First stencil I made - things I found

This is back from July 2008

Just a quick post as I was just on the subject of stencils; Here is one I did last night, my first proper one.
I printed it out then glued it to a thin piece of cardboard and let it dry for a few min's.
I only am doing them to cardboard at the moment because a/ that was my first stencil and I was just seeing if I could do it.
b/ They are just for my hubby to play around and get to know his new airbrush
c/ Although the overhead projector paper is only like $1 a sheet, it adds up if you stuff up (ie: learning)
Things I have learnt so far:

• When cutting it is a lot of the time easier to move the thing you are cutting around corners than the knife
• To use a stanley knife rather than a scalpel
  
• To not be afraid of little skinny bits left on the stencil as it is sturdier than it looks
• When searching for stencils on the internet you can also include pumpkin carving (that is what this one above is supposed to be for)
• Keep the bits you cut out, they can also be used for effects (they are called the masks)
  

Also, next time my husband and I go in shopping, I have to check something out: when researching on which is cheapest plastic to cut stencils on, someone said that you can buy it by the meter from your local craft store. And, also to stop by your local hospital too see if you can take the throw away X-Rays.
Back to the plastic by the meter though, I have in my head that plastic you can buy by the meter to use as a protective table cloth, I mean it is cheap, it is flexible and it is strong.
Will let you know more when I try it out :)

Update: I have since tried two different plastic by the roll clear table cloths. Much cheaper than buying the acetate, but very different to cut. The first one I bought was too thick and you could barley get the knife through it. The 2nd 1/2 meter is much easier to cut, yet lacks the sturdiness so you have to be careful about it moving around, I am going to get a size on between them both next time I go and I shall write down which size to update whether it works or not :)