Testing 1 2 3
Well, I'm doing it. I really thought the white layer first (to provide a bright backdrop for the top colors) was the way forward; but while it worked fine on the perfectly smooth trial piece of plywood, on a hundred year old plaster wall? Not so much. The full design in the white is made up of 4 individual stencils that all have to line up perfectly. Then each color gets layered on top with a separate stencil and also, again, each must line up perfectly. A fraction of imperfect wall and a pinch of human wobble and you get: little bright white outlines everywhere that make you want to tear out your hair.
So, moving forward I have a whole new plan of attack, and I will be cutting fresh stencils as well. The top two stencils of the full design will be done in the light green, the bottom two stencils in the dark gold base shade, then all other needed colors will be stenciled atop those two colors. A tiny green or dark gold outline will be far less noticeable standing below the frieze than stark crisp white currently is, and hopefully this solves at least 50% of my problems. Also the spider web is going on in one layer, in the blue with no base, it's just too spindly!!
Which is to say: I spent two hours trying to fix the spider webs as best I could with a tiny paintbrush after the issues became apparent whilst layering today, and now my neck/back are upset with me. The best way to "clean up" the edges turned out to be a black gel pen, but then the "ink" dried just slightly more shiny than the matte paint, so I have 3 different black paint pens on order now and I'll have to see which works best! I'm going to redo the bottom greek key border bit as well without the white base.
So I'm still very much in the middle of making this all work in practice. Do allow me to brag about one thing though: I painted the blue boarder on the wall and ceiling by hand without taping it off ✨😂 You aren't supposed to put tape over freshly dried paint, and seeing as the last layers on the wall were well under 24 hours dry, I had to go in tape-less! I drew the lines in with pencil, but then just cut the edges with my brush while holding my breath. At least that part worked!
Will update again later in the week, thank you for your support!!
Comments (26)
it's beautiful, and you're taking so much care to get it just so - amazing! I would very much be at the "done is good enough" stage by now, you have amazing commitment
For someone who is always mentioning on her sewing videos how lazy she is, you’re pretty darn patient and meticulous! Beautiful work as always!!
Omg!!!! Simply extraordinary!!!
Lovely!
This is absolutely STUNNING Bianca … to say that we’re all waiting with bated breath would be an understatement. I cannot begin to even imagine the amount of work. It will take to complete each of these rooms but when you are done, you will truly have a masterpiece!!
That is absolutely GORGEOUS
Holy moly, that looks bloody amazing!! I really hope at some point you can show us how you did this (though I imagine filming the process will make it ten times as tedious!)
WOW!!!
GLORIOUS!
Thank you for this fabulous lesson on stenciling and inspirational example of tenacity...and this border is so cool...really, so cool!
Jaw droppingly lovely 🥰❤️✨ and stunning and sooo beautiful!!! You continue to impress and amaze! Cheering you on too!!
I am so in ae of all you talent and the passion you are putting in myking this house your home! All that trial and error woudl frustrate me so fast, but you can really tell how much love you have for this project. I am so excited to see it all come together!
It does look stunning on the wall though. Wow
That is some steady hand work on the blue!! Id have waves all over the place! I know it is all a pain now (literally to your back and neck) but it is gonna look sooooooo amazing!!!!!!
Kudos on the accuracy of your free-hand painting! Occasionally the painting gods do smile on one. I love seeing the frieze come to life.
Amazing!
That looks amazing despite the hiccups, wowzers, when you do get it done it's going to be jaw dropping.
If none of that ends up working the way you want, you could also try making a stencil for just the white sections that has a slightly smaller open area than the final shapes. The edges might not be as distinct but it’ll still make the center colors pop more.
I had the same thought.
I've learned in the last five years that homeownership is definitely a study in creativity. My favorite saying is 'May your life be uninteresting'. It may not turn out perfect but your designs are stunning and the house that will be lovely again is all yours! 🥳
It's absolutely beautiful! I think this room is going to dazzle when finished.
Even the first test looks great! It reads super well on camera too, which will be so nice for sewing videos. I hope that the stenciling will go quickly and smoothly from this point 💙💚🕷
Yes I completely agree!
It’s going to be sooooo gorgeous!
The charm of old homes is a fickle mistress.
This is amaaaaaazing 🎶