and Corgi the micro business that I started with my friend Sabina Rose got a colourful and humorous feature in The Journal newspaper today.

The pictures spanned two pages and there was even a teaser on the front page.

Northern Englanders can pick up a copy from newsagents today, everyone else can read it here. Thank you Jane Hall at The Journal and photographer Paul Norris. Our hand painted, Jubilee inspired bags can be bought from the Stencil Library shop or on line at Folksy.com

 

Mad Men, Op Art and Stencils

Jane Dagmi gave ColorChats readers the idea to try stencils to recreate the look of Roger's office from AMC's Mad Men television series.

Picture from AMC MadMen via Colorchats.

Jane showed stencils from various sources including The Stencil Library.

Photo The Stencil Library featuring MD9 Shimmer

I think our MD9 Shimmer stencil would be a perfect addition and one can make an even bolder impact by repeating the stencil over a wider area.  This design is available in larger sizes too!

Another op art stencil design that may look the part..if you dare is MD14 Pulsate in the XL size!

Photo The Stencil Library featuring Pulsate stencil and Waves.

The floor is stencilled with DM2-s Waves decorating mask from our Big and Bold collection.

I have stencilled a smaller version of MD14 Pulsate onto canvas part way up the staircase at home. Jane Dagmi's other ideas included MD Meander stencil. I have used that one also on the walls of the same staircase....  maybe I am a secret Mad Men character. She featured our MD68 Crescent stencil too.

Photography courtesy of Crown Colour Magazine/Akzo Nobel.
Editor/Stylist:	Melanie Molesworth/Sacha Cohen
Photographer:	Tom Leighton

All the MD stencils can be found in the Modern Design Collection at The Stencil Library.

Image from Madmen yourself.com

Helen.

When was the last time..

When was the last time that you did something for the first time? This was a question posed by an advert that I saw this morning. I thought that it may be an interesting thread to share.

I'll start because I had quite a few firsts last week.  I visited Luxembourg for the first time.. verdict? Fab.

I had never drank Cremant which is Luxembourg's 'fizzy'.. Verdict? Also fab.

Another first was cooking on a raclette grill ..verdict? I have ordered one in the hope of cooking in the garden this summer.

I watched Britains Got More Talent for the first time.  Now, I have to admit I was looking forwad to this as I rarely see TV at home... verdict? Awful and I don't want to do it again.

Played with a Wii for the first time ..verdict? Fab and silly.  Who waterskis on their friends sofa whilst wearing scotty dog pyjamas?

Another first was sardines cooked on an open fire washed down by Mojitos.. for breakfast.

Verdict?.. I can't remember.

Now it's your turn.

Helen.

Reminder about clearance of uncut stencil patterns

An intrepid few readers have taken advantage of our clearance prices on uncut stencils and the equipment to cut them. To see which bargains remain visit the original blog post that lists them.

Drama in the Parlour 4.

Yes it's that time again when I swap my stencil brushes for a script and several silly voices.

Click image to enlarge.

Drama in the Parlour 4 will be performed at Stocksfield Hall from the 9th to 12th of May. The first read through was last night and I laughed till I stopped.

What is it?  Well, it is a radio style show set somewhere round the 1940's.  The cast dress appropriately for the period and entertain a 'small but perfectly formed' audience with humorous sketches, songs and thrilling serials. It's all acted in the stencilled parlour of my home. Some of the audience dress up too, it is encouraged but not obligatory.

The cast and audience in the parlour.

This is the fifth one in the series, they are written by Alex Swan and I think the latest may just be the funniest yet.  Here are some images from past shows because we need some new photographs! 

Drama in the Parlour at the real BBC with Jonathan Miles.

writer Alex Swan in the dressing room.

The Drama in the Parlour Victorian Christmas special in the dining room.

Tickets in advance from The Stencil Library or from local Stocksfield shops. PayPal payment now accepted. The 'theatre' holds 33 audience and seven cast members...it is not your usual night out.

Helen.

How to stencil wallpaper with a repeating design of dogs

Linda Barker created a study room on ITV1's television programme 60 Minute Makeover which featured hand stencilled wallpaper with our pattern of SIB14-LR Dogs on it. The homeowners appeared to love it and if you are quick then you can catch the programme on line for a few more days. It's the Wallington episode.

Now, I will show you how to stencil wallpaper using a repeating pattern.

The 'Dogs' stencil is one of 20 designs given in the book Stencil It by Helen Morris. The design was enlarged for this project. The book and stencils can be ordered from The Stencil Library.

This is how to make your own version of the dog wallpaper.

Cut several lengths of paper from the roll, make them a little longer than is needed.  The wall was 250 centimetres high so I cut them at 275. My paper came from Tesco...very inexpensive.

I used a foam mushroom and household matt emulsion paint to stencil the wallpaper. Mushrooms are available from The Stencil Library and are useful for stencilling large areas of flat colour.  I could have used a foam roller to stencil, but there are floppy bits on the stencil which may catch on a roller so a mushroom or a large stencil brush is a safer option.

 

I sprayed a slight misting of spray repositioning adhesive on the back of the stencil and aligned the edge of the stencil along the edge of the wallpaper. 

 

Dab the rounded end of the mushroom onto the paint then bounce it onto scrap paper until the paint is just moist and no longer wet. Rock and tap the mushroom through the holes in the stencil until the shape is covered.

 

Before removing the stencil place some low tack tape under the registration diamond and mark the tape.

  

Reposition the stencil for the next repeat by aligning diamond shapes with the marks on the tape.

 
 
As each length of paper is completed join the next one to it with low tack tape. The pattern needs to run concurrently.  Number each length so that they can be easily matched when pasted to the wall. 

 
 
Try to stencil the join evenly.

 
 
like this.

 

After fifteen metres the stencilled imprint was losing clarity so the stencil was soaked in a hot bath, cleaned, then laid flat to dry.

Paste wallpaper into position!

Helen. 

 

A flying start to the Diamond Jubilee Big Lunch

The first batch of our large, stencilled, card butterflies have emerged from our studio.  15 done.. 200 more to do.

Luckily this is a community project so there should be lots of eager artists to help create a swarm of brightly coloured moths and butterflies to decorate the lawns at our neighbourhood's Big Lunch on the Jubilee Weekend in June.   Children's groups and adults are pitching in over the next couple of weeks and I think the results should be fabulous. There will be updates as the various decorative projects take flight. 

60 Minute Makeover

The Dogs Stencil adapted from our book Stencil It had a starring role ITV 1's 60 Minute Makeover this week. There are 28 days left to view the episode.

Linda Barker and her dedicated team transformed three rooms of a Surrey home whilst the unsuspecting occupants where elsewhere. I've not seen the full episode yet so I hope that our stencilled offering was well received. What do you think.. do they look pleased or shocked?

I was unable to join Linda's team that morning because I had been invited to a garden party at Alnwick Castle attended by The Queen and Prince Philip...and that does not happen to me everyday. So, I stencilled the dog design onto several rolls of wallpaper, shipped them south to Linda and went to the party.  I will find the photographs that I took of the dog wallpaper project and post a 'how to' for you.. Meanwhile here's a couple of pictures from the garden party. 

Helen.