Design Inspiration. Planet Stencil Library.

Before.....Rachel's Living Room

The time has come to redo my living room.  I've decided, to be more practical, to split it into two sections.  The back half will be the living room area and the front half will sort of be a dining room area.  Here is what is looked like a couple of days ago:

 
Here's a detail shot.  I had used the flowers from GR51 Gardenia tree stencil scattered randomly about.

 
Here is what it looks like this morning:

 
Rather depressing, isn't it (not helped by the fact I took this photo with my phone).  It will have to be done in two halves.  So first up is the back half, the living room area. My boyfriend, the best one ever and the most fabulous, kind, generous and handsome person (he'll probably read this at some point), has volunteered to paint the walls for me.  Bless him.  He's just spent 2 days wrestling with painting his mother's hallway (he's still muttering about 6 doorways and painting on top of textured paper).  But he did volunteer and it will be a great help to me and it means that I can launch into stencilling it tomorrow.  I have spent the past couple of evenings moving everything out.  I have discovered a) that I have a lot of DVD's and b) that I have a lot of cushions.  Never mind, it will all get sorted out.  So what am I going to do next, you ask?  Well, you shall just have to wait and see, but here is my inspiration:

 
Do you know where I am going with this?  I hope to be able to show you soon.

Myreton Motor Museum

What many people know about me (Rachel writing, as Helen is away) is that I love vintage clothing and home decor.  What they might not know is that I also have rather a soft spot for vintage cars.  In fact this is who I want to be:

 
Jessica Biel's character in the film "Easy Virtue" - wardrobe and car.

Although I work on building my vintage wardrobe, I have yet to get anywhere near owning the vintage car.  In the meantime, I make do with viewing (and occasionally stroking) them at vintage car rallies or museums.  Last spring, I went to North Berwick in Scotland for a mini break with my boyfriend.  It is a beautiful area not far from Edinburgh. We had a list of places to visit and had been told not to miss the Myreton Motor Museum.  Late one afternoon we went and what a hidden gem it turned out to be.

 
We were told when you arrived that it didn't look like much. And they were right.  The car collection, and it is quite a collection, is housed in three large sheds (for want of a better way to describe them).  What is unique about this museum is that it is privately owned.  The collection started as a passion of the owner.  The original owner died, but his family keep the passion going.

We were the only people there and lost ourselves in a world of beautiful old cars: Morris' (nothing to do with me or Helen unfortunately),

 
MG's,

 
Citroens,

 
(don't you think Helen would look rather good in the car on the left?)

Wolsleys (with art deco interiors), Jaguars

 
Austins, Singers,

 
Daimlers, and much more.  In fact, we were so swept away, we hadn't realised the museum had closed an hour previously until the caretaker politely informed us she was going home. 

We are back to North Berwick this autumn and intend to go back to Myreton allowing more time.  In the meantime, I will continue to wish for my vintage car and think about where I can use our fabulous vintage car stencil DE309, an art deco design I have always loved.

 
Signed, Rachel....

 

My Kind of Minimal

 
As you know, at The Stencil Library, we don't really do minimal as such, but there is a certain type of minimal we are more than happy with.  Sometimes, simpler is better.  I love what has been done with our NC113 Polka Dots stencil in the August edition of Livingetc magazine.  They've taken our border, masked out a few of the dots so that it is more sparse and simply run it along the skirting board and around the window (I love how the window frame is painted blue in the black and white scheme).  This would be a very quick stencil job and it adds just the right kind of finishing touch to the room, don't you think?

Photo: Ditte Isager

The Show Must Go On

 
Photo (and banner for sale): SunnyDay Vintage on etsy.com  

Yes, Helen is away in foreign lands spreading the good word of stencilling (and probably indulging in a chocolate martini or two) so I am in charge of it all.  Ooooh, the power!  I was driving along a back road last night and passed a field full of ponies.  It reminded me of a time a few years ago almost to the day where I nearly drove off the road and into a ditch because I looked over the hedge into the same field to see a couple of giraffes.  Yes, giraffes.  No, I hadn't been at the chocolate martini's myself.  The travelling circus was in town.

I've always been a bit fascinated and hugely inspired by shows: be it circus, burlesque or old stage.  It started when my mother sent me a red 1940's circus costume she had found.

 
A St Christopher's (patron saint of travellers) medallion was sewn inside the neckline.

 
I have always been a bit obsessed by old clothes, their beauty and the mysterious pasts attached to them, but this piece has to take the cake as the most exotic I own and the one with perhaps the most exciting and varied past.   

There is a book out called "Circus 1870-1950" that has been on my mammoth Amazon wishlist.  I have seen a sample of some of the photos and I love the backgrounds more than the ideas of the acts themselves: the colours, patterns, costumes.

 
A vertible feast of oooohs and aaaaahs.  What is not to inspire?

The dramatic colours.... 

 
Sorry, I don't know where this photo came from or who took it

The stripes.....

 
DM4 Chevron from The Stencil Library

 
Victorian skating coat (how utterly fab, I want it!) for sale by Petrune on etsy.com

The sequins.....

 
From the book "Circus 1870-1950" - love the giant green sequins and chevron shape

I shall have to get around to purchasing the book and also to seeing the film "Water for Elephants", the perfect combination: vintage and circus.

 
I have always fancied seeing a Gifford's Circus show as they are quite famous for being an old style glamorous circus.

 
 
Photos: Gifford's Circus

In the meantime, I shall just continue to try and collect the odd costume and make up stories in my head about the original owner, the places they had been, the things they had done.  Any ideas?

 

Learn to stencil with the experts

I am away until 10th of August.

I shall be visiting Pennsylvania, New York and Virginia in the USA then British Columbia in Canada. I hope to find interesting ideas, places, people and product to introduce you to.

First stop is the annual convention and expo for stencilers, faux painters,muralists and other interested parties. I will be teaching two classes, both are intoroductions to the versatility of the stencil tool.  I am hosting 'Double Vision' with Melanie Royals of Royal Designs and Modello Masking Patterns.  It will be four hours of the pair of us trying to share loads of knowledge and experience whilst teaching twelve of our signature techniques.  We will be showing loads of slides of our own work and those of other stencil artists that we admire.  Some of these artists will be teaching or selling at the convention.

 

The other stenciling class that I offer whilst in Hampton is a basic grounding in how to use stencils successfully.  Students receive the stencils in the photo above and over the next few hours we will experiment with loads of techniques 

This is what the International Decorative Artisans League. have to say about their convention.

The International Decorative Artisans League will host its 26th Annual Convention and Exposition in Hampton, Virginia from July 20 to 24, 2011. This historic city, currently celebrating its 400th anniversary, sits at the confluence of the James River, Chesapeake Bay and Atlantic Ocean. Hampton offers IDAL attendees a great urban location in the mid-Atlantic region. Minutes from the Hampton Convention Center is Colonial Williamsburg, Busch Gardens, the cities of Norfolk and Virginia Beach, and local sandy beaches. The downtown waterfront area has a vibrant tourist and social scene, with museums, galleries, shopping, clubs, restaurants and numerous water tours of the scenic James River, Chesapeake Bay and Norfolk Naval Station, the largest U.S. Navy base in the world.

IDAL looks forward to welcoming our members, teachers, vendors and guests to Hampton in July of 2011. Pack your tools with your beach towels and join us in Hampton!

Tempted? You do not have to be a member of IDAL to attend the expo part and there will be demonstrations of many techniques and products.  It is open to the public on Friday 22nd noon til 6 and Saturday from 10 til 6. I'll be there signing copies of my last book, the new one won't be ready in time. My friend Carolyn from Stencilwerks.com has a booth where she is selling my stencils along some that she designs herself. She will be demonstrating stenciling at the booth.

If you are member of IDAL you can join classes on stencilling and many other decorative arts or related business.  They are hosted by some of the best teachers in the world. See the whole list of the teachers, read their bios and link to their classes here.  Teachers have traveled from The Netherlands, France, Sweden, Great Britain, Canada and several states in America to share their knowledge at this convention. If it is too late for this year then check out IDAL's site, become a member and get in early for the next one. 

Speak to you soon... or see you there!

Helen.

Millie and Maude where are they now?

 

Rachel just offered me first refusal on a Millie & Maude bag that she is going to sell.  She and I used to love their designs, the two ladies used to sell them exclusively at The House & Garden Fair in London.  It would take them all year to make enough bags to sell over the four day fair.  

Rachel and I would hope to sell enough stencils at the same event so that we could afford a bag each....they were not cheap.

I bought one a year but have not seen or heard of Millie or Maude in a decade.

Does anyone know their whereabouts are they still making bags but under another name?

Meanwhile, this one of Rachel's is for sale at The Stencil Library shop, or on line through this blog. Maybe, she will leave a comment and give you more details about it. Otherwise, leave one for her.

Helen

New seagull stencil



Do you fancy drifts of seagulls stencilled onto walls, fabric or furniture?  How about decorating a shower curtain or roller blind with their silhouettes? See the new Seagull Stencils in the Stencil It Collection at The Stencil Library.

 

Helen

Clock This! It's 'time' to decorate.

A friend alerted me to these flat pack, cardboard clocks designed by Amy Levinson.

They can be sent through the post and can be decorated in thousands of different ways.

They could be a wonderful and useful finishing touch in a room or make a great gift.

I got in touch with the designer Amy Levinson and this is what she told me.

'My clocks come flat and blank, to allow the customer to engage in both the construction and decoration processes in the hope that they will create a product that they will grow to love and cherish.  My website has a gallery where customers can see how others have decorate their clocks. The clocks are currently for sale on my website and in other retailers around the North East of England'.

Brilliant..yes?  Others think so too.  Amy has already won a prestigious award for best retail product. She is also the current designer in residence at Northumbria University.

Helen.

alternative colour ways for Chinoiserie panel stencils

 
Rachel spent a day at Abbotsford in Melrose.

This Chinese wallpaper can be seen there. Her boyfriend took a picture and sent me it, which prompted me to stencil a green Chinoiserie wall using stencils CH2 to CH4.  I have used these stencils many times and kept meaning to do a green wall, this was just the impetus that I needed.  This was my green wall...  

I have tweaked the colour balance on the pictures to offer other alternatives to show you.

 

Here are more colour alternatives from previous projects using the same stencils. 

 

Colour could be forgone and substituted with texture.

This is a detail from a large wall of polished plaster that I created with plaster specialists Armourcoat UK and interior designer George Bond. Click on the image to see more detail.

One set of stencils, so many decorative possibilities.

Helen.

Living Etc July issue

I am inspired by this image from the July issue of Living Etc .

Hmmmm. I suspect that it would not be long though until I stencilled the giant canvas...probably with deep purple or a royal blue.

Wendy Parkin was featured on Chippendale & Morris blog recently

and this is a detail from one of her paintings it shows similar colours

Another citrus green and purple combination is found on this Chinese style dress of Rachel's.  Its currently for sale in The Stencil Library shop.

This stripy silk was bought years ago. I had the idea of decorating a bedroom around it.  The room was to be purple and black with splashes of chartreuse green and pewter, I got the silk, I got the lampshades, I got no further.

Some of the silk was used for a photo in my new book. I stencilled flowers onto it with iridescent paint. I can show you the results when the book is released in September.

Violet and chartreuse? Lilac and lime? Does the colour combination work for you?

Digital copies of Living Etc are available aswell as printed ones.

Helen