I love stencils. There are so many beautiful ones out there and I have bought my share of them. But lately I’ve been wanting to use stencils that I created. A while back I cut two out with my soldering tool. That was fun, but I wanted more intricate stencils like this one I just made.
I have been looking at cutters for a long time, but couldn’t justify the cost since I don’t scrapbook much anymore. These machines looked like so much fun, but how could I use it in my art? This is where Lisa Chin over at Something About Nothing sold me on this new gadget. On her blog she created a stencil from a photo with her Silhouette Portrait. That is exactly what I had in mind – making stencils from my pictures!
The Portrait is a small machine compared to the popular Cameo, but with the smaller size came a smaller, more in my budget, price tag. After hours of online research, I took the plunge and ordered it.
Since I was interested in making stencils I quickly looked for a photo to work with. I found my favorite picture of my marbling water.
After isolating the bottom left flower in Photoshop Elements, I duplicated it twice, saved it as a PNG file, and imported into the Silhouette software to make a stencil.
Even though my Portrait came with vinyl, it wasn’t the kind I wanted to use for a stencil on fabric so I stopped by Blick’s and purchased Grafix Dura-Lar. It worked great, although I would like the material to be a little bit heavier.
That is so cool! It’s amazing how this little machine can make such intricate cuts.
I grabbed several pieces of my dyed fabric and stenciled with Metallic Copper Lumiere.
I can think of so many pictures I’d like to turn into stencils to use on my fabric and on paper. Talking about an obsession! Wow!
Awesome, Lynda! I love being able to make original tools to use in my artwork, and have spent a fair amount of time carving stamps and stencils… this looks so much easier, and I think your results are great!
Judy, Thanks. I was quite impressed at my first attempt. I see lots more stenciling in my future. This machine does make it so much easier.
Love it!! Cool idea! I cannot justify another big purchase at this point, but if you were to figure out how much to charge for making stencils based on drawings or photos that could be emailed to you, and provide that service, that might just turn out to be awesome!!!!!
OH MY…….THIS IS TOO WONDERFUL. If I lived closer to you I would beg to come play for a day. Will have to investigate this new “tool/toy” myself.
Mary, Thanks! I’d love to have you play with me!!
Annette, Thanks. Now you’re trying to get me to work, huh? 🙂 Does sound like a great service.
It looks like you’re going to get alost of use from this tool, love your results! Have lots of fun!
Diane recently posted..March & April
Hi Diane, Yep, it’s going to get a work out here! Thanks for dropping by.
What a neat idea! 🙂
Thanks for joining the Link Up this week!
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What a cool tool!! I’m off to check this baby out.
Halle G recently posted..Sharpie tie dye
Thanks Jess!
Halle, Thanks for dropping by. It’s a cool tool for sure!
Wow! What a fantastic idea! I bet I have a craft friend who owns one of thse . . .you’ve got my mind working overtime.
Rinda
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Rinda, Glad I could get your mind working overtime!!
Hi! I also discovered that the dura-lar works well for stencils. However, lately my silhouette has not been cutting the dura-lar well even with a new blade. Would you mind sharing the settings you use when cutting dura-lar. I can’t remember what I was using before changing the blade, and now cannot figure it out.
Thanks!
Suzanne
Suzanne, My settings are blade 3, speed 3, thickness 33, 2 passes. I hope that helps. Thanks for dropping by.
You do a really great job presenting the info in a clear easy to follow manner- Look forward to coming back and finding more things to PIN!
Lauren, What a sweet comment. Thank you so much!