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!

Etspiration Wednesday: Coffee!

I love coffee.  Cafe au lait the color of caramel.  Turkish coffee so thick a spoon could stand in it.  Fru fru lattes for when I need a sugar and caffeine pick me up.  I don't discriminate.  I think there's a time and place for coffee any way you brew it.  My mom and my sister both make a killer cup of coffee.  I think there's something about having someone else make you a cup of coffee that makes it more special.  Just like when I'm visiting home and my mom makes me a sandwich.  It's always better, you know?  Even if it's the same exact tuna fish I'd make at home. 

We found out we're going to have another little one, so my nose has been turning up at the smell of coffee these past few months.  It's very sad because I still love the idea of coffee, but my stomach wants nothing to do with it. 

So today I cruised around Etsy just thinking about coffee while I ate raisins.  It's all that sounds good lately, lol.  And pickles.  I'm such a cliche.

1A:  Bee Queen Coffee Mug Image Courtesy mudstuffing
1B:  Woodland Bird Coffee Sack Basket Image Courtesy BrinandNohl
1C:  Dutch Enamel Coffee Pot Image Courtesy NorthSeaVintage
1D:  Coffee Subway Art Stencil Image Courtesy Maisondestencils

 I am blown away by how cool mudstuffing's ceramics are.  You absolutely have to check out the Etsy shop.  Great stuff!

2A:  Coffee Handmade Wooden Sign Image Courtesy ShopHomegrown
2B:  Espresso Stencil Image Courtesy Maisondestencils
2C:  French Peugeot Coffee Mill Image Courtesy ShopYU
2D:  Burlap Coffee Sack Africa Pillow Image Courtesy TheWatsonShop

 This Peugeot coffee mill is just off the rails.  I love the color, love the emblem. 

3A:  Cappuccino Stencil Image Courtesy Maisondestencils
3B:  Recycled Burlap Coffee Tote Image Courtesy TheGreenBeanBag
3C:  Syracuse Railroad China Demi Tasse Cups Image Courtesy Diantiques

 I don't think anything really needs to be said about how gorgeous the print on this recycled coffee sack tote is in 3B.  Wow! 

4A:  3 Red Enamel Canisters Image Courtesy BrimfieldFinds
4B:  Coffee Items Red Tea Towel Image Courtesy tlane
4C:  Mrs Claus Coffee Shop Holiday Stencil Image Courtesy Maisondestencils
4D:  Cafe Au Lait and Beignets Print Image Courtesy NolaTawk

I dig this red tea towel in 4B, which has sort of a 2D poppy Jim Flora feel.  Would look great in a bungalow kitchen.

That's all I have for today.  Got a snazzy feature for you on deck for Friday.

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!

Feature Friday: Great Britain Burlap Bags

Happy Friday all!

It's a regular scorcher here in Astoria today, 82 degrees.  I guess summer hasn't quite given up yet!  I've got an awesome feature today courtesy of Heart Vintage Design.

She's taken burlap bags and stenciled our circular Great Britain stencil on them.  It looks amazing with two colors!  I just love how long these bags are too.  I ordered burlap bags for our craft show and we got two sizes.  Little micro bags for the kids which fit oh, a pack of gum and that's it.  We also got a medium size as well, which was something like 8x10, but that's more of a decorative size.  You can't put all that much in there. 

But these bags are 14x26.  That's perfect for a lot of stuff, including all the umbrellas, crumpets, tea, burberry scarves you need to start your own British Invasion.

If you take your eagle eye and scrutinize this photo, you we see a few more of our stencil designs!  She does great work!  :)

Heart Vintage Design has a great blog you can check out here.   She also has a facebook page you can like here.  She also sells at Adjectives Market, which looks awesome and I would like to visit post haste. 

If you're interested in the stencil used, do check out our UK category, it is chock full of British goodness. 

That's all for this week, pop in on Wednesday for our weekly Etspiration!

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: The Burlap Throw

Good Morning!

It's 46 degrees and pouring rain here this morning on the Oregon Coast and I am well armed with a cup of piping hot coffee and a snugly baby. I could, however, use a nice blanket. I can't think of a more stunning addition to any living room than this burlap and linen French blanket made by Funky Shique.

Isn't it amazing? I love how large it is! Perfect for keeping on the couch or in a bedroom for extra warmth.

The stencil used is Lucas Moller, which we saw a variant of in our first guest feature, The Galvanized Garden Bucket.

Funky Shique used fabric paint for durability, which is great. You can really live with this piece and not worry about fragility.

You can check out Funky Shique's blog here, and here's a link to her etsy shop. She is a magician with burlap!

You can find the stencil used here at the Maisondestencils store.


Stay tuned later this afternoon and I'll put up a post with the winner of our anniversary giveaway. If you somehow missed the post, there's still time, go make a comment here!

Au Revoir!

Etspiration Wednesday: Weddings

June is right around the corner and that means Weddings galore on Etsy. It's amazing how whole businesses revolve around the trimmings and trappings of weddings. We've got a number of great customers who purchase stencils from us for wedding related decor and we're going to highlight them individually in our next couple Feature Fridays. For now, here is a quick spin around Etsy of wedding related items that you won't have any problem saying, "I Do!" to.

1A: Mr and Mrs Burlap Banner Image Courtesy FunkyShique
1B: Bride and Groom Stencils Image Courtesy Maisondestencils
1C: Save the Date Wedding Tote Image Courtesy RachelWalter

My husband and I went to Vegas to get married, so there was no saving of dates! I love the idea of a Save The Date reminder that has function too, so props RachelWalter!

2A: Just Hitched Stencil Image Courtesy Maisondestencils
2B: Ring Bearer Pillow Image Courtesy Freshline
2C: French Journal Guestbook Image Courtesy GreenTrikePress

I just want to note that Diptic cropped the journal in 2C kind of strangely. It's really stunning, in fact all of the papercraft GreenTrikePress does is terrific. Really worth checking out.

3A: Custom Save The Date Postcard Image Courtesy 0NamesLeft
3B: Wedding Ampersand Sign Image Courtesy TheBackPorchShoppe
3C: Mr and Mrs Stencil Image Courtesy Maisondestencils
3D: Fleur De Lis Merci Bags Image Courtesy JennifersCookies

Love the postcard in 3A. Laura and I both do vintage postcard illustrations (hers stencil, mine digital) and I really love the look captured here. The red is perfect!

4A: Vintage Table Number Cards Image Courtesy KindredSpiritCrafts
4B: Playbill Wedding Invitation Image Courtesy HeSawSparks
4C: Guestbook Stencil Image Courtesy Maisondestencils

I really love the playbill invitation in 4B for its typographic selection. I feel that in the past, wedding invitations were just a sea of script fonts. It's such a breath of fresh air to see bolder fonts and antique type set to work on really unique invitations.

5A: Just Hitched Wedding Banner Image Courtesy TheArtofHandmades
5B: Custom Timber Wedding Book Image Courtesy Lorgieandme
5C: Save The Date Magnet Image Courtesy DifferentDesigns10
5D: Love Is Patient Canvas Wedding Tags Image Courtesy TheCaterpillarsDream

The guestbook in 5B is totally amazing. Lorgie+Me make laser engraved wooden books (among other things). They have a baby book too which is just lovely.

As always, thanks to our superb participants for use of their photos. If you haven't already, be sure to leave a comment here for a chance to win a free 12x12 stencil. I'll announce the winner on Friday.

Have a great day!