All About Stenciling

im stenciling a pretty design on a wooden surface. i purchased stencil adhesive so it would stay flat and stay put but when i lifted up the stencil, there was paint (although faint) and the lines weren't clean. i am using spray paint made for wood. any help? thanks! :)

Is it possible you went too heavy? You would get good results if you do several light coats instead on one heavy coat, and hold the spray can at least 10 inches away. Let the paint dry between coats. .

I've not used "stencil adhesive" before, but HAVE used "frisket" paper by the box... ONE thing I find very important to get a GOOD clean image when stenciling is to burnish the edges of the stencil to the object. When painting on WOOD, I also try to make sure the wood and grain are SEALED. Kacky is also right in that it is best to do several LIGHT coats of spray paint with time for each to dry. This way there won't be excess paint to seep under the stencil. I had to paint several dozen "street" signs for my brother's ranch. They were done on 9" wide oak-planks GOOD LUCK Btw... nice new icon there Kacky.

It is probably from using too much paint at one time. the paint it oozing under the stencil (meaning that it is collecting in the surface and not coating it). You can always put more on but you can't take it off so do multiple coats.