I love to paint on surfaces that already have wonderful texture and a beautiful finish. Grasscloth is one of those surfaces. It’s natural, beautiful, and affordable. I cut some small squares of the cloth and using a few folk art paint colors I love, I stenciled these birds and bees stencil designs. These could be framed and made into wall art or varnished and used as coasters.
Stencil1
I am seeing so many colorful wingtip shoes for guys. Two-toned, colorful soles, color is not just for the ladies anymore! So I grabbed an old suede pair of wingtips I had, mixed some folk art blue paint with medium textile, and voila! I just painted in the separated sections! easy. Can’t wait to wear them!
Chalkboards are so trending right now, I see chalkboard projects everywhere. I wanted to do some layering effects on the board and make it useful too. Also, I am a list person and creating this board will save me paper!
Here’s how I made my To Do board:
First I took a wood art board and poked two holes in it so later I could string it with twine to hang.
I then painted the board with Chalkboard paint. I used traditional black. I painted two coats.
Once that dried I stenciled the words “to do” on the board using my Corsiva alphabet stencil.
I wanted my to do board to be fun so I used my birds on wires to add these little guys and the lines function as areas to write. I stenciled using very little white paint to make it look like chalk but not be erasable. Once that was dry, I conditioned the board with some chalk. You have to rub chalk all over the board then erase it. Otherwise, when you write on your board, it may show permanently what you wrote.
I then strung some twine to hang the board. Hung, chalk ready, and time to write my list!
Stenciling cards = fun. Stenciling wooden postcards = WAY MORE FUN! There is something so impressive about receiving a wooden postcard in the mail. Stencil some wooden cards and snail mail them to your besties.
Look at how happy these people are with their cards!
Grand Central Station plays host to Target’s Threshold Dollhouse
To celebrate the official launch of it’s Threshold collection, Target built a life-size, two-story Dollhouse in Grand Central Terminal. I attended the event, exploring each room and checking out the furnishings and accessories. The new line is completely refreshing and on trend with it’s color choices, use of pattern, and overall handmade and painterly quality to the accessories.
I first entered the kitchen and was drawn to these colorful storage jars with a chalkboard face. I love the DIY feel of them and you get to customize them to say whatever the contents are.
The space also incorporated some industrial style counter stools and cage pendant lighting which was so well balanced with the clean modern kitchen. I loved the overall feel of mixing new and (what looks) old.
As a stencil designer and pattern lover ( http://www.stencil1.com/dev/topic/stencils/patterns-stencils) , I was immediately drawn to the dining room and living room set-ups. They featured beautiful textiles, gorgeous patterns on rugs, placemats, baskets, napkins, and pillows. They took the trends and took them to the next level. Think Ikat and Chevron but exploded!
The pillows were my favorite as they layered a hand-painted feel with embroidery layered over top, again, a real hand-made quality.
Finally, I strolled over the outdoor garden area where they brought the inside outside with colorful outdoor rugs and more floral painterly pillows, amidst their cozy and tasteful outdoor furnishings.
Overall, the line has a lot to offer. Natural looking accessories, handmade feel, quality woven throws, whimsical floral textiles and all at Target prices. You can see the entire line at http://www.target.com//threshold
Spring awakens the desire for renewal and growth, a craving for color and brightness. Here are some repeat stencil patterns to help your home pop with fresh bold design!
See all our pattern stencils here and to see how to do it all, watch our how-to video on creating a repeat pattern on your wall using one stencil here.