The busy girl's guide to découpage

Découpage is a French word meaning 'to cut out', and is used to describe the art of cutting out and sticking designs to a surface. It was all the rage in the 17th and 18th centuries, when it was used to decorate boxes and furniture. Nowadays, 3D découpage is popular with card makers and involves layering up designs and using a 3D adhesive in between each layer.

 

There are lots of ways to try the technique - by buying standard or die-cut sheets, repeat stamping your own designs, or cutting up photographs and pictures from magazines. You don't need a lot else - so read on to get started with découpage today.

 

Foam pads

If you want your designs to have a uniform 3D quality, you can use foam pads in between layers of découpage. Foam pads come in a range of different sizes and thicknesses. Alternatively, you can buy a roll of craft foam tape to cut to size yourself.

Quick Cards' choice: Stix2 Super Value Pack of Thin Foam Pads (NA31), £1.65 (for 880 pads measuring 5x5x1mm) from Natty Netty

 

 

 

Découpage sheets

Découpage sheets are printed with one main image and several repeats of smaller parts of the main image. The idea is to cut out all the pieces and layer the smaller designs on top of the main design. With traditional sheets, you'll need to cut around each of the designs with some small scissors or découpage snips. Alternatively, you can cheat and use die-cut découpage sheets, which come pre-cut - all you need to do is push the shapes out from the sheet. Beginners can also try step-by-step sheets where each layer is numbered in sequence for you.

Quick Cards' choice: Jolly Nation A4 Die-cut Découpage sheets in Horse Riding Lady (DPD-4713)  £1.59 from Handy Hippo

 

 

Silicone glue

Silicone glue is a rubber-like synthetic polymer adhesive, that's excellent for any kind of 3D papercraft. Bottles or tubes of the glue come with fine nozzle attachments, so you can use it to attach even the tiniest images to your designs. It's transparent too, so is less visible than foam pads. And, because you can apply as little or as much silicone glue as you like, you get to decide how 3D you would like your designs to be.

Quick Cards' choice: Stix2 Silicone Adhesive Clear Silicone Adhesive, £2.75 for 50ml from A Card 4 U

 

 

Stamps

It is possible to create your own images to use for découpage. Just stamp a suitable image onto card for the main image, re-stamp the design several times and cut smaller areas from these images, to layer onto the main stamped image.

Quick Cards' choice: Penny Black Roses On The Run stamp (3927H), £6.99 from The Glitter Pot

 

 

Snips

Découpage snips come in handy for those tiny, tricky areas around the edges of intricate designs. The blades are very small and sharp and the snips require very little effort to use - just a gentle squeeze on the bowed handles. Perfect for anyone who has problems with hand strength.

Quick Cards' choice: Straight Tweezer Scissors (TWZ01), £4.95 from The Art of Craft

 

Scissors

You'll need to invest in a small, sharp pair of craft scissors if you want to take up découpage, unless you opt to use die-cut découpage sheets. Small scissors will be easier to manoeuvre around the design you're cutting out. You can get curved scissors, designed especially for découpage and for particularly intricate designs, you may find a scalpel or pair of découpage snips - as mentioned above - useful.

Quick Cards' choice: Fiskars Découpage/Embroidery Scissors (9807), £6.56 available to buy from Liz's Crafts

 

 

 

Glaze

You can coat selected areas of your découpage design with clear glaze or lacquer, a type of craft varnish that adds a high-gloss sheen to paper and card. Clear glaze comes in bottles with small applicator nozzles to make it easy to apply, even in the smallest quantities.

Quick Cards' choice: Clear Crystal Lacquer (PCL-2073), £6.95 from Handy Hippo

 

 

 

 

5 TOP TIPS

 

1. Use a craft knife to cut out intricate areas before using scissors on the rest.

2. When cutting out images, move the paper or card, not your scissors.

3. You may find a pair of tweezers useful for positioning small images.

4. Don't place adhesive or foam pads too close to the edge of your cut images, as you don't want them to be on show.

5. Stuck an image down with foam pads and need to reposition it? Don’t pull it - use a knife to cut through the pad instead.

 

GIRLS WHO WANT MORE... ... might like the following websites and products:

 

  • Free découpage sheets - visit www.3dsheets.com for some floral, animal and fairy designs to print out and use
  • CD-ROMs - Joanna Sheen's Egyptian Adventure CD-ROM contains lots of images that you can découpage. Buy it for £14.63 from Handy Hippo
  • Foil découpage - take a look at Handy Hippo's website for the eye-catching range of foil découpage by Dufex
  • Visit www.craftbubble.com to share tips with crafters

 

STOCKISTS

 

A Card 4 U – www.acard4u.co.uk

Handy Hippo – 01753 539222 and www.handyhippo.co.uk

Liz's Crafts – 01782 751700 and www.liz-craft.co.uk

Natty Netty – www.nattynetty.co.uk

The Art of Craft – 01252 377677 and www.art-of-craft.co.uk

The Glitter Pot – 01444 831714 and www.theglitterpot.co.uk