Grungy Halloween Bag - by Claudia Neubacher

Servus and welcome to some grungy Halloween crafting (or upcycling) fun, dear creative friends!

Today's project is actually not only awesome fun to make or a great way to upcycle boring cotton bags (like I did), but you can use the technique shown to create your own grungy and fun (or any other style) stencilled and embroidered patches to apply to any kind of project you want! You can even create the patches and use these as a give-away on special occasions (in my case on Halloween for example...). 

The stencils I have used were designed by the wonderful Roxanne Coble. I just adore her sense of humor and quirky designs! 

Rabid Bunny Stencil

L453

and

Rat and Bat Stencil

L454

Especially stencils that provide a mask that matches the inner detail design are the ones you should go for with this project! But also for example designs like these (designed by amazing Laurie Mika for her "Alchemy" stencil) work brilliantly! 

All you need to create your own patches:

- stencils 

- a cotton bag (you could even use one from a store where you would cover up any print you do not like) - but you can apply the patches to something else of course 

- left over fabric scraps ((I have used an old kitchen towel and some left overs from shortened curtains)

- embroidery yarn, needle, scissors

- acrylic paint and fabric painting medium (or fabric paints of course) 

- stencil brushes in various sizes

I have used DecoArt Fabric Painting Medium and "heritage" Chalky Finish paint. If you use a different fabric painting medium, just follow the mixing advice shown on the label. 

I started with roughly cutting my patches to size (eyeballing and using the masks as a measure) and then frayed the edges to give them a worn look.

I used the mask of the rat and the stencil of the rabbit to create my first layers. 

The rabbit's silhouette was stencilled using PaperArtsy Fresco Finish paint "Squid Ink". I mixed the fabric painting medium and paint on my palette using a palette knife and then applied the paint through the stencil with a wide stipple or stencilling brush. 

To create the rat's shape I used the mask and stencilled around it. This way I got a kind of smudged and fading orange outline that contrasts the blue fabric. 

I used my heat tool to quick dry the paint on the patches before I continued. As a next step I added the bones and innards by applying DecoArt beige Chalky Gesso through the according stencils. Afterwards I heat dried again. 

My plan was to embroider the rabbit's innards using red embroidery yarn. To avoid any white paint showing through I painted the innards by hand using a detail brush and PaperArtsy Fresco Finish "London Bus" paint - a bright red. 

You can of course embroider more sections than I did. The rabbit's spine for example. Or the rat's skull and ribs. Just make sure you leave some areas "un-embroidered" - otherwise your patches will look too neat ;) 

I also wanted to add a rough bling-y texture to the mix as that would kind of contrast the worn look and also add some really cool interest. 

I chose orange Glitz Glitter Gel that I applied through the according stencils using a bristle brush. 

I head dried again. Finally I sprinkled on various tones of spray paint left overs for some additional grunge and set my patches to the side to dry. (I could have used the heat tool again but it was time for coffee break ;) 

I used more embroidery yarn to wild-stitch the patches onto my cotton bag. I made sure I didn't work anything close to neatly to add to the worn and grungy look of my Halloween-style patched up cotton bag!!!

Done!

I just love the result! And I think I will do some more patches to give to my sister and niece. Oh...and I could sew another bag from that old pair of jeans I will never wear again and add a flaming heart patch to that one...aaahhhh....the possibilities!!!! 

Thank you all so much for stopping by! I hope you have enjoyed your visit and leave inspired! 

Hugs and happy crafting!

Claudia

xxx

New Art Tutorial by Frieda Oxenham with StencilGirl® Products

StencilGirl® Products has a wonderful selection of stencils to choose from and today’s project was inspired by a set of stencils that themselves were inspired by tiles. They are all sized 6 x 6” and designed by Laurie Mika. They are gorgeous and I used three of them in today’s art. Here is the tutorial:

1.     Take a sheet of A3 sized (11.69 x 16.54”) watercolour paper and brayer on white gesso. My sheet was by Crawford and Black

2.     Spray the sheet with a variety of spray paints. I used mainly Lindy’s Starburst sprays for an extra bit of sparkle

3.     Stencil randomly through the text stencil from March 2023 StencilClub using Titanium White acrylic paint.

4.     Using a variety of colours stencil randomly over the sheet using a cosmetic wedge and stencil L921 Japanese Tulip Oriental Rug.

5.     Repeat step 3.

6.     Repeat step 4 but using different colours of acrylic paint and stencils S933 Lisbon Tiles, S932 Douro Valley Tile and S931 Cascais Tile.

7.     Using black acrylic paint and stencil L281 Bold Flowers, stencil on flowers pointing towards the centre of the page. To make this easier I cut the stencil into individual flower parts. I used 3 different sizes of flower.

8.     Add white text to the black flowers by putting the stencil pieces you used in step 7 on the black flowers and then adding the text stencil from step 3 on top of that and then stencilling with Titanium White acrylic paint using a cosmetic wedge.

9.     Using stencil S931 Cascais Tile and crimson Stencil Butter paint, stencil the tile twice onto black paper.

10.  When dry, cut out the two tiles and cut one in half. Glue onto the sheet as shown. I used double sided tape, but gel medium will also work.

11.  Using the small alphabet stencil from the April 2014 Stencilgirl® Club and a red Posca (or other) permanent paint marker stencil on your chosen quotation onto black paper, cut out and add to the sheet as shown

12.  Using a white Posca marker, outline the tiles and the text.

13.  Add a black frame of approx. ¼” around the sheet with a black Posca marker.

©Frieda Oxenham May 2023

Check out these new designs by Laurie Mika!

Anyone who has ever visited Portugal can immediately identify with the beautiful blue tiles that adorn both the facades and the interiors of buildings throughout this amazing country. I recently traveled to Portugal and these stencils are inspired by that trip and are named for the many cities and places I visited. Being a mixed media mosaic artist, tiles have always been an essential part of my creative journey so it is not surprising that I was drawn to all of the incredible tile motifs.

There are many possibilities and ways to use these tile stencils, from background collage imagery to creating paper quilts to using these tile stencils to emboss designs on polymer clay. Each tile was hand drawn so there are tiny differences in the patterning that make them look like unique individual tiles. For anyone who has traveled to Portugal, these blue tile stencils will hopefully evoke wonderful memories and spark some creative inspiration by recreating the magic that is Portugal.

S930- Azulejo Museum Tile

Visiting this incredible tile museum in Lisbon was a highlight of our time there. Azulejo refers to the color blue (Azul) which is the predominant color of most of the tiles in Portugal. These blue tiles were inspired by both Ming dynasty porcelain design and Dutch Delftware. Every surface is adorned with beautiful tiles, many of them dating back centuries. Some of the tiles were created as large panels that are narrative in nature while many others are abstract patterns that are combined to create symmetric designs. My Azulejo Museum Tile stencil was inspired by the abstract patterning of a wall tile that was in this fantastic museum.

S931- Cascais Tile

Cascais is a resort destination along the coast that is often referred to as the Portuguese Riviera. The sparkling sea is a gorgeous blue backdrop that enhances the blue and white tiles seen throughout Cascais.

S932- Douro Valley Tile

A trip north to Porto and the lush Douro Valley nearby is a must when visiting Portugal. The Douro Valley is known for its vineyards and the grapes that are produced for Port wine. We spent the day meandering through this valley and this tile was inspired by one of the tiles I saw at a vineyard that we visited, hence the floral/vine-looking pattern.

S933-Lisbon Tile

 Of all of the cities in Portugal, Lisbon seemed to have the most tiled buildings. My Lisbon tile is based on the quatrefoil pattern which is often seen in tile murals and panels throughout Lisbon, especially in churches and cathedrals.

S934-Porto Tile

It was so much fun visiting the town of Porto on the Douro River. Porto has two sister cities on each side of the river connected by many bridges. On one side of the river, Port houses line the boardwalk. Many of these Port houses have been producing Port for hundreds of years and the buildings that house these tasting rooms are beautiful and many are adorned with tiles. 

S935-Sintra Tile

Sintra is a charming town outside of Lisbon hidden up in the foothills. The historic center is known for its colorful, whimsical Peña palace and other incredible architectural wonders. Many of the walls and interior spaces of the palace are adorned with tile and were the inspiration behind my Sintra stencil.

Exploring Cyanotypes with Kecia Deveney

Last week I took a 2-day class on using cyanotype fabric sheets. I dabbled in the medium last summer and really enjoyed experimenting with it. When I really embrace a process, I like to research it more to get a good idea of the possibilities. I had a great time watching videos and reading up on cyanotype. 

 

Cyanotype is a photographic printing process dating back to 1842. Once the medium is applied to fabric or paper (or you can order pretreated sheets), It is then placed in the sun and a chemical process occurs between the UV rays and the synthetic treatment. 

 

So many fun things can be used to create an image, such as botanicals, negatives, flat objects ( or slightly dimensional), and more. One of the things that caught my eye was to try stencils. So of course, I got very excited about experimenting with those. 

 

On a pretreated cyanotype fabric sheet, I placed a face stencil by Pam Carriker, a botanical image by Flora Bowley, and a flower by Traci Bautista. I laid it out in a way to create a scene that I knew I would later develop with embroidery floss. On the second sheet of pre-treated fabric, I laid out the four sacred hearts stencil by Laurie Mika. It was my intention to cut one of those out and add It as a separate layer to the final piece. 

After about 15 minutes, in good sunlight, your piece will be developed and ready for a rinse in bleach water. It’s the bleach water that really heightens the blue colors. From there you rinse well in clean water and dry. 

 

Once my fabric was dry, I ironed it and in my mind began developing ideas. I was working with some limitations with the main color being all blue, so I decided to make a limited palette of blue, white, and rust colors. I also knew it would become a wall hanging. I set about hand stitching on it and layering it with vintage fabrics.

Once I finished the piece, I decided to add a crystal inside the chrysalis for a double meaning. I am calling the piece, “Pure Energy”. 

Stencils Used: 

Traci Bautista’s - Deconstructed Zinnia Mask & Stencil (S290)

Pam Carriker’s  - Create Face (S646)

Laurie Mika’s - Four Sacred Hearts (L782)

Flora Bowley’s - Chrysalis (L390)