How To Create Stencils For Card Making

Welcome friends, I’m so glad you’ve stopped in to visit today. I love sharing ways you can use the products in your craft collection in new ways, and today I want to share another use for your dies and punches, which is creating masks to use with blending brushes, sponges, or spritzers. This can be a simple way to make some truly stunning card projects, and I’m excited to share several ideas with you. Let’s get started and talk about how to create stencils for card making!

How To Create Stencils

Creating stencils and masks is simple. Instead of using your dies or punches to cut through paper, use them with acetate window sheets instead. Cutting through window sheets can be a bit more difficult than cutting through paper, so I’ve included a few tips below for making it easier.

Tips For Cutting Through Window Sheets

When using punches with window sheets, I find that they typically punch through, but I need to press harder than usual to make it happen. If you have problems punching, you could try layering a piece of paper with the window sheet and punch them together. Otherwise, just be prepared to press hard!

For die cutting with acetate sheets, I suggest laying down one or two layers of scrap cardstock on your cutting plate, then place the window sheet and die on top. Add the top cutting plate, and run it through your machine. This makes it just a touch harder to crank, but it makes all the difference in getting the die to fully cut through the window sheets.

Now that we have our masks created, let’s talk about how to use them.

How To Use Your Stencils

The sky is the limit with how to use your new masks. My favorite ways to use them are with blending brushes or spritzers. If you have sponges in your collection, you can sponge around them too. You could even use them with markers or with a special trick to emboss with them. Just use your creativity here!