Cutting Machine Stencils with Rae Gun Ramblings

Today we've got a special guest, Marissa from Raw Gun Ramblings, with a great Cutting Machine Tutorial: How to Make Freezer Paper Stencils.  So let's get to the goods and see how to make these!

Hi, I'm Marissa from Rae Gun Ramblings.  I blog about all things crafty, tasty, pretty and just plain life. I'm an insanely huge Harry Potter fan, fresh pasta addict, and married to a crazy talented musician. I also run a handmade baby and toddler clothing shop on Etsy called Rae Gun. Hopefully you'll stop by my blog and shop and see some of my latest adventures.

Today I want to show you how to use your cutting machine (or an exact-o knife plus some patience) to make awesome stencils. Sorry most of my examples are Harry Potter themed, I wasn't kidding when I said I'm a big fan, but the wonder of freezer paper stenciling is that you can make anything you want.
  
Freezer Paper Stenciling

1. Pick your design and cut it out of freezer paper. You want the shiny side down so consider that while positioning. I used my Cricut and put the shiny side on my mat when I cut my stencils out but you can use a Silhouette or even an exact-o knife and put a print out under the freezer paper to trace. I use a program called Sure Cuts A Lot for the Cricut that allows you to cut almost any image you find or make on your machine. Keep in mind that when you pick a design the simpler the better. When I cut the Potter font it usually takes me 3-4 tries and when I cut the Lego Star Wars stencil it took me 2 tries (luckily the paper is cheap and comes in a gigantic roll). This is the most time consuming and annoying part. And you may need to trim it a little when you're done cutting.

2. Iron the stencil on your shirt (or bag or whatever). Shiny side down. Be anal about this make sure you do a good job getting all the edges. This is the step that I worry about most since if you don't have it ironed tightly, paint might get onto parts you don't want.

3. With a board or more freezer paper (shiny side up towards the part of the shirt with the stencil) in between your shirt layers use fabric paint (I got mine at Jo-anns and Michaels) and a foam brush and apply the paint. Blot and smoosh as opposed to brush.  Don't go too heavy at once just keep on blotting and adding a little paint at a time. I add a pea-bean size amount to my brush each time.

4. Next you pull off the stencil. I like to wait about an hour. It will still be wet so be careful not to touch the paint and not to touch the wet stencil to the shirt. Sometimes I use one hand to lift the paper and the other has a pin to either hold down the shirt or lift up stubborn parts of the stencil.

5. Let dry and enjoy.

I hope you stop by my blog to say hi and definitely let me know if you have any questions or try it out.

Thanks for sharing this today Marissa!  Don't forget there's a new giveaway for some great cutting machine tools going on now - click HERE to head over & enter!