by Tania Willis
supplies
scissors
pattern (templates provided)
cardstock
patterned paper
specialty paper (i.e. handmade or mulberry paper)
adhesive
buttons
brads
silk and/or paper flowers
floss
needle
tweezers or fine-tipped scissors
small spray bottle with water
pen or pencil
tutorial
1. Print the template pieces (provided at this link) and cut them out. If you think you’ll make them more than once, I recommend transferring them to chipboard so they will hold up over time.
2. Lay your pattern piece, facedown, on the wrong side of your paper. This allows you to cut out without worrying about leaving stray pencil/pen marks behind.
3. Place your pattern into a sandwich or snack size baggie and label the bag. Don’t risk losing pieces of your pattern by not bagging it immediately when done tracing. This is especially important when doing an advanced pattern that may have lots of small pattern pieces. I also find it helpful to snap a picture of the project when I am finished and include a printout of it in the bag for future reference.
4. Next, cut out your pieces.
5. Start adding character. Here are a few ways to add texture to your handmade paper or cardstock.
* Put the paper through a paper crimper.
* Crumple your paper. Spritz lightly with water first to make the paper more pliable and avoid tearing.
* Make handmade or mulberry paper fuzzy by spritzing with water and then using tweezers or a fine-tipped pair of scissors to “fluff” up the fibers. Here is a side-by-side example of untouched vs. fluffed handmade paper.
And here is a detail shot of the fuzzy monkey made using the handmade paper. See why I love this stuff? It gives a wonderful texture to your projects.
6. Adhere your pieces together, being careful to avoid getting adhesive where it will show. I find that a wet adhesive works best with the handmade paper and paper to which you’ve added texture. Then, add buttons for eyes and brads for the nose to embellish your piece. A few variations are shown.
7. Add further details to personalize your piece, including flowers, ribbon bows, hand stitching, etc. Before hand stitching, I prefer to poke my holes using my needle or a paper piercing tool making it easier (and quicker) to add stitching. You can make your monkey a male by simply leaving off the flowers and adding insets to the ears in the same color or pattern you used for the face.
8. You can add even more character to your cardstock pieces by distressing them using the open blade of your scissors and scraping it along the edges to rough them up.
9. And now you’re ready to adhere your embellishment to your project.
[twillis]
