CREATIVE EXPRESSIONS: DIY Painted Floral Shopping Tote Bag

Saturday, 23 July 2016

DIY Painted Floral Shopping Tote Bag

Our design team have been tasked this month with creating something using the new Cosmic Shimmer Fabric Paints. Claire has used it to decorate a shopping tote bag.

Shopping list:

Summer Meadow Stamp Set CEC780
Wild Flowers Stamp Set CEC781
Cosmic Shimmer Lustre Fabric Paint Morrocan Rose CSFLPROSE, Sea Green CSFLPSEA, Golden Lime CSFLPLIME, Atlantic Blue CSFLPATLANTIC & Summer Sunrise CSFLPSUM
Cosmic Shimmer Sparkle Fabric Paint Silver Shine CSFSPSUNGOL
Plain Cotton Tote Pad
Brushes
Acrylic Block

Step 1. Prepare the tote bag for painting by ironing, and inserting a layer of cardboard to separate the two sides.

Step 2. Onto a palette/acrylic block, mix up 3 shades of green using Golden Lime and Sea Green lustre paints.

Step 3. Take one of the fuller grass like stamps onto an acrylic block, and ink up using the paint. Stamp multiple times using a combination of the three shades.

Step 4. Introduce a second stamp with a very different shape, and continue stamping with the green shades. Keep a good balance of the colours and shapes across the canvas. Consider keeping the lighter colours in the background, and the darker colour to the fore to create the illusion of dimension.

Step 5. With Sea Green paint select a third stamp (again with very different features) and begin stamping in the foreground of the composition. Using Golden Lime lustre paint, and a ‘grass like’ stamp, begin creating the canopy of a tree.

Step 6. Introduce floral stamps and colour. Use Moroccan Rose lustre paint and a wildflower stamp to add just one or two images.

Step 7. Using Summer Sunrise Lustre paint, stamp the single flower stem over the lighter green images. The paint dries very fast, so it is fine to stamp over images already on the material.

Step 8. Add extra colour that will tone in well, mix the lustre paints to create a new colour. To create a lilac, mix together Moroccan Rose and Atlantic Blue. Taking the stamp to this paint continue adding more floral elements to suit.

Step 9 To link the tree canopy and meadow below, paint some birds free hand using Summer Sunrise paint between the two areas.

Step 10. Remember to place stamps in warm soapy water after stamping to allow the paint to wash off without problem.

Step 11. When all the colours have completely dried, take the Silver Shine Sparkle fabric paint, and randomly paint a single flower head across the whole picture.