Design Inspiration. Planet Stencil Library.

The beginning of Larger Than Life stencils now online

We will expand this range in the future, but decided to launch a dozen of the stencils now as we are so excited about what can be created with these designs.  Larger than Life is a range of stencils, mostly natural subjects, in larger-than-life scale.  Most of the stencils come as sheets of component parts that allow you to create your own arrangement.  The minimum height of these stencils is about 3 feet, but can be built up to heights of 8-10 feet and beyond in many cases, so they are not for the faint hearted.  You can either cover entire walls or simply create a feature in one area.

So far, Larger than Life includes blossom (a few different versions), grasses, dandelion, dianthus, honeysuckle, chives, wisteria, two palm trees, leaves and bur reed and fireworks.  OK, so the fireworks aren't exactly a natural subject, but it is such a great design we had to include it in the range.  Each design comes in two sizes, they can be used seperately or together.

This photo shows an example of both sizes of the LTL4 Dandelion stencil: The text is from our In Your Own Words range.

And this photo shows an example of both sizes of the LTL5 Ornamental Grasses stencil.  The design has been stencilled on both the wall and the cupboard:

I hope you like the new range as much as we do.  We recently wrote a post about decorating our back hallway with LTL1 Oriental Blossom, another post using the LTL12 Leaves stencil as well as a post showing Helen's ball skirt stencilled with LTL11 Wisteria.  We shall be posting more projects using these fantastic stencils so keep in touch with our blog. Rachel.

In Your Own Words now online

We have just added our In Your Own Words range of stencils to the site.  This is a range that allows you to choose your own text be it a name, number or quotation, from a choice of 42 different lettering styles and we'll make up a stencil of it for you.

Styles range from the historical like Georgian, Arts & Crafts or Art Deco; to the classic such as the Copperplate shown in the photo above; to the fun like Classroom and Carnaby Street.  Most of the designs come in standard sizes of 3", 5" and 7" capitals, but custom sizes can often be accomodated.  All styles are available in Upper Case and Numerals with many also including Lower Case letters too.

Out of the 42 different fonts, 12 are available as reverse stencils known as Silhouette lettering.  Conventional stencils must contain a number of bridges or ties in order to hold certain letters together.  With the styles named "Silhouette", you receive the letter itself and stencil over and around it putting the background colour back in.  Silhouette lettering has a few advantages:  there are no bridges in the letters and they particularly look good on already patterned surfaces or glass because the stencil acts as a mask - the pattern or plain glass being revealed once the letter is removed from the surface.

Prices vary depending on the style (there are three different price categories) and are charged on a per letter basis.  There is a minimum charge of 10.00 GBP.

We hope you like the new range.  Lettering is a great and personal addition to any decorating scheme. R.

Stencilled stage set

Last weekend saw the annual presentation by our local drama group.  I acted in the play and dressed the set.  This was a good opportunty to showcase a new stencil design.  The Deco Blossom stencil is part of the Larger Than Life collection which we are still working hard to complete.  The play was set around a Christmas house party and the blossom stencil reminded me of Christmas baubles.  I am very excited about this collection and will alert you when they are officially launched.  You can buy Deco Blossom and the other Larger Than Life stencils before the launch.  Just contact us for details.   We also painted and stencilled the outside of the puppet theatre using our NC21 Polka Dots and CS16 Theatrical Masks Solo stencils:

If you would like to see more of the set and some very unflattering pictures of myself and fellow actors then visit www.stocksfield.org.  Photos were taken by Dave Porter.  H.

NEW CHRISTMAS STENCILS

We've designed some new Christmas stencils.  These are not on web-site yet, but are available to order now.  Please contact us if you are interested in any of them.

This photo shows our A4 Merry Christmas (overall size 7.75" x 11.25") and MS Noel stencils:

This photo shows our Assorted Snowflakes stencil (each of the 4 different snowflakes are 3" and 6") and our individual SS Snowflakes (about 6" x 5.5"):

This photo shows our SS Baubles stencils (each one about 6.5" x 5"):

This photo shows our SS Bubble Wreath stencil (5.5" x 5.75"):

This photo shows our SS Happy Holidays, SS Seasons Greetings and SS Merry Xmas stencils.  Each one is about 5.5" x 7":

This photo shows our SS Mini Hearts repeat (each heart is 0.38"), SS Mini Stars repeats (each star is 0.25"), A4 Assorted Baubles (overall size 10" x 7.5") and our Assorted Christmas Pack (overall size 11" x 7.5").  The Assorted Christmas pack comes in two layers.  One layer includes a plain tree, bauble and present.  The other layer includes a dot and stripe pattern.  The idea is that you stencil the tree, present or bauble first and then, leaving that stencil in place, you overlay either the stripes or dots and add decoration:

This photo shows our SS Snowy Tree, SS Dotty Tree and SS Stripy Tree (each tree is 7.25" x 3.5"), and our SS Bubble Wreath (details above) and our SS Reindeer Silhouette (5.25" x 5.75").  The reindeer is one of my favourite new designs and I am going to stencil it on a t-shirt:

The final photo shows our SS Tree stencils again with a stencilled example:

I hope you like the new stencils.  I will try and get them onto the site as soon as I can, but I realise the holidays are drawing ever closer and I might not manage it in time.  However, you can phone or e-mail us if you are interested and can order them by phone, fax, or post (the good old fashioned way).  Keep reading our blog as we will be going all Martha Stewart with projects featuring these new stencils which will feature in posts over the coming weeks. R.

Special Offer Stencils have been updated

We've added more stencils to the Stencils on Special Offer section to our web-site.  Unforeseen disasters befall the odd stencil or we simply make them in the wrong size, so we sell them at reduced prices.  Here is your chance to grab a bargain.  We only have a quantity of one of most of them, so be quick as they are sold on a first come, first serve basis.  We have tried to describe the fault as best as possible, but if you require further information on any stencil, please do not hesitate to contact us.  Contact details are on the web-site.  P.S. Spike the cat eating a stencil is a rare event...he's been watching too many nature programs. R.

Create your own art gallery: New Print Room Stencils are online

Our newest range of stencils, Print Room, is now on our site!

This is a collection of repeats, borders and motifs that allow you to create your own art gallery.  The range is split into two parts Contemporary and Classic.  The Contemporary section is a compilation of repeat and border stencils that incorporate a frame shape within their pattern.  The idea is to fill these frames with photographs or prints.

The Classic section is a range of frames which can be stencilled over a plain surface or existing pattern, be it another stencil or wallpaper.  They are offered as either repeating pattern frames in a set configuration...

or as individual frames so you can make up your own arrangement:

Many of these stencils work equally well without using prints too:

To see the full range and more photographs, go to www.stencil-library.com/docs/cat315.htm.  Enjoy! R.

"As Seen In" has been updated

We have just updated the "As Seen In" section on our web-site which is a section filled with photographs from various publications using our stencils.  It is a great place to go to for inspiration and ideas.  As a taster, here are two photos courtesy of The Paint Quality Institute.    

New stencil classes

It has been a hugely hectic week as we prepare for the SALI stenciling convention in San Francisco (July 16th-21st). I have two new subjects to teach this year which I am very excited about.

One of the classes focuses on new stencil techniques and works with the four Big & Bold decorating masks shown here, plus a Sihouette Stencil.  Silhouette stencils include the chandelier and allium both featured in earlier posts.  One has to stencil background shapes as well as colours.  The result resembles delicate hand painting.  A lovely lady called Elaine road tested all the projects for me at a rehearsal class recently. We schedule these whenever there is a new subject to teach.  It's a lower priced course and the students are prepared in case things go wrong!  We'll work with minuture versions of stencils and masks on the courses so that we can get samples completed and transported.

These are Elaine's sample boards:

She returned the following day to rehearse the Print Room class with me and left with another bunch of sample boards.  This class includes a touch of gilding and decoupage. I shan't tell you too much about the Print Room range until it is live on our web site and you will be able to see it properly.  I am very pleased with this new collection and have been frantically decorating with them and photographing the results so that my students can have a CD of the images next week. Okay... I'll just share one photo then.  Oh, I nearly forgot... our exhibition stand at the House & Garden fair last week was decorated with Print Room too, albeit a much simpler design.  These classes and others are offered later this year at our workshop in Stocksfield.  If you would like to know more about the SALI Convention & Expo, visit www.sali.org.  I am teaching three classes at SALI this year: Iridescent Chinoiserie Panel (class #110); 21st Century Print Rooms (class #111); and New Stencil Techniques (class #112).  Hope to see you there! H. 

Grow your own cherry blossom

This week the Stencil Library team have been busy cutting stencils, painting furniture and writing press releases in preparation for our appearance at The House & Garden Fair in London this Wednesday to Saturday (June 27-30).

We are bringing inspiration more than product to the fair this year.  I am quite nervous about this as usually I have a busy stand crammed with stock and shoppers. There will still be stuff to buy, but less of it as the focus this year is showing what can be done with stencils.  I have been using the walls in our shop to test out ideas for our new look exhibition stand. The DR2 Cherry Blossom in the picture is an old favorite stencil. It has lived on this wall for months but I have just added oval stencilled frames from our forthcoming Print Room collection.  This is a lovely way of displaying photographs of your nearest and dearest.  An alternative family tree perhaps? Our shop is having a clearance sale in preparation for a major re vamp but more of that later.  The wall just visible through the doorway will have photographs of stencilled rooms pasted into the frame shapes.

I use this cherry blossom stencil a lot, it consists of separate elements that you join together to 'grow' the design in any direction. The wall in the shop shows a skeletal, graphic style which was easily acheived in two hours. 

However, with a little more time and effort you can stencil a fairly realistic looking tree. H.

It's Big & Bold

It's BIG, it's BOLD and it's finally here!

I am so excited.  The small but delicious creative team have spent two years working on a new concept in stenciling.  We have called the range Big & Bold and today it is finally live on our web site http://www.stencil-library.com/docs/cat309.htm . 

Big & Bold are decorating masks. They allow you to create large scale pattern both easily and accurately. Many of the masks work as traditional stencils too.  There are patterns, motifs and alphabets. 

Each design comes in a choice of three sizes and there are twenty eight designs.  There are geometrics, florals, stripes, squiggle and a host of other things.  A photograph of each design appears on the website. 

I hope that you will take a look and let me know what you think.  It is a new concept and I think it has many possibilities.  Might you be inspired to try this? I will be teaching classes on Big & Bold at SALI Convention (see previous post) and at my own school. H.