Iron Craft Challenge - Week 6

This week's challenge was to create something crafty with a winter theme. To mix things up a bit, this week's challenge has a prize tied to it! Oh how I love a good competition. Although I could have gone over the top, I kept things simple and tried something I have been meaning to try since I started blogging, crafting with freezer paper stencils.

I carried over last week's Valentine's theme into my creation this week and whipped up a winter/love themed tote bag. The image is inspired by Scandinavian folk art and the word "Kӓrlek" means love in Swedish. I created the image in Picnik (which I discovered through Picasa). If you like it, feel free to use it to make your own stencil.

This project was very easy. First, I printed my image onto a piece of paper. I placed a sheet of freezer paper on top of it (glossy side down) and traced/cut the image with an exacto knife. The sharper the knife the better. I think mine was a little dull. Once the image is cut out, iron it on to your bag, shirt, or whatever you want stenciled. Use a stenciling brush to apply fabric paint. Allow your paint to dry throughly before pealing off the stencil. The canvas bag was not the smoothest surface which caused the paint to bleed slightly in a couple of places. I ended up liking the imperfections in the end, as it created a woodblock print effect. 

One of the images that I used for inspiration

stencil mid-cutting

I am looking forward to experimenting more with this technique so you can expect to see it used again. Have any of you tried freezer paper stenciling? Please share your tips, project ideas etc. in the comments.