Design Inspiration. Planet Stencil Library.

Free stencil of the week

This week I am offering my 'dreams script' stencil.

It was only used once to create this room set.

There is damage to one of the O's.

 
X marks the offending spot. You would need to re align the O with a perfect one from somewhere else on the stencil.

To get my used copy of this stencil it's the usual thing... just be the first to comment on this post and be prepared to pay the postage. UK postage and packing costs four UK Pounds, Europe is seven and the rest of the world is twelve. The stencil brush and paint are not part of the give away. They are there in the picture to give scale but you can buy them if wished. Just let me know if you need accessories when I contact you for your delivery address. The gold paint is suitable for walls and fabric and the brush is the large (6) size.

Originally this stencil was made from the 'In Your Own Words' collection.  You could have your own poetry reproduced!  This range is popular for signage as well as decorative text around the home or work place.  After choosing the font style and size of the letters, you then type out what you want to say. Our web site will calculate the cost for you.

I have hung onto this stencil for years with the intention of making either a velvet carpet or a canvas floor cloth with it.   I would surround the script with stencils from the Ottoman Collection.  I know it would look fab but I have so many other things to do and no room for another floor covering right now.

Click on the image to enlarge the text.

If you can give this stencil a good home then comment now, remember there is only one!

Helen

Ps.  There is a BIG one coming soon.!!!!! Stay in touch.

Stencil Gallery Australia

I am just parcelling up last week's free stencil to go to it's new owner in Australia.  This prompted me to check in with the site of our Australian partners Nic and Helen Orr at The Stencil Gallery.

They take orders for Stencil Library stencils and we make and ship to them or their customers. Visiting their site is always a pleasure because I see photographs displaying their style of creativity using our stencils.

This is one of their interpretations of the DR2 cherry blossom that I featured recently.

and here is another.

They also design and make a collection of their own.  I particularly liked this one of theirs called kumquat.

It is available as either stencil or decal, yes they make both.  Stencil Gallery host workshops at their studio in Glebe Point Road which is only a short bus ride (number 431 if I remember correctly) from Sydney city centre.

Talking of buses, they make stencils for destination banners, I rather like these.

I would feel compelled to add some imaginary names amongst the destinations....Helen's Palace maybe?  It looks like our SS3 Elephant stencil from the Budget range on the side of the planter.

Nic has stencilled many lovely interiors for homes and business around the area.  In this picture he is stencilling MD77and MD79 from our Modern Design collection

The Stencil Gallery is open by appointment. If you are going to Sydney NSW and are a stencil (or decal) enthusiast I recommend contacting them ....again if my memory has not let me down there were some great delicatessens, coffee shops and bookstores around there. Not going to Sydney? Take a look at their site.

Helen. 

Pilates Of The Caribbean

I was there on a fitness holiday, hence the dreadful pun in the title.  I promised myself a leaner fitter version of me and went to Le Sport, St Lucia to help me find her. Chips came with me.  I could have spent my days surveying activity from a hammock, many others did.

But no, I had come here to zip through the rain forest,

climb hills

see dolphins,

(click to enlarge the image, you'll see them)

eat scones.....no that was not part of the deal, but they were the best I ever had.

The yoga and Pilates classes were great, I was shocked by how unfit and unbendy I have become.  I attempted archery, golf and tennis. I was appalling at all of them.

I tried a class in circus skills. Chips and the camera came with me. It was forty years since I last sat on a trapeze.

When I was ten, I was pretty good with one.....funny how you lose those life skills.

The warm up was pretty fierce but the rings and trapeze were quite a calming experience....

..just not a flattering one.

This was the first time I had ever tried any thing with gym rings I was thankful that most residents were tucking into breakfast and missing this spectacle.

As classes finished each evening I would visit the beach to toast the sunset.

 Some were watery,

some more punchy.

As the sun disappeared the fairy lights glowed and when all was dark fire eaters danced to steel drums.

The resort offers a daily treatment at their spa. I had the ache soothed from shocked muscles.

 

We left the resort to take bus and boat trips around the island. At the organic cocoa plantation I saw pods

and beans

... and ate the end product. Noooo that is a picture of the beans.  Our Prince Charles and Camilla visited here recently as they too are organic farmers.

I bathed in the sulphur springs that originate from the volcano. We all smelled of hard boiled eggs on the bus ride home.

I felt very grateful that I had the health and the savings to experience this holiday. It was a privilege. I met some lovely people too. On my return to England I signed up for slimming club and fitness classes so that my fortnights efforts would not be wasted.  I now need several months good sales so that I can return for yoga month in June.   Pleeeeeeease.

Chips spent most of his vacation in a hammock with several good books.   I need a holiday to recover this one.

Helen.

Free stencil of the week

Fancy a stipple? Of course you do and one of this week's give away is the one in the background to this picture of Rachel's old bathroom. The one that we are offering has stencilled something in black as you will see from the photo.

It may have been used on some window boxes but I can not remember.

Rachel used iridescent paint  when she stencilled her bathroom, it is gorgeous paint that shimmers in a lovely mother of pearl kind of way.  It has been discontinued by the manufacturer. We have a few  colours left in the shop. See the stencil and paint on a brown background.

and here on a pink one....that still manages to look brownish.

Notice how the intensity of colour varies from left to right.

Our other offering is a gothic pattern GMT43  

Again I have no idea what we stencilled with it.  It appears to be only lightly used which rules out this sisal carpet that I stencilled with the same design.  To read that project click here.

When new, the combined retail value of these stencils is £120.00.  If you would like the free, used stencils be the first person to get their comment on this blog post.  They  will be air mailed to you but you will need to pay the postage.  This pair of stencils are light so if you want to order any paints brushes or stencils from The Stencil Library I can put it in the same postal tube and save you paying another shipping charge. 

There are many other stencils like these in our Gothic Medieval and Tudor range of stencils, if you would like a new unused version of either of this weeks designs, this collection is where you will find them.

Another free stencil will be posted next week.  To know more of the 'hows' and 'whys' of the free stencils read the earlier posts on the side bar under FREE STENCILS.

When leaving a comment do not leave your postal address.  If you are to be the recipient of the stencils  will email you for postal details.

Cheers. Helen.

In Celebration of DR Cherry Blossom

It just occurred to me as I was skimming through our photo library how many different ways stencil DR2 Designer Cherry Blossom has been portrayed.  It is so versatile and I thought I would share a few of my favourite reincarnations of this design.  I stencilled the version above for Homes & Gardens magazine.  The mood board was researched by Maggie Stevenson.

The page from Creative Home USA magazine shows that DR2 is made from components of assorted branches, leaves and blossom.  How to fit them together is purely down to the imagination of the stencil user.  (I apologise for the scan quality, it was the best I could get).

The following photo shows one of the earliest room sets that we ever created at The Stencil Library.

The first picture displayed the pattern of the branches and the second showed how the leaves and blossom were applied to complete the cherry tree.  Our interpretation was literal and the photo was taken twenty years ago.

The same design was given a quite different look when Elle Deco magazine gave it a contemporary twist for their cover. Rachel and I were thrilled with it's new, sparse look and it is so quick and easy to stencil in this fashion.

Alice Whateley chose it for the cover of her lovely book. In Bloom.

DR2 appears in magazines all over the world.

Another look for the cherry blossom stencil was adopted by Rachel Morris for her dressing room at Stocksfield Hall.

She has recently painted over the room, I am excited to show you the results of the new look once I have sifted and edited the hundreds of photos.

I took the same design and added stencilled oval picture frames from our Print Room Collection.  Photocopies of friends and family can be pasted into the frames which in turn appear to be hung from the branches.

To see more images from the magazines visit our 'As seen in pages'  You may find inspiration in bundles.

Is there room for a designer cherry blossom in your home?

Closet art

I can not imagine my closets ever being clear enough to do justice to the idea of lining them with a giant photograph of a country lane.

It would be a lovely idea for my guest rooms, but those wardrobes are crammed with 'stuff' too.  This picture by Tim Walker has been on my desktop for ages.  It makes me smile.  It makes me think of clearing spaces.  But only think about.

  I have often decorated the reverse of wardrobe and cabinet doors for customers.  It is an unnecessary detail really only witnessed by the door opener, but gives a many, recurring moments of pleasure.

This picture from Easy Living Magazine (photographer Mel Yates) illustrates just what I mean.  They have used our JA45 Mokko stencil inside the closet.  It would be a shame to put the 'stuff' back.

Helen.

The Yorkshire Coast

Another of the many reasons to visit Northumberland is that Yorkshire is next to it.

This time last year my mother and I realised that we knew little of our neighbouring county so we packed the Stencil Library van with duvets, pillows and bags of fresh fruit and set off to explore the Yorkshire coast.

For much of our three days it poured with rain and the van roof leaked, in between the showers we took walks and photographs and these are some of the places that we saw.

The cliffs at Bempton, home to thousands of gannets,

Bridlington before it opened for business.

Ponies,

and donkeys.

  The walled garden at Helmsley.

Narrow twisty streets in Robin Hood's Bay

and Whitby.

It was a brilliant couple of days.  Just our cup of tea...or cocoa.

"We must to this again" I offered.  We did... last month  This time Mum treated me and we stayed at a spa. Once again we had a brilliant couple of days in Yorkshire, it still rained but this time our roof did not leak.
Helen. 

Free hydrangea stencils

The latest in our giveaway of used stencils is this pair of hydrangea flowers.

No, my coffee mug is not part of the deal, it is in the picture to give an idea of scale.

I only used the stencils to decorate the wall for this photograph so they are nearly good as new.

Regular readers will know that to get the free stencils you need to be the first commenter to post in the comment section below.  Also you will need to pay the postage.

UK is 4.00 Pounds.Postage and packing

Postage within Europe is 7.00 Pounds.

For airmail postage outside Europe 12.00 Pounds.

The intention is that you will get a fabulous bargain and possibly try stencilling for the first time and I will slowly clear a space in my storeroom.  So far it seems to work well for all concerned. I will contact the successful commenter privately to get delivery details so don't post your address.

I hope that the recipients of some of our free stencils will one day share pictures with us of their stencil projects.

The hydrangea stencils are part of our general stencil selection.  It was one of our very first designs and is rather important in the history of this company.  It was because I could not buy a giant hydrangea stencil that in a round about way Chips and I started to design and cut our own. The Stencil Library was born. That was twenty one years ago.  A range of similar botanic stencil designs can be found in the Garden Room collection.  Brushes, paint etc can be bought from our accessories pages.

So, if you fancy this pair of stencils comment now, there is only one set.

Helen.

Theresa Cheek, worth a second look

I featured some of the fabulous work of Texas artist Theresa Cheek some while ago and I think it is time that we revisited her.
 
Like me, Theresa is a Chinoiserie fan.

She has like minded clients too...just look at the rich colours in this powder room....and this ceiling.

I am so pleased that Theresa does not mind heights or else this scrumptious ceiling many never have been created.

It was designed to work with the fabric in her clients bedroom.  To see more of Theresa's artistry visit her blog, she finds all sorts of gorgeous things to share with us. To see Chinoiserie style stencils visit here.

I shared a 'moment' with Theresa the other day.  She was my first ever Skype video phone call.  It was wierd to use the web camera, I could see Theresa chatting in her beautifully decorated kitchen. I am now going to stencil some fabulous, portable screen to block out the swamp that is my office. I shall place it behind me when I am on web camera!

Helen

PS I am back from holiday now, stay tuned for more free stencils, an update on new designs and possibly a photo or two from my hols.

Emma Hack revisited

Last year, I found a newspaper in a bin in Paris. It bore a photo of living wallpaper from artist Emma Hack.

 This is the colour version of the picture that I retrieved from the bin, ironed and scanned for you....  And here's some more via the site Wallpaper Weekly.

You may have to look hard for the model that Emma has painted to blend with the wall.

I found these at Lunatica Desnuda blog 

Emma Hack is a body artist, photographer, sculptor and so much more. Visit her site to see more of the story.

Helen