The SE Story

HI! I'M SUZIE, THE NEW OWNER OF STENCIL EXPRESSIONS!

Before I tell you how Stencil Expressions (aka 'SE') began, Here's my life story in a nutshell:

Born, raised, and still live in a small rural town in Western NYS
Happily married for 41 years with two beautiful daughters
Life long entrepreneur: some businesses have thrived, some not. But even so, I consider them ALL a success, as I have learned a LOT from my failures!
Have worked at a myriad of jobs, including: an artist, a library clerk (took me forEVER to shelve books cuz I kept reading them), a janitor, veterinarian receptionist, have milked thousands of cows, and I currently serve as my hometown's government appointed historian (I GEEK out over history!)
Have two degrees from RIT and have been working as a professional sign language interpreter since 2006

HOW STENCIL EXPRESSIONS BEGAN

The original owners of Stencil Expressions started the business in 2014 after one of their best friends approached them to create custom stencils for her growing cookie business. When they saw the need for more unique and customized stencil designs, Stencil Expressions was born!

Realizing that creative people often need a stencil or other crafty design ASAP, Stencil Expressions pivoted in 2020 to offer designs exclusively as digital downloads. Now customers can download and cut their own high-quality stencils within minutes, instead of waiting days and paying high express shipping costs.

SO, SUZIE, HOW DID YOU COME TO BE THE NEW OWNER OF SE?

Back in 1994, I started my own stencil company called Art 2 Go Stencils. That was back in the dark ages when there was no internet to share our designs, ideas, and projects. Our only inspiration came from hoping there would be great ideas in the next craft magazine (we had to wait at least one or two months for THAT, yikes!), finding a new craft book at the bookstore or library, or waiting a whole year to attend a craft convention!

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Yes, that's the front of my crudely put-together stencil catalog, although ANY catalog in color back in those days was a luxury!

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And yesssss....that. is. ME.... with the 90's hair.....lol. Now if I could get THAT skinny again!

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When the previous owners were thinking of closing, I realized that SE would be a natural fit for me, and I could continue to offer not only culinary stencils, but stencils for card making, crafts, home decor, and more!

I am humbled, honored and excited to keep Stencil Expressions alive!

I'm also SUPER excited that I can continue to bring you brand new exciting stencil designs for all your culinary and crafting needs! I might even sneak in some of my classic older Art 2 Go Stencil designs, a few of which I'm holding in the photo above!

Check out the NEW Stencil Expressions YouTube channel: @StencilExpressions for new projects and tutorials, and follow us on Facebook and Instagram too!

Show us what you create with our stencils by tagging us or using #stencilexpressions We love to showcase your talent, so show us how you EXPRESS YOURSELF!

MY MISSION STATEMENT FROM 1994 REMAINS THE SAME TODAY:

To encourage all people to discover their own unique, God-given talents thru the art of stenciling!

OUR CUSTOMERS ALWAYS HAVE AND ALWAYS WILL BE LIKE FAMILY!

Each of you is a blessing and I am personally excited to get to know you, as well as help meet all your stenciling and crafting needs. We always strive to treat our customers like our family and neighbors. We want to be accessible and love connecting with you, so feel free to contact us with any needs, questions, suggestions or… just to say "Hi!".

A PERSONAL REQUEST:

Organ Donor Awareness Cookie

The previous owners of SE have a beautiful, successful grown daughter who was born with a rare birth defect and needed a liver transplant when she was 9 months old. Before transplantation there was little hope for babies in her condition to live longer than a year. She will always need expensive medications to keep her from rejecting the gift of life she received. They are thankful for her donor and her donor’s family each day.

We therefore ask you to please be an organ donor to give a hopeful future to someone desperately needing an organ transplant to survive.

Luke 6:38