Yay, I can safely say we've left summer and launched the best time of year! There's now a distinct crispness to the morning air; fading flowers are being replaced with glimpses of fiery colors on neighboring trees; and I'm already planning my annual family Thanksgiving gathering up in Maine. Those plans are being complicated by the fact that our house there is mid-renovation . . .
But, today, I'm not going to worry about rotted walls, sagging ceilings, or the inevitable contractor mishaps! Instead, I'm casting all reno-woes aside and focusing on celebrating fall, my favorite season, with my latest round of Prettier PlaquesTM stencil sets! I've got three leaf-laden newbies that I hope will dazzle, including "Gobble" (aka "Woodland Turkey", which is also my Stencil of the Month*), "Fall" (aka "Fall Foliage"), and "Be Thankful" (aka "Autumn Harvest"). Sitting in fourth place in the graphic below is "Gather", a throwback to last year. It was one of the very first sets I launched, and remains a great fall seller, which is why I'm pointing it out again to you all today! 
All of the above five-piece stencils sets can be purchased on my partner Stencil Ease's site, here. (You can also find the sets sold as separates under "Backgrounds", "Messages", etc.) But before you do any shopping, I encourage you to read up on my Stencil of the Month Club here, or in the asterisked footnote below. In short, joining my club is a great way to realize significant savings not only on my special Stencils of the Month, but also on all stenciling products on the Stencil Ease site.
Now, onto those new stencils! As always each month, I like to leave you with a stenciling tip or two, and ideas for possible color combinations for my latest sets. Let's start with "Gobble", seeing as it is my special stencil this month. From a color standpoint, you can certainly go all-out with fall hues, as I did here with six different colors (electric green, orange, red, dark brown, light brown, and black) . . .
But, if you go this route, please remember my tip from last month about "conscious color commingling", meaning don't try to keep each and every color within the boundaries of particular stencil parts. Not only will you go crazy trying to do so (many design elements overlap on this background stencil), but you will also miss out on the nuanced, natural color effects that come from spraying one color directly on top of, or next to, another to encourage blending. For instance, I purposely sprayed three colors into the leaves (electric green, orange, and brown) and four into the turkey (orange, red, brown, and black). As you can see in the video below, the background stencil looked like a mess of color before it was lifted, but the reveal was really quite pleasing . . .
Now, if spraying six colors is more than you have time or attention span to do, you can just as easily go minimalist. The turkey-and-leaf background pattern is so richly detailed that it looks gorgeous even in one or two colors, as shown here with brown and electric green . . .
And, don't forget, many of my background patterns and messages can be mixed and matched. Here, I used the message, mask, and frame from my "To: Mom" set to create a Thanksgiving place card for my mother using all six colors:
Alternatively, you can skip "Gobble" altogether, or any other message for that matter, and leave the message area open to receive the names of all of your Thanksgiving guests! I ended up getting custom stencils cut with all of my family members' names, so I can do something like this for each of them this year:
Of course, the names could also be piped, painted, or hand-drawn, so don't feel limited if you can't get custom stencils.
Enough about the "Gobble" set! I think you've got the idea - there's lots of versatility with these sets. 
Now, let's close out this post with some color combinations for my other two new sets! First, "Fall" looks sweet with a dash of antique blue amidst classic fall hues . . .
And, "Be Thankful" is another organic pattern that truly benefits from "conscious coloring commingling". Here, I've used five colors (yellow, orange, brown, electric green, and leaf green) to give this cookie a distinctly autumn-y look:
Again, all of my September sets and more can be found on my partner Stencil Ease's site at www.stencilease.com/juliausher.htm. If you have any questions about ordering, please direct them to service@stencilease.com. Design or technique questions can be directed to me at sweetlife@juliausher.com at any time. 'Til next month, live sweetly!
* As a reminder, my Stencil of the Month is part of my Stencil of the Month Club (naturally! ), which works like so . . . Once you subscribe, each month you'll automatically receive a surprise five-piece stencil set (the Stencil of the Month) valued at $18.99 for just $14.99 plus shipping and handling. Members also get an exclusive members-only 15% discount on all stencils and accessories on the Stencil Ease site. After you sign up, Stencil Ease will send you a personalized letter from me that explains when you can expect your stencils each month, how to redeem your 15% members-only discount, and a few other things. If you have any questions about these logistics, please check out the Stencil of the Month Club webpage, or send inquiries to service@stencilease.com. (Note: The Stencil of the Month is also available to non-Club members, but only at full retail price.)
Comments (13)