Monday, August 8, 2016

Cutting a Stencil

I spent a few days at the River House.  I had a little burst of creativity.  I'll be sharing the results this week.  Here is the first project which was not very successful but was a learning process.

I decided to cut my own stencil.  Never tried before.  I wanted a stylized rose.



I've had a sheet of stencil material for ages.  It was a piece that came free with something else.  I used an xacto knife and really found the cutting hard.  Sort of like hacking through the plastic.  I've since looked at other stencil sheets that are very thin and flexible so if I try again I'll buy those.

My plan was to stencil four roses  on a thrifted lampshade.  I intended to flip the stencil to get 2 leaning each way.


I managed one.  It was difficult and probably not a very sound idea to try to stencil on a curved surface.  Especially with a stiff sheet of stencil material.  When it didn't come out well I went back in with a brush and tried to tidy it up.  Not sure that helped - and I didn't get the "stencil" effect that I was looking for.  One rose and I'm done!  I didn't want to spend more time on something I didn't like.

The lampshade was only $1.49  I've decided it will be my "sample".  I can try other things on other parts of the shade before committing to the real thing.

If any of you use stencils, have cut stencils, know anything at all about stencils send help.  I'd still like to execute my idea at some point.




6 comments:

  1. Your rose is lovely. It is hard to cut from stiff plastic. I mostly use waxed paper to cut stencils, you can use them quite a few times if you are careful and they are much more flexible, as well as being easier to cut. Hugs, Valerie

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  2. Great idea to use this as a sampler. I like the rose. Was the stencil material very stiff - it wouldn't bend very well? Did you tape it to the lamp? If it wasn't intentional, the mottled effect was quite nice.

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  3. I like the rose too Darla. In fact, the lampshade looks nice with just the one rose. Maybe you could add a matching ribbon around the base? Happy stencilling.

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  4. I actually like your rose. Far better than anything I could create.

    I have some old plastic folders I plan to use one of these days to make a few of my own stencils. They are rather thick, but are quite pliable and definitely not stiff. You can pick up both plastic and paper ones during back to school sales. You can use both sides of the folder and get quite a bit of bang for not much money. I think I've seen them for about a quarter at some of the office stores. Not sure that's what you wanted to know, but it's what I plan to use.

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  5. I love your idea! Know nothing about cutting stencils, though. :)

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