Feature Friday: The Typewriter Case

Happy Friday!

FYI:  30% off all stencils now through Wed, Feb 20 with promo code president2013.

This is such a unique feature, just had to share with you guys.

Betsy at My Salvaged Treasures took our "Family and Friends Gather Here" 12x12 Stencil and applied it to a vintage typewriter case. 

How gorgeous is that?  She also did a companion case with stencils from another source.  I love the little keys she added for extra decoration.

Here's the layout before she got started.  Good opportunity to show what our packaging looks like if you're not familiar.  All our normal sized (12x12, 5.5x11.5, 8x8, 12x18) stencils come packed in clear cellophane sleeves with backing.  If you get a large stencil like our 24x24 or 6x24 stencils, those will come wrapped in tissue and arrive in a tube.

 Great picture illustrating the amount of paint she used.  I've said it before, I'll say it again.   A little paint goes a long way and you can always add more! 

The peel-away.  No bleeding underneath the stencil and this is a rough surface.  I've been talking with one client recently who was concerned that the stucco texture on her walls might cause some bleed with stencils, which is definitely a legitimate thing to be worried about.  We sent out samples for her to test in an unconspicious area, but seeing that this bumpy typewriter case took paint beautifully leads me to believe she'll be in the pink.  Or white.  Or whatever color she chooses to paint!  :)

Family and Friends Gather Here is an incredibly popular stencil, we offer it in 2 varieties in 12x12, and one in 12x18.  We also have a Family and Friends simple that we ran a free promotion with a few months back.  We will be adding that for sale shortly.

If you'd like to check out the Family and Friends Family (not redundant at all!)  have a peek at our French category.

Thanks to Betsy at My Salvaged Treasures for showcasing her beautiful work featuring our product on her blog.  We're also going to be running a giveaway with her soon, so keep your eyes peeled.

Have a great weekend!

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!

Special Saturday Post: Sale Sale Sale

Hi there!

We've got some great new stencils available on the website.  We're celebrating by running a 15% off sale now through 12/18.  Just use coupon code fifteenoff (all lowercase) to save on all our stencils!

Stock up and Happy Holidays!

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!