Place a piece of tracing paper over the image you want to use for your stencil and use pencil or marker to trace the outlines of the areas you plan to cut. If you feel confident about your choices, work directly with a dark permanent marker, otherwise use pencil and then reinforce the lines with the marker when you are comfortable with the layout. As you create your stencil, remember that interior shapes will drop out and will need to be connected with bridges. You may wish to add details and additional colors by cutting a second stencil to overlay on the design.
Transfer the design onto stencil stock: Place a sheet of graphite-coated paper on top of a piece of Yupo or posterboard, then set the tracing paper design over the graphite transfer paper. If you do not have commercial graphite-transfer paper, you may coat the back of the tracing paper by scribbling with a soft pencil over the back of the image.
Trace the outlines and transfer the image to the stencil stock using a ballpoint pen applied firmly. Go over the graphite lines with a fine tip marker, allowing the ink to dry five minutes to avoid smearing.
Position the stencil stock on a self-healing cutting mat. Place a fresh blade in your hobby knife and cut out the shapes, turning the stock (not the knife) to create smooth cut edges.
If you over cut the shape, you may patch it on the backside with masking tape.