We're a tactile family. Oscar's a smacker and a squeezer. Phoebe's a hugger and a slobberer. Tim and I are hardly any better. None of us can walk through a store without touching everything. It's a wonder we're not sick more often. Phoebe's favorite books are her ones with fuzzy bunnies you can pet or crusty glittered princess dresses that can be picked at. So when I had a gaggle of girl birthdays this Summer I thought it would be fun to make box purses with furry flocked designs on them. I hunted down Amy's post on the Enid Collins-esque bag she made and then went to Michaels in search of the same supplies. After googling flocking I found this great online shop, Hobby & Craft Flocking, where you can buy the adhesive paint (just acrylic paint I discovered after ordering), flocking fibers and the supplies you need to flock something. How about that!
Since this was a new experimental craft medium for me so of course I bungled 2 of the beautifully sanded & stained boxes Tim prepped for me. But 2 survived, my niece Maggie's which I don't think I even snapped a photo of and Phoebe's.
I'm not so sure the box bag was the right medium for flocking. I struggled with finding colors that worked against the wood background and also with the scale of the design. But I love the actual flocking. I'm very excited to flock all sorts of projects. I have paint your own matroyska dolls that would be amazing flocked. And I'm dying to try flocked doll hair on a cloth doll! And all the holiday flocking possibilities make my head spin.
The flocking itself went pretty smoothly I thought, especially for a first time flocker like myself. The how-to's on the site were pretty straightforward. I bought this mini flocker and it worked out really well. But definitely get the masks because it kinda goes everywhere. You wouldn't want to do it with your kids around or if you had any problems with teeny tiny dusty particles everywhere.
Oh and flitter, flocking fibers and glitter mixed together! I tried that but wasn't too keen on it against the wood. I'm sure it'd be great for other projects though.
