Happy girl clutch

I have quite a stash of fabric paints and pens and inks. Maybe I'm a little hoardy with it. I decided yesterday to maybe start using it! 

I picked up a couple of premade bags at the craft store and some stencil medium and personalized the bags using a variety of materials I had. It was a good thing too because some of these paints have been in my stash too long and need to get used ASAP! So here's how I made these.....

Materials

Clutch or other canvas bag

Fabric paints....I used Soft fabric paint, painters paint pens and some block ink. 

Stencil blanks

Paintbrush (about 1 inch flat brush or stencil brush) 

Exacto knife

Tape or stencil adhesive

I started by drawing my design directly on the stencil. I have a confident drawing style so if you don't just draw a design on paper and then trace it onto to stencil with a sharpie. Using a very sharp exacto knife cut out your stencil. Remember when designing your stencil that everything you cut out will be your colored area so plan accordingly. For example look at my stencil, see how the a is cut out so that the void in the letter shows? That is because I kept it attached by not connecting those lines. 

Once you get the stencil cut out you can position it on your bag and tape it down on the sides or use stencil adhesive to keep it in place. I didn't have the adhesive so I used tape and had to be a little more careful when painting. Load your brush with paint, dab to remove excess and holding the brush straight up and down stipple the design. Use care on the edges so you get minimal bleeding under the stencil. Remove the stencil carefully. At this point if you are anything like me you have paint all over your hands so before you handle the bag take your stencil to the sink and rinse it and wash those hands. It really stinks when you finish a stencil then mess it up with paint fingerprints. 

When I was done stencil ings I used the paint pens to add stars. Let the bags dry overnight and enjoy! 

Check your paint instructions, you may have to heat set them to ensure durability but with this being a bag and not a garment you should be fine. Always follow the manufacturers instructions for best results. 

Tip....the stencil blanks are thick and a little difficult to cut. Intricate designs would have been time consuming. 

So get to the craft store and create your own personalized bags today! 

Total cost for this project was $10-$20 depending on what you have in your craft tool box already. 

Have a super duper day! 

Xoxo Kim