Tickets, please!!!

There is still one phenomenon yet to be measured by science. That being the unknown depths of a woman's bag... With that in mind and the great new Passport theme over at  Simon says Stamp & Show, I decided to combine my love of sewing and crafting and came up with a bright and funky passport holder.

I started out with some medium weight artists canvas which you can get from a good fabric store. I cut two 6.5 by 12.5 inch pieces and then prepped them with a wash of gesso so I would have a base for the colour.

You do need a gesso base coat otherwise the paint will just sit on your fabric and not take. It's best to let it dry naturally as drying with a heat gun can cause shrinkage. Then I applied a watered down mix of Distress Paint to create the colour, using sweeping strokes and the widest brush from Claudine Helmuth's fabulous set. Keep the brush wet and keep the paint moving. Blend, blend, blend...!

When dry, I added some random zig-zag stitching to both pieces, then I stitched the pieces together (right sides together) around the edge, leaving a 3 inch gap for turning. Trim the seams and corners, turn right sides out and iron well. I then top stitched around the edges using red thread. My machine was having a wobbly day and so I went with the rustic look! Turn in two inches either end to the inside to create the inner flaps, press and then stitch twice around the whole piece again. Hey presto, a passport holder!

Then the fun part come when you can add whatever you want. I thought a few stamped dots broke up the background and then I went for these yummy Wendy flowers and leaves. They are stamped onto sticky back canvas with Archival Ink and then coloured with Distress Inks.

I finished off with a little chain stitching on my flower (taking care not to stitch through both layers which fiddly but doable!) Then lots of holiday inspired stamped words to add some flavour. At this point I accidentally dropped my holder onto an blue ink pad. Not funny. But with a bit of a scrub, some repainting and edging I kind of hid it. Phew!

Okay, so it's not Haute Couture, but it was fun and hopefully I will be able to find my passport in a flash on my next little gettaway!
Passports is a really fabulous challenge theme - full of inky potential... Check out the really wonderful  ideas from the rest of the Design Team here! We are on the hunt for our top three artists and there is this very generous $50 voucher to be won too. Do join in and share your art with us.
That's me all done for today. Have a good week y'all!!!!
Sarah.

*Claudine Hellmuth WHITE STICKY BACK CANVAS 12"" by 12"" Studio Ranger	*PRE-ORDER Tim Holtz Distress Paint SET OF 24 Ranger TDD24SET	*Tim Holtz Cling Rubber Stamps 2012 MIXED MEDIA cms125	*Wendy Vecchi Cling Rubber Stamps DREAMS OF ART Stampers Anonymous
*Hero Arts PLAYFUL FLOWER LETTERS 2011 Rubber Stamps LP203	*Tim Holtz DISTRESS INK PAD MOWED LAWN Ranger SUMMER	*Ranger Archival Ink Pad OLIVE AIP31482	*Ranger Archival Ink Pad COBALT AIP31444
*Tim Holtz DISTRESS INK PAD BARN DOOR Red Ranger	*Ranger Archival Ink Pad VERMILLION AIP30461	*Claudine Hellmuth GESSO Studio Primer Paint Ranger	*Claudine Hellmuth Studio Paint ARTIST BRUSHES Brush Ranger CHS24729

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