Design Inspiration. Planet Stencil Library.

Buy one, get one free. My mistake, your gain.

Would you like a free stencil? Yes? Then, read on.

Because all our stencils are made to order we won’t usually have discounted excess stock to offer. However, I miscalculated the quantity on a large order of stencils going to a shop and cut a lot more than they needed and so rather than have them sit in the office I am offering you a 'buy one, get one free' on all Basic Borders from our Budget Collection  Just choose and pay for one Basic Border stencil on our website. Then, in the special instruction section on the order form tell me which other Basic Border you would like free of charge. You may choose two of the same design if wished.

If you are ordering by phone rather than through the website, just give me the information when you call. Our contact details are here.

Basic Borders are a range of stencils that we created for shops, so all the prices and the sizes are the same. Basic Borders cost £11.25 each and their design size varies between 2 and 3.5 inches. (50mm and 90mm) The total size of the stencils including the surround is around 4 and a half inches tall (115mm) and just over 10 inches (260mm) long. All the Basic Borders start with the code BB. If the code does not start with BB it is not part of this offer. There are 106 rather lovely BB's in the Budget Collection, there is bound to be one, two or more to suit you. Enjoy browsing and choosing....this will not be happening again. I hope.

Helen.

New Jaipur Panel stencil as seen in Homes & Gardens September 2019 issue

Stylist, designer and general interiors supremo Katrin Cargill has created some beautiful projects with our stencils over the years so it was lovely to design a stencil for her 'Indian Summer' featured in the September issue of Homes & Gardens magazine. So, let me introduce our new Jaipur Panel stencil.

The stencil is offered at 15.3/4 inches high (28cms) but like any of our other stencils can be scaled to fit your decorative scheme. Just email or phone us with the size that you need. The Jaipur Panel is a perfect fit for many cupboard and cabinet fronts. We have quite a few Indian style stencils in our India and China collection and there is a crossover in style with some of our Ottoman range too.

I sent ideas back and forth to Katrin and we decided to re-draw the OTT47 Panel no 1 from our Ottoman stencil collection and frame it with a simple coach-line border. The result can be ordered on this link or at stencil-library.co.uk. The UK site is much smaller than our usual one and houses the special designs that don't fit with the normal collection. Jaipur Panel is one of those. The UK site ships worldwide.

I used Cerulean Blue and Cobalt paint on the samples that I sent to Katrin and she stencilled hers with Arsenic by Farrow & Ball. 

The September issue should be on the shelves any day now...mine was a subscription copy.

Helen

A Stencil of A Flight Of Swallows

We have designed a companion for one of our favourite stencils, the 'Y10 Three Swallows' The Y10 stencil features a swallow motif in different sizes.

They can be stencilled as a swarm, in a row or as single motifs. Stencil Y-10 is versatile and inexpensive. Now, meet the new kid on the flock.

The new stencil helps those that have less time or confidence to create a swarm or 'flight' of stencilled swallows. The beginning of the flight has been created for you on stencil layer 1. The direction of flight depends on which side of the stencil you wish to use.

Creating a stencilled flock, swarm or flight is a handy solution when wonky ceilings, odd placements of doors, niches, windows and other obstacles prevent a more formal style of decoration. The flight could provide an alternative to directional signage, eg. 'Follow the Swallow' whereby a trail of stencilled swallows leads to an exit, or the washrooms or garden.

I have stencilled a long skirt with the swallow flight too, I was told it was 'Just the right side of creepy' which actually was meant as a compliment.

All the small swallows (stencil 1) are applied first. When you are happy with the flow of the 'flight' start to stencil the medium-sized swallows over them (stencil 2). You do not need as many of these as you did with layer one.

Finish with a few motifs from layer 3 The three sizes of swallows gives a sense of perspective to the decoration.

Here are a couple more examples of decoration from our various stencils of swallows.

The new 'Flight of Swallows' stencil is available by contacting us, it is not on our website. I will put details of the new stencil in the comments section below. Links to other swallow stencils are VN300 and Y-10.

Helen.

Stencils Of Pheasants: Designed For Our Students, Available To Our Readers

We have another 'exclusive stencil set' to offer to our readers, newsletter subscribers and social media followers. The new stencils of birds were created to work with the Chinese wallpaper mural set that our students receive on our Chinoiserie stencilling class. However, their size complements many of our Chinoiserie panel stencils. Remember that we can enlarge or reduce the scale of our stencils to suit. 

The bird stencils can be ordered individually or as a set. I wandered around the house holding them in front of drawers and cupboard fronts. They seem to be a good size for decorating furniture too. They are pheasants and grouse. For speed, I have just called them Bird No.1 to Bird No.4 but I know either you or I will come up with a much better title for this new, mini collection. Suggestions?

 

I have photographed each one next to a tape measure so that you can see the size. The measurements and the prices are written in the comments section of this blog below. These new stencils are not on our website.  They are only shown on our social media, so please contact us in the comments if you need more information.  Mark it as 'private' if you do not want your comment to be published. Alternatively, you can email or phone us, or leave a message on our Facebook, Twitter or Instagram pages. I am rather excited about them, I hope that you are too.

Helen.

The Daily Stencil Inspiration: Our MAYGIFT 25% Off Voucher Expires Tomorrow

This fabulous art deco repeat pattern stencil VN83 Gatsby from our Vintage Range of stencils is available along with everything else on our website at 25% off with the voucher code MAYGIFT (enter at checkout).  But only until midnight (BST) tomorrow May 31st 2018.  We rarely do this, and it is in celebration of our recent addition of hundreds of new stencil designs to our site and to thank you for your continued custom and support  of The Stencil Library.

Revisiting our Art Deco stencil special offer!

This morning my World Of Interiors magazine arrived. It features the apartment of Jeanne Lanvin which is re-created in the Musee des Arts Decorative in Paris. It has prompted me to reissue the special offer on our new art deco stencils that look like the one in the picture.

Our collection was inspired by the embroidered blue bedroom that she created with the architect and designer Albert Armand Ratau.  Augusta Pownall compiled the Inspirations page in The World of Interiors and she writes that the embroidery has been recreated at Lesage Interieurs based in Paris and Madras. I visited their website, the work is stunning! However, if your budget does not run to just over a £4,000 per metre for the embroidered silk on your walls then our stencils may be the next best thing to recreate the look!  Read on for more pictures, colour inspiration, details of the stencils and our special offer.

Stencil LAN1 (above) is the stencil that looks like the main embroidery pattern and another stencil, LAN2 mimics the shape of the plaster moulding that goes over it.

We went a bit 'freestyle' with elements of the design from Lanvin's bed covers and made a large basket of flowers stencil (LAN7), a butterfly border stencil (LAN8) a large butterfly stencil (LAN9) and a smaller one (LAN10)  Order one or all of them to help create decoration for furnishings and accessories.

The floral pattern on the original cornflower blue walls was embroidered with ivory stitching along with accents of copper and orange. If those colours are not to your taste you might consider using metallic paint, this effect is stunning on both dark and light backgrounds

I will post details of the offer including the prices in the 'comments section'. If you would like to leave a private comment just write 'private' and we will not publish it.  A 20% discount from the published prices is available until Midnight of May 1st, 2018 on all time zones worldwide.  Contact us via email, blog comment or through our social media for any specific information and to order the stencils. You will find our email under the 'About" heading on the right side of this blog or follow this link.  Buttons to our social media are on our homepage too.We cut all our stencils to order and ship within two working days of receipt. Our postal charges for Royal Mail 1st class and Airmail during this offer are as follows. UK-free. European Union countries-£5.00 and the rest of the world-£7.00. Express courier service will be £21.18  

We have 5 more stencils in our LAN collection that do not feature in the photographs above. We are happy to extend the special offer to include them. The full collection is below.

The currency exchange rate remains advantageous for overseas customers buying from Britain at the moment...so, take advantage!

Helen.

 

 

 

 

How To Stencil; Classes For Beginners And Improvers, Spring/Summer 2018

Do you want to know how to use a stencil like a professional? A few times a year we host a stencil day for beginners and improvers. We have two dates for Spring this year. The day includes lunch, a tour of the stencilled home and practical sessions where the students learn to cut a stencil and apply it to surfaces using various media including water-based paint, oils sticks and gilding materials. Also, a small piece of fabric will be stencilled. Measuring and planning for a successful decorative scheme will be discussed and we will see many examples during our walk around the house. Students should gain a working knowledge of how to use stencils for many applications along with the confidence and inspiration to get started. The fee includes a vegetarian lunch, dessert and coffee. Materials needed for the day are provided and each student is given brushes and stencils to take home after class (retail value approx £45.00).  So, if you fancy joining us, the dates are:

STENCIL TECHNIQUES; full day class with tour and lunch 9:45am - 5pm  £80.00  Saturday, April 7th*, 2018. Sunday, May 20th, 2018.

*The class on April 7th is followed by an optional 'Stencil Techniques for Furniture' day class on Sunday the 8th. This is to help people that are travelling a distance to attend 2 classes consecutively.  There is a discount on the combined price if you attend both classes on this weekend. Details of the schedule and other important information are on our website.

STENCIL TECHNIQUES FOR FURNITURE - day class 9:45am - 5pm - April 8, 2018. £95.00

Students will experiment with a collection of corner, border, repeat and spot motif stencils to create panels, circlets and overall pattern. Special attention is given to corners, symmetry and contrast panels. Simple fantasy finishes will be demonstrated. Students will practice with paint and metal leaf. Many of the skills learned will apply to larger projects too. Participants should gain skills and confidence to customise pieces of furniture and other small-scale projects. Students take home more than £50.00 worth of stencils and completed samples of work. Lunch and refreshments are provided.

 

 

General Information for students and visitors:

The classes and tours take place in a private home, there are uneven floors and stairs. The house can be cold, even in summer, wear layers!
These classes are limited to a maximum of 6 students. We can also host private classes or tours on other dates by request.

All classes and tours must be booked in advance; full payment is required with your booking and confirmation will be sent upon receipt. Cheques made payable to The Stencil Library at the address below. Credit card payments are accepted by phone or PayPal. In the event of customer cancellation, no money will be refunded unless 14 days notice is given or we can fill your place in the class. We will endeavour not to cancel a class unless unavoidable, but reserve the right to do so.

The Stencil Library, Stocksfield Hall, Stocksfield, Northumberland, NE43 7TN, United Kingdom
Telephone +44 (0) 1661 844 844 - Email: [email protected]

A new, exclusive, special offer stencil for our readers....and their friends.

Lovely readers, we present a special offer on a brand new stencil that is not yet on our website..and two that are. In fact, every stencil pattern that appears in this picture is included and it is an exclusive offer for DesignInspiration readers and followers of The Stencil Library’s social media.

When it appeared in the background behind a festive flamingo on our Instagram feed I was asked: "How do we buy the stencil?" The answer would have been 'with difficulty until the new collection is launched' but that is no longer the case.

Our stencil is called 'Stars over Lichtenstein' and we are offering you the chance to buy it before it appears in our new collection... and with a discount of 25% off the future price. Stars Over Lichtenstein is a double layer stencil so you will need two colours and two stencil brushes or rollers to apply the paint.

If you are buying the stencil I will extend the discount to a large double ended stencil brush (as long as I have stock of them). Did you notice the tartan stencil that occupies two walls in the room? It is a customized version of a smaller stencil from our Vintage Style collection at The Stencil Library. The floor is decorated with our MD18-XL Rattan stencil; I will offer a discount on the Tartan and the Rattan stencil....just in case you wish to create the entire roomscape! The offer ends on January 1st, 2018 and can only be ordered by private message through our blog, Instagram or Facebook pages, not through our website. You can phone or email us too. Contact details are in the About Me header. Here are the sizes and prices:

Stars Over Lichtenstein AM13-small: The size of the stencil design 111x113mm and the dots are a 1-centimetre diameter (just under 1/2 inch approx). It can be seen on the table runner. Normal price £15.00. Introductory special offer price = £11.25

AM13-med: the size of the design area is 223x237mm, the size of the dot is two centimetres in diameter (3/4 inch approx) it is shown on the stencilled table runner. Normal price £25.00. Introductory special offer price = £18.75

AM13-large: This is the stencil on the walls. It has a 4-centimetre dot and you can see the scale quite easily in our picture along with both overlays. Use the dot stencil first followed by the star stencil. Normal price £35.00. Introductory special offer price = £26.25

MD18-XL Rattan stencil, design area 1092x889mm (43x35 inches hexagons are 5" approx) Normal price £66.75 Special price £50.00.

Vintage Tartan Special. 2 overlays. To give an idea of the scale; the palest squares measure 135 mm (5+1/4 inch approx) and the black squares measure 265mm (10 inches) Limited offer price.£50.00

L+XL double ended stencil brush normal price 10.95, special price is £8.22

Prices are given in GB Pounds, the approximate cost in Euro and USD can be found on online exchange sites. At the time of writing, the currency conversion for a £50.00 stencil is $66.76 USD and 56.78 Euros, but this can change by the hour.

Our postal charges during this offer are as follows. UK postage-free. Regular Air Mail to European Union countries add £5.00 and the rest of the world add £7.00. Express courier service anywhere will be £21.18 

Now, just imagine the patterns in the colours of your choice and if you want them, be quick! The offer will disappear in 2018.

Helen

 

 

Today's Stencilling Inspiration. Bats!

The Stencil Library has designed a repeating stencil with rather super little bats all over it. Well, it is the season. 

The great thing about it is that it looks a bit abstract.  Almost like a fractured zebra stripe, but when you look closely, you realise it is loads of little bats.  So if you fancy a bit of Victorian goth in your decorating, this can work year round.  Or of course, you can use it on seasonal decorations or outfits. 

This is a petite stencil so is good on furniture and small items, but as an allover repeat can cover large areas too.  You can use it as a border or pull out individual bats for a random scattered effect.  As with any of our designs, we can usually make custom sizes too if you want a bigger sheet or bigger scale.  As is, this measures (sheet size) 8 inches (20cm) tall x 7.5 inches (19cm) wide.  To help with scale, the largest bat has a wingspan of 3 inches (7.5cm).  Normally this stencil costs 10.00 GBP (+postage if applicable), but you can have it at 8.00 GBP (+postage if applicable) until Oct 31, 2017.  This is a newly designed special stencil and is not on our site yet, so orders can be taken directly.  Just email us with your full shipping address requesting the Mini Bats stencil and we will send you a PayPal invoice. Or you can phone us and pay with a card.

Rachel.

A few half price stencils to offer

Our stencils are made to order so if we cut any by mistake they might sit around in the office for a few months until we get time to upload them to the special offer section of our website. In order to save both time and office space, we are offering a handful of them at half their usual price. A postage charge will be added to addresses outside of the UK, postal information is on our website.  All the stencils are in perfect condition but some measurements may differ from their usual size. To order just leave a comment, if you mark it as private it will not be shared with others. Alternatively, a direct message can be left on our Facebook page and you can email or phone us. Read on to see if one of your favourites is in our bargain pile at the moment.

The first one is a gorgeous repeating design on a Chinoiserie theme, it is from the 'Vintage Style' collection and is called VN106-Bird and Butterfly.

We have just one of these at half price, it measures 19.1x17.9 inches (485x455mm) I used a larger, single motif in this photograph, it shows how the design can look when the paint is applied through it.

 We are offering the one on our desk for £27.30 instead of £54.60

There are registration marks surrounding the motif on the stencil so that you can make an accurate repeating pattern with it. It could look wonderful in colours stencilled to match vintage china. It is a handy size for large cushion covers and cabinet fronts.

We have one KN1-Nordic Rose Star stencil in a larger version than the one in our photo. The one we are offering is 20 inches high, which is an excellent size for stencilling floors...or floor cushions. It could make impressive and quick decoration on curtains or ....bigger cabinets than the one in our picture. At half price it is £25.12 

These photographs show the extremely useful border ER16. This time the mistake was not ours; a customer had not realised stencils were reusable and over ordered. Although this was not our fault we did accept some for return because it is a popular design, we still have three of them left and would like them to leave our post desk and find a home, or homes. At 1.5 inches wide this stencil makes a great accent for furniture, for the edges of curtains or blinds and for panels on walls and floors as shown in our pictures.

The length of the pattern repeat is 17 inches long which makes it quite a speedy border to stencil and at the special offer price of £9.37 it makes it an inexpensive one.

Next, we have an Art Deco border of rather handsome lions.  I have no photos of this in a room setting so I will just put it on some packaging paper and take a picture. We have two to offer at £11.22 each; half their usual price. The pattern is 5.5 inches high (14cms)

We have one GR32 Primula stencil to offer at the special price of £9.37, it measures a sliver more than 7 inches square;  a perfect size for furniture, cushion covers and other small-scale projects such as aprons, window boxes and plant stands.  The stencil has two overlays, which allows easy separation of colours.

Finally, we offer two rope border and nautical motif stencils at £3.00 each

The border is three-quarters of an inch deep and the motif is eight and a half. Again, they are the perfect size for furniture and cushion covers. 

Postal charges will be added to orders posted outside of the UK the charge is per order not per item, so it is worth adding other things that you may be needing. Do let us know if we are to send one or more of them from our table to yours!

Helen.

 

 

 

 

 

Save

An excellent tool for cleaning brushes and a lesson in business.

"Would you like to stock these in your shop?", I asked one of my friendly competitors in the stencil industry.

 

I continued with enthusiasm "They are brilliant! They clean the paint from your stencil brushes even if the paint has set hard on the bristles".

He shook his head then replied "Helen, you will never be a business woman, when my customers ruin a brush they have to buy a new one why would I sell a tool to prevent that?"  Fair point....however, I stand by The Brush Scrubber as being a hugely useful asset for the paint room and kitchen. Both Rachel and I use them to clean olive oil and pastry brushes as well as keeping our paint, varnish and stencil brushes in top condition.  I reckon that most households need one and our best ambassadors are those that have used them. Our Brush Scrubber tools were inspired by a component in a children's toy that my friends in America were using to clean their stencil brushes. I brought some back to the UK but found that they were a tad sharp, shredded my knuckles and the tool snapped after a while.  I had a local company make me a brush scrubber that would be inexpensive, would fit in my palm, would have less 'pointy' points and I asked them to make them in an unbreakable plastic.... I would not dare tell my competitor that last bit, he would still be laughing at me.  

To clean the stencil brush at the end of a painting session one just wets the bristles then scrubs it over the teeth of the tool.  You would add turps to the brush if using oil paint and soap if using water based paint. It is as easy as that to keep the paint from drying in the bristles. An occasional dry brushing over the tool keeps the brush pliable when it has been stencilling for hours. Usually, one only needs to buy another Brush Scrubber when you have lost or loaned it. Be warned not to loan yours though.. you may never get it back.

Helen Morris

 

Chinoiserie stencils giveaway

Our latest Used Stencil Giveaway should be called Chinese Takeaway because...

The stencilled result could be tastier than wonton noodles, last longer and will look far better than noodles if spread across your wall.

As usual, the stencils that I am giving away are my personal ones, they have been lightly used and are in good condition. I used them to create the wall in the picture see step by step photos of me using it.

 

One of the stencils comprises four sheets of elements to create your own version of Chinese hand painted wallpapers Their catalogue codes are CH24 to CH27 There are stems, leaves, large and small flowers, bird and butterflies.

An extra bonus is that my stencil of large flowers was cut onto heavy film. This is a special service available to our customers. The thick stencils cost more but the extra depth of the stencil film makes them perfect for applying plaster, gel and other media through the pattern. Having this stencil in the set will allow you to add texture if desired.

In addition to the four stencils of flowers and foliage there is CH19 a hanging basket filled with magnolia, peonies and jasmine and CH18 a parakeet, a branch and a swing.

If you were buying this collection new the combined cost would be £334.00  which is a less expensive than buying hand painted Chinese wallpapers. Follow the links for more information or to order brand new stencils. Alternatively, leave a comment below this post, at Twitter or at Facebook mentioning Chinese Takeaway for a chance to be given my used set costing you nothing but the postage charge. We will put the names in a hat and draw one name at midday, UK time on Monday 24th March.

We will contact the winner privately for delivery details. The recipient will need to pay the postage cost: £5.00 GBP for UK, £7.00 for European Union countries and £10.00 for everywhere else. Parcel will be sent by Royal Mail.

Photos of projects completed by previous winners of our used stencil giveaways have been received at our office. It is very exciting for us to see what you create with them. I'll be posting them on our Facebook page.

Helen.

 

Glorious giveaway

Today I can feel Spring in the air and to celebrate I am giving away my set of Agapanthus stencils.

They were used to decorate this room set for my book Stencil It.

They have been used lightly and offer great potential for one of DesignInspiration's readers to create something fabulous from them. I used just one colour to decorate the wall but you can add as many colours as you like through the stencil.  This set might look wonderful stencilled onto fabric as well as walls. The design includes an extendable stem section to offer varying heights of Agapanthus blooms. There are four different sizes which can allow perspective when used together or they can be used seperately to fit different sizes of surface.  

If you would like your name to be in the draw please leave a comment on this page mentioning Agapanthus (click on comments at the foot of this post) or comment at our FaceBook page. We will draw a name at random on Tuesday 11th March, 10.00 GMT. Post and pack charges to mail the four stencils are as follows; UK £5.00 GBP,  EU countries £7.00 GBP, rest of world £10.00 GBP.  If you enjoy our Facebook page then please tell us by clicking the 'like' button.

The real stuff...Agapanthus near our home in Northumberland.

Helen.

 

Another used stencil giveaway

One of the major UK interior design magazines needed me to stencil some images for their pages.

They requested GR20 Forget Me Not stencil,

 25 Eslington Border

borders No16 Osborne,

along with No26 Laurel border from the Robert Adam Collection

and no1 Double Check from the Children's Collection

All they had to do was a couple of feet of stencilling at most and now I can either store the used stencils or give them away. So, I will give them away, but first I shall add a couple of other useful classical style stencils to the parcel.

The Classic Garland that I stencilled with gold paint onto this cabinet...

..and the bee to go with it. The BB90 dragonfly, bee and butterfly stencil has not been used I just put it into the offer because it is a useful stencil for furniture and fabric projects.

The final stencil in this stencil giveaway is DE41 an extremely handy, long, slim border.

I used it in a picture for my book Stencil It published by Jacqui Small.

All these stencils will work well on floors, walls, furniture and fabrics so if the style of them suits projects that you have in mind please leave a comment before 09.30GMTon 24th of Feb and you will have as much chance as anyone else of receiving them all. Postage is to be paid by the recipient, if you would like to collect them personally from our office you are welcome but please collect within the week or else I will offer them again. Post and pack fees for the giveaway stencils is UK £5, EU countries £7 and rest of world £10. Postage may be paid by credit card or PayPal. You can add a few stencil brushes or accessories if you like, for no extra postal charge.  I'll pick a name at random from comments on this post or from The Stencil Library at Facebook at 09.30 GMT Mon 24th of February. Type WOI Giveaway in your comment so that I know that you would like your name added to 'the hat'.

We had great pleasure in sending our last giveaway, the next one could be yours. 

Helen.

 

Interiors, inspiration and three stencils to giveaway.

The March edition of World of Interiors features the late Jocasta Innes' home in Spitalfields and I was asked to stencil some borders in 'Jocasta-esque' colours for the Inspiration page of the magazine.

The editors selected DE1 Border No. 1 and now that the stencil has done its small but important task, I shall give it away. The recipient must pay the postage charges at cost (see below) so to make the parcel more exciting I am adding AR53 Railing No. 1  

 and AR51 Pierced Wall, both in the medium sizes from our Architectural stencil range . 

They too were stencilled for the magazine so have a little paint on them but all are in very good condition. 

The central section of the AR51 stencil is useful without the outer borders if a lighter style is preferred.

The brushes are in the photos to show scale and illustrate how many brushes and colours I used to achieve the effect shown in the magazine.

These are three fairly wide border stencils and could look fabulous top, bottom or mid wall. If stencilled onto fabric they could make a wonderful decorative accent at the base or edges of curtains.  Decorating bolster pillows or roller blinds would be another good use for the stencils. Follow the links to see the size of the stencils in metric and imperial measurements.

The DE1 border works well as a vertical stripe too. All these designs could look great stencilled onto floor boards. I was toying with the idea of using the DE1 onto a table top but that was before I decided to offer them to one of our readers. The combined retail price of these stencils if new would be 116.35 GBP ($190) so if you have projects for them they are a bargain. 

Post and pack charges to send the three stencils are as follows; UK 5.00 GBP,  EU countries 7.00 GBP, rest of world 10.00 GBP. Postage free if collecting from our premises. Right, how to request the stencils. We will take a name at random when we arrive the office on February 13th. Send a message through this blog post, our Facebook page or Twitter and put 'Jocasta Giveaway" in the message. 

The World Of Interiors will be in the shops any day now, it is a lovely issue and shows decorative paintwork in Istanbul as well as Spitalfields and Stocksfield.

Helen

Free to a good home

...a buttoned, fabric covered footstool on wheels.  I am reorganising things at my little house which is slightly bursting at the seams.  I will be giving away some vintage or vintage style things and selling others at bargain prices so I can make some room (probably to fill with other vintage things).  This is the first item:

The colour is a pale dusky turquoise with salmon pink trim and buttons.  It is 20" x 20" x 15.5" tall with the wheels (13" if you wanted to remove the wheels).

The fabric does have scattered marks on it, but they are not very noticible.  They may come off with cleaning, but I will leave that to the new owner if they wish to try.  Can be left as is or recovered.  Or you can even embellish by stencilling a border around the sides.  The lid does lift up for storage inside, but you cannot put anything heavy in there because it only has a fabric base.  The footstool itself is sturdy enough to sit on.

The footstool is to be collected from The Stencil Library at Stocksfield, Northumberland NE43. It will be offered to the first person who asks for it either by commenting on this post, The Stencil Library's facebook page or Twitter page.  We will contact you to confirm you are the "first" and arrangements for collection can be made at that time.

Rachel.

Ideas for butterfly inspired decor and a special offer.

With each Moths to a Flame stencil (codes BU2,BU3,BU4) purchased in December we will add a free assorted butterfly stencil in a size to match it. Nice huh? Here are some ideas to inspire you to create something fab with your butterfly and moth stencils. 

Stencil the shapes onto cardstock, cut, fold and hold with a tiny piece of tac for wall or ceiling decor.

Alternatively, use the stencil in the conventional manner straight onto a wall, ceiling, floor or other chosen surface.

The butterfly circlet is perfect for creating a ceiling rose or decorating a round table or cloth. 

The butterfly repeat stencil is available in two sizes, the large

and the small.

When either the circle of butterflies or the repeat stencil is bought between now and the end of 2013 we will give a stencil of BU1 assorted butterflies in the matching size. It will be added to your parcel when we despatch your order. There are so many uses for this versatile butterfly and moth stencil. 

 My shoes are in the picture to give an idea of scale.

The Stencil Library sells paints that are washable on fabric enabling the decoration to be applied to curtains, blinds and soft furnishings.

The butterfly repeat stencil can be very effective when placed inside another shape. 

A pin board could be decorated, or boxes and furniture. The small butterfly stencil is a perfect size to stencil cakes and stationery. 

I have added a picture of this poster from RE-found objects.com. Apart from looking good in a frame it would make a handy reference if hand painted details were to be added to the stencilled butterflies.

What would you do with your set?

Helen

A gorgeous lace stencil and a gift for our friends.

What has more holes than the plot of a B movie and is more exciting to look at?

Our VN302, large, lace border stencil of course! Made from an adaptation of our classic OTT36 Ottoman Tile  stencil and  OTT20 lace border this new beauty will fill a large space with speed and ease.  Apply just one colour with a large stencil brush, stencil sponge or roller and repeat the pattern as many times as you need. Instructions are given. The height of the lace stencil is 31" (800mm) Design Inspiration blog readers and FaceBook friends of The Stencil Library may have one large stencil brush free of charge with the purchase of this stencil. Offer ends on Dec 1st 2013. Just write 'lace special offer' in the additional info section of your order form. 

We are having a garage sale at Stocksfield this weekend

Rachel and I are having a garage sale from 11am to 4 tomorrow Sat 11th May. There will be furniture, paint, vintage clothes, decorative accessories, fabric, frames, old stencils and paint, magazines, STUFF and more! We enjoyed looking after them but no longer have the room. Postcode NE43 7TN. We are on the B6309 just before the road block on the way to Stocksfield from the A69, the address is The Farmhouse, Stocksfield Hall, Stocksfield, Northumberland. The Stencil Library will be open as usual from Monday but we won't be answering the phone much over the weekend. See you there, bring a friend.

Helen and Rachel.

The next batch of magazines requiring a new home: Vogue Living Australia

I have 8 issues of Vogue Living Australia to give away.  One from 1994, one from 2010 and the rest from 2000-2002. 

This is a great interiors magazine and was not always easy for me to get hold of, but I used to come across it occasionally when travelling (usually at Amsterdam airport) or when a newsagents in Newcastle occasionally got some international issues in.  There is a wide variety of interior styles to inspire.  They are mostly complete, but there may be a page missing from the occasional issue.

Should anyone want them, they can have them free if they pay the postage (they weigh 5 kg) on a first come, first serve basis.  Local pickup would be free, UK post is estimated at 12.60 GBP, Europe around 35.00 GBP, the rest of the world from about 65.00 GBP.  I will be able to confirm an exact charge depending on where you are and how quickly you want them.  If you would like them, please contact us.  I will amend this post as soon as they have been claimed.  And there is more still to come.

Old House Beautiful (US) magazines require new home

As you know, I have recently moved home.  I am still moving the last few bits and pieces.  Many of you also know I have a rather large magazine collection.  I have moved somewhere in the region of 40 large Ikea blue bags full so far and am not quite finished (see next post).  One advantage of moving is that it gives you an opportunity to sort, assess and jettison (if necessary).  As I struggle to fit everything into my small house, I realised that it is time to part with some of my possessions.  First up, some magazines.  Yes, I could just chuck them in the recycling bin, but before I do, I thought I would give someone the opportunity to take them off my hands.  This batch includes 29 US version House Beautiful magazines from the 1990's.  They are mostly complete, but the odd issue may be missing the odd page.  This is a little gem of an interiors magazine.  Each one is very thin, but packed with information and inspiration.  You never know what you will get in each issue, such is the variety of themes and styles.  I flicked through them recently to be reminded of why I kept them in the first place: they are full of interior (and garden) ideas and would be a great source of creativity.  Whilst the ads may look a bit dated, the features themselves are timeless (aside from any prices I hasten to add).  So if you are an interior decorator or decorative painter or just a lover of magazines and would like these issues to add to your library, please let me know.  You can have them free, but pay for the postage.  And here lies the catch.  They weigh 10kg.  Local people can collect from Stocksfield Hall, but I have had an initial look at postage prices and within the UK they would cost 18.80 GBP to send, within Europe around 44.00 GBP (maybe less depending on your country), to the US and Canada, around 84.00 GBP.  I can do better if I send them surface and the cost will be about 74.00 GBP.  This may put you off and I do understand, but the offer is there if anyone wants to take me up on it.  Please contact me  if you would like them. When they have gone I will amend this post. 

MAD SALE!!

I need to get rid of the special offer stencils (so I can add more later) and I am offering 50% off of the already marked down prices.  Click the link to view what's on offer:

SPECIAL OFFER STENCILS

As usual, these are sold on a first come (and paid), first serve basis.  EMAIL me [email protected] with what you would like and your postal address and I will send you a paypal invoice for your total.  To confirm, that is HALF OFF the prices listed on the webpage.

Postage to the UK is free, to the rest of Europe 5.00 GBP and to the Rest of the World 7.00 GBP.

Rachel.

 

Fabulous Funghi

Why was I hanging around under this tree ?

Because I found a funghi to be with!!! Ok, I wanted to make a bad joke but I also wanted to show you this amazing funghi and see whether any of you can tell me what it is or anything about it.

I took many more pictures ....but there's not mushroom left on this post to show them.

Helen

PS. Rachel has just told me that she cut some MS81 mushroom stencils in error so if you want one they are £3.50 each instead of  £6.35 until the stock is cleared. Follow the link or find them in the Budget Collection.

Bargains, clearance, specials No. 1

You'll have been reading about the closure of our shop recently.  As a result I have gone into one of my rare cleaning and tidying frenzies. 

This is a bit of a long post, but bear with me, it will be worth your while. It has even filtered over to the home where I have been sprucing, cleaning and organising like a mad person (see Evelyn & Dot Vintage post). In between reading the newly discovered Flavia de Luce mystery novels back to back that is. They are described as a cross between "I Capture the Castle" and "The Addams Family" where the sleuth is a mixture of Sherlock Holmes, Eloise and Harriet the Spy.  Fab!  I highly recommend them. But I am digressing.  So me cleaning and organising....this is to your advantage.  I am going to have a sort out and clear some space in the office so I am going to mark down some stencils, starting with some oriental and chinoiserie designs I think...

...Just in time for you to think about possible autumn/fall projects once the holidays are over and the kids are back at school.  I will provide a list with links so you can see the designs, some of them are faulty so I've done my best to describe any faults.  As these are non returnable, if you would like more information about any of them, please contact me.  If you would like to order anything, please email me your order and your address and I will issue you a Paypal invoice.  These are sold on a first come, first serve basis (there is only one of most listings), and are not yours until you pay for them so I cannot hold things indefinitely for you.  Postage to Europe is a flat fee of 5.00 GBP and the rest of the world 7.00 GBP regardless of the size of the order. There is no extra charge for postage in the UK.  This is for standard shipping (see the shipping info on our site).  If you want express let me know and I will advise you of the costs for your approval.

List No. 1: ORIENTAL & CHINOISERIE

• TP14 Chinatown @200% 20" x 16", was 30.00 GBP, now 8.00 GBP
• CH40 Chintz, FAULTY: broken bridge, was 73.95 GBP, now 20.00 GBP SOLD
• CH46 Small Peony Repeat, FAULTY: a few broken bridges, was 52.45 GBP, now 15.00 GBP SOLD
• DEC28 Chinoiserie DECOUPAGE, large size, 4 sheets of a single panel 14.5" x 11", was 9.95 GBP, now 4.00 GBP
• FS5 Dragon, small, in 3 pieces, was 19.45 GBP, now 5.00 GBP
• Chinese Symbols, 1 each of "Rainbow", "Good", "Earth" about 6-7" tall, were 7.95 GBP each, 5.00 for the set
• Chinese Symbols, 1 each of "Rainbow", "Wood", "Earth" about 6-7" tall, were 7.95GBP each, 5.00 for the set
• Chinese Symbols, 1 each of "Good", "Wood", "Earth" about 4-5" tall, were 5.95 each, 4.00 for the set
• Chinese Symbols, 3 stencils of "Earth"; 2 the same, but different sizes of 6" and 4", the other a different version meaning the same thing at 6", would have been 21.85 for the three, now 3.00 GBP
• CH74 Vase & Cherry Blossom, prototype OUTLINE version.  Not a silhouette as shown on the site, this is a single layer design in reverse.  Designed principally for use on glass.  This is will act as a mask. 6.00 GBP SOLD
• CH25, CH26, CH27 together, FAULTY: a couple of elements missing on each sheet.  These sheets have peony flowers and leaves on them so that you can build a peony plant to any size and shape you like.  Normally these three sheets would be nearly 200.00 GBP.  This faulty set is 75.00 GBP.  To complete the set, you can also buy CH24 which includes branches and trunks at the standard price of 21.45 GBP.
• CH17-X Small Peony Panel: FAULTY: faulty cutting in two areas, was 159.95 GBP, now 30.00 GBP SOLD 
• JA72 Bamboo: FAULTY: Leaves only, 1 broken bridge, was 44.95 GBP, now 4.00 GBP
• DR2 Cherry Blossom: FAULTY: 1 broken bridge, was 38.95 GBP, now 6.00 GBP SOLD
• CH1 Chinoiserie Panel, small, wrong size 63.5" x 23", was 159.95 GBP now 40.00 GBP SOLD
• CH32 Willow Pattern Repeat, FAULTY: slightly wrinkled, was 85.95 GBP, now 30.00 GBP SOLD
• CH3 Chinoiserie Panel, small, FAULTY: creased film, was 159.95 GBP, now 40.00 GBP SOLD
• CH14 Pavilion Panel, small, FAULTY: 1 broken bridge, was 58.95 GBP, now 20.00 GBP SOLD
• CH10 Bluebird Panel, small, FAULTY: slightly rough cutting, was 187.95 GBP, now 50.00 GBP SOLD
• CH7-L Pheasant Panel, large, FAULTY: marks on film, but no faults on cut areas, was 240.95, now 70.00 GBP SOLD
• CH11-L Peacock Panel, large, NO FAULTS, cut on thick 10mil/250 micron film, was 290.00 GBP, now 150.00 GBP SOLD
• JA74 Flower small, NO FAULTS, cut on thick 10mil/250 micron film, was 19.00 GBP, now 6.00 GBP SOLD
• MD18 Rattan, prototype with 0.5" hexagon, approx 11" x 23", there are large areas that did not cut out properly, but still large sections that did that can be masked off and easily repeated so that this design can be used all over things.  Quite useful.  10.00 GBP
• CH17 Small Peony Panel, small, FAULTY: a couple of broken bridges, was 101.95 GBP, now 20.00 GBP SOLD
• JA71 Fishing Net, FAULT: slight crease in film, was 15.95 GBP, now 5.00 GBP SOLD
• JA25 Carp, FAULT 1 torn scale, wrong size 4" x 9", was 49.95 GBP, now 7.00 GBP SOLD
• JA54 Bamboo repeat, FAULT: Slightly rough cutting, was 19.45, now 5.00 GBP SOLD
• JA45 Mokko repeat, FAULT: crease in film, was 21.45, now 5.00 GBP
• JA115 Bird & Blossom, FAULT: on cuttin one shape, was 42.45 GBP, now 9.00 GBP SOLD
• JA73 Willow, FAULT small amount of rough cutting, was 41.75 GBP, now 8.00 GBP SOLD

Rachel  

Beautiful, luxurious stencilling onto glass

I LOVE it when customers send me photos of their stencilling work (big hint!).  I was especially stunned to see photographs of a project done by a customer of ours in Seattle, USA.  I'll have to get my thesaurus out so I can come up with different ways to say fab!  So how do you go from this:

To this?:

(CH1, CH2 and CH4 panels in the large size)
Recently we wrote about how we were getting to the end of being able to provide uncut stencils.  There is a still a bit of time left, but we advised you to get your orders in soon and also had a serious sale on some uncut stencils we had in stock.  We said that in return for some work on your part (i.e. the cutting of the designs), there were some great savings to be made by ordering uncut stencils.  Our Seattle based customer decided to give it a go and ordered the large chinoiserie panels and some sale stencils, cut them out and applied them to glass using techniques she learned from "Melanie Royals' excellent virtual workshop on mirror and glass".  This was the first time she used regular stencils for reverse gilding on glass and our stencils were "just the right thickness and worked perfectly!".  "Best of all", she said, "I have these stencils to use over and over!"

(CH1 panel large)
"I used metal leaf, tamise flakes, variegated leaf, and metallic paint (Jacquard) for the leaves and some parts of the birds.  One technique that I learned from Helen's book about using gold paint for the background on dark surfaces made all the difference to the overall look - since I had to work in reverse, I sprayed gold over everything as a 'protective' layer before spraying black all over. This helped keep the delicate leaf colors to stay true to their original color."

(CH2 panel large)
Our customer is not a professional decorator.  She simply enjoys being creative and I think you will have to agree that her panels are nothing short of stunning.  Thank you for sharing!

Don't forget to check out what is left of our special offer uncut stencils.  We will issue you a Paypal invoice.  I am hoping to put together another list of special offer stencils for you soon as well so check back often.

Rachel

Letting Go

I'm feeling a little fragile. In eight days we have gone from this...

 

 to this

My husband is exhausted from removing walls, hoicking furniture, trying to fit the contents of a large shop into a small garage and put up with me bleating constantly that we can not possibly part with 'that'... it will come in handy some day.  The large items of furniture were snapped up between three customers last weekend. There wasn't time for a clearance sale. Yesterday we made several visits to the tip and then closed the door. All the stencils, paints, brushes and 'on line' items were hauled upstairs to the mail order office and rearranged onto newly prepped shelves. We intend to continue to serve our customers in person when they need it.  All our sample books will still be available for browsing. The office is not as pretty as the shop...but it's a lot warmer!  

Thank you everybody that made the time and effort to visit us over the past fifteen years, we have met some lovely people.  We intend to exhibit at more shows in the future so I hope that we will meet more of them. Moving upstairs and online was the sensible thing to do but I know that I will miss this space. Funny I never noticed the lovely light when the place was full.

 

Helen.

Reminder about clearance of uncut stencil patterns

An intrepid few readers have taken advantage of our clearance prices on uncut stencils and the equipment to cut them. To see which bargains remain visit the original blog post that lists them.

Jubilee crown and corgi stencils.

Are you having a Jubilee party?

We are and we'll be using these crown and corgi stencils to make our decorations look fab... and you can do the same.

DesignInspiration is offering readers the special price of £10.00 for the pair. The size of the stencils are 125 by 165 mm. That's 5x6.5 inches. They are a good size for stencilling bunting, making party invitations, decorating napkins, plates, aprons... There are lots of things that you could stencil them onto once you get the imagination working.  We can make them in other sizes too.

UK postage is free, overseas postage will depend on destination. Contact me or leave a comment for more information. If you want your comment to remain just between us write 'Private' and it will not be published.

These plastic stencils can be used many times and decorating with them can be a fun, family or community project.

Brushes, paints, sponges etc can be ordered from The Stencil Library.  Alternatively, tell us what you need and we will post it with your stencils. 

Helen.