Friday, February 11, 2011

Welcome Back.

Welcome back! All right let's get down to business. In this blog I will be talking about the tools of the trade.

In the last blog I gave you a list of suggested tools that will help you create your stencil.

First and foremost there is the pencil. I use a black Dixon Ticonderoga pencil. Although, you do not have to use this particular one. I will suggest that you use a pencil with a great eraser. So, if you accidentally buy a pencil with a crappy eraser that just smears whatever it is you are trying to erase I suggest you toss it out the window and go try again.

Secondly, you will need poster board. Well, I use poster board but really you can just print off the image and go from there. I use poster board because I want to use my stencils more than once. If you have something better than posterboard, thicker than poster board then great stick with that.

Thirdly, an x-acto knife is a must have. If you didn't guess it this is the tool that will be used to cut out the stencil. Now, the x-acto knife comes in a variety of blades. For starting out just go and get the original x-acto knife. Just pop on over to Wal-Mart and head towards the craft section and there it is. They run about three bucks or so.


If you want to get fancy with your cutting then head over to you local hobby shop and browse the extensive selection that x-acto has to offer. But for the beginner the classic x-acto should do the job.

Fourthly, I suggested a cutting board. I would further recommend that you do not use a wooden cutting board or any other cutting board that allows you to feel a raised surface. You want one that will stay smooth. A smooth cutting board will allow you to rotate the paper on it without the fear of having a cut out section of you stencil snag on part of the raised surface. This could tear your stencil and all that work will have been for nothing. Especially, if you are cutting out a stencil from regular paper.

Lastly, get yourself a lightbox. The lightbox is the best thing when it comes to tracing. If you can't afford a lightbox then no worries  I'll tell you how to make one.

It's pretty simple. Just take a box and put a flash light inside of it. Then take a sheet of glass and put in on top of the box. And there you have it. A makeshift lightbox.

Do I still have your attention? Good, next time I think I'm going to talk a bit about...stencils. I would love for you to join me.

1 comment:

  1. stenciling looks like it will be a fun and creative thing to do.

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