Feature Friday: Annie Sloan Chalk Paint Books

Technically it's Saturday, but it's been that kind of week.  :)

I just had to share with you guys, the lovely ladies at Annie Sloan Unfolded are using our stencils. 

Their most recent post highlights how you can use stencils and Annie Sloan products to create amazing antiqued books that look like they time traveled from the days of Gutenberg.  Gorgeous stuff. 

Debbie Dion Hayes did these books and I must say, they are stunning!

Also I learned from this blog post that Annie Sloan is making fabric now.  Like I needed another amazing product to spend $$ on!

So the process here is that you get a book, Goodwill would be a treasure trove for this.

Paint the book with Annie Sloan Graphite (2 coats), let dry.

Stencil with Annie Sloan Old White.  As far as I can tell, the stencils used here are Ave Des Champs Elysees SKU 551 - Chateau Gothic SKU 705 - Marche Aux Puces SKU 641.

Wax with Clear Soft Wax and Buff, Wax with Dark Soft Wax and Buff.

Dip a finger with Silver Gilding Cream and run along book edges.

I think the Gilding Cream is really what takes it to the next level.  These just look amazing.

Also, if you're considering becoming an Annie Sloan stockist, you get to use our stencils in your training class.  How cool is that?! 

All the stencils used in this project can be found in our French category. 

If you want to check out the original post, look no further than Annie Sloan Unfolded. 

Have a lovely weekend.  It's grey here, but not currently raining and we're supposed to have a 48 hour stretch of no rain.  Thus begins the eternal dilemma for Coastal Oregonians, do I paint or not paint?  The winter here is rough on a house, I repaint our porch and sills every spring. 

My little boy has been standing at the window and staring this morning so maybe we'll just go for a walk!  :)

Feature Friday: The Red Piano Bench

Well Readers, it has been a goodly long while since posting.

Our holiday season was jamming, we've run a few great sales, and my NYR (It's only Feb right, still counts) is to blog more.

Hope you had wonderful holidays and your NYR is to stencil more because I have an awesome inspiration post for you!

One of our favorite clients, LittleMissMaggie, took a dinged up flea market find piano bench, and gave it a swell French look.

How great is that color?  I love deep, true reds.  This is the same color as our front door and it makes me happy every time I see it.  It's just cheerful and bold! 

She used our ever popular Hotel De L'Avenir stencil for the center.  We offer this in a 12x12 and 12x18.  For paint choice, she used Rustoleum Colonial Red for the base and then a Miniwax Jacobean stain on top.  Gives a wonderful aged look.  The stenciling is done in off white acrylic.

And then, get this, she masked off the stripes.  I know that doesn't seem like a big deal, but I am so, so bad at stuff like that.  If you too are bad at you know, painting straight lines, we offer a feedsack stripe stencil for just this purpose!  But props to Maggie for doing it freehand.

Check out the original post here. 
And here's a link to her entire blog, it's full of great stuff! 

If you want to check out Hotel De L'Avenir, look no further than our French Category. 
If you're interested in the stripe stencil, take a gander at our Feedsack Category. 

Going to try, try, try to be more regular with our feature posts.  We've had so many awesome folks share projects that I've got a whole year's worth of content just waiting for me. 

Catch you next week!

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!

Feature Friday: The Burlap Wreath

I've got a wonderfully different feature for you today!

Kathy from Cottage Dreams has created a wreath made of burlap and adorned the center of it with one of our stencils!

Isn't it gorgeous?  Perfect for Autumn, I get such a homey, fall feeling from it.

The backing for the wreath is actually a clock face that didn't work, so I imagine you could use just about any round board/thing, since it's just getting covered in burlap.

Great tip though, she gave the clock face a quick coat of white paint just to ensure nothing could be seen through the weave of the burlap.

After that, she stapled the burlap to the back of the clock face.

From there on, she simply used the center portion of our Le BonBon Reve stencil.  Sneaky tip, we also sell the center portion of this stencil as a 12x12 on its own.  It's called "Paris Laurel Wreath with Crown."  I know, we're so inventive with our names. 

For the actual looping of the burlap, Kathy gave a link to a great tutorial from a blog called Top This, Top That. 

The flower embellishments are from Michaels.

If you'd like to check out the original post on Cottage Dreams, click no further. 

You should most definitely check out Cottage Dreams in general, it's a beautiful blog and if you spy with your eagle eye, you'll see a stencil of ours in her banner!  :)

If you'd like to check out Le BonBon Reve or the aptly named Paris Laurel Wreath with Crown, check out our French category.  It's gigantic and wonderful. 

Thanks to Kathy at Cottage Dreams for letting us feature this wonderful wreath.

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: The Chateau de Cheverny Doors

I love this feature!  One of our favorite bloggers, Maple and Magnolia, took our wonderful oval Chateau de Cheverny stencil and applied it to some worn cupboard doors.  These were made for resale, you can check them out at Tattered Tiques.

I regret that I only have this one picture to show you because they are awesome.  I love the dark blue paint used!

This is a double feature really because Maple and Magnolia used the stencil on two different media.   As you can see in the foreground, she also applied the stencil to stretch canvas in two different colors.  What a great idea! 

We featured the oval Chateau de Cheverny stencil once in the past for that lovely feedsack stripe table.

Check out Maple and Magnolia's blog, she has so many wonderful projects. 

For instance, this paint chip calendar is too cute and I have made it my mission to go to Home Depot and acquire supplies today.

In other news:  You may have heard that we're running a sale!  Right now through July 30th, you can save 20% on anything in our store.  Just use promo code july2012 when checking out to receive the discount. 

Thanks to Maple and Magnolia and have a radical weekend!

Etspiration Wednesday: Grains and Mills

First things first:  We had a little flub with our coupon promo code, but it's fixed now.  Use code july2012 on our website for 20% off your purchase, now through July 30th!


Our friend the mill.  Without mills, we wouldn't have grain.  Well we would, we'd just get it much, much slower.  Without grain, we wouldn't have grainsacks.  And where oh where would we be design-wise without grainsacks??   I can't bear to even think about it.

Compiling an estpiration based around anything to do with mills or grains is treacherous because the market is so, so saturated now.  Also, typing in moulin (that's French for mill, dontcha know) automatically gives you a bunch of results for Moulin Rouge and while I love the cabaret as much as the next person, that's not what we're aiming for here.  So I did a bit of creative etsy crawling to get some interesting stuff here.  Getting back to the heart of mills and grainsacks and I found some great stuff.  Check it out!

1A:  Authentic Windmill Vane Image Courtesy DancingBumblebeeCottage
1B:  Moulins De Provence Stencil Image Courtesy Maisondestencils
1C:  Rooster Windmill Weight Image Courtesy AtHomeInNapa

So that is a real Windmill Vane.  89 inches long!!  Complete with bullet holes! (hopefully a result of target practice.)  I absolutely love the faded type.  Just perfect.

2A:  Antique Green And Red Hemp Grainsack Image Courtesy AVintageObsession
2B:  French Grain Feedsack 12x24 Stencil Image Courtesy Maisondestencils
2C:  Elton's Stone Ground Tin Image Courtesy BluefieldVintage
2D:  Windmill Red And White Woven Ribbon Image Courtesy MarieLampette

I think this windmill ribbon is just darling.  MarieLampette has tons of great ribbon in her shop, including this adorable woodland ribbon I have to scoop up for my son's nursery.  You did see the growth chart Laura and I made for the nursery, right?

3A:  Ochre And White Grainsack Fabric Image Courtesy AlorasAdorables
3B:  Moulins De Bouvet Stencil Image Courtesy Maisondestencils
3C:  Primitive Wood and Galvanized Grain Scoop Image Courtesy PoppyHillFarm
3D:  Antique French Farm Printers Blocks Image Courtesy PushingButtons1

I have a printers block obsession.  One day I will have a letterpress.  I hope.  If my husband gives in.  But until then, I can dream and comb etsy for these amazing treasures.

4A:  Vintage French Farine Box Image Courtesy CatsInTheCradleSoap
4B:  Ets. C Bailly 2 Stencil Image Courtesy Maisondestencils
4C:  Bull Windmill Weight Image Courtesy KansasWheatField
4D:  Vintage French Mangle Cloth Image Courtesy AniseSprout

You absolutely need to check out a larger view of the flour box in 4A.  The type is just stellar!

Thanks to all our etsy sellers for use of their images.
We've got a great feature for you this Friday.

Don't forget about Etsy Craft Party 2012!  Astoria's is going to be amazing.  We've got a glassblower, a blacksmith, fiber arts, papercraft, kid crafts.  We're pretty much the least interesting thing there and we're fabulous!  So that's telling you something.

Etspiration Wednesday: Christmas In July

Christmas comes early for crafters.  And if you're in the business of supplying crafters, like we are, we have to be even more prepared.  Well we're totally not, we're one half crazed artist and one half type A lady with a baby split apart by 1,000 miles.

But we're in the progress of growing and getting more organized and historically, one of our busiest holidays is Christmas.  So I sat down the other day and designed some new stencils for the most wonderful time of the year.  I took a spin around Etsy and I literally had 12 amazing products inside of 10 minutes.  Not surprising, eh?  And I could have done 10 each of every type of thing I selected, but I tried to vary it.

So here's a look at some Christmas in July items on Etsy.  Enjoy and Joyeux Noel!

1A:  Silver Believe Banner Image Courtesy AnyOccasionBanners
1B:  Christmas Subway Art Stencil Image Courtesy Maisondestencils
1C:  Le Pere Noel Ornament Image Courtesy ALaceAffair

I just love this Le Pere Noel Ornament in 1C.  Vintage newspaper lends such a great, antiqued look to anything, even something we typically associate with glass or ceramic, like ornaments.

2A:  Toys Wooden Christmas Sign Image Courtesy TheSquareNail
2B:  Joyeux Noel With Scrolls Stencil Image Courtesy Maisondestencils
2C:  White And Red Wooden Heart Scandinavian Decoration Image Courtesy ArtAngel

I had to include this Scandinavian decoration in 2C because it speaks to my heritage.   Christmas culture is so wonderful in Scandinavia.  From St. Lucia in Sweden to Finland's claim as Santa's home, it's really unique and very different from the sort of Coca-Cola Santa traditions we have here in the US.

3A:  Handpainted Christmas Wrapping Paper Image Courtesy OscarAndOllie
3B:  Elf Christmas Stocking Image Courtesy habitationBoheme
3C:  French Christmas Subway Art Stencil Image Courtesy Maisondestencils
3D:  Christmas Card Retro Bicycle Image Courtesy anistaDesigns

These Elf Christmas Stockings in 3B are too cool.  The coffee and tea shop around the corner from me gives away their burlap bags and I am always tempted to take them, but I am painfully ashamed to admit I can't sew.  So props to habitationBoheme, these are super neat.

4A:  Wintry White Pinecone Wreath Image Courtesy EcoChicNYC
4B:  Partridge In A Pear Tree Pillow Image Courtesy ElsaBeta
4C:  Joyeux Noel No 25 Stencil Image Courtesy Maisondestencils

I love this Partridge pillow!  I want a whole set of the 12 Days of Christmas pillows strewn about my living room for Christmas this year!

5A:  French Christmas Santa Gift Tags Image Courtesy TheNestinSLT
5B:  Red Reindeer Christmas Pillow Image Courtesy TheStudio202
5C:  Pere Noel Stencil Image Courtesy Maisondestencils

Love love love this Reindeer Christmas pillow.  I cannot get enough of red and white as a color combo.  It's so crisp and graphic.  I also think this is such a fun pattern.

As always, we've got a snazzy feature lined up for Friday.  Until then, Merry Julymas!

Feature Friday: The Hotel De Lavenir Garden Table

We've got a lovely feature today for the garden.

Lyn Molony of Martha's Attic has taken a nice wrought iron table and added one of our most popular stencils to the top.  She sent me an email describing her work process and I just had to add this quote from her.  "I bring vintage and unloved furniture back to life and enjoy every minute of it."  That could be the byline for our blog!  We couldn't agree more, Lyn!

Lyn uses Annie Sloan chalk paint to rehab her vintage pieces and that's what gives this garden table such a wonderful, aged look.  I don't have the specific paint colors used but I bet that's Annie Sloan Graphite for the stencil itself.

The stencil used is Hotel De L'Avenir, which we've showcased on Feature Friday several times.  It was the stencil used on our Thonet Chair feature, The Schoolhouse Cabinet feature, and The French Book Cart feature. 

If you'd like to check out the Hotel De L'Avenir stencil in our shop, click here.  There's a square version and a longer rectangular version, so it's adaptable for whatever you're working on.

I can just see myself sitting here having a cup of tea out on the green, as long as the fickle English weather cooperates!


Lyn has a facebook page you can like and she also tweets @marthasattic.

Busy weekend full of website design before I am off for a mini vacation.  Hope you all have a good one!

Etspiration Wednesday: All We Do Is Wine!

Bonjour!

Well things have been very busy around the Maison de Stencils shops lately.  We're in the midst of moving, designing, crafting, you name it.  This past week I worked on a few new stencils for our Subway Art section, including two new wine stencils.  I've been having a lot of fun learning about wine regions in the process.  It's totally fascinating for a wine novice like myself.  I'm more of a beer snob, so maybe one day I'll do a German beer region stencil.  Or a Portland Beer Stencil!  We're beer crazy around these parts.  I digress.  All this talk of wine got me thinking:  Let's do a tour of Etsy's wine related stuff!  I was pleasantly surprised!

1A:  Vintage French Alchoholimeter Sign Image Courtesy VintageDetailz
1B:  French Wine Region Stencil Image Courtesy Maisondestencils
1C:  Cotton Wine Bottle Tea Towel Image Courtesy OpenEyesPress
1D:  Wine Inspired Lavender Sachets Image Courtesy MilkAndHoneyLuxuries

I love the Alchoholimeter sign!  Really anything with weird and funky looking machinery, I like.  This almost has a vintage steampunky look to it. 

2A:  Hemingway Wine Tea Towel Image Courtesy Beagletique
2B:  French Vintage Tastevin Image Courtesy LeMoulinBleu
2C:  Italian Wine and Cheese Stencil Image Courtesy Maisondestencils
2D:  Horizontal Walnut Riddling Rack Image Courtesy RChristopherDesigns

Another thing I learned about this week are tastevins.  Tastevins are these special little bowls that wine afficionados spit their extra wine out when sampling.  Isn't that fancy?  A little wasteful, but fancy!  When actors have to eat on set for a take, they just spit their extra food into a bucket.  Wine tasters get extra beautiful silver dishware.  I ate my lunch today on melmac.  (hardboiled eggs and a Baby Bel) Classiness level: Alf.

3A:  Chianti Stencil Image Courtesy Maisondestencils
3B:  Recycled Pallet Wine Rack Image Courtesy PalletCreations
3C:  Rustic Italian Coasters Image Courtesy CoastersDiFresco

I am pallet obsessed.  I literally have a pinboard on Pinterest named Pallet Obsessed.  If I can get my act together, I have a pallet feature for the blog in a few weeks.  So check out 3B, a wine rack made out of pallets.  I am such a fan of reusing pallets because it saves a tree, which is a cause near and dear to my heart.

4A:  Vintage Italian Red Wine Sign Image Courtesy LaSartoria
4B:  French Wine Crate Bike Basket Image Courtesy cadeauxcatherine
4C:  Italian Wine Region Stencil Image Courtesy Maisondestencils
4D:  Vintage French Enamel Wine Sign Image MaisondelaRue

You should really check out LaSartoria.  She has the most beautiful vintage Italian stuff in her shop.  It reminds me of my Grandma Anne.  My sister and I had two grandmothers.  (I know, that's how it usually works.)  Grandma Mae was my Mom's Mom and she was the typical homemaker grandma.  She baked cakes, let us brush her hair, played checkers with us.  Grandma Anne was my Dad's Mom and she was the kind of Grandma where her house looked like a museum and you knew you could not touch anything.  Know what I mean?  She passed away when I was quite young and I didn't really ever get to know her, but she had the most amazing taste.  I have quite a few of her art books now and on the main floor of our home, I think every piece of art came from her house.  She traveled through Europe and brought so many things back home with her.  Every time I pass by those paintings, I think of her, carrying these paintings through Italy and Croatia.  I wish I could talk to her now that I'm an adult.  And have a glass of wine!

We've got a lovely feature for Friday from across the pond!  Until then, Cheerio!

Feature Friday: The Patisserie Table Runner

Hi all!

What a lovely feature I have for you today.  One of our best customers, Heidi Devlin, has created a table runner featuring our popular Patisserie design. 

 

She uses 8 feet of this wonderful aged looking canvas fabric and sews each end of the table runner into points for a more sophisticated feel.  

Here's a nice closeup of the Patisserie image.  Heidi has purchased many of our stencils over the years and she can make this table runner in quite a few different options.  But what's better than having a Patisserie in your own kitchen?

I also want to point out how nice her packaging is!  This is so very important if you are taking your business to the next level.  In my experience, customers who spend the money on handcrafted goods like the ones created with Maisondestencils have come to expect really nice packaging like this.  So props Heidi! 

Heidi has a great Etsy store you can check out. 

She also has a nice blog which you can read here.

If you're interested in the Patisserie stencil used for this table runner, here's a link to its home in the Maisondestencils store.

Patisserie has made another appearance on Feature Friday in the past.  If you'd like to check out its past iteration as a cushion, look no further. 

Have a great weekend!

Feature Friday: Green Mountain BoHo Tea Towels

Happy Friday! We've got another splendid feature from Cindy at Green Mountain BoHo! She's been making tea towels with some of our most popular designs. Check them out!

 Among the 9 million resolutions I made this New Year's, one of them was to create less paper waste.  So I am a towel fanatic and a firm believer in the fact that you can never have too many kitchen towels.  Also, I have a baby.  In other words, constant mess!  These are perfect. 

 

Here's two more she did.  One is Lucas Moller, who is a frequent flyer here on Maisondestencils.  The other is Chateau Chambord, which has not yet been featured on the blog.  Aren't these pretty?  I'd almost feel bad mopping up something with them!

 

Cindy has an Etsy store you can check out here where all these tea towels are available for sale.  She also has a facebook page you can check out.

If you'd like to check out the stencils used, click the following links:

Paris No 13
Bee with Laurel Wreath
Chateau de Cheverny
Lucas Moller
Chateau de Chambord

Our thanks to Cindy at Green Mountain Boho for use of her images.  If you'd like to have an item you created with Maisondestencils' stencil featured on our website, drop me a line here.  I'd love to feature you!

Be sure and check back tomorrow, we have a big news post rolling out with some exciting new features!

Etspiration Wednesday: Chalk Paint

I can't believe we've had this blog for three months and haven't done an Etspiration about Chalk Paint.  Now I know 99% of you just nodded your head in agreement.  For the 1% of you who asked, "What is Chalk Paint?"  I will briefly explain that Chalk Paint is goodness in a can.  You can check out the official website here, but the short version is that it's a specially formulated paint which you can thin with water to use as a wash or thicken to apply as an impasto.  It is remarkably flexible and lends itself especially well to mimicking the look of aged items.  It gives paint the perfect patina.  So that drab oak table you found at a garage sale can end up looking like it was sitting in some Paris apartment holding a classy Mademoiselle's teacup.

A few of our Feature Friday items have been crafted using Chalk Paint, including The Schoolhouse Cabinet and The Feedsack Stripe Table.  We're always on the lookout for other great features.  If you'd ever like your stencil project showcased on the blog, just drop us an email.

Here's a small sampling of some great items on Etsy that are finished using Chalk Paint.

1A:  Victorian Pedestal Rocker Image Courtesy JunkDrawerDivas
1B:  Farmhouse Country Cottage Pantry Server Image Courtesy StiltskinStudios
1C:  Duck Egg Blue Pedestal Cloche Image Courtesy ShabbyDecor
1D:  Nest With Graphic Stencil Image Courtesy Maisondestencils

The Pantry Server in 1B is really terrific.  You've got to visit the Etsy page for a better look.  My tiny picture does not do it justice. 

2A:  Peacock Stencil Image Courtesy Maisondestencils
2B:  French Provincial Drum Table Image Courtesy Seases
2C:  Instant Wall Collection Turquoise Image Courtesy LoriAndTheLittleBird
2D: Hand Painted Yellow Mirror Image Courtesy SummerWindInteriors

That yellow mirror is truly stunning.  SummerWindInteriors also has it in aqua, which I love.  One of my favorite colors.

3A:  Antiques Stencil Image Courtesy Maisondestencils
3B:  Cottage Chic Roll Top Desk Image Courtesy ArtByJuliet
3C:  Yellow  Curved Leg Foot Stool Image Courtesy cabinintheheartland
3D:  Aqua and Yellow Cane Jewelry Chest Image Courtesy MagiaMia

I love the idea of a roll top desk.  I've got an iMac, so I'm sadly constrained to having a computer armoire due to space requirements.  I love that both the roll top and armoire concepts allow you shut away computer mess.  This roll top desk is something special though.  Check out how ArtByJuliet echoed the diamond shape from the shelf bracket in the stencil pattern on the sides.  It's a work of art.

4A:  Primitive Wooden Kitchen Shelf Image Courtesy Sienaslew
4B:  Decorative Shabby Floral Box Image Courtesy GroveRoots
4C:  Handpainted Corbel Shaped Sconces Image Courtesy DaphsSmallWorld
4D:  Bed & Breakfast Stencil Image Courtesy Maisondestencils

These sconces (4C) are just too great.  I can see them holding candles or very small sculpture in a room with classical details.

Thanks to our Chalkrific Etsy sellers for use of their images.  See you on Friday for a fabulous stencil feature!

Etspiration Wednesday: Our Friend The Chicken.

The noble chicken.  Always delicious, always a mainstay of home decor.  Chickens were king through the primitive craze.  They dominate in farmhouse kitchens.  They even have a sizable place in French Country decor.  Why do we love them so much?  They aren't smart.  They're kind of dirty.  (Really, they take dirt baths.)  They aren't that cute.  Have you ever really looked at a chicken's face up close?  Yikes! 

I think the reason chickens are so prevalent in decor is because they are ingrained in our culture.  Hear me out as I go all art history on you.  Chickens are far and away the most ubiquitous farm animal.  In a simpler time when subsistence farming was a way of life, having chickens was almost essential.  So packaging and dry goods and all sorts of printed matter reflected this... chickeny existence.  Egg carton, put a chicken on it.  Grainsack, put a chicken on it.  Fruit labels, put roosters on them.  (Sometimes the correlations aren't even clear!) 

Now modern design trends look and borrow heavily from these past traditions.  Where does that leave us?  With chickens.  Chickens on pillows.  Chickens on tote bags.  Roosters on coffee bags.   

For what it's worth, I love them.  We eat a lot of eggs here at the Maison and I'm sure my husband is sick of me asking him to build a chicken coop.  One day!  So in praise of our feathered friends, here's a chicken tour of Etsy.

1A:  Bantam Rooster Pillow Image Courtesy PluckyKid
1B:  Wooden Chicken Wire Cabinet Image Courtesy MozTreasures
1C:  Vintage Rustic Egg Basket Image Courtesy UptownVintage
1D:  Ets. C. Bailly 2 Stencil Image Courtesy Maisondestencils

I think the possibilities for that Chicken Wire Cabinet are endless in a kitchen.  Pie safe?  Curio cabinet?  Trinket pantry?  Who knows?  I love it!

2A:  Robins Egg Blue Chicken Pillow Image Courtesy Squirrelonaledgetop
2B:  Poulet Pillow Image Courtesy TheNestUK
2C:  Antique Chicken Wood Molds Image Courtesy NachoKitty

I'm pretty much in love with these chicken molds.  They are the real deal, you can just see the age on them.  And they're all together, which is exceedingly rare for something that's been around the block like those have.  If you visit the listing page, NachoKitty talks about the design process these paper mache molds were used for.  It's really interesting!

3A:  Ets. C. Bailly Stencil Image Courtesy Maisondestencils

3B:  Rooster Divided Caddy Image Courtesy L2Country
3C:  French Rooster Burlap Sack Pillow Image Courtesy PinkPig

Love this burlap rooster pillow.  Great, great graphic image.  I love how bold all those old feedsacks were.

4A:  Fresh Eggs Wood Sign Image Courtesy FYHeartWoodworking
4B:  Vintage Chicken Antique Painted Sign Image Courtesy ZekesAntiques
4C:  Le Coq French Rooster Stencil Image Courtesy Maisondestencils


You've got to check out ZekesAntiques.  He does faux antique painting and it's amazing stuff.  They have the feel of old advertisements and folk art. 


Don't forget, our typography giveaway ends tomorrow.  Comment to win!

Feature Friday: French Book Cart

We have a very elegant feature for you today.  Blogger Little Miss Maggie shares this amazing book cart she transformed from a seriously uninspiring garage sale find.  First the finished product.

I love that this piece is black!  We see a lot of pastels here on Maisondestencils.  Don't get me wrong, they're great, but there is something timeless and classy about black.  Here's a before picture so you can see just how big a transformation this little piece of furniture made.

Super awesome Grateful Dead stickers at the bottom.  Not!  Maggie started by sending those stickers back to Jerry Garcia and then painted the whole piece Canyon Black from the Rustoleum American Accents line.

Her next step was stenciling our popular Hotel De L'Avenir stencil using acrylic ivory paint.   For a more aged look, Maggie hand painted with raw umber on top of the stencil to give a varied, uneven tone to the letters and line work.

Hotel De L'Avenir is a big stencil (12x18) and didn't completely fit on the cart.  So she used the extra text to jazz up the sides of the shelves.  Great idea!

It's always good to remember that you are not married to what we put on a stencil.  You can use as much or little of it for a stenciling project as suits your need.  But we're happy to do customs if you do need something wild and crazy.  :)

She finished up the cart by sanding and sealing with Valspar Clear Flat Spray.  It looks fabulous!

You can check out Little Miss Maggie's original blog post here.  Her whole blog is terrific, do check it out.  You can also check out the Hotel De L'Avenir stencil in our Feedsack category.

Thanks so much to Maggie for the feature this week.  Don't forget, if you've got a stenciling project you'd like featured, we're only an email away.