HERE'S WHAT YOU'LL NEED
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GETTING STARTED Very important: Work out your technique and color combinations on a sample first. It is always a good idea to make a sample. Use a wall in the garage, a piece of cardboard, or even an old pizza box as your sample surface. Make sure you like your color combinations and are comfortable with your stenciling technique before hitting the real wall! Make sure your walls are clean, dust free and in good condition. Any cracks or chips should be repaired, filled, primed and painted prior to stenciling. All base coats should be fully dried for at least 24 hours prior to stenciling. You can stencil over flat (recommended) latex house paint, faux finishes, plaster textures, wood, furniture, paper, fabric and even some wallpaper. |
Now pour some acrylic or latex paint on a foam plate or a paint tray. You don’t need much, about 2-3 tablespoons of paint is enough to start with. Have your dense foam roller (stencil brush) ready. Load your |
Now blot off the excess paint on a folded paper towel by rolling it back and forth a couple times. There should be no visible paint on a roller surface, it should look almost dry. Remember, it’s better to haveless paint on your roller than too much paint. About paint: Any waterbased paint should work. Craft acrylics are great, regular latex paint will work but the best in our opinion is the new line of Benjamin Moore paint called Aura. This paint is opaque and covers really well with 1 coat. It has just the right consistency and is also eco-friendly. OK, now you’re ready to stencil! |
STENCILING WITH A ROLLER |
You can easily check how you’re doing by carefully un-taping and lifting one corner of the stencil and taking a peek. Do you like what you see? Enough pressure or can it use a little more paint? If it’s too pale, just put the stencil back and roll it a couple more times back and forth, slightly adding more pressure. When stenciling lighter colors over darker colors, you may need 2 coats to achieve good coverage. Let the 1st coat dry for a couple of minutes and then roll the stencil again. |
Now remove the stencil and enjoy your artwork! A note for the impatient: Don’t just yank the taped stencil off the wall! It’s always a good idea to remove it somewhat slowly so the blue tape doesn’t accidentally pull off any background paint. |
Continue stenciling by repositioning your design until all walls/repeats are done. No need to clean the stencil in between repeats. Each |
We recommend a separate foam roller for each color. You can certainly use the same roller by cleaning it well under running water and drying it as much as possible before the next use. When you need to take a break from stenciling in the middle of the project, just cover your paint tray with plastic wrap, and tightly wrap a piece of plastic or foil around the roller to prevent the paint from drying up. When you’re ready to re-decorate, lightly sand your walls and simply roll 2 coats of basecoat paint over your stenciling and it’s gone. |
STENCILING WITH STENCIL BRUSHES |
It’s best to use a dabbing motion or a light circular motion with your brush. Just dab or swirl in a light sweeping circular motion, covering all of the design. (Here: |
TIPS, TRICKS AND OTHER NOTES To do the Bottom edge or side edges: Tape off the edge with bue tape. Then, simply bend the stencil where it meets the corner or edge, tape it in place and roll right into the crease. You can get deeper into the crease with a stencil brush. |
MISTAKES Usually it’s enough to just wipe off a fresh mistake with a wet cloth, baby wipe or moist q-tip. It is always a good idea to have some basecoat paint at hand in case you need to correct bigger mistakes. In this case, just re-roll or re-sponge your basecoat over a dry mistake. It may take 2 coats to cover. Let it dry completely and now you’re ready to re-stencil the area. About seepage and imperfections: Even with a proper loaded roller and correct technique you might get some minor seepage here and there. In most cases it's not noticeable, especially from a couple of feet away and it can be easily touched up with a small brush. Don't forget that you're creating a "hand-painted wall finish". A few imperfections and some paint seepage here and there are natural and inevitable for this type of work. To avoid seepage, use spray adhesive and less paint on your roller and brush. |
A WORD OR TWO ABOUT BRIDGES Bridges are the small sections of the stencil pattern that hold the stencil together. Some people prefer to paint over the gaps left by the bridges when the stenciling is complete. Doing this can sometimes improve the look, but is not always necessary. In general, we try to design |
ABOUT SPRAY ADHESIVES We find that it is not necessary to use spray adhesives with stencils. However, if you want to minimize paint seepage or are using high contrasting colors, adhesive is very helpful (Elmer's spray adhesive seems to be the best). Make sure you shake the can well and lightly mist (not drench) the back of the stencil, and let it dry for a moment before positioning it on the wall. This step will prevent the adhesive residue transferring to the wall. You'll need to re-mist the stencil after a few repeats. Clean-up tip: Spray the stencil with Simple Green to help to remove adhesive residue. |
CLEANING AND STORAGE After the |
Brushes are best cleaned under running water using this smart cleaning tool (see pic.) which helps to get out all the paint particles. Add a drop of Murphy’s Oil soap for better cleaning and for conditioning of your brush bristles. Liquid soap also works. REPAIRS |
February 25, 2012
Stencil patterns, wallpaper stencils, stencil designs for DIY decor
Stencil patterns, wallpaper stencils, stencil designs for DIY decor:
'via Blog this'
I love the 2d look stenciling gives a room! Here are some of the looks we create using stencils from:
Cutting Edge Stenciling and Blik.com
WWW.inspiredredesign.com