July 2012 Lyn Wareham

Fabric Paper Tutorial

How long have you been stamping?
I started stamping about 20 years ago when I was in a quirky little shop and came across a few stamps, ink pads and embossing powders. I bought a few of each and never looked back.

What is your favorite technique?
I enjoy masking and resist, and I have a love for spray inks – I seem to be drawn towards anything messy!

Favorite stamping accessory?
Heat gun and embossing powders.

Your favorite embellishment to finish a card?
I like to add a charm, some ribbon and perhaps a few beads.

What is the one tool you couldn’t live without?
My heat gun.

Any helpful tips for the group? 
Browse through blogs and websites for inspiration – you can pick up some great tips and ideas which may well set you off in yet another direction with your art. I did this and ended up taking a rubber stamp carving course. I also like to watch U-Tube video tutorials for inspiration.

As a member of OSA why do you like stamping in the Oriental theme?
My father was very influential in my love of the orient; he was extremely keen on China, learning everything he could about it and travelling there before it was normal to travel to such places and I grew up surrounded by oriental items he had collected. I find the oriental theme very serene and peaceful, there is just something about it that calls out to me.

Is there any one place or city you’d like to visit to find rubber stamps?
Do I have to restrict it to one place?  I’d like to do a tour of all the stamping shops in the USA!  I see so many lovely stamps on line but postage to the UK is prohibitive these days so I cannot afford to buy many.

What other stamping lists or local clubs do you belong to?
I am a member of a UK only list along with Cherry Pie Art Stamps and Art Techniques.

What favorite stamping magazines would you recommend?
I enjoy Craft Stamper magazine which I have on subscription. I also like Cloth Paper Scissors.

Published in any magazines?  If yes please list.
No.

Any other hobbies, talents or craft interests?
Photography and travelling. Craft-wise I enjoy mixed media projects and playing around with polymer clay.

What inspires you to be creative?
Nature, the sea, sounds, seeing work others have done, watching tutorials.

Art background?
None – I used to enjoy art at school and would slope off from other lessons to spend time in the art room only to have someone come and ‘collect’ me and take me back to class!! My father and sister were both very good at drawing and as I wasn’t it was felt that I wasn’t artistic at all. It wasn’t until I was about 30 years old that I realized I did actually have an artistic side to me!

Have you used any unusual item in your stamping that wasn’t necessarily meant for stamping?
Many – I tend to hoard anything that might one day be useful as a stamping tool, today it was the oval top from the mayonnaise bottle! I have all sorts of bottle/jar tops, the inner plastic and cardboard rolls from tapes. I spray through mesh on one project and then turn it over and use it to stamp on another project.

Any favorite websites you would recommend for inspiration?
My favourite has to be Balzer Designs – Julie is a real inspiration. I have a tendency to blog hop and pick up hints, tips and ideas on my travels around the various blogs.

Do you have a day job when you’re not stamping?
I have a secretarial background but have just accepted a job working as a relief worker for 4 local Day Care Centres for the elderly where I will be doing activities with them for some of the time.

Tell us about your family and where you live.
I have been married to my lovely and very tolerant husband for 28 years and we have 2 children, our son lives in London and our daughter lives in the north of England with her partner. We also have 2 fur babies – Smokey is about 19 years old and Ollie is 12.  Last year, due to my husband’s work, we moved from rural Devon in the south-west of England, to a busy community in Hampshire in the south-east and we are really still settling in here, getting used to having people living near us! We are near to the coast and like to go for long walks by the water whenever possible.

Fabric Paper Tutorial
Supply List:

• Assorted napkins (separated into layers) and/or papers,
• PVA glue or Matt Medium, watered down50/50
• Foam brush
• Freezer paper
• Piece of muslin
• Rubber stamps and waterproof ink such as Stayzon
• Sewing machine and threads

Rip the napkins/tissue/papers randomly into smallish pieces. You may want to rip around specific images as I have done with the figures.

Lay muslin on freezer paper and apply a good coat of watered down glue. Adhere pieces of ripped napkin or tissue paper randomly over the muslin (turn them around so they go in all directions and aren’t too uniform) using liberal amounts of glue and dabbing gently with the foam brush so that you don’t tear the paper. I used the under layers of the napkins here as they have a soft design on them which gives some pattern should any parts show through.

Cover the piece totally. Leave to dry – this can take several hours/overnight.

Repeat, dabbing glue on to the base first and covering with another layer of ripped tissue, napkins or papers and leave to dry again.

Repeat again, this time adding any images you have reserved from the napkins, bits of lace, micro beads, glitter etc. Stamp images on to the white back layers of the napkins with waterproof ink, rip around them and glue on to the project. Leave until completely dry.

Using a sewing machine, stitch randomly all over the piece. I stitched around the main focal images first and then in-filled with gold thread. Take any ends through to the back and snip them off (you don’t need to tie them as they will be sealed). Put a final layer of glue or Matt Medium over the top as a sealant and leave to dry.

You can now use the ‘fabric paper’ to make backgrounds for cards, ATCs, book covers etc.

A card and a book I made using the fabric paper as a background: