Help with stencil

chucken1

Hi all. I'm hoping someone can help me with this.

We had a beautiful 15 year old tree growing out the back,but it fell down during the storms. It was the first tree we planted together and it was just very special to us.

So heres what I'd like to do! Ive kept some branches with leaves on them and I wanted to somehow use them to make a stencil for the sitting room walls.

I've no idea how to even start!! Or if anyone had any other ideas on how I could preserve forever,our little piece of history!

artyeva

i'm just thinking off the top of my head here but what you could do is photograph it from whatever angle you think looks best, print out the photo as big as you can, then get some tracing paper and trace the outline onto the paper. draw a grid on the tracing paper, then scale up to however you big you want the finished thing to be on the wall, and draw the boxes onto the wall, but draw really really lightly with pencil. then draw exactly what's in each box on the tracing paper onto the wall, then paint. oh - and then rub off the pencil grid obviously.

or you could turn off the lights and shine something like a torch or spotlight onto the wall and use the shadows of the branches to trace round. does any of that make sense? i'm not very good at explaining it, lol.

if it were me though? i think i'd probably just wait for the branches to season [dry out] then hang them on the wall, or put them in plaster in a plant pot or something. but then i like odd crap like that. or you could make a lamp out of a bit of the branch? or if they're big enough and depending on what kind of wood it is, seek out your local woodcrafter and see if they could make something out of them for you, like a bowl, an ornate box, a small table, a picture frame, some kitchen utensils, a bird house, a house name plate or a wall plaque, keyrings, candleholders... you get the idea!!

chucken1

Thanks for your ideas. I think now we're going to forget the stencil idea,it would probably be a bit OTT. I like the idea of a photo frame..it would be easy enough to make. And I love the idea of leaving a piece to season to hang on the wall. The hubby has made a little chair out of one piece (for a teddy bear)

artyeva

ha, no bother. picture frame - or mirror frame would indeed be easy enough to make. i see what yer saying bout the ott-ness of the stencil though. personally, if you have the space for it i think they can look really striking. i would LOVE to paint something along these lines in our hallway but mr artyeva is yet to be convinced

chucken1

artyeva wrote: »

ha, no bother. picture frame - or mirror frame would indeed be easy enough to make. i see what yer saying bout the ott-ness of the stencil though. personally, if you have the space for it i think they can look really striking. i would LOVE to paint something along these lines in our hallway but mr artyeva is yet to be convinced

Oh thats lovely!! Mr Artyeva has to leave the house sometime..;)..do it then