Batik Tutorial

Batik has a long and industrious history. It's believed that Batik originated 2000 years ago in Asia and spread through the Middle East via the trade routes. Indonesia - specifically Java boasts the greatest production of Batik in the world, so great in fact that the Dutch imported Indonesian craftsmen to teach them the art of Batik. Around 1900 Germany began to mass-produce Batik and today computerization of Batik techniques is a reality.

What is Batik? It's art of using wax to make patterns traditionally on fabric and dyeing the fabric and then removing the wax to make beautiful designs and layers of beautiful color. From Dharma Trading Company's website "Recognizable motifs, patterns and colors were developed and designed to identify one’s family, social status and geographic origin. Some experts feel that it was originally reserved for Javanese royalty on that island, and possibly a pass time of the princesses and noble ladies of the time. The word Batik seems to come from an Indonesian word 'ambatik', a cloth with little dots."

As with most other mediums rubber stampers have learned how to adapt Batik into paper crafting projects and beautifully at that! The use of mulberry paper is key in that it's similar to fabric and will produce the veining of traditional Batik.


Supplies:
VersaMark Ink
Mulberry Paper
Embossing Powder
Heat Gun
Misting bottle of water
Sponge Daubers or Stamping Sponges
2-3 complimentary colored but not similar colors of Classic Ink Pads or Refills (you can also use Watercolor Wonder Crayons
Copy Paper
Flat Iron

Step 1. After covering your work surface stamp your image on mulberry paper, add embossing powder and heat emboss.

Step 2. Wet your paper.

Step 3. Use daubers to dab color onto the wet paper. Take care to dab and not drag so you don't rip your paper. You can repeat the process of stamping and adding ink but use your lightest color of ink to begin and continue ending with your darkest shade of ink.

Step 4. Place card between sheets of copy paper and run a warm iron over it. The embossing powder will melt again and stick to the copy paper.

Step 5. Use and embellish as desired.

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