Design Inspiration. Planet Stencil Library.

How to stencil; a film clip from our publisher

This five minute video may help you to stencil walls and fabric with even greater success than you achieve already.  It is a film clip via Vimeo and shows me stencilling a repeating pattern with metallic paint onto silk I then demonstrate how to stencil a free form pattern of geese in flight; they fly from the curtains onto the walls. It shows a simple method of creating perspective in the mural. It was filmed by the publishers of my book Stencil It by Helen Morris. It also appears on YouTube

The book is no longer available in the UK but there are several foreign editions including an American version. Amazon.com will post to the UK; All the books have different covers and different spelling but the content and free stencils are the same in all the publications.

Most of the stencils featured in the Stencil It book are available for sale at The Stencil Library including the ones that we designed for the pages and did not make the final edit. I hope that the film clip and will help you get fabulous results when stencilling with paint and stencil brush, the book features stencilling onto other surfaces and contains tips on using stencil crayons, texture paste and spray paint along with the use of rollers and sponges. If you happen to be a UK stockist of Stencil It with some copies for sale by mail order let me know and I will put your shop details in the comment section.... I have no copies left.

Helen Morris

Stencilling on Normal Street

And where is Normal Street?  Well might you ask.  Normal Street exists in the world of "Gortimer Gibbon's Life on Normal Street" an original series made by Amazon for Amazon Prime Instant Video. 

Series 1 came out last year and a second series is being filmed now for release in November.  Kristan Andrews production designer and talented art team recently created a new set for the Normal Street Record Store using our stencils.  And this is where I get very, very excited.  The reason is that they not only chose VN7 Chain Lightning, the art deco chevron style stencil I used in my living room, but they did it in the same colours as my living room.  My living room:

The Normal Street Record Store:

My living room walls now also exist as a record store on a TV program.  How cool is that?!?  From a work standpoint, it is always great when one of our stencils is used in a professional environment and we get to see the results.  Personally, it is way beyond that.  It is proof that something I have done has inspired someone else and that tickles me no end.  Especially as my job is office based and I am not usually on the creative front line.  The stencilling was done by scenic painters Johnmichael Hall and Chris Bodine.  They applied 2 coats of Old Navy paint by Benjamin Moore in an eggshell finish for the base coat and used Pale Gold by Modern Masters for the stencilling and woodwork. 

The stencilling looks fantastic but so does the whole set.  What a stylish record store. 

I love that it looks like a living room. 

In fact, my husband is going to take one look at this and ask why our living room cannot look more like this record store.  We have a windy up gramophone and a radiogram, but the records are all hidden away.  Mmmm.  I might have inspired the set designers, but they have inspired me right back.

Look out for Gortimer.  You can watch the first series now only on Amazon.  The second with the record store, is due out in the US in November.  I am sure it will be available in the UK either at the same time or shortly afterwards.  A big thank you to the Gortimer Gibbon production and art team for sending us the photos of the finished set. 

Rachel

P.S. For a great source of vinyl records, try Jane Delawney Rare and Collectable Records.

All images courtesy of Amazon,  except my living room image by Stephen Egglestone

Pushing Daisies R.I.P.

I’m missing you already.

I don't watch much television.  I actually enjoy being in the office after it closes.  I stencil, I tend my garden on fine evenings and belong to singing and drama groups.  When doing none of these things, I am writing this blog.  So, when a TV series comes along that intrigues me enough to draw me in, I cherish it.

Such was "Pushing Daisies".  A bitter-sweet, colour soaked delight that has been cruelly whipped from my TV screen after only two series.  I eagerly follwed the fortunes of the once-dead Charlotte and Ned, the pie maker who resurrected her by …well, he could temporarily restore life to anything just by touching it.  Oh, never mind the whys and wherefores.  It’ll take too long. Trust me, it works.
Each adventure would concern bringing someone back from the dead for just one minute so that crimes could be solved and rewards collected.  Each episode would involve the baking of technicolour pies at The Pie Hole restaurant.  Imagine the aroma of three plum with a gruyere crust.

Each story would also involve Charlotte’s grieving, synchronised swimming aunts. They shared multiple personality disorders and an inordinate fondness for cheese. The tale would always include lovelorn waitress, Olive Snook who spoke faster than I could keep up with.  My personal joy was private detective Emerson Cod.  Twin blessings of the best lines and the sharpest tailoring were bestowed upon him.

Apparently the lack of blue tone used in the set and the film processing gave it the sunny, yellow look.

The episodes looked as though they should contain more saccharine than the fruit pies, but the plot lines were not always that sweet.

In the UK the "Pushing Daisies" series was sponsored by Toblerone, the triangular chocolate bar full of sticky almond nibs. On a Friday night, tradition dictated that I flop on the sofa with Chips (that's Chips my husband not a bag of fried potatoes). We would savour a large bar of Toblerone whilst losing ourselves in the world of Charlotte and Ned.

ABC in the USA are going to show three previously unaired  "Pushing Daisies" episodes starting Saturday, May 30. The final two will air June 6 and 13. For UK fans there is the DVD. I would be interested to know what others thought of this programme.  Does anyone know why it was axed?  Were Chips and I alone in liking it?  He bought series one from Amazon for us last week. Brilliant! Tonight we may watch all the episodes.  Now, where is the Toblerone?

Helen.