It’s time for a semi-quick SNAP! wrapup.

What is SNAP! you say? So glad that you asked! SNAP! is the brainchild of a group of amazingly talented, creative and design-savvy bloggers. It will hopefully become an annual event held in Salt Lake City. Judging from the attendance (325), and happiness all around, I imagine it will!

Royal Design Studio was THA-Rilled to be a sponsor of this awesome event, and I personally was honored to be asked to present a Saturday stencil class there-Get Your Stencil ON!

As official sponsors, we had an official table in the official sponsor room. We thought that the best way to introduce these lovely ladies to our stencils was to GIVE them one. Not wanting to give out hundreds of the exact same stencil (boring!), I decided to take a range of designs. Then the dilemma: how to choose who got what? Inspiration finally hit on the day that we arrived, so we were off to Target to look for dice. We laid out six different designs on the tables and attendees rolled to see what number came up.

Winners! It was amazing how many times people rolled and got the exact design they wanted. I was really stressing about this, so it was nice to see VERY few pretty pouty faces!

The day (yes, that IS how I roll) before I left for the conference I stenciled up some new canvas samples to share in the booth and in my stencil class. We just happen to have some new stencils coming online very soon, so it was a perfect opportunity to put them to the test. With almost 30 years of stencil life behind me, it was SUPER hard to try to figure out how much info and inspiration I could cram into a fast 1 1/2 hour stencil class/demo.

In the end, I decided to stick to “stencil basics” but wanted to introduce some great options besides “roller stenciling” and get them to start thinking of stencils as more creative/less mechanical-and you can see from this pic that I had PLENTY to say! I think I succeeded because I got some fabulous feedback. There were audible gasps (of delight!) in the room when I showed them how to quickly stencil with a stencil brush and our Stencil Cremes and pulled the stencil away to reveal-ta da! no bleed-unders!

Super fun for me, was that I not only got to teach, I got to learn too! They had an awesome schedule put together, with many popular classes running concurrently, so it was hard to choose. I think I chose well….I studied photography with Emilie Ralph of Photo by Emelie, Photo editing with Amanda Padgett from Everyday Elements, and attended a design panel that included Beth Hunter from Home Stories A to Z sharing the basic steps to creating an amazing vignette. This included some audience participation where a workshop attendee, Traci of Beneath my Heart, and Mandi of Vintage Revivals played the roles of accent piece, mirror, and plant respectively. I actually had some good AHA moments in these classes so glad I went!

What rounds out a great weekend of learning and sharing? Shopping!!! They had a Queen Bee Market on sight that was just a visual delight and an overwhelming temptation. The last thing I need to buy is more jewelry. So, what did I buy? Yes….I did……lots.

One beautiful piece of jewelry that I DIDN’T buy, was one that was graciously given to each and every attendee. The theme of the conference was to “Just be You” and to be authentic as a blogger. Great advice for bloggers and “normal” people alike! And now, I will leave you with some pretty pictures of tulip beds from the site of the conference, Thanksgiving Point, Utah that I was inspired to take after my photography classes……

Last thought…I want to give a very sincere thank you and shout out to the lovely, talented and oh, so helpful Shelley Smith of House of Smith’s who, not surprisingly, wrote a WAY better SNAP! wrapup than me!

I have a rather large book case wall unit in my living room.  It’s…OK. Just OK. It’s functional. It’s “there”. I often look at it and think a) needs dusting AGAIN!, b) I need to give some of those books to Goodwill, and c) It would be so cool to paint it, stencil the back, and rid it of some clutter while upping it’s “cool” quotient.

I have a very simple but VERY gorgeous furniture stencil project by blogger Sarah Gunn to share, which is a perfect illustration of my thought process. It was recently featured on the Canadian blog Yummy Mummy Club.

Bookcase Before: nice, functional, stores stuff adequately but no great shakes.

Bookcase After: it’s like someone blew a breath of fresh air into the room! Sarah used one of my fav stencil patterns from Royal Design Studio-the Small Eastern Lattice. The green color is so, so pretty with the blue walls and it makes the white and silver accessories just pop. Instead of blending into the background, this simple furniture piece now has “presence”.

Stenciling on the back of a bookcase or wall unit is actually pretty easy as you can generally just pop that thin piece of wood off the back, paint it, and then reinstall it with finishing nails of a staple gun. How about you? Do you have a similar stencil project calling your name?

PS  Sarah also shared some stenciling tips on a recent airing of City Line, a fun morning show out of Canada.  AND, besides writing for the Yummy Mummy Club and TV appearances, Sarah also has her own business, Polka Dot Grove, which offers adorable custom canvas art for children’s rooms!

And we have a winner!! First and foremost I would like to thank each and every ALL of you who entered our lastest stencil giveaway for taking the time to visit our stencil website, comment, tweet, share on Facebook, and even pin on Pinterest for the chance to win our $75 stencil shopping spree from Royal Design Studio!! I was thrilled to see those lovely comments keep coming-all the way up to 486.

Second, I would like to thank The Nester for hosting this amazing sponsored giveway on her blog and allowing Royal Design Studio to participate. I feel honored to be included with the other wonderful companies and their yummy products.

Alas, we can only pick one winner an that is

Kalyana left comment number 289, which was randomly chosen from all 486 entries by random.org.

I can’t wait to see which one of our Moroccan stencils that Kalyana picks for her bathroom wall. Let’s hope she shares a picture with us!

SUPER BIG Thank you again going out to The Nester and all of you who entered!

We had SUCH a wonderful response to our last giveaway we did in conjunction with the amazing blog, The Nesting Place, we r totally down with the opportunity to do it AGAIN! Now that the winter doldrums have set in it’s the perfect time to pick a Royal Design Studio wall stencil pattern that you would like to win then GO FOR IT!

Here’s the scoop!

PRIZE: We are giving away a $75 Shopping Spree at Royal Design Studio along with free shipping to the continental U.S. That’s $75 to buy anything your heart desires on our website, including stencils, stencil cremes, and stencil supplies. We have hundreds of stencil patterns to choose from. Such as….

There are SIX different ways to enter!

1) Visit our Royal Design Studio website, take a look around and just simply leave a comment on our blog post here on your favorite stencil and/or products that you’d pick up during your shopping spree!

The rest involve Facebook, Twitter and/or your blog to give you a chance at additional comment entries!

2) Like us on our Facebook Fan page and leave a comment telling us you did;

3) Follow us on Twitter and leave a comment telling us you did;

4) Follow me on Pinterest, pin the image above to one of your own pin boards, and leave a comment telling us you did;

If you are already a fan or follow us, do let us know as well.  We love our fans and followers so that counts!

This counts as four entries. You can stop at 1, 2, 3, or 4, but why not stack the stencil winning deck, so to speak. You can also:

5) Facebook about our giveaway, and leave a comment here, telling us you did;

6) Tweet about our giveaway, and leave a comment here, telling us you did;

Just make sure that for whatever you do, leave us a SEPARATE comment so you get those additional chances.  Do one or do all six — it’s your choice! We think it’s always a little more fun to spread the word and up the ante!  Let the entries begin!!!

Again, we would like to thank The Nesting Place for helping host the Giveaway Day and offering us a chance to participate– She’s featuring all of her sponsors, so do be sure to go there for more giveaways. We’re so happy to be featured along with some very cool companies.  Thanks, Nester!

…and Thank You, Everyone!  You have until Midnight on Friday, January 27, to get all your comments in. We choose a Winner via Random.org and their name will be announced by Saturday morning, January 28.  Best of luck!

It was so much fun doing a stencil giveaway this week with the help of The Nester!

Thank you all so, so much for all the comments, stencil feedback, facebooking and tweeting.

I wish you all could have won, but Random.org only picks one number and that number was 14.

So, congratulations to Beth-the winner of our $75 Royal Design Studio stencil shopping spree. For the rest of you wonderful peeps who took the time to “window shop” for stencils, look for an email from me very soon with a special offer. xo

We LOVE to sponsor stencil giveaways on many cool design and DIY blogs. When the opportunity came up to participate in the Giveaway Day at one of the bestest blogs,  The Nesting Place, I thought it was the perfect time to host my own stencil giveaway on Design Amour as well!

Just in time for the Holidays – and the chance to pick a REALLY AWESOME stencil that could help pull all your holiday décor together or make a fabulous gift for someone special!

PRIZE: We are giving away a $75 Shopping Spree at Royal Design Studio along with free shipping to the continental U.S. That’s $75 to buy anything your heart desires on our website, including stencils, stencil cremes, and stencil supplies. We have hundreds of stencil patterns to choose from. Here are just a few ideas to whet your whistle….

Feeling like a tigress? Our new Tiger Stripe stencil offers you an elegant way to express your wild side.

Our Rockin’ Roses floral stencil is a little bit floral and a little bit rock and roll. Stencil it in bold, contrasting colors or metallics for a deco statement or in soft pastels for a romantic look.

More modern African adventure awaits with our Zebra Stripe stencil. It makes an awesome addition to a feature wall and can easily be dressed up or down to suit your style.

More soft romance awaits with our lovely Phoebe’s Tulip Vine floral stencil. This design is perfect for a vintage modern design scheme. Check out this blog post on Busily Spinning Momma for a peek at a lovely bathroom project with this beauty!

Our Delicate Floral Damask is a classically inspired pattern done on a large scale for a modern feel. It’s perfect for bedrooms. Lovely, in dramatic black and white, it can take on multiple personalities depending on your color choices. And the great thing about using stencil patterns? The color choices are yours and yours alone!

How to enter you ask?

There are SIX different ways to enter!

1) Visit our Royal Design Studio website, take a look around and just simply leave a comment on our blog post here on your favorite stencil and/or products that you’d pick up during your shopping spree!

The rest involve Facebook, Twitter and/or your blog to give you a chance at additional comment entries!

2) Like us on our Facebook Fan page and leave a comment telling us you did;

3) Follow us on Twitter and leave a comment telling us you did;

If you are already a fan or follow us, do let us know as well.  We love our fans and followers so that counts!

This counts as three entries. Want three more ways to win? Yeah, I thought so!

4) Facebook about our giveaway, and leave a comment here, telling us you did;

5) Tweet about our giveaway, and leave a comment here, telling us you did;

6) Blog about our giveaway, and leave a comment here (and a link if you can!) telling us you did.

I hope it’s not too complicated – just make sure that for whatever you do, leave us a comment.  Do one or do all six — it’s your choice! We think it’s always a little more fun to spread the word and up the ante!  Let the entries begin!!!

We do want to thank The Nesting Place for helping host the Giveaway Day and offering us a chance to participate– She’s featuring all of her sponsors, so do be sure to go there for more giveaways. We’re so happy to be featured along with some very cool companies.  Thanks, Nester!

…and Thank You, Everyone!  You have until Midnight on Thursday, November 3^rd, to get all your comments in. We choose a Winner via Random.org and their name will be announced by Saturday morning, November 5th.  We hope to see your entries and look forward to seeing who the fabulous Winner is!  Good Luck!

Well, the writing is on the wall….and the mirror…and the chest….and the floor!  Our unique new French poetry typography stencil is showing up everywhere these days and it’s thrilling to see it used in so many creative ways. First, the wall…

Michele has a beautiful blog called Hello Lovely Inc. where she mixes lovely imagery with poetic writing. She was smitten with the Springtime in Paris stencil as she is a writer herself and has studied French. A perfect fit! She not only stenciled her bathroom wall…

…but cleverly transformed a mirror she was thinking of throwing out by stenciling directly over the front with acrylic paint.

Stenciling on mirror is always fun because the mirror will reflect your artwork (as well as your feet!), providing an interesting dimensional effect.

Note that you will need to take care cleaning a mirror like this because the paint will not bond super good to the glass. The upside to that is that you can always remove it later if you wish. Michele also has an Etsy shop where she sells lovely vintage jewerly and clever collage art interspersed with her OWN poetry.

The ever talented Miss Mustard Seed, aka Marian, also did a fabulous post this week featuring the Springtime in Paris stencil on a rehabbed vintage chest. Marian’s specialty (well, one of them) is transforming furniture that she sells in her shop in Virginia.

She used Annie Sloan Chalk Paint (of course!) to quickly change the base color from drab green to soft Cream and then stenciled the typography across the from with (appropriately) Paris Gray. I have no doubt this piece will be finding a special home soon!

And now, to the floor!  My dear friend Barb Skivington has a fabulous decorative painting and design studio in High Point, NC called Faux Works. Barb is also an Annie Sloan Chalk Paint distributor and certified national teacher for the line. You are probably seeing ASCP ALL over the blog world used on furniture but the paint can also be applied directly over concrete-to beautiful effect!

Barb mixed it up a bit by adding in other elements such as our Paris Postage Stamp and PostMark, along with quotes we have available as Modello Designs masking patterns here.

We actually did a similar treatment on one of the Marrakech Painting trips, and I absolutely love the layering of words and images for a floor application, don’t you?? Decorative typography can be so inspiring…

I hope this inspires YOU.

Fabric stenciling is an easy, fast, and fun way to create some custom patterned projects around your home. I recently shared a great stenciled Roman shade project that Jen at Tatertots and Jello did with our Chain Link stencil  in this post. Jen does some really lovely DIY projects and I was thrilled to see her latest stencil project post using Royal Design Stencils on fabric napkins from Target to create some chic, coordinated pillows for her kitchen banquette.

Jen used our Chain Link stencil again, and this time paired it with the Endless Circle Lattice stencil. Martha Stewart has recently added her name to a line of new decorative painting products from Plaid, which Jen also used, though any fabric paint would suffice. Gotta love Martha…..

Look how adorable these pillows look on the black checked fabric!  Thanks Jen, for yet another inspiring project! We are enjoying your new stencil addiction!!

Guess who’s going to be talking design and stencils on Design Talk Radio THIS Wednesday at 2pm EST/ 11am PST??

Did you guess?? Yes, I will be chatting about stencils and decorative painting “live” with Carrie for about an hour. If you miss it or want to tune in later while enjoying a glass of wine or coffee (you get to pick your poison!) there will be a recording available. Hope you can check it out either way!

Whoa! Wait!! It’s THURSDAY already?! Did anyone else just blink and find the week almost gone??? I was meaning to post this on Monday (well, longer than that actually) because this is something kind of BIG!

A few months ago, we received a request for a bunch of stencils from our Moroccan stencil collection from Better Homes and Gardens for a possible feature in their July issue. They had actually chosen stencils to use from another company already (not sure which one), but when they saw ours they decided to make a switcheroo. They “hinted” at  a possible cover shot, but couldn’t say for sure, and we waiting patiently with fingers drumming….

You can imagine how THRILLED we were to see our Small Chez Ali stencil used on multiple pillows on the cover, as well as some great interior shots! You can imagine that we are cutting a LOT of Endless Circle Lattice stencils these days with this beautiful blue wall stencil application to showcase it!

There is even more great stenciling shown on another page where they used our Moroccan Inlay stencil on even more stenciled pillows, and the darling Chicken Stitch stencil on some curtains. As you would expect from Better Homes and Gardens, they did a fabulous jot with the styling and photography, and we are so appreciative to see our stencils put to such gorgeous use!

More stencil excitement! Just yesterday, a friend turned my on to this “Decorating Rules You Can Break” feature on the Better Homes and Gardens website that shows our Japanese Kyoto stencil cleverly used as a feature panel between two curtains on a wall. How cool is this! A lot of times you don’t necessarily want to stencil an allover pattern “allover” and the coordinating curtains provide a nice frame. I could totally see this idea working on a bed wall, with the stencil pattern acting as a “headboard” that is softly framed by the fabric!

But wait! There’s even MORE to this stencil tale!! One of the bloggers featured in the July Better Homes and Gardens article is the talented designer, Lauren Liess of PureStyleHome. While I was enjoying perusing her delightful blog yesterday, I stumbled upon a great stencil project that she did for her nursery.

This clever canopy is actually a canvas dropcloth that she stenciled with our Small Indian Paisley stencil motif in a repeat pattern to create a damask effect. Notice how she repeated the same motif on the front drop of the canopy to create a stenciled border. Simply. Brilliant!

Lauren has some other smashing stenciling in her home, via a classic Ralph Lauren stencil pattern.

Isn’t this a great look?? I love the color and, even more, the fact that her sweet husband actually did the stenciling for her. Good man!!

Well, that’ s my big stencil news for this week. Pretty exciting, huh??