Design Inspiration. Planet Stencil Library.

Beetlemania, images of beetles in decorative art.

Surface View are offering spooktacularly macabre wall decor this Halloween. Their collaborative collection with The Natural History Museum offers us murals of snakes, skulls, bugs and beetles. At The Stencil Library we have stencils of all of those subjects but I don't think I have ever shown you our Beetle repeating stencil and it is one of my favourites.

I would like to decorate a table with this stencil and see it in copper over a base of malachite and lapis. I could use the larger, matching version of this stencil to decorate wall panels or fabrics. It would look quite different in say coffee and creme onto linen. Alternatively, blue and white or pale silver on graphite would be interesting combinations. Beetles is a repeating design but can be used as a decorative border or one can adapt it to use only the motifs. This would work well for cards and gift boxes. We also have a Scarab style beetle stencil in our Budget Collection.  I am reminded of one of the many wonderful features on decorative art posted by Theresa Cheek at Arts The Answer. She showed the interior of The Royal Palace in Brussels which had been encrusted with jewel like beetle wings.

Via Theresa's post I found actress Ellen Terry's shimmering  beetle-wing dress. at The National Trust Treasure Hunt. I am unsure whether the wing shedding is a natural process, I hope so but maybe someone can enlighten me.  To my knowledge no beetles were harmed in the creation of this stencil.

Have any readers used our SIB22 beetle stencil? Do you have an image of your project that we can share?

Helen

Simple and effective stencil decor

A vertical line of stencilled motifs makes an unusual and effective focal point. This simple stencil project takes little time or financial outlay. The Stencil is GMT69 from the Gothic Medieval and Tudor Collection at The Stencil Library and the paint colours are Rebel and Striking by Crown Paint.

Helen

New fashion statement... jacquard jeans with a stencil

Fashion press and newsletters tell me that I need Jacquard or brocade trousers this season. I remembered stencilling my jeans to acheive just such a look some years ago. Originally it was to cover a stain. I chose a busy damask pattern and stencilled it silver and pink. I wore them to present The Stencilled Home DVD. They have been much admired and they are now in my EBay pile. I am selling a few items that I may be a little ahem...chunky for.

Stenciling jeans is an easy project. I reccomend making a cardboard template to fit snugly inside a leg of the jeans. Spray the template lightly on both sides with Spraymount then place it into the leg space and smooth the fabric over the card, this stops the material moving as you stencil it. Use a mist of Spraymount to hold the stencil onto the fabric then lightly apply paint using the dry paint method. I use an acrylic paint to stencil fabric; My chosen paints were Lumiere silver and Liquitex medium magenta. Golden make suitable paints too. If the paint requires heat sealing it can be done with an iron. Follow the instructions on the paint label.

Old jeans..new lease of life. Now, you just need matching shoes and bucket!!

Helen.

Our leopard stencil goes to Kenya

Our VN293 Big Cats leopard stencil is on it's way to Kenya!

We thought it looked so handsome that we took it's photo beore it got rolled up and posted to its next home. VN293 Big Cats is one of the many repeating stencil designs in the Natural World area of our Vintage Stencils collection.  Look for sharks, coral, elephants, ostrich, dolphin and flamingo stencils whilst you are there.

Helen.

Decoration takes flight with stencils of birds

The Stencil Library has a multitude of bird stencils here are a few ideas that you can create with some of them.

photo and style Elle Deco. Craig Knowles/Amanda Kosta

Y-10 3 Swallows stencil. Just three swallow shapes create all this. 

photo and styling Carol Leonisio

VN158 Ostrich repeating stencil.

Geese stencil from the Stencil It book by Helen Morris. Published by Jacqui Small.

I shall limit this post to three simple, inexpensive bird stencils, they can be used in many ways on many surfaces.  I have a flock more so will feature other bird inspired decoration on DesignInspiration very soon. Can't wait? Just put bird into the search on our site at The Stencil Library and see what else we have to offer. Custom sizes of each stencil can be ordered.

All photos my own unless credited otherwise.

Helen.

Slater's Fun Fair in Hexham tonight

 

Slater's Showtime Fun Fair is in Hexham this week. Drawn in by the lights I bought myself a hot cocoa at the burger van, phoned home to say I'd be late and tarried a while enjoying the sparkle, colour, sound and smells of the travelling fair.

Slaters, established in 1891 is now in it's fifth generation. I chatted to Derek Charles Slater about fairground art past and present.

These days he mainly works with spray paint and creates the artwork for all his own rides and for other clients. Derek's family fun fair hails from Greenlaw in the Scottish borders and is available for hire. If you're near Hexham tonight, go. Take the kids , the camera, a pocket full of pound coins (all rides just £1) and enjoy an old style fun fair in a field by the river.

Helen

Pugs and Kisses stencilled by For Queen and Corgi

Pugs and Kisses is the first of the newest collection of stencilled bags at the For Queen and Corgi shop at Folksy.com

There are four more pug designs on their way. Because each item is hand stencilled and painted to order the colours will vary.

The For Queen and Corgi logo is stencilled on the back of each bag. A removeable fabric swing ticket informs the recipient of the care needs of the product and gives information about the artist.

For Queen and Corgi stencilled bags are a limited edition art piece rather than a work horse but they can work for their keep if they have to. The paint will withstand washing and each canvas bag is double stitched so that it can carry a heavy load.

For Queen and Corgi pieces are stencilled in England by Helen Morris and Sabina Rose.

Butterfly and moth stencils fly to a new home

Until now our butterfly and moth collection of stencils were only available through this site but now they have landed on a page of their own in the animal and bird stencil chapter at The Stencil Library.

 

Medallion and repeat stencils now join the myriad of butterfly motifs and borders in our on line store.

The ceiling rose stencil also doubles as a table top decoration and looks good as a spot design on a floor.

We have added two repeating designs, one is small and inexpensive; perfect for furniture, gift wrap, and small fabric projects such as stencilled cushion covers, jeans and scarves. The other is a larger butterfly stencil which will be useful for walls and large fabric tasks such as curtains and bedcovers.

There are two sets of assorted butterfly and moth motifs which correspond in scale to the circular stencil and the repeating patterns. I use these for creating flights of butterflies and for small projects like gift boxes and cards. I also use them to form breakaway swarms from the repeat and the medallion design.  

Customers may request some of the shapes that are left behind when we cut the stencils, these too are useful as decorative masks for building further possibilities with your butterfly pattern. Also, they are handy to help create frosting effects on window panes. 

We have enjoyed creating butterfly stencil projects with these designs. There are other insect stencils and many more butterflies in our collection, just use the search on our Stencil Library website to find them easily.

Have you completed any butterfly projects with our stencils? We welcome more customer projects to share on DesignInspiration and on our Facebook page.

Sporting a stencilled wall.

Cricket, rugby, polo, show jumping, soccer, American football, tennis and golf are some of the sporting themed stencils that we have designed over the years. There are too many to link, so if you want to see what's on offer you can find them by using the search on our Stencil Library web site. Stumped??? Contact us.

Helen. 

Must have a mustache stencil for Movember

How do you stencil a mighty fine moustache on your coffee and help the Movember Iniative?

First order our special trio of Moustache stencils, half the profit from sales through October and November will be donated to Movember.

Then, place your stencils onto the rim of a cup almost filled with frothy coffee or hot choc.  Floated cream works well too.

Shake cocoa or cinnamon powder through the moustache stencil onto the surface of the beverage.

Remove stencil, admire and drink your artistry.  

There are 3 sizes of stencil; approx 2" size tasche (fits small cup or cake), approx 3" tasche (big cup or cake) and 5"; you get one of each. The stencil sizes on our site are given in millimetres and are more precise.  If you prefer to have three of the small cup size instead, just ask us. The trio of mustache stencils costs £6.00 including UK postage. There are postal charges for other countries. During October and November stencil-library.co.uk will donate half the profits from sales of our Moustache stencils (motif and repeating patterns) to Movember. There are more moustache stencil projects to show you, but right now I ....'must dash' 

Helen.