Stylish Stencils

Stenciling has been around literally since the cavemen. But these days stencils have moved beyond the caveman and Grandma's kitchen into the modern day. There are so many great sources for uber cool pattern repeats and just about every style you can imagine. When cost is an issue, I like to cut my own stencils. It's pretty easy to do, you just need a pattern and a good sharp exacto knife, plus the acetate sheet. I usually buy the blanks, they come three 8x10 sheets to a pack and I tape them together to get a nice big surface area to work with. Following, I'll show you examples of some of the stenciling I did around my own home, using stencil patterns I cut myself.

I stenciled this 'runner' on the concrete floor in my bathroom.

I stenciled this floorcloth in my living room.

I stenciled the fabric on the small settee.

I stenciled the pattern on the roman shade and the storage boxes.

And this stenciled pattern in the garden helps bring focus to a back wall. If you look closely, you'll notice the stencil used for the 'runner,' the roman shade and this outdoor wall are one and the same. You can achieve a lot of different looks with just one stencil.

 I'll stop there, but I could go on and on...! As you can see, stenciling lends itself to a wide variety of surfaces and applications. Whether it's floral, architectural, graphic, or whimsical, there is a stencil option for you! I strongly recommend you try it! Here are some great sources for pre-cut stencils:
http://www.stencil-library.com/
http://www.stencilease.com/
http://www.istencils.com/
If you have any questions, shoot me a comment and I'll get back to you.
And here is my latest style file segment which I talk about....what else? Stenciling!

Textiles and Technology

I was recently complimented on the header here on the home page, and asked how I did it.  Well, I'm sure many people out there have done this too: I scanned a beloved piece of threadbare fabric I've had for years. It originally looked like this

It is one of my very favorite motifs, and in any graphics program you can tweak the color scheme to whatever combination you can imagine.  For the header, I did a grey on grey scheme, but bright colors would be awesome too!

Can't you just see this on a Louis XVI chair?

Super feminine boudoir

Sweet in a baby's room

Super Mid Century

Classic Black and White

Multi Cultural Color

 As you can see, the possibilities are endless!  This is but one example of a scanned fabric....I have done dozens of patterns over the years.  Find one you love and change it up with scaling the pattern bigger or smaller and swapping colors.  You'll love the results.  Happy Scanning!

Edit: If you're reading this now, you probably noticed the header has changed. I like to switch things up every once in a while!