I have made a stencil tonight and feel somewhat proud of myself.
HOWEVER there has got to be an easier way to do this? Because the stanley knife dragged too much I switched to a razorblade which gave me loads more control but also cut my fingers to shreds. Oh the dilemma...

The bitch of it is that I fucked it up so it'll only be good for one use then I'll have to make another from scratch. Booo. I can't believe I stayed up til 4am doing this....aaaargh!

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Goodness I was tired when I wrote that. Have a picture:

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A small good scissors?
I made a stencil with one before and just taped up the uneccessary slits I made to get to the picture I was cutting. I dunno really
bookstore's good at that printy stuff

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Thanks kr for the subscription! Much love..

Using acetate rather than paper is always a good start. Acetate generally tends to hold its shape a lot better, and doesn't crumple/wrinkle like paper does.

It also cuts a lot more "easily". It cuts nicely in long smooth lines rather than having a tendency to want to rip as paper does, and tends to create less drag on your knife. That said though, it is a bit thicker, and requires a bit more force to get the initial cut through.

Whenever I've been cutting anything like that, I've used a scalpel with a very pointy blade. My sister had a scalpel with a bunch of various blades that I used to borrow, it was pretty handy. Having a "pencil-like" point helps when cutting out awkward shapes and tight curves.

yeh my mate who does well amazing stencils uses thick card (the kind you get from art shops that costs a quid for a huge sheet) and a scalpel. he is always is changing the blades on it
i dont think there is an easier way
haha
printmaking and stencil making is bloody time consuming and hard work thats all i kno