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One Stencil, One Image Transfer, Two Journal Pages - Part II Warmup Exercises to Spice It Up

One Stencil, One Vintage Silk Photo Image Transfer, Two Journal Pages - Part 1

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Hi Everyone,

Its JustJillMcD here with another blog post for Gwen Lafleur Studioss Artist Tribe. A few months ago, I scored a box of vintage clothes at a tag sale.  Inside the box was a tattered silk taffeta dress that was on the verge of falling apart. Since then I've been on a mission to find ways to incorporate the fabric into my art work.

 

One idea I had was to alter the silk taffeta with Distress Oxide Inks.  

 

Here's an example of some of the altered silk in a collage with some coveted Japanese papers. IMG_0746

Today, I want to share with use another technique to transfer a laser copy photo image onto the silk and to create not one, but two art journal pages.  While both pages feature Gwen's fabulous 6X6 Decorative Medallion Stencil Design, the same photo image, and a similar color palette, the journal pages are surprisingly different. But before we get to the pages, let me show you just how easy it is to do an image transfer onto vintage silk taffeta 

Black and White Photo Image Transfer onto Vintage Silk Taffeta

 Supplies you'll need:

  • Vintage silk taffeta (look for in garage sales, thrift shops, you grandmother's attic...),
  • Black and white image from a laser copier/printer, (plain old photocopy paper works best.  The toner in the copier/printer is what makes this work),
  • Soft Gel medium (I used my free jar of Golden that I'd received from an art supply store when I purchased 3 bottles of 1 oz Golden Acrylic Fluid Paint);
  • Old flat paint brush, (a cheap chip brush works well too);
  • Craft mat, (optional, but helps in clean up),
  • A scrap piece of deli or parchment paper,
  • An old store credit card or Princeton Catalyst Wedge (The Catalyst W-06 is one of my guilty pleasures),
  • Baby wipes or paper towels, (to clean up said craft mat),
  • Spray Bottle filled with tap water,
  • Mindless time to spare, (I prefer to do the final stage on the couch watching Outlander - and if, so working on a tv tray helps to keep the paper bits from flying), 
  • Patience, patience, patience.

 Photo Transfer Process:

Preparation: Making a Soft Gel Sandwich 

  • Rip off a piece of vintage silk taffeta that is just a little larger than the image to be transferred.
 
  • Use an old flat paint brush (or chip brush) to coat the front of the vintage silk taffeta with a thin, (but not sparse), even and smooth layer of Soft Gel Medium. Then lay the silk taffeta on your craft mat, coated side facing up.
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  • Coat the front of your image with the Soft Gel Medium. Then place the image on top of the taffeta with the coated side down

 

 

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  • A Soft Gel Sandwich

 

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  • Place a piece of deli or parchment paper on top of the sandwich.Working from the center of the sandwich outward towards each edge, use an old store card of Catalyst Wedge to squeegee out the excess soft gel. The deli/parchment paper will help to protect the wet paper underneath from tearing. You want to ensure that there is good adhesion throughout the sandwich.

 

  • Remove the deli/parchment paper and wipe up the excess soft gel from the edges with a paper towel or baby wipe.  Then carefully pick up the sandwich off the mat and hang it up to dry.  

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The Big Reveal

(Now would be an excellent time to settle in and get comfy.   I put my dampened Soft Gel Sandwich on a T.V tray and head to the couch, armed with my spray bottle of water for the next part.)

Once your sandwich is completely dry, lay it on your craft mat so the the back of the silk is on the bottom and the back of the image on the top.   Use your spray bottle to saturate paper with water.  Let the water soak in for a minute or two to make process go a little bit easier.  

Begin by gently rubbing the top of the paper with the tips of your fingers until little bits of the paper begin to ball up under your fingers. Continue to rub all around the paper until the top layer comes completely off.  

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Once the paper dries you will be able to see another :fuzzy" thin layer of paper and gel medium residue. Continue to gently rub off the paper bits and the fuzz underneath until you are left with a smooth translucent image.  I was pleasingly surprised had how much stronger the silk taffeta was as a substrate for this technique compared to paper.  It was much more forgiving.  However, proceed with caution and patience.  Depending on the size of your image, you could be rubbing for quite a while, (hence why I do this on my couch while watching tv...).

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I took this image of my husband a few weeks ago while we were vacationing on Cape Cod.  I think it will make a great journal page, or two....

And now for the first of two journal pages that I made featuring this image:

Journal page #1 

I started this spread with a clean up page in my large Dyan Reavely Art Journal.  The clean up included some collaged Lutradur scraps from a previous post stenciled with Gwen's 6X6 Ornamental Petal Screen Design.  Then I added more acrylic paint and glazes, and some incredible MT Washi Tape that Gwen has in her in web store to reinforce the seam. I'm particularly drawn to this wash tape design of scenes from the Czech republic since I spent a week in Prague and Berlin with my MBA class at UCONN touring factories.  (Btw, touring factories is a really cool thing to do...) 

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I adhered the silk taffeta image onto the pages with Soft Gel Medium,  colorized it with acrylic glazes and colored pencils, and added white highlights with a Signo and a Sharpie Paint Pen.  

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Since the Washi Tape reminded me of sand castles I decided to add more of it and integrated it into the page with some acrylic paint and doodles.  (Because honestly, who does't love Washi Tape and Doodles... Are you with me?

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 To add even more interest, I used Gwen's 6X6 Ornamental Petal Screen Design stencil in the background and her 6X6 Decorative Medallion Stencil Design in the foreground, spending a little fun time time making the Medallion stencil just a  little bit more painterly with layers of acrylic paint, acrylic glazes, and a white Sharpie Paint Pen.

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  Then I went wild and tied the whole spread together with lots and lots of dots.............

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 And here is a pic of the full spread. 

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Check out Gwen's Web Store for more inspiring ideas for your art journal and mixed media projects. She has lots of treasures to share in there.... (and psst, Gwen has a birthday coming up and to celebrate she's having putting the whole store on sale October 30th through November 31st... Be sure to watch for it!) Next time on the blog, I'll bring you Part II of this post; The second art journal page that I created using the same transfer image and Gwen's Decorative Medallion Stencil.  I can't wait to share it with you.  

As always I appreciate your comments and questions.  Thanks for stopping by and visiting with me.  

Hugs, Jill

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