Monday, May 17, 2010

Napkin Transfer technique

I am introducing a contributor to my blog.  She is none other than my most favorite daughter.  I could only seem to round up this pic on the spur of the moment.  The sunshiney day was making us all squint, but her smile just lights up the space anyway.
We learned how to use napkins as a decorative addition to our altered art last year from Jan T. at Paper Cowgirl Retreat.  My favorite daughter put together a tutorial for these napkins as an intro for those who have never used these mini works of printed art.  So here is her tut.....

NAPKIN TRANSFER



The napkins you want are the decorative paper napkins that you would use for special occasions and holidays. The “pretty napkins” that don’t get used often.


You also need matte medium to do this project and a nice flat brush.








You can cut out the area of the napkin you want to use or tear it.

First, you will need to separate the layers of napkin away from the design. There are usually 3 layers but sometimes there will be 4. I have found that if there are 4, the last layer is hard to pull away from the design—so be more careful.


 

Once you have your design paper separated, then you put some of your medium on your surface and spread evenly. Next, apply the napkin. Once that napkin goes down, it won’t move easily or come up easily. Especially if you have used more rather than less medium.












Lastly, apply a bit more medium to the top of the napkin. Once you do this, you will see the design begin to “disappear” into the surface. I used the black background so you could see how it disappears.


The pic with the brown surface has the right side half done.





The right side of the napkin has the 2nd layer of matte medium on it and the final product….



Do be careful not to over brush and be light with your brush. As you can see, I was trying to smooth the surface too much with my brush and the napkin tore in the top left corner.

I hope this was helpful and easy to understand.  -A-

Thanks Fav Daughter!!

Now, y'all go grab your cute napkins and try this technique.  It works on so many surfaces and the wrinkles are a bonus gift of texture and not to be frowned upon.  Thanks for stopping by..and y'all come back!

2 comments:

chantal johnson said...

loved reading your blog!

Jan Thomason said...

andrea, you did a fabulous job!!!

remember that if you tear vs. cut your napkin that the edges will "melt" into the canvas or whatever you're working on:) Depends on what look you want.

And, hey, don't worry about the tearing that happened when you were brushing your medium on the top! It adds character AND even more texture to your piece or a place that you can place a flower or two. LOL (actually, with the napkin you demo'd with, you could patch that mistake.)
And remember and never forget two things..............
Your tutorial ROCKED!!!! and
I love you!!

J.T. - the "first" Jan