Our weekly Stencil Star™ series showcases our customer’s use of our Royal Design Studio mylar wall stencils and Modello™ masking stencils on walls, ceilings, floors, and more.  This week, we travel to Dallas, Texas to see the beautiful work of Amy Christensen and her studio, Faux Get About It.  Amy wields her considerable creative skills with stencil patterns in many of her decorative painting projects.

Amy Christensen

ABOUT FAUX GET ABOUT IT

Amy Christensen has always had creative pursuits: sewing, cooking, painting, stained glass and remodeling, to name a few.  However, after working in the advertising and marketing fields for many years, she yearned to do something more creative, in the physical sense, with both her hands and mind.  In 2000, she took this to heart and launched her professional faux finishing studio.  Today, her favorite aspect is helping client’s re-imagine their spaces through stencils and finishes with great colors, patterns and textures on furniture, ceilings, and accessories.

Above, a peeled paint and ceruse treatment by Amy incorporates our classic Ornate Italian Panel stencil. This is such an incredible finish for either furniture or cabinetry!  Range and vent hoods are also a wonderful surface to transform with a stencil! Below, Amy created a faux hammered copper for the top, wood-grained the frieze. She then created a faux marquetry look with our Napoleon Panel stencil from our Modern Masters Designer Stencils Collection.

What draws you to Stenciling?

Stenciling enables me to incorporate a design element or pattern into my finish that is crisp, concise and consistent in a way that hand-painting alone doesn’t provide.  The beauty of a stencil is that I can use it with just paint, or I can give it dimension with plaster, glass beads or even joint compound. I can further embellish it with gold leaf or foil as well as crystals and hand-painted details.  It’s an excellent tool for anyone to give an otherwise run-of-the-mill finish that extra pizazz that makes it come alive.

Using individual elements from the Allover Corsini Damask wall stencil, Amy created a metallic drop-shadow technique. She then used glass beads through the stencil to add a wonderful shimmer.  The walls received a beautiful pearl color wash prior to the stenciling for an allover shimmer.

How do you determine which pattern will work for your project?

I look at the space as a whole and envision how color, pattern and texture can enhance it as well as be combined in the same space.  When I’m allowed to do pattern building and use more than one stencil and finish in a space I  get really excited about the possibilities.

Plaster, gold leaf and bead accents are a beautiful touch with our Modello Ornamental Center OrnCen162, one of our most popular ceiling designs. Modello vinyl stencils are one-time use patterns that can be very helpful when working on ceilings or when larger size options are needed.  Below, the bedroom walls and ceiling are two-color pearlized plaster. A Modello was used for both the ceiling fan medallion and the frieze design.

What would be your “dream” stencil project?

One of my favorite chateaus is Chenonceau in the Loire valley of France.  It is filled with pattern and design on everything from elaborately handcarved wood work, to bas relief in stone, as well as  beautifully stenciled and hand-painted walls and ceilings.  No detail was left out in this castle! Even the windows are beautiful examples of pattern in both stained and leaded glass.  It would be amazing to work on reproducing many of these beautiful designs and share them with the rest of the world in the form of a mylar stencil or Modello vinyl pattern.

The barrel vault ceiling above has a custom vinyl stencil from our Modello Ornamental Panels collection with an aged gold leaf treatment.  Below:  The Large Italian Medallion Border stencil helps a cabinet panel end piece (far right) pull in the overall design along while adding decided interest.

Beautiful work, Amy and thank you for sharing!  You can see more of Amy’s artistry and projects on her website, Faux Get About It.  Keep up with her decorative projects via Facebook and Twitter.

Have you ever wondered how to stencil like a pro? Did you know that I’ve been teaching stencil classes for almost 20 years? Geesh! That’s a LOT of stenciling!! It’s been quite a few of those years since I offered beginning stencil classes, but with the resurgence of interest (THANK YOU!) in stencils lately I decided to dust off my basic stencil skills and start sharing them again in a hands-on stencil class at my studio here in San Diego.

Now, I realize the most of you reading this quite possibly DON’T live in San Diego, but on the off chance that you do or maybe lucky enough to have someone here to visit, I thought to share….We cover basic stencil techniques as well as how to stencil emboss, stenciling with glazes, stenciling on wood with stains, fabric stenciling, and more. It’s a super fun, 5hr class that will teach you all the basics and inspire you to spread your creative wings and fly-held here at the home of Royal Design Studio stencils.

Our weekly series on Stencil Stars™ showcases our customer’s use of our Royal Design Studio mylar wall stencils and Modello™ masking stencils on walls, ceilings, floors, and more.  This week, we go international to feature David Hsueh  of Bella Vista Studio. David’s company is based in Shanghai, China and he and his team showcase classic design and wonderful artistry in their application of stenciled patterns in many of their decorative painting projects.

David Hsueh

ABOUT BELLA VISTA STUDIO

In 1987, David created Buildtec International Taiwan to start a decorative materials business. The major products he worked with were monocouche renders, a French product for facade decoration from Saint Gobain Weber.  This business led him, in 2006, to lead a team for over a year that would see the completion of the faux finishing projects for both The Venetian Casino Resort and Ponte 16 Sofitel Resort in Macau.  He started his faux and decorative finishing business from there by setting up Bella Vista Studio in Shanghai in 2007, which now focuses on high-end residential projects. He combined his experience and faux finishing classes from IDAL to create his unique business model and training programs for the China market.  “I treat this business [like] a fashion business and use the restaurant model to extend it,” David explains.

Above David used the Scrollallover stencil from our Allover Modern Collection in elegant tones for a formal living room. The wood beams in the circular ceiling below were stenciled with the Nintoh Border stencil.

David imports and distributes his preferred decorative finishing lines in China, and predominantly used Faux Effects decorative finishing mediums, metallic paints from Modern Masters and stencils from our line, Royal Design Studio.

David used a highly reflective, metallic plaster called Lusterstone and the Florentine Damask stencil to create the beautiful walls above.

Elevators are a perfect surface for ornamentation!  By using our Arabesque Ceiling Stencil Set on the doors instead of a ceiling, David created an unexpected and wonderful impact. Stencils are so versatile — and just a little can go a long way, as seen below.  Using metallic gold through our Kyoto Allover from the Allover Japanese Stencil Collection helped complete the design of an entertainment center.

David explains, “To use a stencil is an easy and fast way to get perfect decorative effects”.  He determines his patterns by the design style, the size of the stencil and how attractive the pattern is.

Neutral and yet so stunning — that’s our Moroccan Geometry stencil from the Moroccan Stencil series above.  The striking blue and champagne focal wall below features our large-scale Grand Damask stencil as a dramatic feature in a hotel meeting room. The use of pattern and color here really helps to soften and define the space with style.

The bulk of David’s business comes from inspiration by a traditional standard. “My major business is hand-painted wallpaper effects. The use of stencils help us make perfect wallpaper effects in custom color and finishes, and also gives us successful results.”

A stunning focal with the Chez Sheik stencil from our Allover Moroccan Stencil Collection.

Beauty needs no translation as we can see from David’s artistry!  He is one of China’s most respected decorative artisans and it is a pleasure to see the Royal Design Studio patterns and designs brought to life in his capable hands.  As a VERY appreciative admirer of the amazing range of incredible historical Chinese ornament I feel very humbled by the use of our classically-inspired stencil designs in this pattern rich culture. I personally have never had the opportunity to visit China, but find it very interesting that while we look East for exotic and historic inspiration, they seem to crave our Western design interpretations. It really is becoming a global village-at least as far as design is concerned! I hope you’ve enjoyed seeing David Hsueh’s wonderful artistry and stencil work,and are inspired to create more of your own.  Please be sure to visit his website, Bella Vista Studio, or say hello to him on Facebook.

 

DIY stencil projects and how-to stencil tutorials  are sprouting up all over the web, which we LOVE to see. In fact, we love to see them so much we decided to create a blogging contest to encourage MORE! Our trip to the SNAP! Conference last April provided the perfect opportunity. We handed out an assortment of Royal Design Studio stencils to scores of creative bloggers and invited them to submit stencil projects for a fun and inspiring contest we are calling….

We had 9 crafty bloggers beat the deadline, and each has created a special stencil tutorial post that we have pinned to a special Stencil Star Blog Contest Pinterest Board for your viewing and voting pleasure. You can find complete details on our website, but the most imp0rtant thing is that viewer get to pick the $250 stencil shopping spree winner through the number of likes, pins, and comments and one of those “winning commenters” will be randomly chosen to win a second $250 stencil shopping spree. How fun and easy is THAT?! The voting is all done on Pinterest, but there is a nice recap in this post below…..

How to stencil wrapping paper pin from Hello, New Day blog. Catherine cleverly used repurposed packing paper and stamping inks to create this fun, colorful paper with our Hollywood Squares furniture-sized stencil.

How to stencil a toy shelf pin from Sugar Bee Crafts blog. Mandy used our Hollywood Squares furniture-sized stencil here in her guest room, so when she has company this versatile piece can accommodate luggage instead of her toddler’s toys!

How to stencil a Summer welcome sign pin from Happy Looks Good on You blog. Megan stenciled a canvas with our new Beehive allover stencil for furniture, and then dressed it up with a fanciful garland and vinyl lettering stencils. So cute!

How to stencil furniture drawers to create adorable planter boxes pin by Queen B and Me blog. Andrea rescued some dresser drawers that were set to be thrown out, decorated them with our lacy Indian Paisley wall stencil, and filled them with sweet flowers. I LOVE this upcycling idea so much!

Here is another cute planter box idea from Michelle.  How to stencil house numbers on a planter box pin from The Scrap ‘Shoppe blog. Michelle used our French Numbers Stencil on an old tote box, then filled it with burlap and flowering pots.

How to stencil Bee garden markers pin from the Danish Mama blog. This looks like a super fun project to do with your kids and is designed to teach them about planting and growing….and hopefully picking the fruits of your labor! Kathy used the sweet Bee from our The Buzz  furniture stencil.

Summer from Summer Scraps blog crafted a custom sign, which would be perfect for a house warming gift using one of the flower stencils from our Japanese Garden stencil set. You can find the How to stencil a sign pin here.

We have many stencils that are perfectly sized for small craft project, such as our For this how to stencil a frame pin Lina of Fancy Frugal Life used the Endless Moorish Circles furniture-sized stencil to frame a family photo with a fresh, colorful accent.

And finally, how about creating a custom stenciled door mat? Brittany of Pretty Handy Girl blog did just that with our popular Chez Sheik Moroccan stencil.

Please show some love and support for these fabulous ladies and their amazing stencil project. Visit our Blogging Stencil Star PinBoard on Pinterest and like, repin and comment on the projects that inspire you! If one of the project you comment on ends up being our winner, your comment on that pin enters YOU in the running to win a $250 Royal Design Studio stencil shopping spree along with the lucky blogger!!

Full details on our Snap! Stencil Star Blogging contest here.

Our weekly series on Stencil Stars™ showcases our customer’s use of our Royal Design Studio mylar wall stencils and Modello™ masking stencils on walls, ceilings, floors, and more.  This week, we feature Texas-based Cindy Howard and Dana DeBuck of Decorative & Faux Finishes, a super talented team of ladies who take the application of stenciled pattern to new heights in each and every one of their decorative painting projects.

Dana DeBuck and Cindy Howard

ABOUT DECORATIVE & FAUX FINISHES

Decorative & Faux Finishes, the decorative arts team of Cindy Howard and Dana DeBuck, has been in business since 1998.  They create custom decorative finishes and murals for homeowners, designers, businesses and contractors in the greater Houston, Texas area and beyond.  Both Dana and Cindy, along with their crew, exhibit incredible creativity and talent with a wonderful attention to detail. Today, we talk to them a bit about their wonderful attention to detail and get them to share their top stenciling tips.

Gorgeous ceiling created with our vinyl Modello Center stencil OrnCen162b.

How do you determine which pattern will work for your project?

We listen to our customers.  Our clientele represent all regions of the world and the designs chosen for each project must reflect their style, personality and culture.  Royal Design Studio has the range of artistic work and the hi-tech ability to offer endless possibilities.  If, for some reason, our job requires a stencil pattern other than the hundreds offered, we send a sketch and it becomes reality.

Pictured above is an entry foyer that was a double layer bird’s nest ceiling.  It was stenciled with a Modello Ornamental Border (OrnBor172), metallic plaster and hand-painted drop shadows.  Below, is our Modello Eastern Center stencil (EasCen107) nicely framing the light fixture with a coordinating border from our collection.

Please share your top Stenciling tip with us.

Read the directions first.  Obvious advice, but so important!  (Hint: When they say to use Gardz and burnish both sides of a Modello stencil, they mean it!)

Since we’ve been in business for 14 years, trial and error has been a constant teacher.   Also, none of us know everything in this industry.  With all the constant change in products, we should never feel too proud to ask for advice.  In return, we strive to never be too competitive and to share ideas and the “What Not To-do’s” with other decorative artists to make all our lives easier.

Inspiring ideas for unique spaces! The focal arch above had a slightly customized Modello Ornamental Panel stencil (OrnPan162) while the ceiling below has a customized border stencil turned into a perfect matched circle by our design team.

What are your favorite surfaces to work on and design for?

Okay, we’re crazy, but our favorite surface to work on is the ceiling.  Pain in the neck, measuring dilemmas, leveling challenges; but oh, so beautiful!  The fifth wall calls to us, and we answer.

Ceilings with wonderful architectural details are perfect to incorporating a pattern!  Above is our Modello Ornamental Center stencil (OrnCen170) in light colors, and below are customized borders atop a perfect metallic background.  See the completed version here.

Their work is incredible with a perfectly finished quality to it that screams “professional”!!   We so appreciate the opportunity to share their inspiring work with our stencils and products — thank you, Cindy and Dana!  The beautiful executed and photographed images shared here are just a sampling of  what this talented duo have to offer. Be sure to check out their website and Facebook fan page to keep in touch with them and regularly see more of their jaw-dropping projects.

Can’t wait for next week’s Stencil Stars?? We preview a little sampling of each weeks featured artists during Stencil Star Saturdays on our own Royal Design Studio Stencils/Modello Designs Facebook Page. Please stop by and say Hi and cheer our STARS on!