Special Saturday Post: Black Friday + Cyber Monday Sale

Howdy there!

Hope you're had a wonderful Thanksgiving celebration if you're here with us in the US.  If you're one of our fine customers world wide, I hope you're regularly scheduled non holiday week has been fine as well!  :)

Since we're smack dab in the middle of the busiest shopping week of the year, we're running another fabulous sale.  Now through Nov 29th, use code blackfriday2012 (all lowercase) to save 25% on all stencils.  If you spend more than $50 on your purchase, we'll also throw in our new Friends and Family Gather Here stencil absolutely free.  (Purchase must meet or exceed $50 before shipping cost.)

In other news, our E-Commerce vendor Goodsie has rolled out a new feature called Discover.  They showcase their best customers in specific categories.  It's a neat way to browse all their shops and we made the cut!  Check it out! 

We're listed under stationary, but it's cool, you could totally make stationary with stencils.  There are some really awesome looking edible treats in the Food category.  Yum!

We'll be back on schedule this week!

Feature Friday: New Custom Name and Date Stencil

Happy Friday!

Sometimes the idea for a stencil comes from purely selfish reasons.  We're not entirely altruistic here at Maison.  lol!  A while back while working on the pallet project, I realized I was going to have some leftover wood and wanted to make something for myself.  So I created a monster 24x24 pallet sign I wanted to fill a blank wall in my kitchen.  I didn't really know what to do with it though. 

I was browsing through our stencils for something to blow up that size when I started thinking about our custom name and date stencils.  They're really popular for crafters who want to make signs or pillows with the date they got married. 

There are some great options there, but I wanted something that had more of a vintage look, to go with the feel of my house.  So I designed a stencil that had a bit of a Victorian look and had it cut mega large for the 24x24 pallet.

I really love the way it came out, even if the sign is way crooked on the right side.  I thought about fixing it, but I like it imperfect.  We live in a crooked house, on a crooked street, just go with it, you know?  I'm pretty boring about reusing paint, you may have noticed.  So that red color is the same as our hearth pad for the wood burning stove, our staircase going to the second floor,  and several signs elsewhere in the house.  It's nice to have some continuity in color, I think.

Here's another photo of the kitchen.  We have a built-in breakfast nook my husband built.  That's what the sign is above.  It's one of my favorite spots in the house.  I sent a photo when it was all done to Laura and she really loved the design and insisted we make a pillow with it as well.  (I'm learning how to sew.)  So she dragged out her Viking and showed me how she makes her pillows and we used this stencil for my demo project.  The fabric is actually drop cloth from Home Depot.  Too cool!

So the pillow resides in the living room where it is most often loving sat upon by our orange cat, Moe. 

Nico, the tortiseshell, favors the other chair.  I love the way the pillow came out.  We used a 12x12 size for that and decided we want to offer it in the store.  So if you check out the custom category, you'll find this stencil there.  Like all of our custom stencils, just email us after purchase with the info you want plugged in and we'll design it for you.

That's all I've got for today, catch you next week!

Sharing Awesomeness!

Hey all,

Kitty at Heart Vintage Design just shared this story with me and I had to pass it along.  In our subway category, we have a stencil with the phrase "Whenever I get sad, I stop being sad and start being awesome."  It's a paraphrase by my personal life coach, Barney Stinson.  Okay, Barney may not be my life coach because I don't really swill bourbon or wear suits on a daily basis, but I love the idea that we can make a personal choice to be happy.  That we're not just passive people who let life come at them, but that we make our decisions which affect our well being.

I digress.  So we sell that stencil and sometimes I don't stop to think about where that stencil of ours is going and what it will become.  Heart Vintage Design produces burlap bags with the quote on them, and a mother bought one for her teenage daughter who was going through her first break up.  I know we've all been there. 

It's neat to think that Kitty made that bag which will cheer up a teenager going through a bummer day.  And we made that stencil because we just liked the quote to begin with.  And Barney Stinson, a fictional character on a TV show, uttered it, which was written by some TV writer who was in search of the next punch line. 

Neat, right?  Check out the original post by Heart Vintage Design here. 

If you'd like to take a look at the Awesome stencil and other phrasey type stencils, browse our subway category. 


Back tomorrow for our feature post!

Feature Friday: Tout Va Bien Pillow

Happy Friday!

It hailed here today.  I've got a roaring fire in the fireplace and Graham and I are watching Barefoot Contessa.  (Nice break from cartoons!)  In other words, it's all good here in Oregon.  Which reminds me of this feature I've got for you today.

How cute is this little pillow?  Courtesy of Forgetmenotdreams.

It's so sweet and simple and I love that the stenciling is done in brown.   Tout Va Bien actually means roughly, "All's going well." 

You can purchase this pillow from Forgetmenotdreams' Etsy store.  She's got great stuff, I LOVE her tags.  I just have to show you these cat hang tags.  They have nothing to do with us, they just crack me up.

I have two cats schooled in this philosophy!  :)

If you want to check out the Tout Va Bien, please browse our fabulous French category. 

Have a lovely weekend!  See you next week!

Etspiration Wednesday: Damask-us Two!

Have I ever told you about our ladybug problem?

A couple preliminary things I should mention. 

1. We live in a mint green house (so relatively light colored).  
2. Our winters can get coldish. (20s at worst.  I know Midwest, don't judge me).  
3.  Our master bedroom has what's called shiplap.  It's tongue and groove solid wood paneling.  No plaster or anything.  So as you might imagine, the wall of our master bedroom that faces out has simply the wooden siding, wood frame, and shiplap interior paneling.  

I'm not sure if this is a Pacific Northwest phenomenon, but when the weather starts to turn, we start sharing the house with WAY more occupants.  Namely, ladybugs.  They are attracted to light colored houses and scoot their way into the house from our garden and we've never figured out where exactly they get in, but they like to party in our master bedroom.

So we'll be turning in for the night, the overhead lamp will have just switched off in the way that the light slowly fades and all of a sudden we'll hear the "plink...plink....plink" of the world's cutest bug infestation banging themselves against the lamp.

Seriously?  What do you do?  We cannot in good conscious fumigate against ladybugs.  I think there's a special circle of hell reserved for people who do that. 

But this year things are going to change.  My husband put up drywall on the exterior wall over the summer in an attempt to keep them out.  It's a little too early to see if the preventative measures will help, but I'm going to dress up the wall this weekend.  It's been a completely flat cobalt blue all summer and fall and I decided I'm going to use one of our damask stencils and do an all over pattern.

I've been looking at Etsy for color inspiration and I know we've covered damask before, but I just wanted to share some of these great items I found.

1A:  Damask Vinyl Decal for Mixer Image Courtesy LilPunkinCreations
1B:  Mahogany Finished Bergere Chair Image Courtesy LaVintageFurnishings
1C:  Damask M 12x12 Stencil Image Courtesy Maisondestencils

2A:  Vintage Damask Pill Box Image Courtesy RosePetalResources
2B:  Damask Ironing Board Cover Image Courtesy PomegranatePlace
2C:  Damask G 12x18 Stencil Image Courtesy Maisondestencils
2D:  Damask Birds Painting Image Courtesy LoriaMcKee

3A:  Gray And Yellow Table Image Courtesy UniqueNotions
3B:  Damask O 12x12 Stencil Image Courtesy Maisondestencils
3C:  Damask Vegan Suede Journal Image Courtesy OxtonBooks

4A:  Damask Lace Cupcake Wrappers Image Courtesy SundayRabbit
4B:  Brown And Teal Damask Recipe Box Image Courtesy TheAdornedAbode
4C:  Personalized Wedding Cake Topper Image Courtesy ScissorMill

Thanks to the Etsy sellers, back on Friday for a sweet feature!

Feature Friday: The Teal Sideboard

Happy belated Halloween!

We had a great day.  Took my little one trick-or-treating for the first time.  Here in our part of Oregon, most kids trick or treat at shops because our neighborhoods have some really steep hills.  So I took him downtown and indulged him in some candy.  Kids love tootsie rolls, who knew?

He was a pilot!   I cheated, he already had the bomber jacket, but between working on stencils, traveling so much, and having a little one on the way, I really let my costume planning slide this year.  Next year, I'll make something awesome I swear.

In other news, I have a stunning feature for you today.

Juniper Hills Antiques in Connecticut is a terrific client of ours and they've transformed some gorgeous pieces with their chalk paint skills and our stencils.  I wanted to show you guys this teal sideboard they did.

Completely beautiful.  I love how understated the Hotel De L'Avenir stencil is.  Any darker and I think the graphic would overpower the piece, but it has the perfect degree of aging. 

I also really like that the top was left natural wood.  Great contrast. 

Here's a pic with the door open.  Some generous storage there!  As the owner of an old home (West Coast old anyway!) I often wonder, did people in Astoria not own stuff in 1919?  Where did they put it all?  We have a Craftsman, but no cool built-ins sadly and our closets were built for hobbits so storage is an eternal struggle.  Storage pieces like this that are utilitarian and beautiful are terrific.

You've got to check out Juniper Hill Antiques.  They've got a great blog, website, and facebook. 

Here's a link to the original post about this item.

That's all we have for this week.  We'll be back on Wednesday for a sweet Etspiration!