ok hate to post this , but gotto learn somehow

I have some great patterns and seen some on here for scrolls and hand writing
so my question is how do I transfer a pattern to a stencil ?

and if its with tracing paper then how do i indent the cake ? without seriously marking it

do I use a scriber or am I really off in the worng direction ?

all help would be so so much appreciated
many thanks

I'm not a great freehander, and on my black and pink cake in my photos I wanted to repeat a pattern and wanted it the same all the way around. I took the glass from a picture frame and set it over the pattern. I think piped the design in royal icing, I used a smaller tip than what I was going to use on my cake. After they were piped I let them dry and then when I was ready I used them as my 'impression mats' on the cake. I did do it on fondant but don't see why it couldn't work on buttercream. It left the imprints fine and when I was done I washed the glass off and can use it agian on another cake.