The price of stencils: DIY

Bonjour all,
You may be aware that I've only been making cards since Dec 09. Now, I don't know about you, but the prices of some of the things for sale I think are outrageous. Take stencils as a perfect example, be they for embossing/cuttting, whatever. Now I've worked in a few factories in my life, producing various products in a range of materials. However, stencils, be they plastic or brass must and can cost only pennies to produce, if that, especially as they are probably made by some 8 year old abused child worker in China, Taiwan or wherever labour is cheapest. Yet look at the prices of them. Someone, somewhere, is making a huge profit from us. Plus, stencils, never seem to be the right size (cuttlebug folders are a prime example of size and cost, in my opinion)
    What I am leading to is that, in the photo below, which I spotted in a French Card making magazine, really appealed to me. Not the center bit, but the patterned paper stencil round the outside. The magazine was printed in 2006, so a bit out of date. Nevertheless, I scoured the internet worldwide for this particular stencil and found only one outlet......10.99 euros plus the P&P. Forget it! Not only that, as much as I like the design, I wanted one with a circle in the centre, plus one about twice the size because I make BIG cards compared to most folk.
  Now having got the bit between my teeth I thought, it does not look too complicated, I will make my own. I intend to use Acetate for the actual stencil. Yes its going to be a right royal pain cutting it out, but once its done then I'll  have it for good, and made with clear acetate, its going to be real simple to position perfectly. And if I dont want it clear, I can always spray paint it.
So far I have only got as far as producing the drawing for it. The next few days I hope to get the actual stencil ready. If the acetate tears or does not work I may butcher up a cheap plastic document file, we'll see. I am hoping that I can modify the stencil for using with a square or any shaped center really. Also, I will be able to use sections of it for embossing.
No apologies go to the companies who are getting wealthy on our craft needs.
  Have a great day, and thanks so much for visiting.
Au bientot