Stenciled Wall Art

I'm a big fan of Ed Roth--and not just because he's one of the featured designers whose story's included in my upcoming book, Craft Corps (which incidentally, is now available for pre-order in my shop). His stencils are modern, sleek and often, have a sense of humor about them. I like them so much, I used many from his first book (Stencil 101) to decorate bibs with at my baby shower !

Now Ed's got a new book/kit out, Stencil 101 Decor, that speaks not only to the stencil enthusiast but also to those of us with a penchant for decorating. With 10 plastic stencils and step-by-step instructions (on painting anything from a wall to a fridge) included, no surface in your house will be safe from Stencil 101's charms. Dip your toe into D.I.Y. decor first though, by dabbling in wall art that's perfect in a kids' room, teen's dorm or hipster's loft.

In our house, two very different little boys share one room. What to do to keep a little design synergy without squelching their individual interests? Easy. Start with a basic, coordinating geometric theme, then add a simple graphic symbol that expresses each kids' interest. Here's how I used Ed's stencils to do just that.

Game Boy Wall Art

Materials

Stencil 101 Decor Stencils

16"x20" Buckram or other Stiff Fabric

Tulip Slick Fabric Paints in Desired Background & Contrasting Colors

Tulip Fabric Markers

Sponge or Stencil Brushes

Foil or Bowl

Fabric Pencil & Eraser

Stencil Wall Art How-To

• Lay stencil down on fabric; mark registration points at the given triangles (this will ensure an even pattern repeat.)

• Squirt paint onto foil piece--I mixed two colors, black & white, to get the shade of grey I wanted.

• Lightly paint (either brushing or pouncing) over stencil. Too much paint on the brush will cause bleeding under the stencil. Ed's Tip: "Remember, stenciling is a "dry" brush technique."

• Move stencil to next blank area on fabric, using registration marks as a guide. Repeat last step as many times as necessary to cover fabric.

• Do an internet search for the type of image you want to place on top of the patterned background. In this case, I chose a mushroom from Super Mario Bros.

• Using the web image as a general guide, sketch onto fabric

• Using fabric markers, outline image. Fill in desired areas with fabric paint. The result: a perfect picture for my littler gamer!

Sporty Spice Wall Art

If free-handing an image isn't you gig, give utilizing the stenciled background a try! For the 2nd piece I made, I began with Ed's hexagon pattern in a lighter color then used a dinner plate to draw a ball shape on top of it and filled in selected pieces with dark, fabric paint. Voila, a soccer ball for my all-American boy!

Craft.Rock.Love,

Vickie