To celebrate the official launch of it’s Threshold collection, Target built a life-size, two-story Dollhouse in Grand Central Terminal. I attended the event, exploring each room and checking out the furnishings and accessories. The new line is completely refreshing and on trend with it’s color choices, use of pattern, and overall handmade and painterly quality to the accessories.

I first entered the kitchen and was drawn to these colorful storage jars with a chalkboard  face. I love the DIY feel of them and you get to customize them to say whatever the contents are.

The space also incorporated some industrial style counter stools and cage pendant lighting which was so well balanced with the clean modern kitchen. I loved the overall feel of mixing new and (what looks) old.

As a stencil designer and pattern lover ( http://www.stencil1.com/topic/stencils/patterns-stencils) , I was immediately drawn to the dining room and living room set-ups. They featured beautiful textiles, gorgeous patterns on rugs, placemats, baskets, napkins, and pillows. They took the trends and took them to the next level. Think Ikat and Chevron but exploded!

The pillows were my favorite as they layered a hand-painted feel with embroidery layered over top, again, a real hand-made quality.

Finally, I strolled over the outdoor garden area where they brought the inside outside with colorful outdoor rugs and more floral painterly pillows, amidst their cozy and tasteful outdoor furnishings.

Overall, the line has a lot to offer. Natural looking accessories, handmade feel, quality woven throws, whimsical floral textiles and all at Target prices. You can see the entire line at  http://www.target.com//threshold

See all our pattern stencils here and to see how to do it all, watch our how-to video on creating a repeat pattern on your wall using one stencil here.

Good Luck!

A few months ago I paid tribute to  Mommie Dearest by creating a stencil of her at her most insane rant in the film, screaming ” NO WIRE HANGERS EVER!”  Well, how else to spread the fun times than to also have a sticker made of this icon.  StickerApp.com is the hero in this story. Their site makes it incredibly easy for you to upload and have a die cut sticker created and sent to you in a quickie!

They also have a library of designs you can choose from, seen here. And they offer custom printed skins and cases for your phone with a visual app to see how it would look, my leopard banana image shown here! Truly no one else would have the same case if I order this!

Well, I got to sticking my stickers and the first one I applied was to a Moleskine black journal. I carry these everywhere and like to customize the to distinguish it from others. I love, love, love Moleskine journals, a blank canvas to make your own. Some stickers then appeared outside, not sure how   Check out StickerApp.com and show us what you made!

I am a list maker, a dreamer, and always thinking of new things I want to make. For this, I like having a journal with me at all times. On the train, when I travel, or just lounging around.  The Stencil This journal was made to inspire people to stencil(using the cover and back which are plastic laser cut stencils) and to journal and draw on some hopefully inspiring pages. I choose some of my favorite stencil designs and Chronicle Books and I made them really come to life with some painterly treatments. You’ll see in these pictures I use the pages to plan videos, draw doodles of new designs, and test newly cut stencils such as this whale. I like how he works with the existing artwork becoming a quatrafoiled whale amongst spraypainted splats!  I slashed the price of the journal and you can get it HERE. ENJOY!

Wrapping a stencil around a bottle is not so easy and etching creme is thinner than paint so it seeps a lit under a stencil unless of course you are using these new adhesive silk-screen stencils by Martha Stewart. Yes, Martha and the people at Plaid have created yet again a fool-proof tool so you can be creative and not worry about messing up! These silkscreens are really easy to use and lots of tasteful designs to choose from.  Here’s what I did.

First, I peeled the silkscreen off of it’s backing and placed it where I wanted the design to appear on the bottle. The back is sticky, re-positionable, and reusable.

Here’s a better shot so you see it really is a screen. This helps control your paint or in this case etching cream.

Then with protective gloves on,  I brushed a generous amount of the cream onto the open areas of the stencil. Go in a few directions so you don’t see brush strokes.

After 15 minutes, I rinsed the bottle with the screen still attached in the sink.  I peeled the screen off at this time and washed the bottle, the brush, and the screen/stencil.

I dried off the bottle and that’s when you can really see your etched design!

To finish it off, I carved an old champagne cork for the top and tied some twine around the neck to give it a vintage look.

It was so gratifying, I went hunting for more glass bottles! Hope this inspires you and please show me what you make!