Not-So-Simple Stencil

Introducing wooden sign # 2 – Stenciling!

If you think way back (or simply look at my last post from May) you will remember that I left a To Be Continued picture of some leftover pink paint.  Here is what I did with that pink paint.

 

I know what you’re thinking, “Stenciling, really?  You haven’t stenciled before?”  And in actuality, no I have never stenciled.  I have seen it demonstrated, I have read about it, but I have never tried it out for myself.  So here we go…

Technique

Stencil: a thin sheet of material, such as paper, plastic, or metal, with letters or a design cut from it, used to produce the letters or design on an underlying surface by applying pigment through the cut-out holes in the material.

This Wikipedia description goes into much further detail and if you’re interested in their more in-depth definition click on the link below.

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Stencil

There are lots of good tutorials on the web to help you get started.  A simple Google search will yield any number of sources for stenciling.  Now you can purchase any number of plastic stencils at most craft stores and I have some in my craft room.  However, I wasn’t really inspired by anything I saw so I decided I would make my own stencil for this project.

Materials

Pre-cut wooden sign

Sand paper

Soft cloth

Pre-cut craft wire hanger

Paint (in a variety of colors)

Stencil brush

Assorted paint brushes

Pencil

Plastic stencil -OR- Piece of cardboard (plastic if you have it) to make your own

Exacta knife

Cutting mat

Masking tape or painters tape

Additional embellishments

Hot glue gun

Side cutter

Needle nose pliers

 

STEP #1:  As with the previous signs, you should prepare your surface for painting.  Lightly sand any rough spots on your wooden sign using a medium grit sand paper.  Remember to sand in the direction of the grain.  Take a soft cloth and wipe away any remaining dust.  Even if you purchase a pre-fabbed wooden item, it’s always a good idea to give it one last sanding before painting.

STEP #2:  Paint a base coat on your wooden sign.  I do recommend that you paint all sides and ends of the wooden sign with your base coat.  Remember this little picture?

 

Well, I immediately painted this wooden sign after I had finished my last project so it was already dry and ready to go when I finally got around to working on this stenciling project.

 

STEP #3: Time to make my stencil.  Trace or draw the image you will be stenciling onto a piece of cardboard or plastic.  If you want one continuous image simply trace the outline.  But if you want more definition in your image remember to create “connector” lines to add some “white” or unpainted spaces inside of your image.

“How did you decide what image to use?”  After some deliberation as to the content of this particular sign, I decided I would work with one of my favorite subjects – shoes!  Believe me deciding which shoe to use was no easy task with the multitude of footwear styles and designs out there.  I created a little inspiration page with images of shoes that I liked or I thought would be easy to draw.  Then after mulling them over for a while I narrowed my choices down to three.  I printed them approximately the size I needed for my sign and cut them out and tried them on the wooden sign.  Low and behold one image seemed the best option to me.



You can see the "connector" lines I created adding depth to my image.

 

 

STEP #4:  Using an Exacta knife cut the image from the cardboard or plastic.  Always protect your work surface by using a cutting mat.  Be very careful not to cut any “connector” lines.

 

STEP #5:  Tape your stencil to your sign so it will not shift as you paint and to cover up any parts of the stencil you may not want painted.

“Wait a minute your sign is really small.  How did you tape your stencil down?”  Well, I actually wasn’t able to tape my stencil in place.  I had to hold it very firmly as I worked.  If you are stenciling a large surface, like a wall for instance, taping the stencil in place is much easier and definitely more helpful on a vertical surface.

 

“Why are using a plastic stencil?  I thought you just made your own stencil out of cardboard?”  Yep, I did make my own stencil for the main image, but I also wanted some light stenciling in the background so I chose to use part of one of my plastic stencils from my stash.

STEP #6:  Load your stencil brush with some paint and take a paper towel or other soft cloth and blot off any excess paint by bouncing the brush up and down onto the paper towel.  You should have very little paint left on the brush.  Note, do not pre-wet the brush as this will cause the paint to be a little runny and possibly leak underneath your stencil.

 

STEP #7:  Position your stencil and bounce your stencil brush up and down over the section of stencil you wish to paint.

The nice thing about plastic stencils is they clean up easily.

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

STEP #8:  Let your paint dry before repeating any additional layers.

“How long should I let it dry?”  Because you are using very little paint it should not take long to dry at all.  I think my paint was dry in ten minutes.

 

Layer number two…

 

Main image…

 

“WHOA!  What happened?” As you can see my main image using the stencil that I made did not come out so great.  I did not notice when I was cutting, but I partially cut one of my “connector” lines. So while I was painting the connector line came completely loose and I ended up with paint where I didn’t want it to be – YUCK!  I also only had a flat head or straight cut stencil brush that seemed to put a lot of pressure on the stencil, the results of which I was not happy with.  So next time I might buy one of the brushes with a more rounded head to see if that will soften the blow, so to speak, as I paint.  Now I had to fix my messy mistake.  I simply broke out my regular paint brushes and adjusted the image by hand.

I ended up using a fine paint brush and silver paint to adjust the image.

 

STEP #9:  Decorate! Any additional decorative painting can be done at this time.

STEP #10: Once you are happy with your decoration you can seal it using a thin coat of polyurethane or other finish.  This particular sign didn’t POP enough for me without a finish, so I used a little Mod Podge to seal it.

 

STEP #11:  Cut a piece of craft wire to the length you would like your hanger using a side cutter.  Last time I used the whole length of the pre-cut wire I had, but it was too long.  So, this time I cut it with my side cutter at 12 inches.  This is the perfect length for this size sign.

 

 

 

STEP #11:  Bend the craft wire in a half circle.  Push each end through the holes in the sign going from the back to the front.  Leave about 2 inches of wire hanging out the front.  Bend the hanger up in the back so that the wire is in line with the sign, creating a surface to “hang” from a nail.

 

“Your picture at the beginning shows beads on your hanger.  When do you put those on?”  I took one end of the hanger out of the hole in the sign, and then slid the beads on for embellishment.  I also used my hot glue gun to glue a couple beads on the front of the sign and secure the beads on the wire hanger.

 

 

STEP #12:  Use the needle nose pliers to twist the 2 inches of wire in the front of the sign, creating a curly-q effect.  And another sign completed!

 

This particular project, however simple it might have seemed, was tougher than I thought it would be.  I would definitely recommend using plastic if you are going to create your own stencils.  The cardboard cut and ripped too easily and it soaked up some of the paint which bled through a little bit.  But I also learned that it is an art to load the proper amount of paint on your brush.  This is definitely a skill that must be practiced to be perfected.

 

Have you had any projects that seemed so simple in the beginning but ended up a disaster?  How did you fix the mistakes?  E-mail me at quiltedcowgirl@gmail.com and you just might see your story on my “Ramblings”.  Happy crafting!