What kind of material do you use to make your own stencils? I have wondered if you could use the paper punches to make your own stencils? If you can then where do you buy those. Thanks in advance.

Anjali

possible materials

card stock
oak tag (aka poster board)

but those both need to be laminated for long term use.

overhead transparencies
sheets of acetate
blank stencil sheets


all of that and the punches too can be found at Hobby Lobby, Michaels, A. C. Moore and other quality hobby shops. Just be sure to use the %off coupons!

i have also bought from the dollar store those flexible cutting 'boards' and cut them for what i needed.
in craft stores, i look other places -- like clay & tin crafts (they have a brick imprint way cheaper than the 'cake' one), wall paint stencils and scrapbooking for dimensional items i can use to imprint fondant.

I have used blank stencil sheets - thicker ones at Hobby Lobby, thinner ones (like you use on walls) at home improvement store like Lowes. For single use stencils (see my tennis court in my photos) I actually used 2 layers of freezer paper glued together or poster board. I've been cutting my stencils using my Cricut expression and SCAL.

The flexible cutting boards or placemats at the dollar store are a good idea too.