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I have become obsessed with quatrefoil patterns recently and found this one online.I decided to attempt to cut my first stencil, using this little gadget I picked up at Michael’s in the summer. It’s called a Versa Tool and it comes with several attachments (exacto knife; wood burning attachment, etc) including one for cutting/burning stencils. I think it cost me about $30.

I put a craft cutting board under the print out and placed the clear stencil paper on top.

Then I taped everything in place. I also decided to trace over top of the pattern with a felt, just in case I needed to remove the paper from underneath the plastic (I was worried about the hot point burning the paper).

I waited until the tool was nice and hot (it only takes a couple of minutes) and began by lightly dragging the tip starting at the top of the sheet, toward me, rotating the paper as I moved around the stencil. I found that I had to re-trace everything twice to get right through the plastic.

Then I popped out the little pieces.

Voila! Here is my stencil… for some of the little jagged edges, I took the hot tip and gently ran it along these to melt and flatten them a bit.

I used some aqua colored acrylic paint and a piece of scrap material to test out the stencil.

Here it is with the pattern extended:

It was much easier to make than I thought. You could also use an exacto knife to achieve the same thing.

I can’t wait to try this out on a piece of furniture!

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