Design Inspiration. Planet Stencil Library.

First stencil project success

I was totally thrilled to receive photographs of the first stencil projects from two students that attended our recent introduction to stencilling day.  The first pictures to arrive were sent from Muriel Cavaille.

She has used the designer blossom stencil from the larger than life collection. The blossom stencil is made up of lines and dots. The stenciller fits them together to make their own pattern, no two will ever be the same.

This was the work in progress

and now the bed is back in place.

I noticed that Muriel's stencilled colours echo those in the fabric.  She thanked Rachel for helping her choose paint to stencil with and wrote 'In the end I went for pewter, the nice dusty pink, and mixed some crimson with a bit of metallic rust to take a bit of the brightness off. I also used some cream emulsion and some pale gold that I had already.

Muriel added "I'm very pleased with the result, I'm not sure I set off to do something so bold but I'm happy with the way it turned out, it's a definite statement and I'm very proud of it"

I reckon she should be. 

 

A day or two later Gail Rusieski emailed pictures of her first stencil project since taking the class. Gail has used stencils based on designs by Charles Rennie Mackintosh.

She wrote "I've been putting my new skills to the test at home, I thought you might like a quick look at my results so far.  There's a border in a bedroom, plus very quick but effective jobs of 'upgraded' cushions and a lampshade in the living room."

I am impressed that she stencilled a curved, plastic lampshade, that's a tricky surface especially for a new starter. Gail continues  "I'm very happy with how they have turned out and I'm planning another couple of larger projects too, now I've gained a bit of confidence and experience.  ... It's so satisfying to make something original and personal without having to be Michaelangelo!"

I don't have any more classes scheduled for this year but we arrange private ones for small groups and there is a demonstration of stencilling techniques on our tours of the Stencilled House.  See side bar for dates of the next ones.   Rachel and I appreciate seeing the work of our customers and thank you Muriel and Gail for letting us show them.  I rather like Gail's quote about Michaelangelo too!

Helen.

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

A taste for gothic...stencils

What do the following three images have in common?

A picture by Pam Hawkes sold through the Flying Colours Gallery in Chelsea, London. It appears to be painted onto copper leaf and was one of my favourite pieces from the recent Art London Fair.

A velvet kaftan that I stencilled around fourteen years ago ..and still wear when the weather gets chilly. It's a perfect outfit for a rural get together, one can wear wellie boots, woolens and thermal long johns under them and still look relatively glam in cold, country houses.  

The floor in my reception room.

Answer. Gothic stencils.  See our GMT43 from the Gothic, Medieval and Tudor stencil collection.  Does it inspire you to create your own masterpiece?

Stencil Use No. 67: the lipstick stencil

Because we ladies all have trouble with this:

Oh, the (missed) possibilities.  We do have a lips stencil in our Vintage range, but it doesn't quite do this. My boyfriend found this on the Modernmechanix blog (wonderful subheading: "Yesterday's Tomorrow Today").  Worth looking at the "Just Weird" section when you have some time.  It is from a 1938 issue of Popular Science magazine. 

Rachel 

 

'Stencil It' The Out Takes part 2. The Geese Stencil

If you visit  mydeco.com blog you can watch me decorate this wall with a geese stencil from the new book Stencil It. 

The stencilling starts on the wall above baseboard continues over both curtains then continues to the ceiling.  This is something neither wallpaper or stickers can do and makes a striking yet subtle feature.

The geese stencil is one of fifteen laminated card stock stencils that are bound into the pages of the book. It is ready to use.

In the Stencil It book I show you how to make a striking repeating design from the geese but it can also be used as a free form stencil. Here are the projects that did not make the pages of the final publication.

An illustration shows a free form stenciled geese pattern. The scale has been increased for extra drama. Instruction is given on how to change the scale of the designs and there is an option to buy the stencils ready made.

Glitter glaze can add extra sparkle.

Over the moon.  Geese fly in stenciled formation across ceiling, walls and silk lampshade.

A tribute to Hilda Ogden.  Hilda's iconic flying ducks stenciled onto textured paper, cut around then pasted to the wall.

Stencil It is available from The Stencil Library...and so are the curtains. More stockists for Stencil it include mydeco.com, amazon, stencilwerks.com and booksellers worldwide.

See the  film clip on  Mydeco blog.

Helen.

Turning over a new Leaf

I was so excited to read about the launch of Leaf a new on line magazine dedicated to outdoor living will debut later today.  I read about it at  The Daily Basics

One of the co founders of Leaf is Susan Cohan the other is Rochelle Greyer of Studio G blog. Whenever I visit Studio G I find the most wonderful garden design and fabulous products there.

image dedon.de   via studio G.

image Rochelle Studio G blog.

This was a recent camping party for a nine year old. So pretty.

Rochelle has mentioned Designinspiration in the past, maybe I should send some pictures of my stencilled garden!

I resisted the tempation to show photos from the new magazine, you will have to go and visit.   I have subscribed to Leaf and I think you may want to.  It's free and it looks gorgeous. Here are some of the ingredients promised for the first issue.

Yarn Bombs in Seattle
Ideas for a front porch update
What to wear as the weather cools
Apples… history, recipes and more
A garden Before and After project in Long Beach, California
A seasonal cocktail video
Creating warmth outside in autumn
A  Moroccan inspired garden in Silver Lake
Inspirations from an island in Norway.

Helen.

Mydeco stencil competition alert.

Mydeco.com has launched a competition in which participants create a mood board of stencil inspired pieces.
The winner gets a set of stencils and a copy of my book Stencil It.  I have nothing to do with the judging so I followed the link to view the moodboards that were published so far.

There are forty eight of them as I write this and there are nine days left before the competition closes.   Will you be creating one? I fancy having a go... but I am sure there is a rule against me doing so.

Take a peek at the Mydeco's stencil competition, does anyone have a favourite yet?

Helen.

 

 

Rachel's New Room: Part 2 The Dining Room

And now for the other part of the room that I showed you last week.

 

I am calling this the dining room.  We have a kitchen and formal dining room on the ground floor, but sometimes I like to take my meals upstairs with me and don't always want to sit with them on my lap so I created this space.  I also like to have the occasional formal tea (with scones and cake of course) so this space is ideal for that.

I painted the walls in Farrow & Ball Estate Emulsion in Pink Ground.  I needed to lighten up this area of the room as it is farthest away from the window.  Because this space is part of the same room as the living room, the decor had to work with what I did there, although I did want it to be different so it was obvious there were two distinct spaces with different functions.

 
I chose another stencil from our new Vintage range, VN7 Chain Lightening.  It is not too dissimilar from the chevron stencil used in the living area, but to create more of a contrast, I used VN7 on it's side, not that it makes any difference to the design at all, just changed the proportions.  I stencilled this in two colours: the Black Blue Farrow & Ball paint used in the living area and ACR116 Alizarine Crimson paint.  Because the walls are pale and the design quite open, I was able to take the pattern up and over the ceiling without it making the space too claustrophobic.

 
When Helen saw the space, she remarked that it looked like a London Underground tube train.  She was not a million miles away actually.  I was slightly influenced by a designer called Enid Marx, who among her many accomplishments, designed textile patterns used on the London Underground trains. 

At the back of the room by the door, I have an old kitchenette, probably from the 1950's that is perfect for storing my mismatched collection of china and other kitchenware.

 
I have a small 1950's formica topped table with matching stools on one side of the area.

 
And on the other side, I have yet another armchair that I use for reading.  It is an art deco chair from the 30's or 40's and the leather is stained pale blue.  It is positioned at an angle so when you sit in it, you don't see the living space behind you.

 
This section of floor is covered with a linoleum meant to look like inlaid wood parquet flooring.  When I bought it, the shopkeeper was a bit astounded as he reckoned it was ugly, but I knew it would be perfect for the retro look I was after.  All the while he was cutting it for me, he kept muttering about how he hadn't sold any of that pattern in the 5 years he had been working there.  Good news for me because it was on mega-sale.  I found a piece of 1920's carpet on etsy to use as a rug.

 
 

Next up will be my bedroom, but you will have to wait a while for that as it is a big project and I probably won't be able to start it for at least a couple of months.  I have 1920's Shanghai on the brain for that one.

Rachel 

Stencil It. The out takes. Part 1. Damask Stencil.

'Stencil It' should be in the shops later this month and I am looking forward to receiving my author copies.  

This is one of the projects that did not make the final edit of the book. It shows a matt painted wall with  a damask pattern stencilled onto it. I used acrylic gloss varnish and a stencil brush to apply the pattern. 

The stencil does appear in the Stencil It book but not with these particular projects. The publishers rejected some very good work because we had made more than was needed (Book 2 perhaps ?)

This denim jacket was decorated with the damask stencil from Stencil It.  Student Ashleigh Tate used silver fabric paint then embellished the stencilling with Swarovski Crystal.

Another student Harriet Armstrong made these two cushions.  She stencilled the damask pattern with iridescent paint onto velvet. The stencil to create all of these projects is given in the Stencil It book . There are fourteen other laminated card stencils bound amongst it's pages. Mylar film versions of the stencils can be ordered from The Stencil Library. Over the next couple of weeks I will show you some more of the stencil projects that did not reach the final pages. We hope that you like the projects that were included in Stencil It even more than these...but we all have to wait until publication to see those.  

Helen.

Rachel's New Room: Part 1 The Living Room

Welcome....

 
As I mentioned before, this is a room of two halves now (well actually 2/3rds and 1/3rd, but who's measuring).  I shall start with the back part which is the living room.  Do you remember from a previous post I showed you this image as my inspiration?

 
Well, here are the results: 

 
You can click on any photo to see a larger version of it or you might get a better idea of the layout from this angle:

 
I used Farrow & Ball Estate Emulsion in Black Blue on the walls as I wanted a really dark ink blue (in fact, it is tattoo ink blue colour).  The carpet was from a friend's 1930's house.  I asked if I could have it as she was redecorating and it is perfect. You don't see swirly patterned carpet like that much anymore.  The room itself is my version of Art Deco. I have swapped the layout around a bit because as usual, space is an issue in my attic.  I have a cocktail cabinet against the back wall with my collection of vintage floral oil paintings around it:

 
 
 
The stencil on the wall is VN47 Chevrons from our new Vintage range of stencils.  I stencilled it with JL554 Sunset Gold paint from our gorgeous new range of metallic colours.  It is the most wonderful bright orangey gold colour straight from the 1920's.

 
The stencilling goes up the straight bit of the wall only.  It is a repeat pattern but easy to stop part way up the wall.  It would have been too difficult to continue up the curves.

 

Most of the finds in the room are from charity shops or house clearance shops so were very reasonably priced.  Furniture like this is quite easy to find if you look and usually in very good condition, if a little battered.  I don't mind.  That just adds character.  The rest has been found at antiques shops.  My favourite find was two art deco armchairs still covered in the original crushed velvet.  I found these at Chic Antiques in Benton, just outside of Newcastle.  They recline as well (all the better for enjoying that martini).

 
 
They sit either side of a dining room sideboard which is perfect for storing my many dvd's.  If you read my previous post about my old scheme before I redecorated, I mentioned that one the many challenges I had was what to do with the extensive DVD collection I seemed to have amassed.  This sideboard solves the problem well and still has plenty of storage for other items.  

I also mentioned that I had a massive cushion collection.  I still do, but most of them are stored away for the moment.  I have kept a few and recovered them to fit in with this scheme. 

 
I found these two pieces of fabric on etsy.  They are original art deco stencilled fabric.  They were listed as screen printed, but when they arrived I realised they were actually stencilled (you can see the brush marks).  How fab is that?

I don't do "pure" style.  I do like to mix and match.  Although the room is redominantly art deco and most of the furniture is from the 20's and 30's or in that style.  I do like to add the occasional modern touch.

 
This "e" was just such a modern touch.  It was a gift to my boyfriend (who took these photos) and is an old letter (his last name begins with "e") from a pharmacy or diner sign.  The internal lighting was no longer there so I took it to my local old style electrical shop and had them rewire it again.  It was a simple case of inserting a small flourescent tube.  It is from the 1950's so I suppose it isn't completely new, but it does look very modern (and quirky).

Of course I have to mention Ned the Octopus (VN160, also in Vintage Stencils) again (I had raved about him in a previous post).  Due to the layout of the room, he is rather stuffed into a corner, but it was the only place for him to go.

 
 
Wherever he is, he does look fab.

When I mentioned that I wanted to paint the walls this really dark blue, people weren't sure, but most of the time spent in the living room is when it evening and dark outside.  I wanted to create somewhere comfortable and cozy.  I use lots of lamps dotted about the place and can turn on as many or as few as I want depending on the level of light I need.

 
 
I am very pleased with the way it turned out.  A living room should be a lovely, relaxing room to spend time in and this is just that.

If you want a reminder of how the room looked before, click HERE for a link to the previous post. 

Stay tuned for Part 2 The Dining Room, coming up next.

Rachel.

PS. From Helen. See part two of Rachel's new rooms next Thursday or visit on a tour of our stencilled home.  See side bar for the dates and tickets. Next one is Oct 12th.

Wallington Hall and the stencilled flowers

Wallington Hall near Cambo, Northumberland was once the home of the Trevelyan Family. It is now in the hands of The National Trust and open to the public. I try to visit every couple of years, I love the walled garden there.  Another of my favourite bits of Wallington is the central hall.  

The paintings of flowers that decorate it's walls gave me the design inspiration for my Gustavian style bedroom at Stocksfield Hall.  At the National Trust gift shop I  bought some notelets showing the floral panels

and Chips set about re drawing them as stencil designs.

Iris

poppy

and foxglove became 

iris, poppy

and foxglove stencils.

Hollyhock and lupins also feature at Wallington so we made stencils of them.   Sunflowers and bullrush stencils appear in our Garden Room collection, they were based on the Wallington panels too. I did not have a place for them in the bedroom because I chose to use just five, flower stencils and use them several times.  I changed the colours to make it look as though there were more.  

The 16 botanical wall panels at Wallington were painted mostly in the 1860's by Pauline Lady Trevelyan and her artist friends. Amongst them was William Bell Scott, John Ruskin and Arthur Hughes of the British Pre-Raphaelites

Photos of Wallington by Stephen, all else by me.

Helen.