Fabric Artist Trading Cards

9" x 12" piece of black felt
9" x 12" square of hand-dyed fabric
2 to 3 simple designed rubber stamps (avoid intricate designs)
2, 1-inch foam brushes
fabric metallic paint
stamp pad
fabric glue
foiling glue
9" x 12" piece of fusible web
sheets of foil
scissors
iron and ironing board
14" x 14" parchment paper
chiffon scarf
funky yarns, threads, cheesecloth, bits of metal - optional
Angelina fibers
scissors
Bo-Nash bonding agent or tiny snippets of fusible web
sewing machine with free-motion capabilities
variegated threads
heat gun
rotary cutter, ruler, mat board
sheet of card stock paper

Steps:

1. Dip a foam brush into a small amount of metallic paint and dab onto a rubber stamp. Press stamp evenly onto a 9" x 12" hand-dyed fabric piece. Repeat with additional rubber stamps and paints. Have fun experimenting with stamping and playing with different colors of paint on your hand-dyed fabric. When done, rinse the metallic paint off of your rubber stamp.

2. Add an even amount of fabric glue* to another rubber stamp and press the stamp onto the hand-dyed fabric. Do several impressions with glue on various parts of the fabric. Allow the glue to dry fully (about 20-30 minutes). Wash the glue off your rubber stamp. *Foiling glue was featured in this step on the show.

3. When the glue is completely dry on the fabric, place a sheet of metallic foil, shiny side up, on top of the glued design. See the two options below, the first option was featured on the show using foiling glue; the second option includes instructions for a fabric glue and ironing technique.

9. Sprinkle a very small amount of Bo-Nash or tiny snippets of fusible web over the thread and yarn snippets. Place a chiffon scarf on top of the felt and thread snippets.

10. Place a piece of parchment paper on top of the chiffon scarf and press. (Parchment paper protects your iron from becoming tacky from the fusible.) Set iron to the wool/cotton setting and iron the chiffon, snippets, and other bits to the felt. The fusible is holding the sandwich together until it is free-motion stitched, so there may be loose bits of fabrics on top.

11. Free-motion stitch with variegated threads around the shapes.

12. With a heat gun, four to six inches away from your fabric, "zap" the sandwiched piece (felt, chiffon, heart shapes) for a few seconds in different areas, watch closely to see if bits of the chiffon scarf are shriveling away. Do not burn all of the chiffon away, but simply create holes to reveal the brighter hue below. Caution: Overheating the felt with the heat gun could result in burning the fabric and losing the luminosity of the Angelina fibers. Work in a well-ventilated area.

13. Cut the felt piece into 2-1/2" x 3-1/2" artist trading cards (ATCs). A 9" x 12" felt piece should yield approximately eight to nine ATCs.

14. Glue a decorative trim around each ATCs with fabric glue.

15. When the glue is dry, leave as is, or zigzag stitch over the trim.

Figure O

16. Cut a piece of card stock, trimmed to size, and glue to the back of each trading card. Sign and date your ATCs.

17. Trade your ATCs with a friend.