Advance Warning. The end of the uncut stencil.

When we started The Stencil Library in 1988 all our stencils were cut by hand.

Each order was printed in our basement studio then the individual shapes in the stencil were cut out using a surgical scalpel. Each evening my husband would help me to cut them out.  We listened to the television rather than watched it. When friends visited us they got used to talking to the top of our heads because we rarely looked up from our cutting boards until the days orders were fulfilled.

We offered our customers the option of uncut printed patterns as an alternative to the ready cut stencil.  Their investment in time and skill to cut the stencil was rewarded with a cheaper price. This was a popular offering and in those days a lot more people were willing to spend the time cutting in order to save money.

As technology and our bank balance improved we invested in Arnie an Austrian robot that cut our stencils electronically. We still offered the uncut stencils because some people enjoyed the savings and the cutting process. It can be very therapeutic... no really it can.

However Arnie is to retire soon and we are moving to new web site at stencil-library.com  There will be no uncut stencils on the new site.  There will be lots of other goodies but no uncut stencils.  If you want them buy them now. All the uncut stencils purchased from the current website are made to order so we will continue to print uncut stencils until we close it down

In the next few days Rachel will be clearing the uncut stock remaining in our shop in Stocksfield.  She will be offering them on this blog at much reduced prices. Some will cost as little as two pounds and she is doing a special offer on scalpels and electric stencil cutters when bought with an uncut stencil design.

There are tips on how to cut a stencil on this blog, there is a photo tutorial in my books Stencil It and The Stencilled Home and on our web sites.  You also get instruction on stencil cutting when the design is mailed to you.  

So if you want an uncut stencil pattern visit the site and order soon.  To see what we have in the sale check back with this blog in a couple of days.  When they're gone... they're gone.

Helen.

Comments

[Carol]

Thanks for the heads up, Helen and Rachel! I have bought your uncut stencils in the past and yes, they can be quite therapeutic! :-)