crafty crafty crafty!

I think my new mission in life is to figure out a way to make a living off being crafty. I think everyone has this ambition though, so I think I may just have to stick to academia, at least until I win a multi-million dollar (or pound, preferably) lottery! :)

Here's my latest, though not exactly original endeavour - Freezer paper stencils. This craft has been all over the internets in the last few months, so there are numerous tutorials available. I think the most difficult part is actually getting your hands on the stuff, since (in Ottawa and Newcastle at least) Freezer Paper is almost non-existent (in the UK, you can order it here). But find it I did (yay Superstore!), and here's what I ended up with...
yes, its more baby gifts... baby onesies (aka bodysuits), to be exact, since I needed a gift for my friend Mel, who had a little boy about a month ago. I started out with 6 onesies, but the little gerber ones you see in the front shrank a little in the wash (even though I used cold water), to the point that they looked way too small for anything but a newborn. So they became my 'samples'. (Mike also didn't think it appropriate to put a bomb on a baby, although I thought it was kind of cute... you know, as in stink bombs and all that). After a quick trip to the shop and a little more internet browsing, I made three more onesies. The top six are the ones I gave to Mel.
I like the rocket ship one the best. The metallic paint left a really nice smooth finish, and it bled under the paper the least.

A few tips if you're trying this at home:
- iron a blank piece of freezer paper to the back of where you're going to stencil - it give stability and stops the paint from bleeding through to the other side.
- despite what some sites say, don't put a cloth between the iron and the paper - just be quick about the pressing. The cloth prevents the paper from adhering as well.
- if you have little 'inside bits' to your stencil, you don't need to put them all on in one go - do the outer bit, then add the inside pits a few at a time... I was concerned that too much re-ironing would un-stick the paper, but so long as you make quick passes, its not a problem.
- leave the paper on until the paint is fully dry - it may tear your stencil when it comes off, but the paint bleeds less this way.
- if you figure out a way to make letters look good, please let me know! :) I have some ideas up my sleeve, but so far I've been unimpressed with the results. (did you notice that there's a onesie missing?) ;)