Cork boards are awesome because they can be great functional pieces of art. They take on paint really well and serve as a great surface to pin your daily reminders on. Not only will you be on top of everything you have to do, but your office will also look great!

To make this pin board, you’ll need: 4 8 ½” by 11” cork sheets, multi-surface paint, brushes, double sided mounting tape and our cherry branch 11 x 11 stencil.

Step 1: Lay out your four cork sheets side by side so that they form a square. Place your stencil on the top right corner of your square. Angle it so that it looks as if your branch is part of a big cherry blossom tree.

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Step 2: Using brown paint and a stencil brush, begin to paint in the branch. Make sure to use a dry brush technique, this means that you are using a very small amount of paint and applying several layers to make the color more saturated. Use an up and down dabbing motion to paint.

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Step 3: Rinse your brush, or use a different brush to paint your petals white. If you are re-using your previous brush, make sure you dry it really well. Again, use very little paint and an up and down dabbing motion.

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Step 4: We love the colors of cherry blossoms. To simulate that look, we used a dab of pink paint (paint your plate a little bit to get the excess paint off your brush) to tint parts of the petals a pastel pink.

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Step 5: Use the stencil at different angles to paint some flowers and petals falling off the branch.

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Step 6: Once your paint is dry, put a piece of double-sided mounting tape of the back of your cork sheets. Hang them up arranged like you painted them, but allow them to separate a little bit from each other.  Snap a picture of your pin board and show us what it looks like in your home or office! @stencil1

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Individual clear stamps, also known as acrylic stamps, are easy to use and similar to rubber stamps. To use, simply peel off stamp from it’s backing, attach it to a clear stamp block and stamp away! These stamps are perfect for layering and for creating fun and graphic designs.


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One year ago, I began chatting with Plaid Enterprises about licensing my designs to create a line together. Well, cut to January 2014 and I am psyched to announce my new Stencil1 Plaid-FolkArt stencil line!  These new designs are so bold and graphic, and many are designed as multi-layered. I demo’d this process in my booth at CHA (Craft and Hobby Association tradeshow). Oh my booth that the Plaid peeps totally customized Stencil1 style – built a reclaimed wood and plumbers pipe table, hand jig-sawed some Stencil1 patterns and birds for more DIY décor, my booth just stated what I am all about- old meets new, industrial chic.

So,  I met the greatest people all day and it seemed to me that everyone really enjoyed the layering process. Here’s some pics of the happy crafters:

 

I shared the Plaid booth with the amazing Cathie & Steve and their new Mod Podge products. They introduced the world to the deco den trend and scored some design awards for their MOD MELTER. Inspiring!

Also to my side, was Candie Cooper, showing the gals how to make some on-point jewelry. Look at this pic I took of Candie’s handmade talents:

Then, Pinterest genius and ball of energy Rachel Faucett of HANDMADE CHARLOTTE was demo’ing her new stencil line on silk scarves. This release she focused on world culture influence, pattern, beautiful stuff! She also has these cutesy wood stitchables I need to get my hands on. Oh and some highly usable sticky backed stencils for stenciling rounded surfaces like glasses, clay pots, and other not so flat surfaces!

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I was visited my NY gal Erica Domesek of PS I Made This and we reminisced. Also got a hug from the genuine, and ever knit-savy Vickie Howell. I wish I had a pic of her loose yarn necklace, I’ll bug her for a shot of it.

I met store buyers, shop owners, crafters, locals, and travelers and had such a great time hearing each person’s connection to the industry.  Some even called me Big Daddy, those in the know of the legendary Ed “Big Daddy” Roth.  At night, I got to see some good old friends of whom have supported me for years including craft wife Jaderbomb and ever generous and supportive Jen Perkins as well as meeting new one’s – artists, crafters, business owners, and bloggers – all so excited to talk shop. We are all so fortunate to work in a creative field!

CHA was such a success and you will soon see the line out in major art and craft supply stores as well as on Stencil1.com   To think of my designs reaching more people is very humbling, I hope you enjoy !

 


Nikki, our Stencil1 intern, transformed an empty spraycan into a beautiful collectors’ item inspired by a Montana spraypaint can. This spraycan would look great on your shelf next to your cute robot toys and other stencil1 graffiti art!

She started by painting the can black.

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Once dry, she stenciled it with our mini spraycan stencil and applied the details by hand.

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Lastly, she painted the top green and attached it to the can.

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Show off your spraycans @stencil1!


1. Paint it!

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Make your pumpkins spooky with multi-surface paint! Try using one of our patterns stencils underneath your favorite halloween themed stencil!

2. Etch it!

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Use a dremel to stencil your pumpkin and give it this unique look!

 

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For an easy alternative, stencil your pumpkins with sharpie markers! This is a fast and simple way to get your house ready for Halloween!

You can use any of our stencils for these projects. Here are the ones we used:

Halloween 4-Pack

Owl

Birds and Bees 4-Pack

Antlered Deer

Royal Crown

Leopard Print Pattern

Moroccan Pattern