Stencils from Maison de Stencils

Well in my last post back in mid March I was getting ready to go on vacation with my kids...did that...but, unfortunately, I had a nasty case of double walking pneumonia. You really don't know you have it until it settles in and makes you very ill.  I spent the night of the surprise birthday party in hospital. I have had 7 courses of antibiotics since March, one of the last series was regime of injections for 5 days...OUCH!!! But I was in to see doc today and he thinks we might just have it on the run...got my fingers crossed.

I discovered through blogland a company called Maison de Stencils you'll find them here .  I'm absolutely head over hills for the French stencils~~~ooohlala. I ordered several including the one below, Musee d' Orsay.  I have my eye on some Halloween stencils also. I just got word from the company that my Maid of Orleans soap advertisement shipped today...yeah!!! 

Anyway, as you can see above I have already put one stencil to good use.  Sometime back I was junking in Bandon, a small seaside community about 16 miles south from my house.  I was in a thrift shop and some people came in all a twitter about a real junk store just down the road and that you should take time to check it out. It was only a mile or so further...so what the heck.  I have drove past this place a dozen times and never knew it was there. It's on a hill surrounded by storage units...if you didn't know to look for them you wouldn't find it. It was a "Real Old Time Junk Shop" boxes by the dozens to pick through, stuff stacked everywhere, even hanging from the rafters.  I was in junkers heaven!!! 

Well while trying to squeeze through an isle (that you had to go back the way you came) I discovered this case.  I opened it up and it was full of junk and most of the parts of a portable photo enlarger.  I really liked the size of the case as it's quite large...but I didn't care for the contents.  So I went up front and got the very old, but extremely spry gentleman shop keeper and inquired about the case. Well he had to take a look to be sure what I was talking about...so back to the back we went.  He opened it up and said "you sure you don't need this stuff?" No, I didn't need it.  So he got a box dumped the contents and sold me the case for $5.00. I know I was happy!!!

I had no idea what I was going to do with the case, I was thinking of using it like a big chalk board. Then I found Maison's, ordered my stencils and patiently (sort of) waited for them to arrive.

So I gathered my supplies, case, white and grey craft paint, stencils, stencil brushes, arched board for curved line (this hangs on my gate during the holidays). Chalk, and an adjustable sewing ruler (my ruler of choice...wish they came in a longer length).



 
The black of the case acts like a chalk board...you just erase any marks when the paint is all dry. 

In this photo you can see my chalk marks. This was a little bit tricky and I had to make adjustments on each side...it's not quite centered...but looked odd when I did center it. 

I completely missed taking a photo using the large Maison stencil.  All is done in white except for the chair which is a light grey. I just used pieces of blue painters tape on all four side...it held very securely.  I had no leakage under the stencil.  It turned out beautifully.  The case didn't have a handle so I used a couple of lengths of burlap covered cording left from another project.


I have several more projects lined up for the other stencils...so stay tuned.

This is the case sitting outside my shop. You can see it from both directions.
I think it makes great advertising for the shop front.  And I've gotten quite a few compliments on it.

Did you notice the street address? Rue de Lille...

 




  

 I bet it's for my sweet Lilly.

Please go check out Maison de Stencils and get your stencil on!!!  Untill next time~~~Happy Hunting and Gathering!!!

Swap Meet Finds

ALWAYS TAKE A CLOSER LOOK

Stopped in at the Green Spot, a local swap meet. It's inside at an old re-purposed department store so they have room for about two dozen vendors, but it's probably closer to 50 different vendors that sell . You never know which vendors will show up and be selling. So it's a lot of fun to go in and look around. The Green Spot itself even has a little cafe and this week they were serving Philly Beef & Cheese sandwiches. YUM! 

  

So without further ado here are the lovelies I brought home with me.

Isn't this little porcelain tea set the most darling thing you ever seen~~~A tea pot, creamer, covered sugar, 5 cups and 4 saucers. Made in Bavaria, W. Germany by Eberthal. I paid $10.00 for the set. It is so pretty with the dainty little flowers and it's petite size.   I knew the granddaughters would love this for our tea parties.  In fact Ciara, my youngest granddaughter has already laid claim to it. Someday she will sit down to tea with her grand children and another child will lay claim to the set.

 This little reverse painted picture on convex glass was actually my first purchase at $4.00. This one has a colored scene background. I usually re-sale these, but I'm quite taken with this one so I think It's a keeper.

 

 My last find was this metal clad suitcase in perfect condition inside and out and no musty smell!!!  When I spotted it the vendor had a bunch of knit hats displayed in it, so I asked her if it was for sale, she said "yes, it's $13.00" and took the hats out so I could get a better look. I hadn't  realized when I first saw it that it was metal, in fact this is a first for me.  It's the perfect size to hold my crafting supplies at 10" X 18" X 6 1/2" deep.  When I first spotted this I had assumed it was a knock-off , these little suitcases were imported and sold by the gazillions a few years back. So always take a second, closer look, and like me you might just find a little jem.

The vendor told me that she remembered her grandmother using this case all the time when she traveled. She must have taken great care with it.

 

Happy Hunting and Gathering~~~