Mother may voice initial doubts concerning the practicability of this type of handicraft, but with plenty of old newspapers or a strip of oilcloth underneath the work, and the patient clad in a nightgown or pajama top which is ready for the rag bag, plus a pair of gloves, there will be little undesirable surface to spatter save the operator's face, perhaps. In addition to these spatter-proof accessories, the equipment itself is simple to an extreme, consisting of a small piece of screen wire netting, an old toothbrush with level bristles, ink, and paper. It is well to note at this point, however, that the young handicrafter will be less handicapped if the horizontal working surface is not subject to sudden upheavals or bed motions which will move the stencil in the middle of a stippling operation.

More uniform results can also be realized if Dad will make a small frame for the netting by removing the top and bottom of a shallow cigar box and tacking the netting tightly across the opening. Four old-style wooden clothespins glued to each of the corners will insure a uniform distance from the wire netting to the paper, as indicated in A of Figure 7.10. The bookplate or greeting card may be a 3-in. by 4-in. piece of art paper which must, of course, be centered under the wire "spatterer."

While the frame is being constructed, the paper stencil can be cut out with scissors from any scratch paper, or from a magazine. It is much easier for small fingers to cut around the outside lines of a figure or design than it is to cut or "lift" the figure from the interior of a piece of paper so as to leave a clean-cut design engraved inside, as in ordinary stenciling. Therefore, for the first spatter printing design it is suggested that simple cutout figures be centered on the card and the ink spattered or stippled around and over them. The result, when the stencil is lifted, will be a white pattern or figure on a stippled background, as indicated in B of the illustration. Older patients who can be trusted to handle sharp stencil knives or safety razor blades in holders, can try their hands at the reverse, or intaglio type of stencil process, which will leave the stenciled design stippled on a white background.

Fig. 7.10. Spatter printing.

The simple alphabet pictured in Figure 7.11 will be useful for making bookplates and greeting cards. However, these letters and, in fact, all small or narrow stencils are often subject to curling, and should therefore be cut from fairly stiff paper to insure a clean outline.

Fig. 7.11. Stencil alphabet.

The spattering operation is simplicity itself. The brush is dipped into the ink, and after the excess is shaken off, is rubbed gently back and forth across the wire netting until the desired density of dots is "printed." India or drawing ink is an excellent medium because of its opacity. Older patients using intaglio stencils can produce arresting designs with one or more colored inks, after carefully masking other parts of the design.