tutorial: self-portrait stencil

I am soooo excited about this one. Please do try it, especially you journal artists. It is a lot more fun than you’d think to manipulate images of yourself. Although I make stencils a lot, it had never occurred to me to do a self-portrait until I read Randi Feuerhelm-Watts’ brilliant book, Wide Open. If you don’t have her book, go get it today. So many inspiring ideas! Okay, let’s get to it.

Materials you need:

Clear photograph of yourself, preferably a self-portrait

Photoshop, PE (Photoshop Elements), or other photo editing software.

Exacto knife with new sharp blades (this is essential if you don’t want to be cursing yourself through this project.)

A self-healing mat is nice and makes cutting much easier (you don’t have to have a huge one). I’ve also heard of using a piece of glass to cut on, but I’d cut my finger off for sure. Note: rotary cutting mats are not self-healing. They work okay, but not as nicely as the self-healing mats. Read more at