Design Inspiration. Planet Stencil Library.

Wedding preparations

Colin the horse was lifted from his bed of nettles to have a new suit of gold fitted.

The bench on the winter lawn was gilded with copper leaf and the wood glazed with layers of green, blue and black.

The colors are a perfect match for the pheasants that share our garden.

Tomorrow the bench will be stencilled and varnished.

The wooden tent frame which served us well for the past twelve years has been replaced with a sturdy new one.  I am sad that I will have no time to make a new canvas cover for it this week. I may have to drape the structure with sheets and I am hoping that I will have a stencilled floorcloth that fits.

We have unwrapped the awnings for the daybed and dressed the dilapidated frame with stencilled chrysanthemums.

This is one of my favourite spots in the garden and I am hoping that I am hoping that the seat will not collapse.

The plastic garden pots have been painted blue and planted with booty from a local plant sale.

Flowers have been transplanted, gravel weeded, lawns mowed and paths carved through the nettles and around fruit trees. We had the most productive weekend with friends and family preparing the garden for Rachel and Stephen's wedding on Saturday.

We hope that the clematis, paeonies and honeysuckle keep hold of their blooms for the weekend

and that the weather is kind on the day.

Helen

Extra stencil class planned for May 5th

Would you like to stencil like a professional? Our Sat, May 4th stencil class is fully booked so I'll be teaching an extra one on Sunday and there are four places yet to be snapped up.

This day class gives a good base to develop stencilling skills and plenty of inspiration. The day involves practical work along with demonstration, discussion and a visit to stencilled rooms at Stocksfield Hall. Stencil technique using various media will be explored including cutting a stencil and working on fabric. The cost of £70.00 per person includes lunch, refreshments, materials used in the class and a starter kit (approx £30.00 retail) to take away.   The classes are hosted at Stocksfield Hall, Stocksfield, Northumberland, NE43 7TN.  There is plentiful free parking and bus and train stops are a short walk away.  Coffee is served from 9.30 on the morning of the class, we start at 10 and finish around 5.  There is B&B accommodation nearby in Stocksfield and neighbouring villages. We are just a 25 minute train ride from Newcastle Upon Tyne and its many hotels.

Would you like to be with us? Contact me to book a place or know more about future classes at The Stencil Library.  My details can be found in 'About' at the top right hand side of this page.

Helen. 

 

I'm starring in 50 shades of grey

Oh sorry, that should have read 'I'm stairring in 50 shades of grey'

The redecoration of the hall and main staircase at Stocksfield Hall has begun. Right now every thing is stark, dark and echoey and I am enjoying the temporary change of scenery.

I like to surround myself with colour and pattern. At present I feel like a tourist in Monochrome Land.

It will feel exotic for a few days then I will start to reintroduce the familiar touches that feel like my home.  My husband is busy painting pictures for our walls.

We hung his new dot painting of Girl with a Pearl Earring last week but it sold to visitors an hour later so I have an empty wall again. I shall trawl the charity shops for furniture which I will stencil and gild to punctuate the landing spaces. My original idea was to introduce a sinuous design snaking up the stair risers, embellished with crystals to catch light from the south facing windows. I am re-thinking that plan at the moment.

One of my ubiquitous disco ball hangs at the window and that makes pretty patterns with light.  The new, mat from Ikea will stay plain until sunlight and footfall spoil it's neat appearance then I will blend fade and stains together with stenciled pattern as I have done with other sisal flooring over the years.

I am perusing our stencil catalogue for the perfect design to gild onto the flat grey dor.

So far I am thinking DE158 Art Nouveau panel or JA122 Oriental Egret panel but there are a couple of other stencil designs nagging me for attention. I shall use Dutch metal transfer leaf in gold so that the lustre will gleam when the sun is low during winter months,

So far, I have added pots of red flowers to the stairway and my husband has stencilled the hall floor with VN22 Tudor repeat.

Colour and pattern is beginning to regain it's hold on our home.

Next month we host the latest production from the Drama in the Parlour theatre company and in May we have our next stencil day, so I hope to have it finished by then.  

Helen.

Mirror mirror on the hall

I just love it when sunshine hits the mirror ball at my window and shoots spots of light in all directions.

If I turn the ball, the effect of spinning light is mesmerising, its a bit like snorkelling amongst glittering fish....only drier.

Helen

Farewell to Rachel's art deco stencilled lounge

Please don't shout at me but I am painting over this room next week.

It used to be Rachel's living room. Now that she and her furniture have moved to her new home I shall make a guest bedroom from it. Rachel won't mind, she has already created another lovely art deco lounge with the help of her boyfriend.

Her old room had two halves both had stencilling on the walls and vintage furniture but the colours and function were quite different.

One is definitely for lounging

and the other has a kitchenette and dining table. Before they left Stephen took these photos, I like the one with the fancy fish eye lens! 

 

Stencil. VN7 Chain Lightning

Stencil VN47 chevron stencil

Stencil VN160 Octopus stencil.

and this is how the room looks this morning. I promise I will do something unusual with the rooms redo and will keep you posted. Rachel will keep you up to date with her new rooms too.

Helen 

Fishing for input.

In a couple of days I shall redecorate this room.

Obviously, this area will replaced by another stenciled wall so I am planning this

or this.

I think I have made my decision but would love to hear your ideas in case I like them better than mine. Both the designs are will be custom sized from our Japanese style stencil collection. If I choose the big fish stencil I shall paint the walls and woodwork in a dip dyed wall effect fading toward the ceiling. The stencil work will be in bright or metallic colour.

If I chose the repeating fish design I shall paint the background colour dark, possibly stippled and the stencilled pattern will be bright.  So, what would you do?

Chips is going to make some colour mocks on his computer whilst we wait for the paint in the hallway to dry. We are decorating five rooms between now and mid April in readiness for the classes and tours to start again in May.

Helen.

Black Lace. Trend Alert?

 

Carole King of Dear Designer's blog  wrote yesterday about her love of black lace and it pinged into my twitter feed just as I was compiling pictures of the same subject from around my home. Four of our rooms feature lace in decoration and all of it is black. We might be more goth than frilly in our house.. 

 

In a sunny recess you may get the double whammy of reflected lacey shadow. So its at a window in Rachel's bedroom, at the front door,

and a black lace curtain surrounds a bath

and there is a black lace stencil pattern on the walls. The last one is in our studio, but still counts. The lace stencil is VN124.

Is this a trend alert? If Carol is featuring it then it may be so, she shares a couple of scrumptious pics of lace panels from silk supremo James Hare  

photo from james-hare.com

What about you? Black lace in decoration.. a yes or a no?

Helen

 

Our Japanese Style Bedroom Goes West

This week I have been photographing our Japanese Style guest bedroom at Stocksfield Hall. Tomorrow I dismantle the room and put the furnishings into storage or Ebay. I am always a little sad when the decoration changes but am cheered when I see the new room taking shape.

These were some of the original plans for the room.

Below each drawing I will show the realisation.

The stencils used on walls and floors were from both our Japanese Collection and from Modern Design at The Stencil Library. The bed, screen and tables were built by my friend Geoff, a craftsman joiner. Accessories came from our own shop, from the M&S Lifestore and from Kelly Hoppen.

I've bought many of Kelly Hoppen's books, we have the same publisher and I find her and the books inspirational. Kelly showed a room that was hung with ivory fabric banners around the walls. I wanted something similar as a background to show our Japanese crest stencils.  I painted banner shapes on the wall instead of sewing them. I'm glad that I did as the result was preferable for my purposes.

This is how they looked before the background pattern was stencilled between them.The crests on the walls are stencilled with copper leaf.

My husband Chips designed this room around my ideas, I can not remember when it was, 2001 perhaps. I do recall that Moby's album Play was the soundtrack to the stencil work. Chips made detailed drawings so my colleague Sabina Rose and I knew exactly what was needed to create the room. Sabina and I were getting tired when we stencilled the iris kimono,  we were a little freer with our paint, colours and general approach than we intended to be and the garment was all the better for it. The iris stencil is an enlarged version of one of our Art Nouveau style designs. I love the colours on this kimono and it remains a favourite piece. If I sell it I hope it will go to someone who loves it too.

The kimono beside it is stencilled with Dutch Metal gold leaf, Chips designed them, Sabina sewed them and we all had a hand in stencilling the fabric. 

There is too much detail in the room to put in one post so I will make an album of photographs on our Stencil Library Facebook page to show more of it. Sayonara Japanese bedroom.

Helen.

 

 

 

Learn to stencil. A new stencil class at The Stencil Library

On Saturday 3rd of February  The Stencil Library will host a learn to stencil class for beginners and improvers. It will be held at The Stencilled Home at Stocksfield Hall, Northumberland. NE43 7TN.

Classes are limited to six students. To book a place contact us. Click on the ABOUT link on this blog' side bar.

This class gives a good base to develop stencilling skills. The day involves practical work along with demonstration, discussion and a visit to stencilled rooms.  Stencil technique using various media will be explored including cutting a stencil and working on fabric.  We provide lunch, refreshments, materials used in the class and a starter kit (approx £30 retail) to take away.

Cost £70.00 per person.

Please note that the classes are hosted in my home. There are stairs and various levels of floor to negotiate. Please wear warm layers and an overall.

Stencil Day for beginners and improvers.  10.00am to 5.00pm 

2013 Dates; Sun February 3^rd. Sat May 4th

There are bus and rail stops nearby.

 

The torch passes

The Olympic Torch just passed through our village.

I stencilled a bag to commemorate the day. 

The paint had no time to set so I had to the hope that the rain did not damage it. Red, white and blue was worn, flags were shown, whistles were blown, the police outriders waved and touched hands with the crowds. There were high fives, waves and smiles. The mood was jolly, the weather was not. Our sentiment was warm but everything else was damp and chilly

Stocksfield high fives pic from Northumberland.gov.uk.

 

 

The stencilled butterflies that stood so proud at the Jubilee celebration attempted a soggy, patriotic welcome as George Nicholson from Durham ran through the lower part of the village of Stocksfield ferrying the torch on it's journey to the Olympic Stadium in London.

He and three other runners that carried the torch through Stocksfield is one of the special 8000 torch bearers chosen from all regions of the UK and for the few minutes that he approached and passed the rain ceased and the sun was kind to him. Many people admired by stencilled bag and asked where to buy them. I had missed a sales opportunity and should have had a barrow of them!

I had made two more for the window of the local cafe so sent people there. If there were no bags to buy at least they would get hot coffee and cakes.