Greys and blues

I planted an old blue and white dish with some miniature Iris, they were beautiful but fleeting!

I have been painting pine furniture again, this time it was some lovely old pieces that my client has collected over the years.

A lovely pitch pine cupboard, a wardrobe with leaded lights and a charming school desk. The stool I had painted for a different room in a duckegg blue, but it was being moved into  the grey room. I primed the furniture with 2 coats of primer, then painted with 3 coats of Farrow and Ball's Pavilion Grey, followed by a charcoal grey wash and 2 coats of acrylic varnish in a matt finish.

I thought it would be fun to paint the desk and stool with a Paris postmark.

This gorgeous Armoire was painted in Duckegg blue with a brown antique wash. The decoration on the walls was done by me for a previous client a few years ago, but my new client kept it because she loved it. It was a lovely surprise for me to see it again.

I hope you are all enjoying the Spring weather (or Autumn if you are in Aus.) Thank you for calling in, love Linda x

Stencilling.....yes or no?

A lot of people are a little bit 'sniffy' about stencilling! If you have lived through the 80's and 90's, when everything that moved (or didn't) got stencilled, then I can understand you feeling a little reticent. Also a lot of the stencilling that was done was rather badly done, with leaks and dribbles and smudges.

I started painting furniture in the late eighties and didn't have the confidence to hand paint things then, so I used stencils, first bought ones, then as I gained confidence,I cut my own. Eventually I learned how to paint directly on to the wall, but that took time. I have to say though, that I still have a soft spot for stencilling. Recently, I thought that I would check 'The Stencil Library's' website, as I hadn't been on it in quite a number of years. I knew that they were still going strong because of the magazine coverage. I was thrilled by what I found, as they have really moved the whole thing on with both modern and vintage designs, and wonderful layered stencils which give a photographic type image. You can of course buy all your necessary equipment there too, as well as books and courses. If you would like to check it out for yourself, here is the link http://www.stencil-library.co.uk. I have picked out some of my particular favourites.

I love these large scale stylised flowers, or how about these alphabet stencils to create your own wording...

I just love the way they have taken this quite traditional all over pattern, and given us the idea of incorporating a little decoupage image, such as 'the girl with the pearl earring' ...how novel!

Some patterns have quite a modern vibe.

I really love these layered stencils.

Wouldn't this look so cool in a music room, or home cinema, or even in a little jazzy understairs cloakroom?

Wouldn't this last one look fabulous in a decadent dressing room, or bathroom. Or how about some of these fun ones to line a wardrobe or drawers with.

This one would be fun to paint on a desk top, and how about the liquorice allsorts in a pantry?

This all over tree design would be wonderful using metallic paints or glitter, to look like snow.

I hope that if you did not like stencils before, you may have a different perspective now. Wallpaper is wonderful , but sometimes so very expensive. Or you may have an awkward space that would be difficult to paper, or you just can't find the colours you want , stencilling might be the better option?

Thank you to all who kindly left comments on my last post. I do apologise for not replying individually, which I really prefer to do, but I have been a little busy with work. I hope to get around to visiting you all soon. Thank you too to my new followers, you are all very welcome! Wishing you all a wonderful 'spring equinox', things are definitely starting to spring forth here in Ireland, which is most welcome! Love Linda x

This simple little Japanese design looks hand painted.

Blue and White

I thought you might like to see a couple more of my little collages, on the theme of blue and white this time. I love blue in all it's varieties, and never seem to tire of it, especially blue and white china. I am a little busy with work at the moment, so I do apologise for such a short post. Wishing you all a very happy and productive week, love Linda x