Playing with Stencils: Exploring Repetition, Pattern, and Personal Designs

Playing with Stencils:  Exploring Repetition, Pattern, and Personal Designs
By Amy Rice
Gifted by Quarry Books
www.quarrybooks.com
Reviewed by Melissa Conner, Editor for FaveCrafts.com

Stenciling is perhaps one of the oldest crafting techniques known to man.  People have been doing it for several years and it's an art form that remains popular even to this day.  While stenciling is often used for lettering projects, creating canvas art, or for kids crafting, there are literally hundreds of other ways you can use stencils both in your crafting and around your home to create beautiful decorations that literally jump off the walls!

In her new book, Playing with Stencils, author Amy Rice talks about how you can turn your own illustrations, doodles, and even your photographs into useable and fun stencil designs.  She teaches you how to design, enlarge, transfer, cut and burn stencils onto your work surface, and offers helpful hints and suggestions for creating designs that will work for you.  With beautiful full-color photographs, this book is a crafter's delight...and is jam-packed with tons of great projects for livening up your home decor.

I love the variety of projects included in Playing with Stencils.  From stunning dressers (check out the Old Wood and Antique Letters dresser) to clever ways to use stencils when decorating a cake, this book is really geared towards crafters of all mediums, and can be used for any multitude of things!

I love the Reverse Stencil Planters.  This totally smart stenciling technique uses a masking method to create an image outside the shapes masked off.  In many ways, this technique is much easier to do because you don't have to worry about bridges and other stencil tricks.  Using every day materials like paper scraps, stickers, and Duct tape, you can create a beautiful floral design that looks like it was professionally done...and no one will believe that you created this with materials in your junk drawer!

Complete with patterns that you can copy and cut out yourself, as well as 20 clever and fun projects that you can make using the stencils in the book or your very own design, Playing with Stencils is a great book for anyone looking for budget-friendly, fun, and unique ideas for updating their home decor.  With clever wall decorating ideas and fun ways to use stencils on canvas and cloth, this book will totally transform how you look at the humble stencil...and will have you looking at your illustrations and doodles in a whole new light.