They have eidible markers and writing things but I just always use a toothpick and gentle like trace
The way trace the design onto greaseproof paper, place paper on cake then using a scriber ( like a metal stick..pointed at the end ) or a toothpick i go over the design to mark the cake then ice over design.
Hope that makes sense, i'm not very good at describing things 
Sorry, my post came out a bit wrong..i meant to write, the way i do this.....
I saw on a food network challenge "Celebration Cakes" , the girl place a stencil on the side of the cake and used a small spatula to spread royal icing over and when she pulled the stencil up, it looked great! I'm thinking you can do a really thin layer that way, and then pipe over it if you need to. That's the only thing I could think of HTH.
I try to use RI and "paint" over the stencils...seems like when I do the toothpick thing my RI sinks into the fondant in some places and looks like my GS did it. Just my .2. Maybe I am a little hard on myself. Let me know how it turns out. mimi
I haven't done this but have seen it on Sharon Zambito's DVD. She places the pattern on the cake and then uses the tiny spatula (palette knife?) and rubs the icing over the stencil. Once she has covered the entire section she lifts it off. Repeats. After a couple of times she wipes down the stencil. Hope this helps.
I haven't done this but have seen it on Sharon Zambito's DVD. She places the pattern on the cake and then uses the tiny spatula (palette knife?) and rubs the icing over the stencil. Once she has covered the entire section she lifts it off. Repeats. After a couple of times she wipes down the stencil. Hope this helps.
this is exactly what i was talking about. to the OP, i think you should really try to do it this way 
I have done it that way, place the stencil on, small spatula and royal icing. Works great.
I have done this. You put the stencil on the fondant. I used the small wilton cake spatula to spread the RI over the stencil. Scrape off the excess and lift the fondant......there you have the stencil. If you are doing this directly on the side of the cake, I would suggest a little scotch tape to hold the stencil in place. It comes right off without a mark. I did fondant panels that dried first before I did my stenciling so I did not need something to hold it to the side of the cake.
Here's a pic of my cake:
http://www.cakecentral.com/modules.php?name=gallery&file=displayimage&pid=1298362
I just did a stencil design this weekend for a wedding cake. I did the same technique as Strazle. I placed the stencil onto the cake and spread a thin layer of icing over the stencil with a small cake spatula. Just make sure you spread it evenly as you will be able to see the inconsistencies.
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