“I stenciled my kitchen and it changed my life!” - Helen Walker, Founder of Designer Stencils. When showing off her stenciling to her friends, Helen said “I love this so much that I could quit my real estate job and do it full time.” With their encouragement that is exactly what she did – one month later in November 1982, she opened The Stencil Shoppe and soon after that created her own line of stencils, Designer Stencils. “Anyone can stencil! Whether you are 6 or 96, stencils allow you to be an artist without knowing how to draw or paint.” 40 years later, Designer Stencils is still showing home owners, crafters and now bakers/chefs the benefits of stencils. Helen’s daughter, Carol, is now at the helm but Helen still has her hands in the everyday production of designing and manufacturing. “It’s been such a joy creating a true family business.” Helen’s husband managed the bookkeeping and machinery. Carol joined after college and learned graphic design to bring the stencils from being hand-cut to cutting them by machine. Over the years, you would see Carol’s children helping out at various trade shows too! Today we have over 3000 current designs to fit almost any taste. We represent a wide variety of artists – thus the name Designer Stencils. With all our designers we can provide a variety of patterns to fit most any style or décor. Plus – if you don’t see what you want, we can design a custom stencil to make your vision a reality!
