2015 #18 Bloom Apron {by Nicole Maki}

2015 Topic 18: Wearable Art

Hello Everyone, I’m Nicole Maki, a mixed-media artist from Portland, Oregon, USA. The designers here at PaperArtsy consistently move the art of crafting forward with their innovative and stunning designs and I’m delighted they asked me to join in. 

My preferences lean towards urban style, graffiti and bright neon colors but I know that’s not for everyone. Wearable art is a space where I can tailor the color scheme and motif to the interests and style of the recipient. 

I was excited about the theme of ’wearables’ as most art is very stationary - hanging on a wall or sitting on a table - and it is viewed by a small number of people. When you create something to wear; it is both a chance for your work to be seen in public spaces and it’s also a terrific conversation starter. Any opportunity to bring strangers together and talk about making things is a win in my book. 

Step One: Stamp flowers, stems and leaves from E Lin Brown 01 on canvas half-apron using Limelight, London Bus, Tango and Orchid paint. 

ELB01

The method I like is to squirt a small amount of paint onto a craft mat, roll it out thin with a brayer and then apply the paint to the stamp with the brayer. 

You can also tap the stamp into the thin layer of paint or apply it with a brush. 

Step Two: Put a tiny amount of teal paint on your craft mat and dilute it with tons of water. Use this to fill in the background of the apron. 

Try to keep your paint intensity uneven by using more and less water; it adds interest and implies a pretty blue sky.

Step Three: On a separate piece of white canvas (duck cloth) stamp the flowers. Once dry, embellish with machine stitching. If you’re concerned about the threads fraying you can dab a tiny bit of glue on the ends.

Step Four: Stamp, “Art in Bloom” sentiment on the top edge of the pockets using black permanent ink pad. 

Step Five: Cut out and attach flowers; you can use hand-stitching (shown here) or fabric glue.

Finally you can outline flower shapes with a black permanent gel pen. 

Remember: When stamping with paint, wash your stamps immediately (or toss them in a tub of water until you can clean them) as dried paint can be harder to remove from your stamps.

If machine sewing isn’t your style, you can achieve the same effects with dimensional paint and fabric glue. 

Half aprons are a fun, gift to give and to receive. They are easily personalized by changing the stamps and the color scheme - for example a hot pink background and red hearts, navy background and yellow-gold stars with white paint splatter, graffiti style with black stamped text, numbers and symbols on a bright background… the possibilities really are endless.

You can find me at my blog, www.madebynicole.blogspot.com and on Etsy, https://www.etsy.com/shop/PerkyNihilist

Thankyou Nicole for joining us this evening. This so makes me want to make another apron. The composition and blending is beautiful and the layering of the flowers really makes them pop. Great tip on varying the intensity of the paint colour too. ~Darcy 

We would love you to join in with challenge #18:Wearable Art. If you are inspired by any of our guests who blog with us over the fortnight, then please join in and link up your creativity HERE. 

All links go in the draw to win a voucher to spend on products of your choice from the PaperArtsy online store. The Wearable Art link will close 17:00 (London Time) Sunday, October 11th winner will be announced 2 hours later at 19:00