Design Inspiration. Planet Stencil Library.

New!! Nagara Cormorant Stencil

I have new stencils to show you. The first one is JA159 Nagara Cormorants.

One of our regular customers asked me whether we had a stencil of fishing boats in the moonlight.....and we didn't. However, years ago Chips and I had sketched a raft-type boat strung with oriental lanterns with the intention to design a stencil from it. As it turned out our lantern boat design was too fussy but three other stencils were created and I will feature each in a separate post. 

Let me introduce you to our JA159 Nagara Cormorant stencil.

The name of the stencil comes from the Nagara River in Japan where for a short season each year fisherfolk sail the river at night catching Sweet Fish with their trained cormorants. I did some research and found that fishing with cormorants has been practised in many countries including Britain. The cormorant fishing in Gifu Province is known as Ukai and has been an annual tradition along Nagaragawa River near Gifu Castle for over 1300 years.

The master fisher is known as an Usho, they depend on the birds for their livelihood and take good care of them. It takes 2 or 3 years to train the birds for fishing. Traditionally, the fishing boats have a crew of three people but our chap is alone with his birds, the mountains, Gifu Castle and the moonlight.

The stencil has two layers. It can be used as a border or an allover repeat. There are registration marks on both layers and they enable the stenciller to match up the layers and pattern repeats with ease.

One of the great benefits of using a stencil is the huge array of colours that you can choose from.  Another benefit is the variety of surfaces that be decorated with stencils Usually if a surface can accept paint it can be stencilled.

Nagara Cormorant is available in two sizes but we can make other sizes on request. This post features the standard size. The others are JA159A Nagara Cormorant large and CH56 Cormorant Fisher. Where might you use our new stencil?

Helen

 

 

A carpet of crocus at Wallington Hall, Northumberland

It has been a long while since I took you all on a day out with me. A date for your diary this month might be to visit the lawns of the walled garden at Wallington Hall in Northumberland and see them carpeted with violet coloured croci.  

I chanced upon an image of it on The National Trust website and could not believe that I had not seen them because I visit Wallington Gardens fairly regularly. So, armed with my camera, my National Trust membership card and some warm clothes I set off to find the flowers.

When I got to Wallington I thought that I would take a quick trip around the house...but there is no such thing as a quick trip. I tend to forget how beautiful it is.  One of the volunteer cooks had just baked scones and encouraged me to stay a while.  The time flew by and I may have missed the best of the daylight when I reached the gardens. I spent hours there enjoying the flowers and taking endless photos; sometimes on my belly in the mud. The crocus lawns were fairly crowded when I arrived then emptied towards closing time. I think I was the last to leave. Wallington Hall is a National Trust property near Cambo in Northumberland. It is very close to Kirkharle the birthplace of the 18th century landscape architect Capability Brown, combine the two for a full day out, both have cafes! 

My visit was around the 12th of March 2018 but the flowering time will depend on the climate each year, it may be an idea to check at the National Trust's Northumberland page before planning your visit. 

Update...it is looking fabulous right now.

Helen.