Cutting stencils?
 

Will I regret cutting the thick borders off my smaller stencils?! It seems no matter what technique I'm using, the border ends up in the design. I rarely push just the center of a stencil down into the paper so at least this will make the stencil usable!

I know it could make them less sturdy but I just dab them off on paper so maybe the built-up paint will help. Wish all designs were borderless, but I think I will just invest in 12x12 versions from here on out.

The only thing I would worry about is how fragile it would make it. Maybe give it a try with one of your less love and/or more easily replaced stencils. You won't know until you try and even if it didn't work for someone else it may be the "perfect" solution for you, every one is different. That's a good thing!
I have some stencils I got forever ago at a dollar store that have several patterns on one and I have been thinking about cutting them apart but haven't yet. This thread may just be the nudge I needed to try it with one of them. I never use them anyway and like I said they were cheap dollar purchases so...

Pay attention to pattern size when buying larger stencils like 12x12, I've noticed that they are often the same pattern but bigger.

You could also try adding a wide border of masking tape along the edges, or taping scrap paper to the edges when you're using the stencils. That will mask of the edges so they won't show up in your work.

Let's empower each other :) These weren't super expensive but if I'm not using them at all, it's a waste. Try to avoid that if at all possible!

Good idea -- I just don't want to fuss that much :p but when I'm using spray inks, that might work if I work on my aim!

This one stencil giving me trouble is just too thick to even ink or paint through (it's a small but so cool pattern of dashed lines) so I will only buy thin stencils from here on out as well.

I trim all my 12x12 stencils down so they fit in my storage box and then I mask around the edges with tape or post its.

A word of caution - I bought one of the green plastic stencils at Michaels (I can't recall the brand) and when I trimmed the edges the stencil fell into a mass of single pieces so make sure that when you don't trim the edge if that is all that is holding the stencil together.

Julie Fei fan balzer has a current blog post with a video about this.