3 D Decoupage Tutorial and Tips

Recycled Cardboard Box

         Hi friends  this recycled cardboard box is the latest addition to my stationery set. I followed the same scheme as my earlier pen stands [Rose Pen Stand , Butterfly and Hearts Pen Stand] and Swinging Box and used Papericious floral paper, glitter strips and "over the edge" leaf stamping on the borders to create a box to hold my glue bottles.

Heat Embossed Butterfly

           The gorgeous butterfly was heat embossed in gold and water colored in a variety of shades of purple and pink!

3 D Decoupage Tutorial

        The floral pattern paper I used was so pretty I didn't feel like camouflaging its beauty by adding too many embellishments.

3 D Decoupaged Rose

 And my favorite 3 D rose created using the technique of 3 D decoupage or otherwise called Paper Tole or Pyramage.
This age old papercrafting technique will be known to many of you so my tutorial is mostly for the benefit of beginners + sharing a few tips!
What is Paper Tole or 3 D decoupage ?
3 D decoupage means creating a 3 dimensional image using multiple copies of the same image. The images are cut smaller in a graduating manner and layered with silicon glue [ a dimensional glue] or double sided foam tape with the smallest image forming the top most layer.
What images can you use for paper tole?

• Printed sheets  with images specifically designed for paper tole - many companies have  lovely designs for 3 D decoupage . These images are printed on good quality paper and you just need to fuzzy cut each image to layer them. The downside is that many a times the sheets are expensive. Here are examples : Flower Fairy Altered Tin , Spinning Card tutorial , Cascading Card tutorial , Fancy Fold Card tutorial 
• Digital Images - many crafters are comfortable with working with digital images and digis are awesome to be manipulated for 3 D decoupage technique with a little bit of photo editing. Even if you are not comfortable with photo editing you can simple print several images on good quality paper and cut the images to use!Here are examples : Swinging Card tutorial , Side Step Pop Up Card 
• Photographs - You can print multiple copies of a favorite photo and cut progressively smaller images for layering .Example : Floral Paper Tole
• Stamped Images - if you love stamping [ and no you need not be an expert stamper ] you can create beautiful 3 D decoupaged images. You can use any image but yes its easier to do with stamps that are not too tiny and have easy to cut lines. And you need to stamp on thick paper as otherwise it wont look nice when you layer multiple images

How many images are needed for 3 D decoupage ?

It really depends on you ! The whole of February I have shared 3 D decoupage roses with layers ranging from 2 to 5! Some of the printed sheets you can buy have even 9 layers to each image!

3 D Decoupage Tutorial

What is the best tool to cut the images ?

You can use a fine tip scissors [ to reach all the little corners] or a craft knife.

My personal favorite is the Martha Stewart spring loaded scissors as it has a fine sharp pointed tip and a spring action which takes the load off your hands on repeated cutting motions! You can carry around the images and scissors with you to cut comfortable curled up on your sofa!

If you are using a craft knife you need a craft mat [ you can make do with a kitchen cutting pad also] and you need to keep your knife blades super sharp so that means be ready to keep changing those blades. Compared to the scissors, handling a craft knife requires more adeptness and more care as a little slip and you cut more that you want and not enough force while cutting and you get an unsightly jagged cut edge!

3 D Decoupage Tutorial

Ink the edges of the images
For a beautiful 3 D decoupaged image do remember to spend an extra minute inking the cut white edges of your images. You can use marker pens or paint brushes to do this but I find sponges the easiest and quickest way!

3 D Decoupage Tutorial

Best adhesive to layer the images ?
You can use silicon glue  or adhesive foam tape of various thickness. I have tried silicon glue but found I didn't have the patience for it! The easier adhesive is the regular thickness double sided foam tape.
Buying Tip : When you buy foam tape do buy it in different widths as it will make your crafting so much quicker!
What scissors are best to cut foam tape?
           If you cut the Foam tapes with regular scissors you will soon end up frustrated with all the glue building up on your blades. Adhesive foam tapes are best cut with a non sticky scissors such as the Tim Holtz Scissors!
           And though initially I used to think the Tim Holtz scissor would never gum up;over the years and especially recently I find them gumming up frequently though not in the frustrating way normal scissors would! If this happens to your non sticky scissors use an alcohol wipe or a cloth dipped in alcohol blending solution/ spirit to clean the blades.
A buying tip : If you are debating which Tim Holtz scissor to pick up [ comes in 2 sizes now] and your main purpose to get it is to cut sticky tape then buy the smaller one as I have both and the big one is just not handy for tape cutting! In fact the big one I bought is lying neglected and unused most of the time!
You can read more about scissors and other paper cutting tools in this post : 10 Paper Cutting Tools

3 D Decoupage Tutorial

      You can start layering the smallest image first or go vice versa. The trick is to use enough tape to cover the central area and reach to the edges but not till the edges as otherwise it will   be visible from the outside when you layer

3 D Decoupage Tutorial

When layering you can layer bang on top or stagger it just a little bit for the layering to be clearly visible!

3 D Decoupage Tutorial

If you have foam tape of different widths ...layering images becomes a breeze!

3 D Decoupage Tutorial

When you reach the base layers be sure to add enough adhesive support to the center  so that it does not buckle under the weight of the top layers.

3 D Decoupage Tutorial

On the image below I added a bit of foam tape extra on the top as in this rose paper tole the maximum bulk of the layers is towards the top of the image.

3 D Decoupage Tutorial

         3 D decoupage is also a nice way to camouflage those improperly stamped or colored images ! Example of you are not happy with the central part of your image coloring use this image as your base layer and if you are unhappy about the outer  part chop it off and use that image as your top layer!

3 D Decoupage Tutorial

On the lowermost layer I have put the foam tape towards the lower part and left the top bare purposely as I wanted to raise the lower part of the image and leave a gap  to tuck in leaves!

3 D Decoupage Tutorial

I just love how 3 D decoupage though time consuming can create such a dimensional look to an otherwise flat image!

3 D Decoupage Tutorial

I hope you liked this simple though detailed tutorial . Do add any pointers from your experience too!

3 D Decoupage Tutorial

        Since this box was going to serve a utilitarian purpose I didn't want bulky embellishments on it but the 3 D decoupaged rose was just perfect!

3 D Decoupage Tutorial

Do tell me your views on 3 D decoupage my friends..do you use this technique in your crafting?

Supplies : Dies : Sizzix- Hero Arts  Stamp- Die Set Flowers and Butterflies 657773
Stamps : Winnie and Walter In Bloom Elsa's Flora Stamp Set , Sizzix- Hero Arts  Stamp- Die Set Flowers and Butterflies 657773

Papers : Papericious