Stencil Making

I have really enjoyed working with stencils lately that I thought I’d try making my own.

But before I tell you about that, I wanted to share what we did Sunday. Hubby and I drove over to New Harmony (Indiana) to see Katherine Sands, one of my new artist friends I met via this blog and then my column. Kathy makes the most beautiful fiber art. She has an exhibit now in New Harmony at the Women’s Institute and Gallery. Her reception was held in November, but I was sick so didn’t get to go. When she said she was going to be there this past weekend, I just had to see her and her beautiful work.

This photo does not do her wall hangings justice.

I’ve really enjoyed interviewing all of the artists and crafters for my column over the past year and a half. They have been a wonderful talented group willing to share their craft, shortcuts, ideas, and encouragement. But of all of the artists I’ve interviewed, Kathy has not only inspired me, but has gently pushed me to make art.

When I went to interview her, I felt like I already knew her since we had emailed so much. I took  my ice dyed fabric for her to see. She loved it. I’ve never considered myself an artist, so that reaction from a “real” artist made my heart happy.

Anyway, it was so nice to see Kathy and her stuff.

Now to the stencil making. Christy of gulfsprite posted a video the other day about making stencils with a soldering iron. My Aleene’s Ultimate Crafting Tool would be perfect for this task.

So to make the stencils you need some type of stencil materials. Christy used transparencies. I had some quilt stencil making material left over from my quilting days in that last lifetime. You also need a piece of glass and a design. I printed out a design from my printer – just easy squares.

Once you have that design printed out, place it under the piece of glass on your work table.

Place the stencil material on top of the glass. Tape the glass, paper, and stencil material to work surface.

With the soldering tool, burn over the lines on the design.

Then pop out the openings and clean up any edges with either an X-acto knife or a scissors.

These are the two stencils I made. The one on the right was inspired by a trip we took in September. More about that later.

Then I got out a journal page and played with these stencils and a few more things in my room.

That was fun. Using a soldering tool is challenging for this beginner. It also is stinky as it burns the plastic. But I liked the results and will probably  make more.

You might want to check out and subscribe to Christy’s You Tube channel. Yesterday she had a video on making your own spray paints including cleaning the nozzles. It was very informative and was nice to know that I’m not the only one who’s nozzles get all stopped up.