SW, nice job! It turned out sweet and looks great on your tree. Thanks for all the details you added. Won't be long till Christmas now. Merry Christmas and thanks for sharing with us. Punk

Hi Chelone! ( and anyone else who might want to give raised stencils a try!) I first saw LJ's raised stencils on her TV show about 12 years ago and went about pricing the 'raised stencil paste'. I think the price quadrupled back then because it was a relatively new idea for the DIYer and it had the words 'raised stencil paste' on the little 14 oz. bucket. I was determined. But I was broke. I did have a 2 gal. bucket of wall/joint compound/ wall patch. (Not the whipped. Don't use the whipped. Ask me how I know this. *giggle*) I bought a regular stencil at Michael's of a full Wisteria vine (I think it was wisteria) for $2.99 and cut it up because I only wanted the leaves. In our garage I had one of those plasticky "no parking" signs, 12" x 12". I placed the cut pieces of Wisteria stencil on the thicker plastic sign, traced, cut out using exacto knife and I had my thicker and sturdier stencil. That process worked for me for awhile (I admit, I got raised stencil happy) but got too time consuming with the cutting out of the thicker stencil on the No Parking Signs ( $2.98). I went searching and found Victoria's web site (when she first started). She hadn't started advertising her raised stencils, only regular and 2, 3, 4 & 5 layer stencils. But the difference with her regular stencils was the thickness. So I ordered one of her stencils, tried it on the apron of my M. bathroom sink vanity and I really liked the thickness of the stencil and the quality. When Victoria Larsen first started out, her site was a whole two pages big. She has grown! She now has the raised stencils which are a little thicker and the design and the galleries on her site are fabulous! I no longer visit her site as often as I used to because we are in the process of DIY redos, five rooms at the same time, but I do visit (and purchase) if I want just a touch of something, somewhere. My latest: We used an old piece of granite on a few cinder blocks locked together and covered in cement. Turned the cinder blocks into a very sturdy little bench/granite seat out back. The cinder block, even though had the texture of the cement (dyed) was still missing something. I am in the process of adding a raised stencil to the base part of the bench--- trailing vines stencil I purchased at V.L. middle of summer. About the softer look with light sanding when the raised plaster is dry. Below is a pic of a dried raised stencil. See the edges? That's what I didn't like when I first started doing Raised stencil. So I used my nail file or my small square buffing nail file and then some water on my finger to soften the edges. Just in my case, I like the softer edges of the raised stencils. Others might like the crisper edges and leave them alone. Get yourself your favorite beverage and plan on staying awhile because this site is addicting and I can literally spend hours looking at the galleries and ideas sent in to VL by her loyal customers. No, other than a few emails over the years when I had questions about a particular stencil, I don't know this woman nor do I have any vested interest in her website other than finding some good quality stencils with great customer service. She is also selling on Ebay now but I haven't compared her prices there. Sharp, dried edges of leaves.

For those lucky folks who have been blessed with Minnie's brass stencils and want to use them for dry embossing, here's an idea... you don't need a fancy, expensive light table - you can make your own with * a sheet of glass or Plexiglas * a light source * a couple spacers A pane of window glass works great. Just tape around the edges so you don't get cut. Or a piece of Plexiglas. A little high-intensity light is fine. Or get a cheap "stick fluorescent" light - the kind you usually put underneath kitchen counters. Or even a flashlight in a pinch. Use a couple bricks to support the glass so that the light will fit under the glass. Or a stack of books at each side. Or a couple chunks of 2x4 wood - just look around your house... maybe in the kids' toybox! Something will work. Use low-tack tape to hold the stencil and paper in place on the glass. Put the glass on the two supports, then slide the light underneath and turn it on. Bingo! You've got a light table!

Geez, I remember doing this in 1984! It was fun! Diane