Hi Everyone!  Today over at the Pink Pagoda they’re having a cool Blue and White Bash!  I, of course, just had to get in on the fun!! Bounce over there later to see all the fun posts about all things blue and white.

Remember I said I have been working on something kinda loco??  Well, due to my undying love of the Summer Palace wallpaper by Osborne and Little I am working on creating a stencil to imitate the spirit of the original, with obviously, my own little twist.

Check out this beauty…

This is no wallflower wallpaper!  Look closely at the details… 3-4 different colors (depending on the color way), and lots of tiny, gorgeously maddening details.  And I love, love, love the blue and white combination.  Classic, yet adventurous.

So, where to start, right?  I headed over to staples with a word document of 1 repeat of the pattern and had them enlarge it for me on medium grade paper.  It will cost you about $10 bucks, but totally worth it.  I got mine printed to be about 10″ x 24″ and of course it’s blurry.  That’s where you get the power to decide how far you’re going to take the details.

I decide to do 2 stencils that will overlap to get the 3 color effect.  First, I’ll paint the wall white for color 1, next I’ll put on the slightly darker color with broad details, and then finally (if I can do all this successfully!!), I’ll put the 2nd stencil over the first, for the super details and the darkest color.

I began by marking out the second color with a bright blue marker.

Can you see my little lines?

Now, this is crucial.  You MUST make sure that the piece that you plan to cut out has a complete cut space.  And also, anything within that space will be cut-out too.  I know that sounds obvious but if you are imitating a wallpaper the way I am, you will have to manipulate the design a bit to make this possible.

Then I made sure to mark the template stencil and the plastic sheet with lines to match the centers together.

I actually taped both to my dining table with blue tape – which worked great!  And when I had to put my fun project away, I just covered it with a table cloth.  Haha, kids!!  Hidden from your little eyeballs!  So simple, yet so genius, huh?!

For stage 3, go back to your template and using a different colored marker, trace out the super details.  Then transfer that to the plastic sheet too.  It sounds so easy when you type it out – but I feel you if this is taking longer than you thought.  Just marking out my two stencils in-between calls, potty training and dishes took me two weeks.

Next, the cutting!!  Bu-ah-ha-ha!  Catch up, so we can do that together next week, ok?

I want to thank Pink Pagoda for this super fun chance to participate!

And as always, Happy Creating!  Tootles!