Design Inspiration. Planet Stencil Library.

Monogram stencil. Simple gift idea.

 

A monogram stencil and a brush to accompany it could make a welcome gift for both practical and creative folk. Here are a few pictures of monogram projects from our home and archives.

Curtains stencilled with Dutch Metal leaf and an empire style monogram 

A simple and stylish Classical monogram stencilled onto a velvet cushion.

Suede or fabric shoes stencilled with Victorian initial, the same design appears in a larger size on this stool stencilled by Judith Wilson for Homes & Gardens Magazine.

 

Rachel Morris used our Floral Initial stencil to decorate a wall.

and I used Initial Cappuccino stencils to decorate coffee.

Stencil decoration is perfect for weddings. I use them for table covers, candles, albums and wedding gifts. All kinds of monogram stencils can be found in the lettering stencils section at The Stencil Library website including the ones in our photographs.

I'll conclude with a simple gift idea.

Take a plain wooden or card stock box, mine came from Ikea.  Paint it, stencil a monogram then varnish it.  Either keep it yourself or give it to someone, fill it or leave it empty. The stencil is Art Nouveau Monogram from The Stencil Library.  All 26 letters are available and they are excellent value.  Re-use the stencil to decorate other surfaces.

Mai day, lily of the valley and a stencil project

A dear, departed friend from Lavergne in France used to send me lily of the valley on May 1st. She told me that is a French custom to send the flowers to loved ones so I did a quick search to get further info.  Wikipedia offered me this:  On May 1st, 1561, King Charles IX of France received a lily of the valley as a lucky charm. He decided to offer the flowers each year to the ladies of the court. At the beginning of the 20th century, it became custom on the 1st of May, to give a sprig of lily of the valley, a symbol of springtime. The government permits individuals and workers' organisations to sell them free of taxation.

It is also traditional for the lady receiving the spray of lily of valley to give a kiss in return.

How very civilised I thought....compared to the May Day customs of the British.

In Oxford, it is traditional for May Morning revellers to gather below the Great Tower of Magdalen College at 6.00am to listen to the college choir sing traditional madrigals as a conclusion to the previous night's celebrations.   In recent years the Magdalen Bridge has been closed on 1st May to prevent people from jumping as the water under the bridge is only 2 feet (61 cm)deep. Although serious injuries have been sustained there are people still who insist on leaping.

When I was a student we would scale the fire escape from our dormitory at sunrise on May Day to wash our face in the dawn dew, much safer.

Padstow in Cornwall holds its annual 'Obby Oss' (hobby horse) day of festivities. This is believed to be one of the oldest fertility rites in the UK; revellers dance with the Oss through the streets of the town and even through the private gardens of the citizens, accompanied by accordion players and followers dressed in white with red or blue sashes who sing the traditional 'May Day' song. 

In St Andrews, students gather on the beach late on April 30 and run into the North Sea (Yikes, this is not the Caribbean!) at sunrise on May Day, occasionally naked. This is accompanied by torchlit processions and much elated celebration.

And there was more! OK, what is it about the British?  Does our loopiness know no boundaries? Are my fellow countrymen barking mad? As an antidote to our daftness here is a perfectly sane stencil project using VN156 Lily of the Valley stencil. 

Firstly, use a plumb line to make sure the stencil is level.  I have sprayed a light mist of repositioning adhesive to the back of my stencil and I press it to the wall.

I take a small amount of paint onto the stencil brush and work away any excess paint onto paper towel then apply damp paint though the stencil.  This stencil has double registration points. I stick low tack tape onto the walls directly below the points and mark them with paint.

See the marks on the tape? Now I remove the stencil and position the next overlay.

The registration points on the second overlay fit exactly over the marks on the tape.

Using a separate brush for each colour I apply paint to the ribbons and flower heads. Make sure that the paint is not wet.

To repeat the pattern just fit the printed areas on the stencil over a bit that you have just painted.

See, how sane is that? May you have spring in your steps this May Day.

Michele, your friends remember you every Mai 1st. 

Helen

 

 

How to stencil a sisal mat

 

A stencilled sisal floor it is a great way to introduce an accent colour and pattern to a room.

 

Position the stencil in the centre of the rug so that the stencilled pattern to finishes symmetrically along opposing edges. To find the centre of the mat stretch a length of string diagonally from one corner to the other and secure both ends with tape. Secure another string between the opposite diagonals. The string will cross at the centre of mat. Use a measuring tape to help align the stencil before taping it into position and applying paint through it.

The stencil in this project is SIB19-L Elizabethan, featured in my book Stencil It. I used some matt wall paint called Shocking Pink from Crown Paint to which I added a little fabric medium from Golden Paints.  The medium thins the paint without losing either colour or strength. The thinner consistency allows the paint to settle into the fibres rather than sit on top of the surface. I mixed a secondary colour from Liquitex acrylic in a deeper shade of magenta, this was to give some mottling and depth to the pattern. Each colour needs a separate brush

Using a large stencil brush I took up a little of the paint mixture and worked it well into the brush. Then I dabbed of excess paint onto paper towel.  Holding the stencil brush at 90 degrees to the surface I stippled the paint lightly through the stencil. I then used a circular brush stroke to work the stippled paint into the sisal fibre. Once the entire stencil had been painted I re stencilled a few areas with the darker paint. The second colour was applied randomly.

Each corner of the stencil has a diamond shaped cut out. This is for registration. Before removing the stencil adhere a little tape onto the mat under the registration hole then mark the tape through it. I marked mine with green paint, pen or pencil will work.

Line up the pattern by moving the stencil along until the next set of diamonds match with the tape.

Notice the registration diamonds helping to keep the pattern aligned. You may need to click on the image to enlarge it. Make sure that the stencil has no paint on the underside before repositioning it.

To achieve a border between the pattern and the edges of the rug the stencil tape may be placed over the stencil to mask it.

Measure equal distance from the mat edge and mark the stencil at intervals. Be aware that the edges of the rug may not be straight and make allowances. Place the tape over the measuring marks, take care not to damage the design when removing sticky tape after stencilling.

The rug should be ready for use half an hour after stencilling.  It took three hours to stencil this one and an hour to measure. There were four complete squares and four half ones.

For similar stencil projects see the projects section on this blog or order our book 'Stencil It' available from Amazon, The Stencil Library and other booksellers. 

Helen. 

Back to the seashore

I am hoping to get back to the coast this weekend to finish painting furniture and accessories for a favourite client. The weather forecast is not looking good so will take a sleeping bag and an espresso maker in case I can't get home for snow.

I took this picture last week from the warmth of the pub on my lunch break. Artist, Sabina Rose came to help me, we thought that two pairs of hands would get the job finished with time to spare for walks on the beach and cliff tops. We were wrong.

Neither time nor weather were on our side and we did not accomplish either goal but laughed a lot, discovered three lovely eateries and bought Craster kippers to take home with us. 

Helen

Inspired by a Faberge Egg for Easter

An inexpensive, plain, wooden box from IKEA was painted and stencilled to make a low calorie Easter gift inspired by a Faberge Egg.

If you fancy doing something similar ,read on. Take a look at the photos near the end of the post...they may help.

The box was painted with limey green, semi sheen paint. Once dry make a glaze mixed from a tad of dark green acrylic paint and a little acrylic glaze. Use a sponge to apply the coloured glaze in random dabs.

Make an egg shaped stencil or use stencil pack NC8. Apply it to the box with black acrylic paint. Make a template of the same size and shape of the egg. Use card stock or stencil film for this masking template and position it exactly over the stencilled egg. Place the lattice work stencil over the mask covering the entire lid of the box. The design does not have to be lattice, any tiny delicate pattern should work. I used a custom version of  BW24 repeat from the Chinese Style collection at The Stencil Library. You must fix the egg template in place so that the pattern does not transfer to the egg shape.  The box should now show an empty black egg shape surrounded by two pretty shades of green overlaid with a fab stencil pattern.

I used copper paint. Gold looks pretty with green too. The next stage is to replace the egg stencil and overlay the floral stencil. I used JA47 cherry blossom stencil from The Stencil Library. Whatever your choice make sure that the size and the scale work with the piece. Stencil the flower then remove both flower stencil and egg stencil. The flower design should now be contained within an egg shape surrounded by a pretty lacy pattern. 

Originally I made this piece for HGTV but it was in 2002 and the film clip showing you how to do all this has long gone.  Here are some pictures from another project that demonstrates the process of stencilling within the egg shape.

Place your pattern stencil on top of the egg shaped one and stencil through both at once using a contrasting colour.

Remove both stencils.

Voila, egg shape with stencil pattern contained within.

Ormesby Hall and the painted bench.

My photo of the laundry room at Ormesby Hall became the inspiration for a storage bench that I have just painted.

I have decorated furniture for this customer for many years and the current brief was 'seaside but not kitchy' the pieces were to look worn and shabby but not overly grubby. 

This bench is to go into a recess of an ancient cottage in a coastal fishing community, it will be surrounded by white, stone walls and sit on a dark slate floor. Both colours are reflected in the white of the fabric and the charcoal colour of the irons. The peeling crumbly wall is replicated in the paintwork of the bench. 

After sanding and applying knotting solution I primed the piece in blue. I painted patches of terracotta over the blue wherever wear and tear might occur on the piece. I then rubbed a wax candle over the patches. This prevents the next layer of paint achieving a proper key.

Another coat of blue paint was applied then rubbed with fine sandpaper. Patches of terracotta appeared where the wax had been applied.

Areas of blue-black were painted then rubbed with the candle when dry. Two coats of blue-ish, grey paint were added, then the bench was sanded on the back, edges and arms. Sanding exposes the layers of blue, terracotta and slate colours beneath the final coats.

The decorative detail on the back and sides of the bench received the same treatment but their final coat was a darker, brownish shade of grey. The same grey was used to stencil the rope and anchor. There are quite a few nautical themed stencils at The Stencil Library. Put nautical into the search on their site to find them. My colours were all matt emulsion (latex) paint and they came from Farrow and Ball and from Crown Paint.

The bench was finished with furniture wax applied with fine steel wool then polished to a shine. Click on pictures to enlarge them.I can not stop feeling the piece. it is so smooth. It awaits collection and we have all been guilty of stroking it as we walk past.

I am looking forward to attending a furniture painting class this month with Cait Whitson at Carte Blanche in Scotland so that I can learn new techniques, brush on on old ones and play with Annie Sloan Chalk Paint which many of my friends are enjoying and teaching with at the moment. I'll let you know how I get on.

The same distressing technique was applied to my kitchen chairs several years ago. The wax treatment allows them to get bashed naturally over the years.

 

Helen

Creating for Christmas

"Looks like rain dear" replied Mrs Santa Claus when asked about the weather. She may have liked this stencilled card and plate.

The basic reindeer stencil is simple and inexpensive and paint, glitter or texture paste are all suitable media to stencil the reindeer design. Here's how.

 

I have been a bit fancy by over stencilling the reindeer shape with another design. You can use odds and ends in your stencil collection to do this, or a plastic doily!

 

 

 

 

Dogs spotted at local church

I lent some of my dog pattern stencils to the local church for their 'Children's Activity weekend'.

Their teacher showed me this at the end of the day, apparently they had made loads of them and had a brilliant time. She said  "It was wonderful that although ages and abilities varied a lot throughout the day all participants had taken home something that they could be proud of and had enjoyed their stencil experience". The dogs were stencilled with paint onto an MDF plaque.

Photo from Stencil It showing how to overlay pattern.

With the dog stencil still in place the spot stencil was placed over(or under) it and the gold colour applied.

Photo from Stencil It by Helen Morris

The photos showed Paisley with dogs but I hope that you get the idea. Then the cup hooks were attached.  The dog stencil originally appeared in my book Stencil It and is one of the tear out and use designs.   There are several projects using pattern overlays and dog stencils in its pages.

A more robust version of the free stencil can be bought from the Stencil It Collection at The Stencil Library.

How to stencil a pin board. Using the Dogs stencil from Stencil It

I bought a plain cork pinboard from IKEA and painted the central area and the wood frame with duck egg blue emulsion paint.

The panel was bordered in low tack tape. The tape and cork board were painted.

Tape is removed at the end of the project to reveal a contrast coloured border.

The stencil is SIB14-S Dogs stencil from The Stencil Library. A slightly smaller version of this stencil is one of 15, laminated, card stock stencils bound into the book Stencil It by Helen Morris.

I stencilled the dog pattern onto the pin board with raw umber acrylic paint.  I used a size 4 stencil brush and the 'dry paint' method of stenciling. Take a small amount of paint onto the tips of the brush. Work paint well into paper towel. Use a vigorous circling motion to work paint into the brush then a gentler circling to remove excess paint. The paint needs to be moist not wet before applying through the stencil. Use a stippling motion (light dabbing) or a circling motion to apply paint. Read method here or watch it here

There are diamond shaped registration holes cut into each corner of the dog stencil. This is to help acheive an accurate pattern repeat.

Stick a piece of low tack tape firmly onto the board underneath the registration holes then mark the tape. Re postion stencil by matching up registration holes with marks on the tape.

 

I embellished the pin board by placing the pins at the mouths of the stenciled dogs. Costume jewelry hangs from the pins. Individual keys displayed on the pin board might look good too.

Helen.

 

How to wrap a large country house

When I volunteered to wrap Bywell Hall for the jubilee weekend I had little idea how to acheive it.

I 'tweeted' for help but no one had a clue. The original inspiration was a photo in my Tim Walker Photographs book where a country house appeared to be wrapped in ribbon and tied with a large bow. My Friend Gill and neighbouring artists Linda and Paco suggested we wrap the hall with version of the union flag. This is how we did it.

Firstly we ordered several rolls of poly-cotton sheeting from Factory Fabrics and set them onto the lawn at Bywell Hall. Strong ropes were laid out to the exact measurements of the hall then we positioned the fabric between them.  We used the full width of the white sheet for the saltire then overlaid it with half a width of red.  For the diagonal threads of the flag we used half widths of white with quarter widths of navy blue on top.  We cut the fabric to size then handed it to Ros and Anne who worked in my dining room pinning and sewing it for us. Lynda made channels to thread the ropes through.  The ropes were attached securely to the front of the hall by metal eye hooks drilled into the stone work of the building. There were two horizontal and two verticals on each wing of the hall.

Fortunately I have a large dining table.

 

Gorden and Steve fed the rope through the sheets and we hoisted and tweaked them into position. They were secured with ties. The rain poured relentlessly. The men wore shorts and were soaked and frozen. I had not received 'long ladder training' so had to stay on the ground...Hurrah! Eventually the rain beat us but we returned the following day to finish.  Gordon gathered the diagonals into a tiny bow of navy blue chiffon which wafted prettily in the breeze. 

Ropes hold the fabric in place.

It was still in place the following day and the sun almost made an appearance.

Helen.