Sunday, August 10, 2014

Tote bag using fabric markers and paint

I was looking for an alternate idea to gift bags and recently saw a pack of 5 Natural Cotton Tote bags on sale.  I have done a workshop on fabric painting and thought I could have a go at decorating the bags.

After washing and ironing them (use a steam iron and water spray on the bag which is not quite dry) I looked for a suitable image.  What one can do is take a stamped image on photocopy paper and enlarge to get the size you want.  Pop it on a lightbox and, with the bag on the top, you can trace the image using a soft pencil.  In this instance I took a photo of a puma, used the photocopy selection on Photoshop and ended up with a suitable outline.

I then outlined the image with a black Sharpies Stained Fabric Marker and painted the larger areas using black Dylon fabric paint.  After leaving the ink to dry for a day I heat set the image by ironing on the reverse side for 5 minutes.  The iron must be on the no steam setting at a fairly high temperature.

I do intend trying out acrylic paints which I believe work well as long as they are not applied too thickly.  I have done a number of these bags with images taken from the internet.  Simple outline images work well.

Friday, August 1, 2014

Gift box using One Sheet Box technique


For the one sheet box technique I went onto Splitcoast Stampers to have a look at the tutorial and get the scoring measurements.  I did adapt the measurements as my sheet of card stock was a slightly  different size.  I would recommend you use a sheet of normal printer paper first to practice on.

All the paper used was from my stash.  On the pink background I used a Martha Stewart border punch Doily Lace Edge.  The apron is a die from Marianne D called Apron and the ribbon used is a Stampin Up one.  On the reverse side of the box I used MFT Gift Card Pocket Vertical, inserted a Hero Arts Long & Cute tag and embellished the outside with a sentiment from Lili of the Valley die cut with a Spellbinders Circle.

When using the box as a gift I intend popping in 2 small glass jars with either homemade spice mixes or jams.

Whiff of Joy - Snowburst

I recently picked up this Whiff of Joy Snowburst die in an online sale.  My first try at it was a bit frustrating but I persevered with a slightly thicker card stock, plenty of masking tape to hold the die down and multiple runs at varying angles through the Big Shot.

Adhering these delicate dies are always a problem for me so I stuck double sided tape (small pieces) to the larger areas and used a glue pen for the rest.  The flowers are from a Marianne D die called Poinsettia.  The sentiment is MFT Stitched Stockings in Archival Cobalt ink die cut using MFT Fishtail Flags Stax.