Feature Friday: The Jonas Schroder Headboard

Check it out!

We have a wonderful new customer in R. Lucas Scott Co..  They are a fabulous Annie Sloan stockist in Michigan and they also repurpose furniture.  I have to show this headboard they came up with using our Jonas Schroder stencil.

How cool is that?!  I just love the deep, somber background color and the darker edging around the edges and that scallop-work at the top.  I have a very boring Ikea headboard, but clearly I need to get inspired by this and stencil onto something reclaimed.

Chalk Paint and stencils truly are an amazing combination.  They can transform any piece of furniture. 

R Lucas Scott has the best stuff, their furniture is divine.  Do check them out!  Here's a link to their gallery where you can see a slideshow of neat stuff they've done. 

We've never featured Jonas Schroder before, but it's one of our most popular German Feedsack designs.  We actually have 2 versions, one with a feedsack stripe, one without.  You can check out all of our German Feedsack designs here. 

Thanks to R Lucas Scott for letting us feature the headboard.

Have a wonderful weekend!

Etspiration Wednesday: Numbers

Another Wednesday upon us!

We've been adding some new stencil designs to the website, some of which are new number sets.  We get emails everyday from people asking us if we make this and that, and one of our most popular requests are for number sets.  It's literally been on our to do list forever.  So we put up a serif, san serif, and Western style number set, in addition to our very popular Old World Style number sets.  You can check them out in our Alphabet and Number category.  We also want to do a REALLY  big Ornate Western number set to compliment our REALLY big Ornate Western alphabet.  I have to show you the sign Laura made with that alphabet.  She took an entire butcherblock countertop and stenciled on it.  It's awesome.

Numbers are such a versatile addition to any craft.  They instantly lend age, suggest your item was repurposed.  They make items feel authentic.

Etsy is full of amazing numbers.  House numbers, bingo markers, I just couldn't get enough of them.  Take a look at what I found.

1A:  Antique French Wooden Lottery Numbers Image Courtesy CabArtVintage
1B:  Vintage Enamel House Number Image Courtesy ArtisanetVintage
1C:  Serif Number Set Image Courtesy Maisondestencils
1D:  Vintage French Embroidered Number Trim Ribbon Image Courtesy petitbonheur

Okay the Number trim ribbon in 1D sold in the 24 hour time span between researching and writing this post, so clearly I have good taste.  The good news is petitbonheur has more of it in stock.  Check out that shop, it's fab.

2A:  San Serif Number Set Image Courtesy Maisondestencils

2B:  Vintage French House Number Image Courtesy onemansjunque

2C:  Vintage Cash Register Flags Image Courtesy TheOldTimeJunkShop

2D:  Vintage Hotel Number Tag Image Courtesy kijsa

I think the possibilities for these cash register flags are ENDLESS.  And they're really affordable.  So if I don't go buy them all out, you go buy them and show me what awesome things you can come up with. 

3A:  Antique Letterpress Number Blocks Image Courtesy PreserveCottage

3B:  Vintage Copper or Brass 1/2 House Number Image Courtesy MiTipo

3C:  Laurel Wreath With Crown No 7 Stencil Image Courtesy Maisodestencils

I had to include my letterpress love for these awesome numbers.  PreserveCottage has some really good blocks in their store.  Also, check out MiTipo because all they do are alphabet and number listings.  Great stuff!! 

4A:  Western Number Set Image Courtesy Maisondestencils

4B:  French Enamel Flea Market Sign Image Courtesy RuffbyMargo

4C:  Giant Ceramic Number 4 Sign Image Courtesy EuropeanModern

I really love this 4 in 4C.  Do you remember that Sesame Street bit that the Pointer Sisters did about numbers?  You know, 12345, 678910, 11-12, doo doodee doo dooo?  Okay maybe it's just me that remembers it.  Anyway, I think this 4 was plucked right out of it.  It is so completely cool.

This Etspiration has been brought to you by the number 4 and the letter L.  Stay tuned, great feature for you on Friday!

Special Saturday Post: Astoria Craft Party

Well Hello Everyone!

Sorry no feature on Friday, we were having a blast over at the Astoria Craft Party.

This event was created by Etsy as a way to bring crafters together to demonstrate what they do.  So our focus wasn't really selling stencils, but showing people how to stencil.  We brought three different size bags and two different size pallet signs.  I talked about the pallet signs a few weeks ago. 

Since there's never been an event like this in Astoria, we weren't really sure what to expect.  We didn't know how many people we'd have, if they'd like our product.  We thought at worst, we'd get to hang out in an awesome venue for a few hours with some great artists.  As it turns out, stencil fans started showing up 15 minutes before the event started and we never stopped!  It was a huge success!

 

The event was held in the taproom of the Fort George Brewery, which is a popular public house and brewery here in Astoria.  It's an amazing space.  Check out this angel who hung out in the corner and oversaw things.  Laura and I were obsessed with these barrels they have everywhere.  Covetous even.  We will have one, one day! 

 

We probably had about 75 people walk away with something they made with our stencils, which is awesome.  We only had one 12x18 stencil with us, so lots of people improvised and threw together 12x12 and 6x12s on our big signs.  We were continually impressed with how creative and inventive our budding artists were. 

How cute are these little bags?  The kids loved these.  We had little Dala Horses, little moose, and a small key to stencil on there.

It's a lot of fun teaching people to stencil because there's such a great "reveal" moment when you peel back the mylar and see what the end result is.  Here's one of our young artists painting the Maison stencil onto a 6x12.  Her brother later added to it.   It was a collaborative effort!

Our Astoria subway stencil got a workout.  It looked so great on bags and signs.  We're going to add this one to the store because we had quite a few people interested in purchasing it.

I'd be remiss if I didn't talk about the other amazing artisans who were present.  We had a blacksmith who brought his mobile shop, a glass blower who made ornaments (gorgeous, no?), pinback buttons, papercraft, rag dolls, a silver stamper (we wanted one of these spoons badly and never had a chance, she was too popular), fabric dyeing, photo walks, picture frame crafting, and my most favorite shop in all of Astoria, Vintage Hardware did all kinds of repurposing crafts. 

It was a total blast.  Where else can you hang out, have some really great beer, meet crafty people, and talk about stencils?  Only in Astoria.  :)

Etspiration Wednesday: Bees Bees Bees

Around the corner from my house, we have this old church with a steeple that was converted to a residence at one point.  It's on our walk route we take the little one on, so we walk by it most every day.  We started noticing around a month ago that there's a hole in the siding with bees flying out of it.

The first time we saw it, we were thinking, "Huh, I bet they're bummed.  They've got bees in their house."  Then, being the worry wart that I am, we started monitoring the progress of the bees.  Then we realized, the bee house church was vacant.

What to do?  Let the bees exist there?  Inform no one?  Was it really even our business?  Bees need a home too, and bees are not really thriving the way they used to.

In the end, I called the police department because I couldn't really think of a better place to warn about bees.  We don't have a bee hotline here.  When I called, they literally said, "You've got bees?  Oh yah, here's two numbers."  So I guess this was not nearly as random a question as I thought.

I ended up talking to a really nice beekeeper who removes and rehomes bees for free. 

I've always liked bees.  They pollinate flowering plants.  They give us honey.  They're pretty much terrific.  And while these bees were all cozy up in their church house, they needed a new hive.

After the bee saga, I took to etsy to see what buzzworthy listings I could find.  Here's what I came up with!

1A:  Leather Journal featuring Vintage Bee Image Courtesy inblue
1B:  Vintage Guerlain Eau Imperiale Bottle Image Courtesy Villavillacolle
1C:  Beautiful Honey Bee Hive 12x18 Stencil Image Courtesy Maisondestencils
1D:  Antique Printers Block with Bees Image Courtesy Reclaimability


This bottle in 1B...wow!  It is gorgeous.  You've got to check it out.  And you know I had to throw in a printers block.  From what Reclaimability states, that printers block was from a high school.  What a cool school crest!

2A:  Bee Love Paris Pillow Cover Image Courtesy TheWatsonShop
2B:  Vintage French Honey Carton Image Courtesy candly
2C:  Bee Crown Laurel Wreath 12x12 Stencil Image Courtesy Maisondestencils
2D:  Recycled Vintage Mug with Honey Bee Image Courtesy ReCycleCeramics

ReCycleCeramics takes old mugs and china cups and sand carves small graphics on them.  The results are very clean and sweet.  Love this bee mug.  They also have really cute mugs with trees and bikes on them.

3A:  Bee Lady Letterpress Card Image Courtesy FerdinandHome
3B:  Honey of Brittany Bee Crest 12x12 Stencil Image Courtesy Maisondestencils
3C:  Blue Bees on White Fat Quarter Image Courtesy MakingStuffUp
3D:  Wooden Box for "Mad Bees" Image Courtesy BlueberryBeastie

I think that every home needs a wooden box for containing mad bees.  You never know when you'll need to threaten mad bees, and who would believe you unless you had a tasteful wooden box dedicated to such a purpose!

4A:  Pair of Bee and Skep Candles Image Courtesy SweetBeeHoney
4B:  Vintage Bon Bon Label with Bee Image Courtesy StellaTheresa
4C:  Queen Bee 12x12 Stencil Image Courtesy Maisondestencils
4D:  Natural Raw Honey from Columbia Gorge Image Courtesy Vyne

This bon bon label is stunning!  I love the art nouveau motif!  Love the color, love the gold leaf.  Perfection! 

We'll be back with a bee-autiful feature on Friday!  Stay tuned!

Feature Friday: The Opera Stands

Happy Friday!

I love this feature we have for you today.  I know I say that every week, but this is really a cool one.  One of our fabulous customers, Savvycityfarmer, has taken old opera stands and given them a new lease on life.

I regret that I have put one picture to show you!  They are painted with chalkboard paint in the insert and then stenciled with two of our stencils, Opera No 62 and Rive Gauche.

I remember the music stands we used in high school (yes, I was a band geek!) were very utilitarian and nothing like this.  Check out how ornate the feet are.  Love it!

We've talked about opera on the blog before, check out our Etspiration dedicated to it.

We've also featured Opera No 62 once before on a Friday.

Rive Gauche is a newcomer to Feature Friday, but expect good things from it,  Savvycityfarmer has done a few amazing projects with it and I want to feature them all!!

If you'd like to check out the original blog post, click here.   

You should totally check out her whole blog, she has the BEST STUFF.  She's also got web presence in two other locations at Shop The Shed and Stuff In The Burbs. 

If you'd like to check out either stencil in our store, browse our tres bien French Category.

Have a wonderful weekend!

Etspiration Wednesday: The Equestrian Style

Bonjour!

We're having a mini celebration this week for two reasons.

1:  We've discounted all our Keep Calm and British stencils in the store.   Everything in those 2 categories is 20% off in celebration of the close of the Olympic Games!  I watched a lot of the coverage and I have to say, I'm so not athletic.  LOL!  I tip my hat to those Olympic hopefuls who trained for years to get where they are.  I have just enough athletic wherewithal to walk my child on the river for half an hour a day.  In any case, celebrate the spirit of London with our Olympics sale.  They sure did a great job beautifying the East End.

2:  We've launched a new category.  It's small at the moment, but we're proud to present, Equestrian Stencils.  We're shooting for the category to be a meld of American country and French equestrian tradition.  I did some designing these past few weeks for the category and when I was done, I scoped out Etsy to see what wares I could find there that were horse related and I was pleasantly surprised.  There are so many great items, particularly lithograph tins for soaps and such.  I wanted to buy each and every one them.

 Check it out!

 

1A:  Vintage Fairmount Park Horse Racing Booklets Image Courtesy TotallyVintage

1B:  French Alphabet Le Cheval Print Image Courtesy barkdecor

1C:  French Horse Racing Program Image Courtesy wilshepherd

1D:  French Vintage Welcome Sign Image Courtesy lapomme

You simply must check out barkdecor.  Really amazing prints.   Love her color choices!

 

2A:  Horse Trader 12x18 Stencil Image Courtesy Maisondestencils

2B:  Pony Express Pillow Image Courtesy StacieAnn

2C:  Monogrammed French Horse Notecards Image Courtesy No9DowningStreet

2D:  Ethiopian Repurposed Burlap Bench Image Courtesy bDagitzFurniture

I want to mention here that StacieAnn (feat. in 2B) has awesome pillows.  My personal favorite was, "I like big books and I cannot lie."  As a former librarian, I can attest to the truth of that statement.  Someday I'll do a books Etspiration and throw that pillow in!

 

3A:  Antique Horse Remedy Tin Image Courtesy bellusvanitas
3B:  BF Equestrian Bucket Image Courtesy Bravura
3C:  Propert's Saddle Soap Tin Image Courtesy TroutsJunkShop
3D:  Hippodrome De Longchamp Stencil Image Courtesy Maisondestencils

 You've got to look at the Horse Remedy Tin (3A) close up.  The type is fantastic and that horse is skeletal and so macabre!  I love that there's a line on there that says, "Death to heaves."  Prescription bottles nowadays are so sterile and boring.  Death to hypertension!  Death to arthritis! 

4A:  Dala Horse Red Swedish Pillow Image Courtesy LilleputStudio
4B:  Scandinavian Dala Horse Stencil Image Courtesy Maisondestencils
4C:  Vintage Hippodrome Circus Poster Image Courtesy KingPaper

I adore this Dala Horse pillow in 4A.  It's so cheerful and it's even got little rams on it.  Too cute! 

Feature Friday: Pallet Signs

Hi Everyone!

Sorry no Wednesday post.  I was traveling back home.  A layover and a baby does not a blogpost make.

I wanted to share with you one of the projects we're doing for the upcoming Astoria Craft Party.

Oregon is a very eco-conscious state.  We recycle a lot, try to make do with less, and try to reuse what we can.  So when we were in the planning phase of the Craft Party, it was suggested that I use pallets as my medium for stenciling.

I'd never worked with a pallet before.  It seemed easy enough.  I was just sort of baffled.  How do you take it apart.  How do you assemble it?  So I did what any normal person would do, went to Pinterest and spent 3 hours drooling over amazing things people have made.

I found this really nice how to guide here.  Just wanted to plop that there so people don't think I'm some pallet disassembling genius.

Here's what I started with.  Slightly dusty, unloved pallets.

(Please don't judge my dirty garage!)

The deconstruction was simple.  Put your pallet on the floor, get a pry bar or a hammer and pry every board off.  For the purposes of my project, I completely disassembled pallets.  If you look at Kelly Simon's blogpost I linked above, she only disassembled one side.  Both ideas are rockin.  But I wanted to make several smaller signs, so a complete disassemble was the way to go for me.  If your pallets are like mine, they will split a bit and break at the edges.  Don't worry, it's no big thing.

So the bones of a pallet are these thicker 2x4 type brackets you see here.  In a normal pallet, they are standing up vertical.  What I did is lay two of them on the floor and they became the bracing for my sign assembly.  Same concept as cleats.  I wanted to make a 12x18 sign out of this pallet wood, so I just did the bracing 18 inches apart.

Then I started laying the wood perpendicular, two or three slats depending on width to make 12 inches.  

When I had everything laid out, I was ready to fasten the slats to the bracing.  I could have used a drill and screws for this, but we had a collated screwdriver.  This is one of those tools my husband wanted to buy where I fought him and said, "When are you ever going to use that thing again?"  We bought it when we drywalled our basement.  (You can see who won that little battle!)  In any event, it is awesome.  The screws are on a strip and you just press down and the screws go in instantly.

This is what I ended up with.  3 groupings of slats that are 12 or so inches wide.  I drew some straight lines to make them conform to 18 inches in height and then my husband went back and cut them with the circular saw.  Then he cut the signs off the bracing.

He painted one for me while I was in So Cal, and this is what we ended up with.  The paint is just leftover satin finish paint from one of our bedrooms.  I'm very flexible about what I use for base coats.  The sign's a bit rough and the boards aren't perfectly even, but that's the whole point!  So here it is with the stencil on top.  Always secured with blue painter's tape.

The stencil, if you're wondering, is all sorts of famous things in Astoria.  The Old 300 is our trolley, the George Flavel House is this fantastic Victorian (featured in The Goonies), the Peter Iredale is a shipwreck.  I digress!

I used Folk Art paint for the lettering.  12x18 signs take some time to stencil, I think this was every bit of 45 minutes.  That's one of the concerns I have for the show, so I'm bringing a bunch of 6x12 signs too.  Those go quick.

Here it is all done without the breaks filled.  Really, it looked nice just like this.

And one with the breaks filled.  I love the way this turned out.  We're also going to put this stencil on market totes.

I bought a bunch of burlap bags to bring to the Craft Party as well, and I did a little Swedish Dala Horse on one of them.  Stenciling on burlap is so forgiving.  The weave is wide and it absorbs paint really well.  Just make sure you always put some sort of flat filler in between when you're stenciling otherwise your paint might leak through to the other side of the bag.

This was a fun project.  Just for an FYI, one pallet yields 3 12x18 signs.  I have not done the math on how many 6x12s it will yield.

We have a few AMAZING features in the upcoming weeks, stay tuned because you are going to be blown away.

We also have some very fancy news to share with you as well, but we want to have all our ducks in a row before we do so.

I'll be back on Wednesday as regularly scheduled.  Have a great weekend!

Feature Friday: The Opera Chair

Happy Friday everyone.  I'm hanging out in Southern California this week!  Laura and I have been working non stop to get orders out, brainstorm, and generally have a ball.  I wanted to share a photo a great new customer sent in.  Helen Manriquez, who runs an Etsy shop called Scotty's Cottage, took our Opera feedsack stencil and applied it to a leather chair back. 

How cool is that?  I love the color!  I also think the stripe down the middle of the seat is a great addition. 

Helen's sent us another great project that we'll be featuring in the coming weeks.  We love seeing your work, please send us your pictures of projects made with stencils.

You can check out Helen's Etsy shop right here.  You may even spy the next item of hers we're going to feature! :)

Have a wonderful weekend, I know we will!

Etspiration Wednesday: Halloween In August?

It's totally a thing right?  Well, if Halloween in August isn't a tradition just yet, I'm making it so.  We just started feeling so sorry for Halloween after all this focus on Christmas the past few weeks.  It really is one of our favorite holidays. 

Around these parts, kids don't trick or treat to houses.  (Our neighborhoods are very, very hilly).  They go trick or treat in our downtown area and all the shops decorate and pass out candy.  It's quite fun. 


It's a great tradition, but a little of the emphasis on sprucing up the home for Halloween is lost here because no one is coming around to see it.  This year, I'm just going to decorate anyway.  :)  I'm sure my toddler and two lovely cats won't do anything to disturb the decorations.

In any case, Etsy is a goldmine for Halloween.  Whether you're looking to tap into the primitive tradition or Victorian style Halloween art, there are tricks and treats for everyone.  Check it out!

1A:  Candy Corn Halloween Tote Image Courtesy CreativeJenV
1B:  Boo Halloween Cupcake Toppers Image Courtesy SongbirdGreetings
1C:  Black Hat Society Witch Stencil Image Courtesy Maisondestencils
1D:  Spiderweb Pillow Cover Image Courtesy BubbleGumDish

This spiderweb pillow cover is just the coolest.  I've developed a different relationship with spiders since moving to Oregon.  I don't love them, but I don't flee in terror anymore when I see them.  (Though my husband may disagree).  The fall brings them out in droves, it's bananas.  You'll drive down the street and there will be webs spun between power lines like fine netting.  That's a little much, I don't need my house enveloped in spiderweb, I think this fabulous pillow is just enough!

2A:  Victorian Inspired Haunted Banner Image Courtesy FavorMeDesigns
2B:  Vintage Samantha Good Luck Kitchen Witch Image Courtesy Bittersweets13
2C:  Grey Ghost Cushion Image Courtesy Needleandi
2D:  Le Chat Noir 5.5x11.5 Stencil Image Courtesy Maisondestencils

You've got to take a look at Samantha, the Kitchen Witch in 2B.  I learn something every week when I compile these Etspirations.  This week it was the felicitous kitchen witch who caught my eye.  They are a sort of good luck figure for your kitchen, to ward off bad spirits and the like.  She also doubles as a utensil holder!  Hooray for multitasking.

3A:  Vintage Halloween Cooky Cutters Image Courtesy LexisMonkey
3B:  Vintage Halloween Sign with Black Cat Image Courtesy SweetMeas
3C:  Matroyshka Nesting Doll Pumpkin Tote Image Courtesy dozydoatstotes
3D:  Autumn Blessings 5.5x11.5 Stencil Image Courtesy Maisondestencils

Okay you may be thinking that strictly speaking, the matroyshka tote is not Halloween related, but it came up in an Etsy search for pumpkin.  I happen to absolutely love it, so I'm including it! 

4A:  Chat Noir Ceramic Pendant Image Courtesy JasminBlancBoutique
4B:  Boo Stencil Image Courtesy Maisondestencils
4C:  Primitive Witch Ouija Board Image Courtesy TheHomespunRaven
4D:  Gypsy Witch Fortune Telling Cards Image Courtesy BonneyhillShop

This little ceramic chat noir is just darling.  JasminBlancBoutique has it in several different color options, but I like black the best. 

Thanks to all our spooky Etsy sellers for letting us feature their images.  We'll be back on Friday!