Stamping & Embossing with Fabric

A few weeks ago during my Quilt Walk, I bought a package of lovely Moda Fabric Squares by Basic Grey.

When I read the instructions on my new Collall Tacky Glue, I saw that its uses included textiles, and the instructions said it would dry transparent & remain flexible, so I decided to give it a try.  I used my fingers to adhere a thin coating of the glue on a piece of thick watercolor paper and then adhered my fabric.  There was very little *bleed* through and it dried perfectly.

Since my fingers were already gluey, I tried a second piece for good measure.

For several days of thinking about what I wanted to do with my now dry and flexible fabric squares.  I decided to try a little stamping.  I started with the texty butterfly stamp from Birds & Butterflies and Teal Zeal Memento ink.

You can see at the top left, that my spacing was a little off (I pretty much eye-ball everything I do), so I added the bird from the same set to help fill in the space.

I'd like to say I had a plan at this point, but I really didn't.  I just like to try things as I go and let creativity take me wherever it wants.  The next step was to do something with my second fabric square … I decided to see if it would emboss … and turns out it embossed beautifully.

The embossing is a gorgeous 8" folder from Crafter's Companion called Regency Swirls … only one problem, I don't have an 8" embossing machine.  So I did what any ingenious crafter would do, I Used my Tim Holtz Serrated Craft Scissers to trim one inch off each side, so it would fit through my 6" Cuttlebug opening … and I still have the two beautiful swirls right down the middle.

Turns out my Teal Zeal ink didn't quite match my teal solid fabric, so I added a bit of the ink to the embossed texture.

The sponged ink worked great to coordinate my two pieces, but unfortunately, the ink kept rubbing off on my hands.  I went searching for a sealing spray, but instead decided to see how my new Gold Sray & Sparkle Glitter Varnish would work … the answer, fabulously.

I held the sold piece closer to the spray bottle to get more solid glitter coverage (and better sealing).  I held the stamped piece a bit further away from the spray to get a lighter glittery effect.

After drying overnight I used strong double-sided tape to assemble my fabric panels.  I used a scrap of my stamped panel to stamp the Home sentiment in Rich Cocoa Memento Ink (trimmed from the Home Sweet Home sentiment from Jingle Bells).

I love how my inky fabric play turned into this wonderful finished project.

I will certainly be using my Collall Tacky Glue to play with more of my fabric stash.

I am also joining the Embossing Challenge at Simon Says Stamp.