Design Inspiration. Planet Stencil Library.

Mad Men, Op Art and Stencils

Jane Dagmi gave ColorChats readers the idea to try stencils to recreate the look of Roger's office from AMC's Mad Men television series.

Picture from AMC MadMen via Colorchats.

Jane showed stencils from various sources including The Stencil Library.

Photo The Stencil Library featuring MD9 Shimmer

I think our MD9 Shimmer stencil would be a perfect addition and one can make an even bolder impact by repeating the stencil over a wider area.  This design is available in larger sizes too!

Another op art stencil design that may look the part..if you dare is MD14 Pulsate in the XL size!

Photo The Stencil Library featuring Pulsate stencil and Waves.

The floor is stencilled with DM2-s Waves decorating mask from our Big and Bold collection.

I have stencilled a smaller version of MD14 Pulsate onto canvas part way up the staircase at home. Jane Dagmi's other ideas included MD Meander stencil. I have used that one also on the walls of the same staircase....  maybe I am a secret Mad Men character. She featured our MD68 Crescent stencil too.

Photography courtesy of Crown Colour Magazine/Akzo Nobel.
Editor/Stylist:	Melanie Molesworth/Sacha Cohen
Photographer:	Tom Leighton

All the MD stencils can be found in the Modern Design Collection at The Stencil Library.

Image from Madmen yourself.com

Helen.

Inspired by David Hockney and Barbara Chandler

'David Hockney has put trees on the map — and the design world has them on everything else' wrote Barbara Chandler for the London Evening Standard.   

Barbara suggested that readers could Hockney-fy their walls using spray paint and our largest bare trees stencil.   I reckoned that this was a brilliant idea and worthy of experiment, I told my husband that I'd be late home (again) as I wanted to stencil a wall of vivid coloured trees in our shop.  This reusable, plastic stencil stands at 97 inches (almost 2.5 metres) high, so it is not a five minute job to paint a wall full of them. He suggested that I spend an evening at home instead and he would mock up some walls of trees on the Mac. 

So he did!

A stencil is a tool to apply pattern and colour. The scale of pattern, the colours and method of application are the choice of the user. Bare trees is a negative stencil, this means that the surface becomes the tree colour and one applies another colour to surround the tree shapes.  

This is our version of how to Hockney-fy a wall with our tree stencil. Start by randomly spraying or painting the wall in a similar fashion to this.

Much of the background will be covered when the trees stencil is applied.

The stencil is positioned over the painted background, I use a light misting of repositioning adhesive to hold stencils like this in place and it is important to have the stencil flush to the wall when spraying paint through it. Tonal variety can be added to the stencilling as well as the background.   Pictures 1-3 show this effect. Careful use of a foam paint roller is an alternative way to stencil large areas of single colour.  The following illustration demonstrates the effect of stencilling with flat, peach coloured paint over the painted background.  

Voila, an homage to Hockney's Bigger Trees using paint, stencil and courage. 

Prefer something more subtle? How about beige paint stencilled over a white surface? Or use a silver paint that can reflect the colours surrounding it.

A word about the duo that inspired the experiment. I have featured Barbara Chandler on previous posts, She is a very interesting lady, a best selling photographer, a well respected writer, a champion of contemporary design, a well known Londonphile and her Love London work is enjoying much praise at the moment. See it on murals, fabrics, furniture, cards, books and more.

David Hockney is so much the man of the moment what could I add? His website tells much about current and previous work.  See Hockney's Bigger Picture at The Royal Academy London until April 2012. My husband is a fan of his and says that Hockney has inspired him to take a closer look the landscapes round him and see them not as ordinary but as something to be celebrated.

Bare Trees border and wall stencils are available in various sizes from The Stencil Library.

Helen.

Simple and effective stencilling

This simple yet very effective wall is stencilled using a gothic style design (GMT69) from The Stencil Library. The walls are painted with Crown emulsion paint and the picture is from their brochure.  I thought at first glance that the stencil had been reused on the cushion covers. This motif is a good size for a cushion project and a squirt of fabric medium from Golden Acrylics into the paint would make it machine washable.

The paint used through the stencils is Striking from Crown Paint and the wall behind the motifs is coloured with Rebel.  I have used Rebel quite a lot recently as it's a good rich black.  For those that prefer a very dark grey/barely black Crown has a paint called Little Black Dress which is also rather good.

The stencilling can be applied with stencil brush or foam sponge.  To get a similar look to the picture line up the side of the stencil with the edge of the wall. Determine where the central motif will be.  In this case it was just above the mantle, measure the spacing in both directions from that one.  Once the positions of the motifs are worked out the stencilling should be a quick project.

I think the result illustrates an elegant focal point for little financial outlay. With care the stencil can be re used many times and could go on to decorate another room.

If black and gold colour schemes are not to your liking you might consider white stencilled motifs over blue, cream over taupe, crimson over hot pink?

Helen.

An exclusive crown stencil

Here is the crown stencil that I told you was coming.

We designed it last year for our new stencil book but it wasn't needed.  I have only just re-found it in time for the royal wedding. It is not on our web site yet.... by the time it gets there the royal newlyweds will be home from honeymoon and rowing about whose turn it is to empty the dishwasher. So for now you can order them by emailing or phoning me. The size of the crown is 21cms high by 20cms wide (that is roughly 8 inches) but you can have it made to other sizes. Just ask. The price of the new crown at 21cms high is £18.50. UK postage is free. Add £3 postage for EU countries and £5 for everywhere else in the world.  Packages are sent by Royal Mail.

What might you use your crown stencil for?  Well the first thing that I would have stencilled would be cushion covers ...

...maybe similar to these from Rockett St George. I might have embellished my stencilled covers  with crystals or pearl buttons. For the non stencillers here are some fab pearly queen covers from RE.

photo from RE

Another nifty idea is a hook, on which to hang one's crown (or hat & coat). This handsome hook comes from Cox & Cox.

Alternatively create your own version using the crown stencil above a fab coat hook. RE have some good ones.

Seat pads, locker tops, hat boxes, chair backs, cakes, pet beds, book or file covers, table and floor mats can all have a regal make over with a crown stencil.  How about a set of painted canvas of different coloured background all bearing the crown motifs?  Maybe one would be perfect on the wall of your personal throne room. How about decorating the back of a denim jacket?

You could combine the crown with the union flag stencil that I showed you in the previous post.

Many stencil paints are machine washable on fabrics. Next year will be Queen Elizabeth's' diamond jubilee, which may be another excuse to repolish the crown stencil.  Our crown design is made from many circles which means that it will be very hardwearing. Perfect for many generations of prince and princesses to come.

Helen

How to create a stencilled Print Room

The original Print Rooms date from the 18th century.
Many grand English houses had a room in which the walls were covered in collections of prints. They were often souvenirs from the travels of their wealthy owners,
These prints were not conventionally framed and hung, but pasted directly onto the walls. Paper borders were pasted around them to give the impression of frames. Printed swags and garlands added to the decoration.
An instant art gallery!

It is documented that this fashion spread to North America but apparently no original examples survive.

Stencil designers The Stencil Library have revived the original 18th century concept with a 21^st century twist using stencils and photocopies..

In this project Helen Morris co founder of stencil-library.com will show how to create a modern day print room using stencils and photocopies.The Stencil Library offers 24 Print Room stencils in their collection The designs look good even without prints so that a collection can be built slowly.

 

Select a stencil and the pictures to be displayed.  On most of my examples I have used photocopies rather than photographs. I used my office photocopier which has settings for black & white, full colour and all tones in between.  The 18^th century displays were mounted onto flat painted surfaces but they can be stencilled effectively onto broken colour.  The surface should be smooth.

All my examples have been stencilled using stencil brushes and water based paint.  I take paint onto the tip of the brush and work the barely loaded bristles onto paper towel.  This action results in the paint being damp rather than wet when transferred through the holes in the stencil.  The stencilled image remains crisp and allows me to work fast when setting up pattern repeats.

A light spray of repositioning adhesive on the back of the stencil keeps it in place.

When the decorative frame work has been completed it is time to paste in the pictures.

They have been sized to fit with the stencil frames using the template supplied with the stencil.  I start with a rehearsal and employ the same repositioning product to temporarily display my prints.  Temporary might be the desired goal if the pictures are to be changed regularly.  When a more permanent display is needed I use wallpaper border adhesive.  Make sure all adhesive and air is squeezed from under the print.  This is important if the surface is going to be varnished.  Clean away any residue with a damp cloth.

Gilding material, crackle varnish, texture gels, plaster...

....and hand painted embellishment are all worthy additions to a Print Room project.

Smaller Print Room projects like folding screens and blanket chests make wonderful portable items that may become highly individual heirlooms.

Helen Morris

Wild about leopard spot

The Daily Basics magEzine arrived in my email this morning.  Today's treat was a herd of decorative ideas formed around animal print

like this sink from Kolher and this stencil from us. 
It reminded me of a bathroom stencilled by Tammi Latham of Matilda Jane Originals.
Tammi used our leopard stencil for the bathroom and hallway.
I got the pictures via StencilTalk.  This is an excerpt from the article about Tammi written by Carol Leonisio of StencilTalk.  'she painted vertically, alternating colors to simulate the background of the fur...not making it too "stripey", but blending softly between colors. Each section of color is..' Read the article here. Click on the pictures for more detail.

To see more wild decorative ideas visit today's Daily Basics.

Helen

stencils and tapestry

Are you looking for yet another use for your stencils?  Here is a gift of an idea. Simply stencil your design in colours onto tapestry canvas and fill in the different areas by stiching them with matching colours of tapestry wool.

  This could make an inexpensive but thoughtful gift for someone creative.

  You could stencil the canvas in colours to suit their home, buy the matching wools and display it all beautifully in a decorated box.  All stencils shown above are found in the budget collection from The Stencil Library. Helen.

How to stencil the great wall of China

No, not that one.  One like this... or this...
There are real plates in theses picture, but I want to show you how to get the look with stencils.
This is the dining room at Stocksfield Hall a few years ago.

  I used stencils from the Blue and White collection at The Stencil Library.

  The designs were used on the walls and again on the floors. The pictures are from The Stencilled Home. The room no longer exists therefore I was unable to photograph detail so... I stencilled some paper to allow a closer look and with a flick of the computer mouse I can give you an alternate colourway proving that blue and white is not the only way to go.
Rachel shared the work of Matthew Meade with you on Design Inspiration earlier this month.  He used many of our blue and white stencils to mimic brown transferware for Country Homes magazine.
I mixed the colours on this piece of scenery for our local theatre group. Katrin Cargill interpreted the stencilled plates for Victoria magazine like this. In the background, she has stencilled palm trees.  Both of the stylists mixed real china with stencilled pattern.  The china stencils all have three overlays which makes them very simple to colour.  The first layer allows the user to stencil the shape of the crockery then the pattern is created with layers two and three.  These stencils would be fun to stencil onto a non fraying canvas such as Roclon to make dinner mats.  They are a handy size for stenciling cushion covers too...and cabinet fronts...and trays.  OK I'll stop now.

Helen
photos: Deidi Von Shaewen for World of Interiors; from Paint Colours by Kevin McCloud; Colin Poole for The Stencilled Home; Helen Norman for Country Homes (US); David Montgomery for Victoria; all others by The Stencil Library.

Who or what influenced who or what?

Yesterday, I was leafing through the March issue of Elle magazine (the US edition) and came across this ad for Missoni:

Now a couple of years ago, we were designing our Big and Bold range of stencils.  We were stencilling roomsets to show off how these decorating masks worked.  By using the decorating mask system, you can create patterns that you couldn't with a traditional stencil.  The Chevron is a perfect example of this.  When Chips created this roomset using DM4 Chevron No. 2, I remarked, "How very Missoni!".  To which Chips replied, "If you say so".  That implies that he is not very sartorially minded, but I assure you...despite his current favoured uniform of huge sweater, denim shirt and jeans, he knows his Versace from his Chanel (a good designer is well versed in all the creative arts).  But I also have a 1930's knitted tea cosy that looks as though it walked straight off of the Missoni catwalk so what subconsciously inspired his scheme is a mystery.  If you think that you cannot gain inspiration from something as utilitarian as a knitted tea cosy, think again.  Here is the photo said tea cosy (masquerading as a cushion on my armchair at the moment).

It's quite something, is it not?  Finally, here is the roomset featuring the Chevron Decorating Mask.

 

I would like to think that Missoni's current collection was inspired by our photograph (being arrogant enough to think that anyone at Missoni had actually seen our photo).  Given that Missoni might have subtly inspired it in the first place, that has a nice sort of symmetry to it, don't you think?  However, I suspect the tea cosy might have had more to do with it.  If unusual objects have inspired any decorating schemes of yours, please leave a comment.  We'd love to hear what sparks an idea.

Rachel

A look to dye for

  This is the interior of The Style Club hair salon in Dublin.

At first glance I thought it had been decorated with Stencil Library stencils, but on further inspection I read that the surfaces have been screen printed.  A similar look could be achieved with our stencils and an adventurous eye for colour.

Should you fancy giving the same treatment to your abode, look at our Brushstroke stencil.  It is a repeating design found in our Modern Design section and is similar to the design shown on the floor of the salon.  I like the way that they resemble hair clippings.  

The ceiling pattern has a likeness to our MD3 giraffe in the extra large size.  The plaid looking wall is a little fuzzy to see the exact design, but one could use the tartan stencil in our Online Exclusives collection to get a similar effect.  I enjoyed seeing the rest of the salon through all the convex mirrors on the stripey wall.

The photographer is uncredited but I got the pictures from Designer magazine.  The designers were Douglas Wallace.  I think it is vibrant and exciting, what do you think?

Helen