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Julia's June Stencil Release - Beach Cabana!

 

Evidently, both @Manu biscotti decorati and I have had beach cabanas on the brain!   While her recent cabana cookies were inspired by modern neon-colored huts in a beachfront area of Dubai, mine take after the time-worn boathouses and lobstering shacks that have dotted the coastline of Maine (my home away from home) for decades, if not centuries. I've even "distressed" some of the beach hut siding (top right, photo below) to make it look more weathered and authentically New England! But, more on that technique in a bit!

Let's talk first about what I'm releasing this month:

New June 2019 Stencils Large

As always, this month's release includes three new sets/stencils and one reminder:

And what do Stencil of the Month Club members get this month?! They get both my Beach Cabana Dynamic Duos™ Background Set and Confection Couture's Salty Air Accent Stencil. This specially curated bundle is worth $22.99, but Club members get it for only $14.99! Plus, they also get 15% off anything else on the Confection Couture site, as long as their membership is in effect! What a deal, right?! Because a picture is worth a thousand words, take a peek below at what I just said:

SOM_JUN_2019_IMAGE 5pix border

I'm partial to these Duos™ sets because they offer SO many options for layering elements in fun ways . . . beach umbrellas can be inserted into the sand; surfboards and oars can be leaned up against the boathouse or fence; a beach bag can be tucked under the umbrella . . . and on and on. But rather than talk about all these options, let me show you some of what's possible with just the background set! Also, a heads-up: I'll be releasing a video in a few weeks about these sets, so if you don't catch all of their nuances here, please watch my YouTube channel for that video.

Beach Cabana Dynamic DuosTM Background Set (7 pieces)Background ContentsBORDER 15

Below are just two of the many designs you can make with only the background set. (I also used it to create the fondant beach bag, surfboards, and oars that you see standing on their own in the sugar "sand".)

IMG_4514TWO NO MESS NICE

The cookie below shows a relatively simple use of the background set . . . a surfboard mask was placed on top of the background stencil with the hut; the background was airbrushed in multiple colors; and then the surfboards were sprayed in a simple royal blue. In short, everything was airbrushed directly onto the cookies. You could make it even simpler by reducing the number of colors, but I really wanted each of the elements in the background stencil (i.e., hut, fence, sand, grass, and sky) to stand out, and using distinct colors for many of the elements certainly helped to accomplish that goal.

(Aside: The colors used were Chefmaster Super Red for the cabana walls; AmeriMist Sky Blue for the roof, cabana bottom, and first pass at the sky and clouds; a custom mix of AmeriMist Royal Blue and Violet to make a truer royal/navy blue for the flag and lifesaver on the door; a light misting of AmeriMist Black to shade the clouds and sky; Chefmaster Harvest Brown for the fence; a custom mix of Chefmaster Harvest Brown and Lemon Yellow for the golden sand; and AmeriMist Avocado for the beach grass. Phew! That should be seven colors if I counted right! )

IMG_4567CUTE NO MESS NICE OPENER SINGLE BRIGHTER

And here's a closer view of all of those colors . . .

NO MESS MORE IN FORE CUTE SQUARE

Now, this second design is a touch more complex, because it involves the same number of colors, plus airbrushing directly on the cookie and making separate dimensional elements (using the same background stencil) to layer on top.

Single with umbrella SQ P GOOD

Here, the surfboard was made by airbrushing onto flat fondant, cutting out the surfboard shape, and allowing it to dry flat. The umbrella was done much the same way except that it was shaped and propped so that it dried with a nice umbrella-like curve. The beach ball is an airbrushed and stenciled royal icing transfer. Since my upcoming video will cover all of the finer points of these embellishments, I won't belabor them now. Let's instead move on to the complementary message and frame set, which includes the following seven pieces . . .

Beach Cabana Dynamic DuosTM Message and Frame Set (7 pieces)Message Contentsborder 15

So many message and frame permutations are possible, and, remember, they can be applied directly to cookies as shown in the first two images below . . .

IMG_44823 in a row CUTE OPENERIMG_4621NICE BLUE TRIO

Or they can be airbrushed and stenciled onto separate royal icing or fondant transfers, and then placed almost anywhere on your cookies (even extending off of them, as I like to do!) . . .

RED SALT IN THE AIRTRIO SQUARE NICE

Oh, before I forget . . . about that "distressing" effect I mentioned at the top of this post: you can see it on the red hut's siding, directly above, and also on the blue hut two photos up. Again, this technique will be demonstrated in my upcoming video, but I basically "age" the siding by spraying solidly in one bright color (in these cases, red or sky blue) and then shading the boards with a light airbrushing of black, concentrating that black along the edges of the hut to more sharply define its boundaries.

And, with this final photo (showing distressed and un-distressed huts side by side) and my usual recap of key links, I conclude this month's release! Hopefully, these sets have left you with plenty of inspiration for your upcoming summertime fêtes. Hey, that rhymes!

IMG_4538redduo comparing treatments

Key Links:
  • To purchase my Dynamic Duos sets, click here.
  • To join my Stencil of the Month Club, click here.
  • To see my entire stencil line, including my Prettier Plaques sets, click here.
  • To view my videos that show how to create layered looks with my stencil sets, click here.

If you have any technical questions about these stencils, just email me at sweetlife@juliausher.com or leave a comment below. Please, however, direct all ordering and Club questions to my stencil partner, Confection Couture Stencils, at service@confectioncouturestencils.com. Thank you!

ADDENDUM - AUGUST 16, 2019

I just released an instructional video to YouTube about this set. Check it out below!

Attachments

Images (14)
  • Julia's June Stencil Release - Beach Cabana!: Cookies and Photo by Julia M Usher; Stencils Designed by Julia M Usher with Confection Couture Stencils
  • Julia's June Stencil Release - An Overview: Cookies and Photo by Julia M Usher; Stencils Designed by Julia M Usher with Confection Couture Stencils
  • Julia's June Stencil of the Month Club Offering: Stencils Designed by Julia M Usher with Confection Couture Stencils; Graphic by Confection Couture Stencils
  • Beach Cabana Dynamic Duos™ Background Set Contents: Stencils Designed by Julia M Usher with Confection Couture Stencils; Graphic by Confection Couture Stencils
  • Two Cabanas Using Just the Background Set: Cookies and Photo by Julia M Usher; Stencils Designed by Julia M Usher with Confection Couture Stencils
  • A Closer Cabana View, Using Just the Background Set: Cookie and Photo by Julia M Usher; Stencils Designed by Julia M Usher with Confection Couture Stencils
  • A Still Closer Cabana View!: Cookie and Photo by Julia M Usher; Stencils Designed by Julia M Usher with Confection Couture Stencils
  • Blue Cabana Close-up Using Just the Background Set: Cookie and Photo by Julia M Usher; Stencils Designed by Julia M Usher with Confection Couture Stencils
  • Beach Cabana Dynamic Duos™ Message and Frame Set Contents: Stencils Designed by Julia M Usher with Confection Couture Stencils; Graphic by Confection Couture Stencils
  • Multi-Color Hut Trio, The First with Framed Message: Cookies and Photo by Julia M Usher; Stencils Designed by Julia M Usher with Confection Couture Stencils
  • Blue Hut Trio, The First with Framed Message: Cookies and Photo by Julia M Usher; Stencils Designed by Julia M Usher with Confection Couture Stencils
  • Un-Distressed Beach Hut with Framed Message: Cookie and Photo by Julia M Usher; Stencils Designed by Julia M Usher with Confection Couture Stencils
  • Distressed Beach Hut with Framed Message: Cookies and Photo by Julia M Usher; Stencils Designed by Julia M Usher with Confection Couture Stencils
  • Distressed and Un-Distressed Beach Huts Side by Side: Cookies and Photo by Julia M Usher; Stencils Designed by Julia M Usher with Confection Couture Stencils

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Comments (6)

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Manu posted:

😊😊😊 Amazing stencils!!! I like everything about these cookies from the depth you were able to create in each one to how you set up the backdrop 😍

Thanks! It was a challenge to shoot them and make it look like they were on a nice, sunny beach, as we have had nothing but dark, rainy days here all spring. I backlit this one with artificial light.

Julia M. Usher posted:
Manu posted:

😊😊😊 Amazing stencils!!! I like everything about these cookies from the depth you were able to create in each one to how you set up the backdrop 😍

Thanks! It was a challenge to shoot them and make it look like they were on a nice, sunny beach, as we have had nothing but dark, rainy days here all spring. I backlit this one with artificial light.

Well, you nailed it, because this is the feeling they transmit!

Pictures are the hardest part of cookie decorating for me.

 

Manu posted:
Julia M. Usher posted:
Manu posted:

😊😊😊 Amazing stencils!!! I like everything about these cookies from the depth you were able to create in each one to how you set up the backdrop 😍

Thanks! It was a challenge to shoot them and make it look like they were on a nice, sunny beach, as we have had nothing but dark, rainy days here all spring. I backlit this one with artificial light.

Well, you nailed it, because this is the feeling they transmit!

Pictures are the hardest part of cookie decorating for me.

 

Thanks - I've been waiting for three days for sun to shoot my 3-D folk art project.  I think it's going to be raining AGAIN tomorrow, so I'm just going to have to bite the bullet and photo it. I'm running out of time . . .

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