Stencils on the Silhouette Cameo

 Stencils Made Easy 

Simply put stencils are tools used to create repeated designs or patterns on surfaces such as walls, paper, fabric, or other materials. They are typically made of thin, flexible materials like paper, plastic, cardboard or metal. Stencils consist of a pattern or design with cut-out sections, allowing paint or ink to be applied through these openings onto the surface below.

Before my silhouette cameo I didn't put much thought into stencils, I either liked them or I didn't. I used them for a project or I did not think they were right for what I was trying to accomplish.

Then came the Silhouette Cameo where all things were possible it was just a matter of how.

The most important lessons I can teach you for stencils is to remember it has to be inside a solid shape, a box or rectangle if you will. 

For instance if you want to put your street number on a sign or curbside. Let's say your address is 1034 you must add a box around it. Example 1.

Example 1

The next crucial bit of knowledge I can pass along all bit must be attached. In our above example the center of the 0 and the center of the 4 have no attachment to the rest. Stencil 1.

Stencil 1

In some instances this is a fun look and can be incorporated into the design, but for this example, we want those center pieces attached.

This can be accomplished by drawing a small rounded rectangle for each piece we need to attach.

placing it across a straight section on an angle within the area.

Placing connecter rectangles

First make your number and your rectangle a compound path. Then highlight or select all of your items and weld. Now your stencil has no island pieces. 

Completed Stencil

Watch the YouTube video here

A few extra tips:

Start light, doesn't matter if it's spray paint, acrylic paint, or ink blending. Better to do multiple light coats than to have your paint or ink bleed under the stencil.

If you do not want it to look like you used a stencil to paint you can use a thin paint brush to go back over your work and fine line in the missing pieces. 

Another video about stencils is available over on our TikTok 

https://www.tiktok.com/t/ZPRTuocHS/

Recommended products to make address stenciling successful. By using our affiliate link we get a small percentage of the sale at no additional cost to you.  110lb Cardstock Blue Painter's Tape 

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