Hey Karen,
I usually dye my royal icing just using black americolor. I tend to do it a few hours before I need it because as it sits it will darken. I am still working on the crispness factor when stencling but a great tip I saw somewhere was to use small pins to hold your stencil in place an remove them as you get to the area you need to ice. Royal Bakery had a note about stenciling on her facebook page (https://www.facebook.com/notes/royal-bakery/stenciling-tutorial/256019364419371).
I hope this helps!
