Tuesday, October 15, 2019

Dressed to Wear: Stencilled Bubbalux Bangle - by Claudia Neubacher


Hi, servus and thank so much for stopping by! 

This month's theme on the StencilGirl Talk blog is "Dress it or Wear it" and I kind of did both; I "dressed" a bent in shape bangle with stenciled fabric strips so I can "wear" it on my wrist ;) 

Bubbalux - just in case you haven't heard of it before - is a craft board that can be heated and bent into shape and keeps its shape after it has cooled down (which takes seconds). It can be die-cut with steel rule dies, embossed with embossing folders, stamped, painted, engraved and so much more...it's a really fun and versatile substrate to work with. 
And "dressed" with some beautifully "StencilGirl-ed" fabric it can become a truly special piece of mixed media jewelry!  ;) 






I have done a video this time which shows the whole process from start to finish. I only decided to make a start-to-finish video after I had already shaped the bubbalux I had cut to size, but I have taken steps images of that and shaping bubbalux is really easily done:




I measured my wrist to get the length of the bubbalux strip for my bangle. I cut the strip from the sheet using a precision knife, an aluminum ruler and a cutting mat. Then - very important! - I removed the protective foil from my bubbalux strip (it's transparent and really thin...but it's there)!



Using a heat tool and a jewelers bangle shaping mandrel (but you can also use a glass jar of matching diameter or something like that) I heated the strip bit by bit, bent it around the mandrel and held it in place while the bubbalux cooled.



Then I cut off the excess with a large pair of scissors.



My goal was to use fabric strips that I would decorate using fabric paint and some of the smaller sized StencilGirl stencils and wrap the bangle with the finished and heat set strips.



In my case, I needed six strips to cover my bangle properly (the image above shows how I was going to wrap them around the bubbalux) as I wanted them to slightly overlap when glued in place one after another. This time I tore the strips to size instead of cutting them - this way I got beautifully frayed edges!




And this is the point where my video starts. There's some explanatory blurb with some helpful hints at the beginning and at the end. A list of the stencils, paints, and products used can be found at the bottom of this post. 


As this isn't shown in the video I am also sharing this image of the finished bangle being put on the very edge of the mandrel while the glue dries. This way I made sure the still sticky fabric at the bangle's ends would not be glued together.




Here are some pictures and detail shots of the finished bangle. I love how the Glitz glitter gel adds that special wow-factor to the piece!




















I hope you like my "dressed to wear it" bangle and the video tutorial! 






Thanks for your visit! 

Hugs and happy crafting!
Claudia
xxx








StencilGirl stencils used:

- the smallest stencil from the January 2019 "Mash Up!" Stencil Club Kit


Products used:

- bubbalux Craft Board - white
- DecoArt matte Decou-page
- DecoArt Americana Fabric Painting Medium
- DecoArt Vintage Effect Wash paints: Turquoise, Patina, Brown, Berry, Beige
- DecoArt media fluid acrylic: Diarylide Yellow
- Glitz "Sweet Mango" Glitter Gel
- Shell fragments
- thin wire
- black fabric marker



5 comments:

  1. This is fabulous! What a beautiful and fun piece to wear! I’ve never heard of that material, I must check it out!

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    2. Thank you very much, Ann! So happy you like my bangle and the tut. :) xxx

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  2. What a delightful, creative project. Loved the video, seeing how you used your materials. Thanks!

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  3. I just loved what you did. It is surely a show stopper when worn and I bet many people comment on it. It is very unique.

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