Fran•táge Friday: Paper Craft Planet

Each Friday, Paper Craft Planet shows you a technique using the new Fran*tage line of stamps from Stampendous. So much fun.

You can win all the stamps demonstrated, just by leaving a comment!

Today’s lesson is using gesso, crackle paint & some fabric, along with some beautiful stamps from Stampendous.

Sometimes slick surfaces can be tricky with Crackle Paint, but this Shabby Chic technique creates a 3D jewelry holder in the shape of a mini dress form & gets around that issue:

Okay let’s start.  Raid your daughter’s Barbie doll collection.

Step 1: Use a bit of tissue to cover her up (so the tape doesn’t stick to the doll) and then use duct tape to tape over top.  I believe this is Belle that Liam found in Emma’s room.

Step 2: Cut off the duct tape with one cut up the back.

Step 3: Tape the back closed.  Stuff the form.  Add a stand.  For a stand, I folded over some floral wire.  You could use bamboo sticks and a plasticine base.

Step 4: For the arms, I used a plastic chop stick, but once again any dowel or bamboo stick would be fine.

Step 5:  For the skirt, stamp some fabric with StāzOn Ink.  Sew along 1 side and gather the stitch.

Stamps used for this project can be found here, from Stampendous:

Cling Music Score

Cling Heart Friends

Cling Bird Frame

Step 6: For the embellishments, stamp on some grunge board.  It embosses really well and is much more hardy than regular card stock.  You can use distress ink & colour the grunge board.  Because the sentiment is embossed, the distress ink will rub off of the embossed area.

I had grunge board in heart shapes, but I just cut it to a straight edges.

Step 7: You can use old travel tags.  If they are roughed up a bit the Tim Holtz distressing ink will settle darker in the creases.

Step 8: Use super stick tape and ribbon on the backs of the stamped images.

Step 9: Okay back to our dress form.  You’ll need to make a gesso papier maché over top of the duct tape form.  This is where the slick surface prep comes into play:

Step 10: What on earth is gesso … it’s like a white glue that prepares the surface of your medium.  In your craft store, wander out of the scrapbooking isles & head toward the paint section.  Look for a dude with a big fro & that’s the gesso.

By painting the form with gesso, then adding paper towel & then painting over top of the paper, it creates a maché.

Step 11: Paint it on, you may need a couple of coats, just make sure you cover up all the duct tape.

Step 12: Don’t skip the gesso step.  Why?  Without a prepared surface crackle paint will COMPLETELY chip off.

Step 13: Let it dry.  About a bike ride to the park & playtime on the tire swing with 2 kindergarteners.

Step 14: Then for a nice texture, add some Tim Holtz crackle paint.  There are a bunch of colours you can choose from.  This took a bit longer to dry, because it was humid in the garage.