Design Inspiration. Planet Stencil Library.

Snowflake stencils on black and white

I have design students with me.  Laura, Harriet and Melanie are on placement from Newcastle College, they stencilled the cards and wrap for us to display on the Christmas themed Stencilled House tour this week.

It's a pity that I've not been gift shopping (or making) yet because I could have utilised their efforts to wrap my gifts....after it had been photographed of course   To make your own version of stencilled gift wrap use plain or patterned paper (or fabric), mine came from IKEA.   Stencilling can look stunning when combined with a background pattern.

We used SS84 Snowflake stencil on the wrap.

and MS105 mini snowflake stencil on the cards.  I do hope that this year I get my cards stencilled in plenty of time to post them!

Helen. 

Stencilling Kirstie's Home Made Home

Yesterday I suggested that you viewed Kirstie's Home Made Home on Channel 4.  In the program I attempted to teach Kirstie Allsopp and contributors Gerry and Paulette how to stencil. I posed these questions in yesterday's blog post and said that I only knew the answer to one of them. Did they make a success of the project? Did they enjoy it? Were their efforts usable?  Will they ever pick up a stencil again?

Helen Morris and Kirstie Allsopp cutting a stencil. From Kirstie's Home Made Home 

Well, now that I have seen the episode I am thrilled to learn that the blinds looked gorgeous. Gerry said he was more proud of the blinds than any of the other things that they made for their home and YES he would stencil again.  Bless you Gerry I could have kissed you through the TV screen.  It was great to see him, Paulette and Kirstie again, they really made the most fabulous job of stencilling the blinds.  I expected their work to look good because stencilling does if you follow a few rules.... and they did because I was breathing down their necks.  I don't think at the time they could believe how brilliant it looked, all three of them produced fabulous results. No wonder they were so chuffed. They even had a successful go at cutting a stencil with a heatpen.

I thoroughly enjoyed the rest of the episode. Rachel and I have decided to visit the antique fair that was featured, not that we need much of an excuse for second hand shopping. I am going to attempt to make a bean bag just as Manda showed us.... mine would be stencilled of course. 

Now that the show has aired I can show you the blinds that we all made and tell you about the stencil. 

We made a special stencil one for the show and it is now available for sale.  The 'Kirstie stencil' was an adaptation of Leaves from our Larger than Life stencil collection. 

Information about everyone on the programe can be found on Kirstie's site on Channel 4.  Look for the 'Surrey' episode. They have listed the stencil library as .co.uk not .com so I hope that can be ammended. Kirstie shows you how to stencil here.  You can see the finished blinds in place. If you enjoyed the program or have any questions for them you can leave a message on their comment page. I'll visit when I have finished this post so that I can learn how to make that bean bag!

Helen.

Inspiration Nation

Crown Paint have been adding colour to the UK for a long while now.

They are the paint manfacturers that forged the collaboration with the Royal College of Art to bring you the annual innovative stencil competition called The Crown Jewels.  I have often shown you prize winning stencils from that partnership.  One of Crown Paint's new ventures is Inspiration Nation;  A competition that is open to residents of the UK and Ireland. They're launching a search to find out what inspires the whole of the UK....and what drives us to get creative.

Marc at Crown Paint told me 'We’ve created a site where anyone can come along and tell us what personally inspires them. Perhaps it’s a cherished keepsake, a car or maybe even another person? Whatever it is, we want you to tell us all about it! We want photos too, so feel free to upload away! By doing so, you could win an exclusive home or business makeover and even the chance to inspire the creative of our brand new advertising campaign'

What are you waiting for? Get set to inspire a nation  and you may win a home or business makeover! 

Staying within the theme of inspiration Crown Paint also offer a competition for musicians to create the soundtrack for their new advertising. 

I found all the pictures whilst I was learning about all the groovy new stuff and the competitions over at Crown Paint's web site. All the stencils are available from stencil-library.com. 

We will have more Crown/Royal College of Arts stencil competition winners to show you soon. Meanwhile you may like to visit Crown and see whether you can help inspire a nation.

Stencils featured are MD33 Circles no 2 from the Modern Design Collection.

Aspidistra from The Garden Room Collection.

Designer Floral Arrangement from the Flowers & Fruit Collection.

Stickyweed from the Vintage Collection

Barbed wire from the Bad Attitude Collection.

 

The Christmas House Tour

Every year we host a festive tour of our stencilled home.  It is the first Saturday and Wednesday in December and so I am starting to decorate for it now.  This year I hope to have the help of design students from Newcastle College. Last week student Laura helped me hang paper snow flakes from the ceiling on the stairwell.  I bought them bought from RE in Corbridge.

They turn gracefully in the draft from the window.

Wouldn't they look dramatic hung above a dinner table with dressed with white linen, white china and monochrome decoration?  

This is another decorative offering from RE.

I photographed these when I was in their shop last week. They had projected snowflakes onto the wall. I don't have a projector so I would interpret the idea by using large snowflake stencils onto a paper backdrop or a swathe of stencilled fabric.  In fact I shall look at the snowflake stencils in our holiday stencil collection and see which ones are best to enlarge. If you want to do the same contact me for custom sizing.

You can buy the paper decorations and much more from RE on line.   If you are in Northumberland visit their shop.  Also my friend Di from Designers-Block is taking a case full of RE decorations to sell at the Tarset Christmas Fair near Bellingham on the 5th of December.  She will also be selling pieces from her Ghost Furniture collection too. I went to the fair last year.  It was housed in the lovely Tarset  Village Hall in the splendid scenery of Northumberland National Park... tea and cakes were available and it was a great day out.  I would recommend it, along with a stout walk in the area and a pub lunch.

Last year I just had one large paper snowflake in the window, that looked pretty too.

Our Saturday house tour is now full but we have places left on Wednesday evening December 1st. Contact me or The Stencil Library to book a place Tickets are eight pounds and include refreshments, tour of the rooms and stencil demonstrations.

Helen.

Stormy Monday

 

Many years ago I walked into a bar in a Mike Figgis movie called Stormy Monday.

Nice earrings, I wonder if I still have them.

I was accompanied by Sean Bean and Melanie Griffith.  The director had chosen me because I reminded him of the red haired woman in Edward Hopper's painting Night Hawks. 

The bar in Stormy Monday was named Hoppers Bar, I remember that the lighting was quite beautiful, in fact the light and colours throughout the film are delicious.

Recently I saw this poster for sale on Amazon, I could not see the details but ordered it anyway. What do you think, is that me on the poster?  Oh go on, it is isn't it?  My family say 'no, it's a man in a turban'!

The directors commentory on the Stormy Monday DVD is fascinating, Mike Figgis tells you much about the actors, the location and general chat about making the movie. He even mentioned me but tells you nothing about men in turbans.

Shown in this picture is Jimmy Forsythe a local legend. His other wordly photographs chronicle the city of Newcastle upon Tyne before slum clearance in the 1950's & 60's. Stormy Monday evokes a similar feel as much of the city has changed since the film was shot. I have grown 2 dress sizes in that time but I'm sure that is me in the poster... it's not a turban!

Helen

 

 

 

 

 

 

A taste of honey

I probably should have titled this post.  Don't worry bee happy.

There are stencilled bees on my television cabinet

and on the carpet.

There are honey bees in my garden..and there are bee keepers too.

The bees made honey and the bee keepers gave some to me.

It's bee eautiful.  Bee colonies are suffering all over the world so when I was asked whether I could give a hive a home I was happy to donate a quiet patch of the orchard.  So far the bees are very healthy and are a joy to share the garden with. The gift of honey is a very welcome bonus.

Bee stencils can be found at stencil-libray.com on this page and on this one. Both are in the Budget Stencils collection.

Helen

Kirstie's home made home. The book of the series.

My copy of Kirstie's Homemade Home book has arrived. 

In the section called getting stuck in author Kirstie Allsopp shows the reader how to knit, crochet, screen print, make mosaics and other creative projects. 

Here I am encouraging Kirstie on her first stencil project. Goodness knows what I had on my feet, they  look scary and will be revealed to the nation when the series comes out on television.  The first episode is aired tonight on Channel 4. Apart from removing the silly shoes I did not get time to change my clothes or put my make up on before filming.  Thankfully, Kirstie insisted that I got a coffee.

I remember being contestant on a show with Michael Barrymore a lifetime ago.  I was wearing a dainty gold pleated dress, a very curly hair do, too much lip gloss and a pair of killer heels. Two minutes into the recording I was asked to exchange my pretty shoes for flats because I was too tall for the frame.   I ended up wearing a huge, flappy pair of green boots with my party frock but was assured that no one would see my feet.... They lied.  I wince with humiliation every time I watch it...which is whenever I need a really good laugh!

Anyway enough about me...back to Kirstie.  This is the project that we worked on for her book.

We used LTL leaves from The Larger Than Life collection at The Stencil Library. Kirstie gives you instruction on how to stencil the canvas using the leaf stencil.  She also shows you how to cut a stencil using an electric stencil cutter, which is handy if you want to create your own design.  Kirstie was really impressed with the stencil cutter, I felt rotten taking it back from her. At the edge of the photograph is a stencilled cushion cover showing that the stencil can be re used onto other surfaces.

The trio of leafy pictures is now for sale in our shop. The stencil can be ordered if you want to make your own version, ask for the 'Kirstie Special'.  Kirstie's stencil was adapted from LTL leaves, it was stenciled with gold paint, raw umber and burgundy.

Sometime this month you can watch me show Kirstie how to use this stencil on another surface during the channel 4 television programme of Kirstie's Homemade Home.

Helen.