How-to’s

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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Spring is right around the corner! Why not celebrate the warm weather by having a spring-themed dinner? Whether you invite your friends over or it’s just dinner for one, this table runner will inspire you to have a delicious spring meal!

To make this table runner you will need: a roll of craft paper, paint, Honey Bee stencil set and stencil brushes.

Step 1 Start by measuring your table and cutting the paper. You want the piece you cut to be slightly longer than the table so that your table runner hangs over the table on both sides.

Step 2 Roughly decide where you want to stencil the hexagon pattern and the bees. Have fun playing with the interaction between the stencils and your utensils. Try overlapping your bees and honeycombs or surrounding your centerpiece with bees.

Step 3 Stencil the hexagon pattern using a stencil brush and paint. Remember that stenciling is a dry brush technique. So use very little paint and apply several layers.

Step 4 When you’re ready to stencil the bee, start by stenciling the silhouette of the bee using a dry brush technique. Once that layer is completely dry, stencil the detail layer over the silhouette.

Show us what your table runner looks like @stencil1!

Having your friends over for a drink? Make all your guests feel like a star by serving their drinks on this fabulous tray we made using our star stencil, a part of a set from our new Stencil1 stencil line!

You’ll need a wooden tray, multi-surface paint, stencils and stencil brushes.

Step 1: Make sure that the tray you are using is not coated. If it is, just sand it down a bit before painting. Start by roughly deciding where you want to stencil the tray. We decided to do several stars, evenly spread out.

Step 2: Place down the stencil and begin to paint it. You can secure the stencil onto the wood with tape or simply hold it down with your hand. When painting, use a dry-brush technique. This means you are using very little paint and applying several layers.

Step 3: Finish stenciling the rest of your tray. If you need to overlap a painted star to stencil a different part of the tray, make sure the paint is completely dry to avoid smudges.

Step 4: When you are done stenciling allow the paint dry. You can use a blow dryer to speed this up. Lastly, make your drinks and assemble them on your new tray! Don’t forget to share your pictures with us @stencil1

This past Friday was the start of the Chinese New Year. We celebrated at Stencil1 by making this gorgeous piece of art on hand made paper. We layered our stallion stencil over our scallop pattern stencil—part of our new Stencil1 stencil line with Plaid! This layering technique creates a beautifully intricate and festive look.

For this piece you’ll need: stencil brushes, scallop pattern stencil, stallion stencil, multi-surface paint and hand-made paper.

Step 1: To start, we mapped out where we wanted to stencil the pattern on the paper. We used hand-made paper because it went with our Chinese New Year theme. But you can make this on any surface—a shirt, pillow, canvas, cardboard etc! We decided to cover the paper with the scallop pattern fully except for a border around the edges.

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Step 2: Next, you can begin stenciling! Stencil using a dry brush technique, this means using very little paint and applying multiple layers. If you are stenciling on paper, you have to be extra careful not to use too much paint. Start extremely light and add on as needed. We used yellow, red and a metallic copper to get an umber look. To do this, we used three different brushes to paint different sections of the design. Try to blend your colors and don’t be afraid to overlap.

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Step 3: Let that first section dry and move the pattern on to the next section. Use the part you already painted to align the stencil. Repeat this step until you’ve fully stenciled the paper.

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Step 4: Once your paint is dry, you can stencil the horse. We used black because it resembles the black ink used in Chinese art. Place the stallion stencil centered on the paper. And use a brush to paint it in. Remember to use very little paint. Use a circular motion to cover the larger areas and an up and down dabbing motion to cover the more detailed areas. Apply as many layers as need to achieve the color you want.

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Step 5: Allow your paint to fully dry and then frame your art! Place it somewhere in your home or office and send us a picture of your work @stencil1

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Whether you have a significant other or just love yourself, why not tote around the good vibes? This easy how-to will show you how easy it is to custom stencil a tote bag using our HEARTS 4-pack stencil, some multi-surface paint, and a stencil brush on a basic cotton tote.

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FIrst thing you want to do is insert a piece of cardboard into the tote. This way your paint won’t bleed through to the back of the bag and it will provide you a flat surface to stencil on. Heart_tote_Stencil1_2

Now place your stencil where you’d like your design to appear.

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Time to whip our the fabric paint!

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Stenciling is a dry-brush technique. Always remove excess paint from your brush before you paint in the design.

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I usually fill in my designs completely and evenly but I wanted these hearts to look airbrushed with a little dimension. The way you achieve this effect is by working from the edges inward in a swirling motion. As the brush gets less paint on it, you then lightly paint in the center.

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See 🙂

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Repeat the process. I switched colors but I did not wash my brush or my stencil as I wanted to blend colors. That’s up to you!

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And again!

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I did this four times, sort of a motion to the hearts…

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Once the design dries, heat seal with an iron for 30-60 seconds per area.

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Tote your happy hearts around like my friend Libby did, spreading a little love in the NYC subway!

For the January 2014 CHA show in Anaheim, California I debuted my new Stencil line with Plaid. It was a fantastic show and it’s always fun and inspiring to walk the show and see all the innovative, new products coming out for the art industry. I was very pleased to meet the guys at the Ironlak booth, a classic spray paint brand out of Australia. They introduced me to their new line – SUGAR. The name alone got me. The packaging is on point as well – Bold, direct, and spells out all the selling points of this great new spray paint. LOWEST VOC’s in a spray paint. That means happy lungs! The formula is a harvested sugarcane alcohol based acrylic, not petroleum. So as a stencil artist I love it because it dries super fast. I visited the booth each day, watching their artists demo the product (yes indoors) and then arranged to get my hands on some cans for video how-to’s posting to Ulive.com.

Here is a sneak peak at our vintage plate makeover using Stencil1 stencils and Sugar spray paint. Rat stencil soon to be released. The paint sprays clean and evenly, like a perfect mist and I did the project in my studio (with the window opened). Amazing results.

We are the first to debut this paint and I can’t thank Ironlak enough for the opportunity. SUGAR is yet to be released in the USA as of this post but as soon as it does, get your hands on it, it’s quality!

STAY TUNED for the full video!

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