Tips & Tricks

How to paint your wood sign project without bleeding under the stencil

  1. Prepare the wood surface: Ensure that the wood surface is clean, smooth, and free of dust or debris. Sanding the wood lightly can help create a smooth surface for painting. Wipe away any dust after sanding.

  2. Position and secure the stencil: Place the stencil on the wood surface and make sure there are no gaps around the letters and designs. If you find any, push them down with your fingers or gently with a plastic card. 

  3. Use a dry brush technique: Load a the white sponge with a small amount of paint and then offload the excess paint onto a paper towel or cloth. The brush should be almost dry to the touch. This dry brush technique minimizes the amount of paint that could potentially bleed under the stencil.

  4. Apply paint with a gentle tapping motion: Lightly tap or hop  the paint onto the stencil openings using an up-and-down motion. Avoid brushing the paint as it can increase the likelihood of paint bleeding. Apply multiple light coats if necessary, allowing each coat to dry before applying the next.

  5. Peel off the stencil carefully: Remove the stencil while the paint is still slightly wet. This prevents the paint from drying and sticking to the stencil, which could result in a jagged edge when removing the stencil.

  6. Touch up any imperfections: If you notice any areas where the paint has bled under the stencil, you can carefully touch up those areas with the  small brush and matching paint color. Use a steady hand and a light touch to avoid making the touch-up obvious.

  7. Allow the paint to dry: Let the paint dry completely before handling the wood surface. Follow the recommended drying time for the type of paint you used.

11-3pm Holiday Market/Small Business Saturday by heatherlindseybennett

Workshops Available

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Frequently Asked Questions

About Our Workshops

Do I need to sign up in advance for workshops?

Yes. You will want to reserve your seat for our workshops online. If you’re unsure of what project you’d like to paint, it’s NO PROBLEM! You can choose our Save My Seat Option at the bottom of the gallery to reserve your spot. This $15 fee is applied towards whichever project you pick that evening. If you do choose the Save My Seat route you’ll want to arrive 15-20 minutes prior to the workshop time so you have a chance to view the selections and choose your project. Late arrivals will only be able to choose from the projects on hand and you do need to choose prior to 6:45 when the workshop starts. 

Can I bring in food and drink?

Absolutely! Crafting isn't as fun if you're hungry or thirsty! We don't have a kitchen or drinks on hand (unless stated for special workshops), so our studio is has a BYOB policy! While we don’t have any food or drink for purchase you are absolutely welcome to bring in your own beverages (including beer & wine) and snacks to enjoy during your workshop! 

Do I have to be creative or artistically talented?

Nope! We exist to help bring out the inner artist in you! Our team of talented and super patient instructors will guide you through step by step-- and even help with those little imperfections before you head out the door! We want to make sure you LOVE not only your experience, but your art too!

What are the limited edition projects and why can’t I paint them anytime?

We do try to include a wide variety of designs in our gallery for you to have options to paint at our Pick & Paint and Boards & BYOB workshops. But there are some designs that we haven’t been able to release due to complexity of cutting or preparation and the instruction style being different than our normal projects. We wanted to be able to offer these projects, but some are only available on the specified night because of these differences and the instructors that are trained to teach the process. If you can’t make the workshop the majority of these projects are available as a take and make project at the discounted pricing during the month they are featured. Many of them will not be brought into our normal project gallery, but the the ones that do will be at regular pricing after their promotional month. This also gives all of our instructors a chance to train on the new projects. 

What is the difference between Pick & Paint and Boards & BYOB?

The only difference between these two workshops is the time of day they are offered and the age requirement to attend. Our Pick & Paint is family friendly and all ages are welcome to attend-- from 1 to 101 (younger than 1 and older than 101 are welcome too of course!). 

Our evening Boards & BYOB is our adult only workshop. These workshops are designed for adults to get away for girls’ nights out, date nights, or individuals looking for a little me time. 

Both workshops have over 1,000 options to choose from, a start time and an instructor that guides you through step-by-step to create a project that you love. 

Why don't you have Open Paint anymore?

We loved being able to offer Open Paint for so long, and we may bring it back one day-- but especially during our busier seasons, we want to provide the best experience for all of our painters. By knowing how many people are attending the workshop and having a workshop start time, it allows a seamless experience and helps us have the right number of instructors present for the workshop.

I don't see a time that works for me. Do you offer times by appointment?

Absolutely. You can schedule a private party workshop on our website under the private party tab. Our private party fee is $75, and then each guest just pays for the project they select. This gives you your own instructor and use of our private party room for 2.5 hours. We do not have a guest minimum for our private parties, so you can have a party of 1 up to the 50 people that our studio can accommodate. If you are looking for a private party with over 12 people, please let us know so we can schedule our public workshops around it so you can utilize the larger room or both rooms if needed. 

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