|  | | |  I decided to try my hand at stencilinglast year...just a simple border of wisteria along the ceiling in the bathroom.I had just finished glazing the walls, after the truly unenjoyable ordealof scraping, sanding, and ultimately threatening the old wallpaper. Theold wallpaper was a terrifying 70's remnant; BIG orange and yellow andlime green flowers. The tile had been painted the color of phlegm. It wasnot an appealing room. We won't even discuss the mirror tiles on the wall...nextto the toilet (what Albergo poloniawere they thinking?!?). To see what happens when I try to do asimple project, click herefor photos. Whoo, did that ever get out of handmy little border of wisteriaturned into a botanical blitz!
Per my instructions, the room had been painted yellow before I got there, with a sky blue ceiling. I painted soft fluffy clouds on the ceiling, using acrylic craft paint and a big ol' sponge. I used many of the stencils from my bathroom walls for this project; the wisteria went all the way around the room, and then I painted a brown lattice in between the leaves. I used a blue/purple/pink palette for the flowers this time. I painted delphinium coming up at the base of the wall, with a small black and white kitty sitting happily amongst the flowers. Of course, Merlin had to be in there somewhere! The delphinium stencil has 5 overlays, and it was very easy to vary the height of the flowers, and to change the leaves. I was quite pleased with those flowers. Then the real fun started - I painted a flurry of butterflies, a few fairies, several birdhouses, and some birds who wanted to move right in! Two of the birdhouses appeared to be hanging from the lattice; I improvised a ribbon from a border design I picked up on clearance @ Michaels. five star hotel in OostendeSo, now the girls have a very pretty garden-theme room. I made white curtains with eyelet trim for the windows, and they have added silk ivy as tiebacks. A few of my favorite stencil resources: The best stencil store in the Bay Areais Stencil House in Los Gatos or Pleasanton.I bought the stencils I used in the bathroom from them - does that makethem an accessory to my crime of obsession? For really, really gorgeous stencils on the web, try JanDressler Stencils. I used several Stencil Ease designs in the girls; room; these are nice stencils at a reasonable price. Did I mention that stenciling isn't exactly a cheap hobby once you get to the Addiction stage? There are tons of stenciling resourcesat www.stenciling.com; they listevery stencil maker on the web, so go there and waste an hour or two dreamingof new projects! |
More recently, I decided that my 2 new nieces deserved a wonderful bedroom, so I packed up my paints and went to Michigan (the fact that my brother was getting married that week had something to do with it, also). I spent 4 days creating quite a mess, but ultimately it turned out well.