Design Inspiration. Planet Stencil Library.

At home in Paris

Bonjour!  I am home after having a lovely few days in Paris.  I will sort some photos and blog the weird and the fab things that I saw, but for now I will show you where Rachel, her family and I stayed in case you need to book a three bedroom apartment in Paris.  It is in the Upper Marais and the Marais is just the best area for a Paris break.  We lived on the third floor of the white block with the tall windows. 

Our bit was further up the hill so can not be seen.  When the apartment is not rented to visitors, it is the home of American Francophiles Michael and Patsy.  They were leaving for Copenhagen where a gallery is exhibiting Michael's photography.  I had hoped that he would send me a link to the show before departing as his work is gorgeous, gorgeous, even the weird stuff!   His name is Michael Padnos and I recommend you look out for him.  The apartment is on Rue Dupuis five minutes walk from a major Metro station and right in the heart of winding streets full of restaurants and individual shops (no high street chains in this area).   The parks in the Marais are plentiful and include the stunning Place des Vosges.  Bakeries and chocolatiers are abundant and there are many quiet places to enjoy your purchases. I like this leafy square which is less than 100 yards from 'My home in Paris'  Helen.

Helen in Italy

Following on from my recent trip to Pompeii and Herculaneum, I thought I would show you some other lovely things from my week in the Campania region of Italy.  Besides, it is winter and therefore cold and grey in most places (or at least it is here in England) so here is a sample of sunshine and lovely summery colours to warm you up.  I can thoroughly recommend Sorrento as a base for visiting the outlying areas and it is a great place for eating, shopping and just being.

I thought this mural was lovely, but I had to photograph it through railings, it is a men only area. WHAT!!!!!!  It can be found in the narrow labyrinthine alleys of an area in Sorrento called The Drains which is much, much lovelier than it sounds.  Artisans making shoes, cameos, puppets and lace nestle between stores selling hardware and other necessaries, but the area is dominated by souvenir shops. Not a bad thing as the merchandise is very varied and are open late into the night.  The late evening promenaders were often eating ice cream. In the UK we tend to do this only on hot days... and in daylight hours .  My Mum tackled the hugest lemon ice cream.  The Campania region is famous for it's lemons.  After tourism, it is their biggest business and lemons go into everything.  Before I left for my holiday I had wanted to make a white full circle skirt stencilled with lemons in honour of the region.  I got the stencil made but not the skirt. I am here on Mount Solano wearing swallows instead.

Mount Solano is the highest point on Capri. You get there by chair lift and the views all round are beautiful.  I was the first visitor of the day and the mist was still rising over the rest of the island.  I wanted perfume from Carthusia.  It is made on Capri, so I visited the factory and bought a few gifts.  To see more..... 

Pool House Hotel, Scotland

For the past couple of years, I have been in close contact with Liz from the Pool House Hotel, Poolewe, Scotland which is in the glorious countryside of Wester-Ross on Loch Ewe.  She has been redecorating the hotel from top to bottom in fabulous style.  Recently she sent me some photos of a few of the completed suites using our stencils and I thought I would share them with you.   If you are ever in Scotland, I recommend that you stay at this hotel as it has to be one of the most stunning hotels I have ever seen (and that is before you see the decoration and stencilling).  The Pool House Hotel has been voted one of the top 101 hotels in the world and if you look at their web-site, it is easy to see why.  Not only has each hotel room a view to die for overlooking the sea, but the Scottish countryside is a site to behold.  There are various things to do in the area.  You can choose to arrive by sea plane or helicopter if traditional modes of transport do not appeal to you.  You can play golf, go sailing, sea angling, or walking.  My favourite activity they can arrange for you has to be the falconry though.  How wonderful would that be!  They have a top class restaurant with a beautifully decorated dining room with stencils from our nautical range (not yet on our web-site).    They also have a wonderful billiard room where you can sample varieties of the finest malt whiskey.  And then there are the bedrooms.  Wonderful and grand furniture has been imported from far flung places like Indian and China. 

Here are a few photos from the fantastic Nairana suite using stencils from our Ottoman range:

I have also included a photo of the sitting room (check out the view!):

 

And the bathroom because the original Victorian bathtub has the original stencilling on it:

This is the Opportune suite with more fantastic stencilling and furniture.  The stencilling appears in the bedroom and the bathroom:

The other completed suites are just as glamorous and you can see them on their web-site.  It is also worth having a look at their gallery for some stunning photographs of the surrounding countryside.  I know Liz has plans to do a Chinoiserie suite (which includes a fantastic sounding antique Chinese marriage bed) and a Russian suite amongst others over the coming months.  I shall look forward to seeing the photos of the finished schemes in due course and will make sure that I put them in a future entry for you to see. R.

 

Stencilling In Powell River, British Columbia

This is the city of Powell River.  It nestles between mountains, forest and the Pacific Ocean just north of Vancouver on Canada's Sunshine Coast.

I have family here and have enjoyed decorating rooms for them over many years.  The previous week I had been teaching classes on stencilling in San Fransisco and one of the techniques I taught was to combine iridescent paints with powders to make a butterfly wing effect.  Rachel told you on a recent post about the effect of light on iridescent paints. Here is my stencilled 'headboard' showing an enlarged version of our Birds & Blossom stencil glowing in the sunlight.

Powell River is an artistic community with lovely street murals.  There are many scenes depicting the city's history. I snapped two for you before my camera battery failed.  Just click onto the pictures if you want more detail. 

Powell River also has many charity shops and my favourite buy of the trip were these embroidered linens all made by the same lady.  Her daughter-in-law worked in the shop. I now regret that I did not buy more pieces as they were only a couple of dollars each.  On the long piece I will stencil some lettering from our "In Your Own Words" range (which sadly is not on our web site yet) and then I will make a long pillow from it.  The piece with the tea cup and glass reminds me of the vintage style embroidery that my talented cousin Rebecca decorates children's clothing and other items with at Melys Baby, her Etsy.com shop.  I also bought vintage aprons because Rachel  stencils them to sell in our shop.

I met my friend Ev Pollen for lunch on the veranda of La Casita Mexican Restaurant. Whilst waiting I photographed the pretty colours on my table.  Then I consumed most of the props.  Ev makes Pollen Sweaters, from soft, non-shrink wool from her home near Powell River.  My Pollen sweater has now warmed me for fifteen winters and is still going strong.  Originally designed for lumberjacks they make the ideal gift for anyone outdoorsish.  Best of all, they do not itch.  Oh, and they have colours called James Brown and Pond Scum!

Talking of colours, the interior of La Casita features colour washed walls. This effect can be easily achieved by mixing a little powder pigment with water and then diluting with acrylic glaze, both these products can be found in our accessories section.  One technique is to rub the colour onto a matt painted wall with a cloth, another is to cross hatch with an almost dry paint brush and my fave technique is to apply the pigment mixture sparingly using a decorating tool called The Woolie .  The Woolie sheepskin trowel is the one that I like best. Here is another colour wash and Woolie project. Three colours have been blended to get the glow on the walls.

On leaving Canada I was mightily impressed with the International Departures area in Vancouver Airport.  They have been charging an airport improvement levy for years and I think much of it must have been spent on art.  There was so much to look at I did not bother with the shops....well not much.  Just as I left the gate I looked up and saw this fish mobile. I am now inspired to try and make something similar. Anyone got spare plastic fish??? H. 

Stenciling in San Francisco, California

Hello, I am back from the SALI stencilling/faux finish convention in San Francisco.  A BIG thank you to my students and to the people that shopped at my booth.  The classes as always were fun to teach.  Next year I would like to take a class too as there are so many fantastic teachers in the organisation.  Here are students Elaine and Kate at my New Stencil Technique class. Elaine is experimenting with the Big & Bold Blossom whilst Kate puts the finishing touches to a Silhouette stencil.  I bought some silk asymmetric jackets from Heartway at the convention expo and no doubt will be showing you how I decorated them.  I stayed in San Francisco an extra day for sightseeing and got one of the entertaining trolley tours around the city.  Of course I had to traverse the Golden Gate bridge and have sea food chowder in a sourdough roll on Fisherman's Wharf. My companions for the day, both talented stencil designers and teachers, are both called Sharon, both Canadian and both delightful.  We spent a mad two hours in Forever 21 buying loads of clothes (to stencil of course).  I bought some delicious doorknobs in Anthropologie to grace a serpentine fronted side board that I will get around to painting soon.  SALI Convention dates for next year are 21st to 27th July 2008 in Charleston, South Carolina. Put the dates in your diary.....just in case. H.