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!

Double Special Friday Post: We Were Featured

There is so much extra good Maison de Stencils stuff that a normal posting schedule cannot be maintained!

Goodsie, the wonderful website host for our store has featured us on their blog!

Check it out!

I am absolutely going to let the fame go my head. 

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!

Special Thursday Post: Astoria Craft Party

Well we've got some exciting news!

If you frequent Etsy like I do, you may have heard some buzzing about the Etsy Craft Party.  In a nutshell, the craft party is a local event where you get together with crafters in your area and share what you do.

Here's a link from the Etsy blog about it.

The cool bit of this is, Astoria is going to host its own Etsy Craft Party.  And we're going to be there!  We're doing stenciling workshops for kids and adults.

So if you live in Oregon or SW Washington, do come on down and say hello.  The theme of the craft party this year is 'Wish You Were Here' so all our stencils are going to reflect the rich history of Astoria and the Pacific Northwest.

I'm sure I will talk much more about it as July winds down and we get closer to the date, but I thought I'd give a little shout out right now.

The craft party has its own blog, which you can check out here. 

If you are nowhere near Oregon, check out the Etsy teams in your area.  I bet there's a craft party happening in your area!

Take care, fab feature post tomorrow!

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!

Etspiration Wednesday: Birds Birds Birds

You knew it was just a matter of time right?  Until Maisondestencils buckled under the intense pressure of birds.  Birds with crowns.  Birds without crowns.  Birds on pillows!  I saw a post on ApartmentTherapy the other day that whales are the new birds, so I suppose I am hopelessly behind the times, but I still like birds.  (Brb while I go design 4 whale stencils!!) We took a hike on the 4th through this wonderful trail here in Astoria and the weather was absolutely perfect and you could hear jays and all other sorts of songbirds.

Here's a salute to our fine feathered friends.  This is literally the least difficult Etspiration I've ever compiled.  Bird bonanza!

1A:  Bird Wooden Wall Hanging Set Of Three Image Courtesy SweetiePieSuite
1B:  Bird Accent Chair Image Courtesy UrbanMotifs
1C:  Vintage Style Bird Powder Box Image Courtesy DreamingTreeFarm
1D:  Nest 5.5x11.5 Stencil Image Courtesy Maisondestencils


You've got to check out that chair in 1B.  The print is fab, it has cockatoos on it.  My Aunt Shirley had a cockatoo and she used to feed it chicken.  I never really contemplated how bizarre that was until I was much older. 

2A:  Bird In Nest Cup Image Courtesy SodaByAmy
2B:  Un Petit Oiseau Card Set Image Courtesy littlepigeoncardshop
2C:  Bird Wooden Keepsake Box Image Courtesy EspeciallyMade
2D:  Eggs of European Birds Vintage Lithograph Image Courtesy Carambas

I'm loving these cards in 2B.  The french translates to:  A little bird told me.  Too cute!

3A:  Fly Away Bird Burlap Pillow Image Courtesy NextDoorToHeaven
3B:  Birdcage Keep Calm Stencil Image Courtesy Maisondestencils
3C:  Nest Wooden Block Set Image Courtesy UniquelyDifferentToo

I absolutely love this Fly Away Pillow in 3A.  I'm a huge Allison Krauss fan and her rendition of that hymn in O Brother, Where Art Thou?  is just perfection.

4A:  Love Definition Stencil Image Courtesy Maisondestencils
4B:  Pastel Egg Tags Image Courtesy lacegrl130
4C:  Vintage Ceramic Pie Birds Image Courtesy HippopoVintage
4D:  Bird Decorative Pillow Image Courtesy PillowMio

Growing up, we were never really a pie family.  Mom made this dish called Pineapple Torte, which was my brother's favorite.  As for me, I never met a brownie I didn't like.  But pie, not so much.  Now I know better.  We made this peach and mascarpone pie yesterday, it was a hit.  Anyways, I'd never heard of pie birds until I was an adult watching 'Good Eats.'  (great cooking show, btw)  I really like the look of these two little fellows in 4C.

Got a snazzy feature for you tomorrow!   Tune in, same bird time, same bird channel.