Using stencils: ink, paint and paste without bleeding

A stencil is the quickest tool for bringing a blank background to life. You lay it on your paper, go over it with ink, paint or paste, and lift it off. Done. The tricky part is the edges: a little too much colour and the pattern bleeds into a fuzzy blob. A few simple habits will stop that happening.

Stencils and masks

A stencil is a thin sheet of plastic with a pattern cut out of it. The colour goes through the openings and lands on your paper, while the rest stays clean. Think of grids, drops, waves, leaves, text or a delicate floral design.

A mask works the other way round. It's the cut-out shape itself, such as a circle or a leaf. You lay it on your paper and colour in everything around it. Under the mask, the paper stays white, or whatever colour was already there. Many stencils come with a free mask: the piece that was cut out.

You can mask with other things too. A stamped image covered with masking paper stays clean while you colour the background around it. And with narrow masking tape (tape that peels off easily) you can mark off boxes or stripes that stay white after inking.

What you can put through a stencil

Roughly speaking, there are three kinds of material, each with its own effect.

• Ink gives a flat, soft pattern. You apply it with a blending tool (a handle with a round foam pad) or a stencil brush. Water-based ink such as distress ink blends beautifully, so you can create a colour gradient.
• Paint, such as acrylic paint, is more opaque and gives a bolder colour. You dab it on with a sponge or a stencil brush.
• Texture paste, also called structure paste or modelling paste, adds relief. You spread it over the stencil with a palette knife, so the pattern stands out on your page and you can feel it.

There are also sprays: ink in a spray bottle that you mist over the stencil. This gives a looser, speckled pattern, lovely as a soft background under photos.

Ink through a stencil

Pick up only a little ink on your tool, tap it off on a scrap sheet first and start beside the stencil, on the plastic. Then work in small circles towards the openings. That way you never get a blob of ink landing on the edge all at once. Three thin layers are better than one thick one.

If you want a gradient, start with the lightest colour and add a darker shade on one side. By using brushes in different sizes, you can let a pattern fade out softly on one side, as if it's blowing away. Also fun: shift the same stencil a little and repeat it in a second colour.

One variation is reverse stencilling. You put the ink on the stencil itself, mist a little water over it and press it ink side down onto your paper. This gives you a watery, mirrored pattern. You can do the same with a roller: roll ink onto the stencil and transfer the pattern to the paper with the roller, which gives a softer, slightly irregular result.

Paint through a stencil

With paint, it's tempting to load up generously. Don't. Pick up a small amount on your sponge or brush, dab most of it off on kitchen roll and then tap straight down onto the stencil. Don't wipe: a wiping motion pushes the paint under the edge.

Texture paste through a stencil

Paste is the most forgiving, as long as you hold the stencil firmly. Scoop some paste onto a palette knife and spread it over the stencil in one or two strokes, like butter on bread. Then go over it once more with the edge of the knife to scrape off any excess. A thin layer gives crisper shapes than a thick one.

Lift the stencil straight away, straight up, before the paste starts to dry. Then let the paste dry completely before you stick anything on top.

You can colour white paste beforehand by mixing in a drop of acrylic paint or ink. Or colour it with ink or paint once it's dry. Also lovely: sprinkle embossing powder onto the wet paste, tap off the excess and heat it with a heat tool. Be careful not to heat it for too long, though, as the paste can start to puff up. Sometimes that's actually a nice effect, but don't count on it.

Keeping the stencil in place

A stencil that shifts gives you double edges. So always secure it before you start.

• Low-tack tape: masking tape or washi tape on two or four sides. Tap the tape on your clothes or your hand first, so it sticks less strongly and doesn't tear your paper.
• A magnetic board: a metal plate with magnets or magnetic strips that hold the stencil and the paper in place at the same time. Handy if you stencil a lot.
• Repositionable spray: a low-tack spray adhesive for the back of the stencil. The stencil then lies flat everywhere, including in the middle. Use it sparingly and let it dry for a moment before you put the stencil down.

If you're working on two pieces of paper side by side, for example for a card in two colours, tape the pieces together on the back first. Turn them over, place the stencil exactly in the middle and secure it at the sides too. Then nothing will shift while you're spreading.

Stopping paint from seeping underneath

Bleeding is almost always caused by one of these four things.

1. Too much material at once. Pick up less on your sponge or brush and build up in layers.
2. A stencil that doesn't lie flat. Put a warped or newly unrolled stencil under a few heavy books overnight. Spray adhesive helps too.
3. Wiping instead of tapping. Dab straight down, especially with paint, and work from the edge towards the middle of the opening.
4. Working too wet. Ink that has made the stencil wet creeps along the underside onto your paper. Wipe the underside of the stencil clean in between whenever you move it.

Smooth, sturdy paper helps too. Thin paper buckles under paint or paste, which makes the stencil lift. For paste, choose sturdy cardstock (thick, plain card) or a panel that you stick onto your page afterwards.

If it does go wrong, don't throw it away straight away. Cut out the part that worked, or cover the messy edge with a stamped image, a piece of tape or an embellishment, a decoration you stick on top. Nobody will ever notice.

Cleaning stencils

Clean your stencil as soon as you've finished, and with paste, immediately. Dried paste and acrylic paint are almost impossible to get off, and a crust on the edge gives you a messy line next time.

• Paste and acrylic paint: straight under the lukewarm tap, with a soft brush or a sponge. Lay the stencil flat in the sink while you do this, so delicate bridges don't snap. Have a tub of water ready if you can't get to the tap straight away.
• Water-based ink: a damp cloth or a baby wipe is usually enough.
• Stubborn ink, such as pigment or solvent ink: a stamp cleaner or a special stencil cleaner.

Try not to rinse large amounts of leftover paste down the drain. Wipe most of it off first with kitchen roll or a putty knife. Let the stencil dry flat on a cloth and then store it flat, for example in a binder with plastic sleeves. Small paint stains that won't come off are no problem, as long as the edges are clean.

Making your own stencil

Making your own stencil is easier than you think. You'll need a sheet of sturdy, transparent film, such as a thick overhead transparency or film sold specially as stencil material. For a one-off, even a sturdy plastic sleeve or a piece of card will do.

1. Draw or print your design and lay the film on top.
2. Tape it down onto a cutting mat.
3. Cut out the shapes with a sharp craft knife. Turn the sheet as you go rather than twisting your hand; that gives smoother curves.
4. Watch out for loose inner shapes, like the middle of an O or an A. Leave narrow bridges, or that part will fall out.

If you have a cutting machine, you can let it do the cutting. Choose the stencil material setting in the software and do a small test cut first, so you know whether the blade goes deep enough. There are also stencil sheets with a low-tack back: they stay in place by themselves, which cuts down on bleeding a lot.

Making your own is ideal for a title, a date or a motif that goes with your photos. And if you clean it well, you can use the stencil again and again.

A few ideas to get you started

Not sure what to do with your stencils yet? Try one of these little challenges.

• A soft background: one stencil, one ink colour, across the whole page, with your photos simply on top.
• A border: a wave or leaf stencil just along the bottom or in one corner of your page.
• Boxes: divide your page into boxes with narrow tape and fill each box with a different stencil in the same colour.
• Texture: one motif in white paste next to a photo, to give the page something you can feel.

Start small, on a separate panel or a tag. That way you'll find out how much ink or paste you need before you start on your best page.