I have something to share with you.

This something has me feeling excited, stressed, creative, anxious, thrilled.

This something keeps me focused, overwhelmed, engaged, up at night.

This something can’t happen soon enough. This something seems like a project without end.

This something is something that I hope will thrill you. This something is something that I hope doesn’t kill me.

Website (and blog!) redesigns. Coming soon. Fingers crossed.

 

 

Well, the writing is on the wall….and the mirror…and the chest….and the floor!  Our unique new French poetry typography stencil is showing up everywhere these days and it’s thrilling to see it used in so many creative ways. First, the wall…

Michele has a beautiful blog called Hello Lovely Inc. where she mixes lovely imagery with poetic writing. She was smitten with the Springtime in Paris stencil as she is a writer herself and has studied French. A perfect fit! She not only stenciled her bathroom wall…

…but cleverly transformed a mirror she was thinking of throwing out by stenciling directly over the front with acrylic paint.

Stenciling on mirror is always fun because the mirror will reflect your artwork (as well as your feet!), providing an interesting dimensional effect.

Note that you will need to take care cleaning a mirror like this because the paint will not bond super good to the glass. The upside to that is that you can always remove it later if you wish. Michele also has an Etsy shop where she sells lovely vintage jewerly and clever collage art interspersed with her OWN poetry.

The ever talented Miss Mustard Seed, aka Marian, also did a fabulous post this week featuring the Springtime in Paris stencil on a rehabbed vintage chest. Marian’s specialty (well, one of them) is transforming furniture that she sells in her shop in Virginia.

She used Annie Sloan Chalk Paint (of course!) to quickly change the base color from drab green to soft Cream and then stenciled the typography across the from with (appropriately) Paris Gray. I have no doubt this piece will be finding a special home soon!

And now, to the floor!  My dear friend Barb Skivington has a fabulous decorative painting and design studio in High Point, NC called Faux Works. Barb is also an Annie Sloan Chalk Paint distributor and certified national teacher for the line. You are probably seeing ASCP ALL over the blog world used on furniture but the paint can also be applied directly over concrete-to beautiful effect!

Barb mixed it up a bit by adding in other elements such as our Paris Postage Stamp and PostMark, along with quotes we have available as Modello Designs masking patterns here.

We actually did a similar treatment on one of the Marrakech Painting trips, and I absolutely love the layering of words and images for a floor application, don’t you?? Decorative typography can be so inspiring…

I hope this inspires YOU.

Continuing a theme from last week, I have a few more Stencil Wall-ternatives to share today!

Amy from Playing Sublimely  is lucky enough to have a skilled carpenter husband! Who’s NOT jealous of that?!  He created a custom built-in cabinet at the end of a hallway which Amy promptly painted with Annie Sloan Chalk Paint.

Not happy with her first try, she tried, tried again, this time opting for a more classic paint treatment and the decidedly “un”classic and ultimately COOL look of stenciling our Zebra Stripe stencil pattern on the back to show off her pretty white dishes. Check out this post also by Amy to see some more Royal Design Studio stencils used on her walls. I’m sure you’ll find her home dreamy and inspirational-especially if you like formal, classic design.

Back to the floor, here is another fun stenciled sisal rug project from Tam at Sew Dang Cute. A project like this is super fast, easy, and economical. Sometimes it’s the little details that add so much!

Royal Design Studio and Modello Designs customer Terry Leibenguth recently sent in some photos of a stenciled ceiling project that I just love!  This one features our ever lovely Allover Flourish stencil on the ceiing of a powder bath.

Check out the added bling Terry added with glitter and crystals.

Crystal embellishments to stenciling has become increasingly popular, and I think that Terry added just the right amount to accent the stencil pattern and tie it in to the lovely light fixtures.

We love to share our customer’s stencil projects. They inspire us and hopefully inspire you too! If you have a stencil project yould like to share and share alike, please send appropriate photos to .

Guess who’s going to be talking design and stencils on Design Talk Radio THIS Wednesday at 2pm EST/ 11am PST??

Did you guess?? Yes, I will be chatting about stencils and decorative painting “live” with Carrie for about an hour. If you miss it or want to tune in later while enjoying a glass of wine or coffee (you get to pick your poison!) there will be a recording available. Hope you can check it out either way!

In the fall of 2009 I began introducing Virtual Workshops as a way to teach decorative painting techniques to students around the country (and world) through web-based methods. To date, hundreds of students have enjoyed learning new techniques such as metallic foils with Foilin’ Around, Stencil Impressions, and the popular patterned finishes for mirror and glass through a series of recorded video lessons, detailed manuals and review webinars. These have been very successful in this current economy where funds have been limited for travel to participate in hands-on studio workshops. Recently, we began production of our 4th Virtual Workshop which combines our Modello Masking Pattern stencils with one of my favorite concrete resurfacing products: SkimStone. This new workshop will be available in late summer. One series of video lessons will guide students through the process of competing a beautiful floor project from start to finish. I am joined in this video series by Katrina Johnson, technical sales director for SkimStone, and her wealth of product knowledge from her ten years with this amazingly simple yet versatile product. Would you like a sneak peek? Well…..ok….and to celebrate this upcoming workshop, we are offering super pricing on our current ones for a limited time here!

 

It was a lot of work trying to do this project and film it well at the same time, but it will be SO worth it to be able to show a major project from start to finish, in addition to the basic studio lessons and Modello finishes. I think it will really take the intimidation factor out of tackling a floor project that incorporates pattern work, as I get the opportunity to show how easy it is to make adjustments with the Modello stencils. Oh, and I love my new floor! Look for more info in this new Virtual Workshop coming soon! Meanwhile, you can check out quite a few  previous SkimStone posts here.

This year’s annual IDAL (International Decorative Artisan’s League) Convention is right around the corner. It will be held in Norfolk, VA July 20-24. I have taught there now for every year for the last 17 years. I guess you could say it’s a tradition! Last year, I taught a hands-on workshop that incorporated our Modello masking patterns and Royal Design Studio stencils with plasters from the Vella Venetian plaster system. My absolute favorite finish of the five that I taught was a distressed Provence plaster finish in French red and blue colors. In case you missed it, which I KNOW you did, the step-by-step outline of my Provence Plaster finish  featured at today’s edition of Artisphere Online-with photos!

The Artisphere Online, the official publication of the International Decorative Artisan’s League, is a relatively new digital magazine that has just gone to a daily (Mon-Fri) format. Each week there will be a feature article, an IDAL Update, a blog report, a featured product, and a step-by-step tutorial, so you will want to sign up for the feed so you don’t miss anything! You don’t have to be a member to enjoy the magazine, but we would sure like to welcome you to “the family” if you’re so inclined to join!

Speaking of THIS year’s convention, I believe that there are just a couple of spots open in my hands-on class Shining Up Your Portfolio, where I will focus on metallic finishes with stencils and Modello patterns.

I will also be joined by the lovely Helen Morris, of The Stencil Library once again to reprise our lecture/demo from last year, Double Vision. I wrote about this last year, and am looking forward to working with Helen to show you all the ins and outs of the amazing stencil. Hope to see you there!

Every year for the last 3 years I have had the great fortune to lead a different group of “Peacock Painters” on an amazing journey of art, culture, and discovery to one of my favorite places in the world: Marrakech. Each trip has been unique in the projects that we have done with Maryam (of My Marrakesh) at the increasingly lovely Peacock Pavilions. On our first trip in 2008, this chic boutique hotel was still a major construction site, but we were able to stencil some amazing graphic ceilings and henna-inspired stair risers. In 2009, we returned as Maryam and her family had just moved in to the main house there-with much work still to be done. This trip featured stenciled floors, more stair risers, and a dramatic, Art Deco-inspired mural. In 2010, we inaugurated the hotel as its first guests while we stenciled a beautiful entertainment tent there. As many projects as we have done to floors, walls, ceilings, fabric and stair risers, there are still spaces that are calling for an artistic touch.

And so, I am happy to announce that in October 2011, we will return to make more magic and more memories! And the memories ARE magical. In order to prepare for planning this upcoming trip, I spent a couple of days reliving our past journeys. Each person, each group, each project lives happily in my heart. I wanted to honor that with a special video that (I hope) captures the mystique and the joy that these trips have brought to me and all who have joined me….

Would you like to join me in Marrakech as well?? You can find more trip information here, and download a pdf with all the juicy details here. Space is limited, so don’t delay, OK? See you in Morocco!!

Sea glass is the beautiful,  natural result of something “not so pretty” OR natural: littering. Glass bottles and jars that are tossed or washed into the sea get broken up and tossed about in the currents. Over time, the sharp edges of the shards of glass get worn down and the surface becomes etched by constant contact with waves, water, and sand.

Sea glass can be found in many colors, but some of the most lovely are soft shades of blue/green.

This beautiful photo of a set of doorways in Old Havana, as seen in the current issue of House Beautiful caught my eye. Not only because I LOVE historical architecture, and anything that looks distressed, crusty, rusty, faded, well-used and well-loved. The colors also reminded me of blue/green sea glass, and we have been using these colors quite a bit in our inspirational stencil pattern photos….

Our new Encantada Damask wall stencil from The Hearst Castle Collection.

Our delicate Oriental Vine allover wall stencil.

Yes, this one isn’t blue or green, but I had to include it, because the Endless Circle Lattice stencil pattern is shown in the door grillwork above, and the black and white add a certain “punch” to the page, don’t you think?

Back to blue, the Linked In modern wall stencil looks very fresh on a white wall….

…and the Large Phoebe’s Tulip Vine stencil (also from The Hearst Castle Collection) is perhaps the freshest Spring look of all! Authentic sea glass is becoming more and more rare, but you can certainly bring the soft colors into your home or decorative painting project with the right shades of paint!

WHOA! Check THIS out….this is an amazing bathroom transformation from the ever fabulous Gracie Reed, of Grace Designs Dallas.I have posted quite a bit of Gracie’s work here, as she is super talented and was also a featured artist and cover girl for our inspiration book, Modello by Design, Volume 2.

For this project, Gracie acted as the general contractor, decorator, and decorative finisher to turn this ugly duckling bathroom into a black swan. Modello masking stencil used: EasCen103. I wouldn’t normally use the word “sexy” to describe a bathroom, but I think it’s totally appropriate in this case, don’t you?

Lisa of Lisa Goulet Design, an interior decorator in Ottawa, Canada recently posted a simple and elegant stencil transformation on her blog that is too chic not to share here.

Lisa’s foyer before. Nothing horrible here, yet nothing memorable either.

Lisa used our classic and simple Moorish Trellis stencil in a creamy white over the golden beige walls. The black painted doors add so much sophistication,  and would be a brilliant idea to copy if your daring and want to add some designer dash to a neutral space.

These other views give you a good idea how the stencil design is used in a limited area, yet relates well to the surrounding spaces. Do you have a Royal Design Studio stencil transformation up your sleeve that you would like to see posted here?? If so, please share!