Hello crafty friends! Mindy here and I'm back to talk about stencils! The particular stencil I'm using today is the gorgeous new Stencil Art: Strong Oak (to be released on 03/13/2025 at 12PM EST). To say I love this stencil is putting it mildly. I have so many ideas planned for this stencil but first, I needed to get to know the stencil.

Welcome to Creativity Unlocked, where we highlight a new product from each month's collection or a fan favorite from past collections!

Before I begin playing with different color combinations, I like to get to know the stencil by first starting out with how it is intended. This will familiarize me with the different layers and as I'm blending, I'm usually thinking about other color combinations that would look good or where I could bring in darker colors for additional depth.

I also like to use the Inspiration Guide provided with the stencil. This gives color suggestions that make a great starting point.

For my card, I'm using the Green Valley Fresh Dye Ink, Coffee Break Fresh Dye Ink and a mix of blending brushes including the large, small and mini blending brushes.

I also recommend the 9″x12″ Ultra Sticky Mat: Grid to hold the stencil in place while blending. It's a go-to for me lately when using layering stencils.

There are different ways you could place this stencil too and that's something I think about when creating. I start with a larger piece of white cardstock and the stencil in the middle, but you could place the tree off to one side to make it look like the scene continues.

Of course, if you want to create an ink blended background (which I intend to do in the future), you can use the coordinating die to cut out this image. This opens a whole new world of possibilities!

Now that I see the gorgeous detail in the tree and how the different layers work together, I can start really experimenting!

To put the finishing touches on this project, I splattered with gold and green Metallic Watercolor 14 Pan Set I mainly did this because I wanted to see how it looked for future projects with this set.

I also kept the sentiment simple so I could show off the beautiful oak tree. This sentiment comes from the Build-A-Garden Oxeye Daisy (to be released on 03/13/2025 at 12PM EST) which I thought paired nicely with my metallic splatter.

Now think of all the bright greens that you may see in the Spring/Summer. Or maybe you enjoy the rich colors of Fall like me? Or mix up the colors like a yellow and red to represent the transition of the leaves? What about a fairytale tree with a galaxy-type of blended background and fairy lights? All of these ideas are swirling around as I create a simple oak tree.

I hope this simple step of getting to know your stencils helps you explore your creativity! I can't wait to see what you create with the Strong Oak!

-Mindy

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