Mixing It Up with Nathalie Kalbach Studio Designs and Stampendous

Welcome to the final day of the Stampendous hop featuring designs by Nathalie Kalbach. You'll want them all by the end of this day, but we're specifically highlighting the Cling Marks and Cling Fiesta sets. As with all of our hops, there will be prizes, and you could be one of the winners. Just leave comments all of this week on each post that the team has had, along with the Stampendous blog. See Official Rules.

There are also opportunities for someone in Australia and the UK to win as well. Just leave in your  comments that you are from either country for a chance to win from the Stencil Specialists in Australia or Woodware Crafts in the UK.

Here's how I got really messy with Nathalie this week:

Yep. I did another t-shirt. You may see many in the future, as I'm kind of addicted to them. A different way of playing with all of my creative toys, that I've really never tried much before. To get a basic step-by-step idea of how I'm doing these, check out my post from Monday, October 19, for the 31 Days of Halloween challenge HERE. I did mostly bleach spraying through Dreamweaver stencils for that one, and for this one it was mostly dye-ink spraying through the Dreamweaver Vintage Decor and I Beams stencils with Diet Cola (black) Memories Mists from DW. You could easily use any of the dye paints and sprays found at the fabric and craft stores near you. I stamped many of the Nathalie Kalbach Studio images from Stampendous using Onyx VersaFine ink from Tsukineko. I've found that it stays in the fabric well, and doesn't bleed. You'll see various images from Nathalie's Cling Fiesta and Cling Marks sets. Once I'd stamped and stenciled over the shirt, I realized that I'd managed to add several black smudges over the shirt as well. So, I mixed up a batch of Tulip brand Fuchsia dye with steaming water and some salt, and placed the entire shirt inside. (Btw, I worked outside with this on my patio table that I'd covered with a large plastic trash bag. I also wore clothes that I didn't care about, and gloves.) Every 10-15 minutes I'd pull out several inches of the shirt, squeeze the dye back into the bowl, and leave that portion hanging out from the bowl. When I got to the final third of the shirt, I mixed in a small amount of black dye, and used that in the same way for those last inches. The end result was an ombré look, and after adding a smattering of remaining spray ink, I had a more uniform yet freeform design.

You can really see the difference from dark to light with these two pics. The one above was designs stamped on the back of the shirt, and the pic at the left showed how the stenciled I Beams still showed through the dying process without taking over the shirt.

Just as with my previous shirt, I cut a patch from muslin, and using the stencil inside the Cling Fiesta set of the silhouette, I used a finger-tip dauber to dab Onyx Versafine around the inside edges of the stencil design, leaving the center lighter to show off the next step. This is where I inked some of the Fiesta designs and used them to add pattern where the hair, dress, hat, suit would be. Then I sponged a bit of Dreamweaver Color Solutions Alcohol Inks (Cosmo Pink, Winter Red, and Sugarplum) down the center of the patch, and around the edges. Once dry, I ironed it to set the ink. Now I added some bling by using my Walnut Hollow VersaTool to "Hot Fix" some Swarovski crystals over the patch, and a few on the t-shirt as well. The patch can take the heat better, so I pressed the tool on it for about 13-15 seconds, and only 9-10 seconds on the actual shirt. (Make sure to do this over a ceramic tile that can handle the heat, and make sure that you use this tile inside the shirt so that the glue doesn't go all the way through.)

I ironed a piece of fusible interfacing to the back of the patch, used a bit of Beacon Adhesives' GemTac to adhere it to the shirt, and then zigzag stitched it around the edges. I also sewed the fun pompom trim along the bottom edge of the patch. I felt like it added to the "fiesta" theme.

These are so much fun to create, but I really recommend that for your first ones you use an old t shirt or an inexpensive one that won't break your heart if things don't go right. However, you can shift directions if your first attempt isn't perfect. Spatter, dye, bleach, add patches and trims. Remember the crafting adage..."Mistakes are only opportunities to embellish"!
 

Leave your comments for a chance to win and then check out my messy mates here:

Stampendous Stamps

Kristine Reynolds

Wendy Price
Tenia Nelson

Pam Hornschu