Printing on Fabric

For a project that I'm working on I need to have a prototype made up that is print ready 

on fabric. I wanted to use muslin, not the white cotton fabric that

is sold by the sheet ready for the printer. I had made this up years
ago and made pillows from my artwork. It isn't very washable
but can be wiped with a damp cloth after drying.

First you need freezer paper.

It is a heavy paper that has a plastic coating on one side.

That side is very shiny so that is the side you want to attach the fabric to.

I make sure that the paper is cut straight to ensure that it runs through

 the printer without getting bunched up.

Also I use it standard size: 8 1/2" x 11" I tried cutting it larger

but the paper gets too floppy that way.

I first give the muslin a nice pressing and that also makes the fabric a bit warm and
in my opinion, may help hold the paper in place better.

Then the shiny side of the freezer paper gets placed down on the muslin and a light 

ironing is used to smooth it. You don't need the iron very hot and
just do a quick light pass and check to see that it stuck.
.

For this project, I needed three pieces so I just kept lining them up along side each other, then snipped away and trimmed the edges to the paper. It is easier sometimes to do this step with a rotary and a straight edge on the cutting board.

Three pieces of fabric ready for the printer. Make sure that there are
no stray threads.

 

These are the printed pages on the muslin. Before you
attempt to sew, let this dry for 24 hours. The ink
needs to be very dry. It won't be a brightly colored
print as Spoonflower can do on their professional
printers, but it's a great way to find out if
your pattern or design works.

Thomas would rather I hold him all day instead of working on art.....

Thank you for reading and hop on over to Instagram to follow also!
Have a nice day :)

Catching Up!!

It was a very busy fall and holiday season this past year. I committed to too many fairs and shops, it overwhelmed me to say the least! However, I met some lovely people along the way and was able to focus in on my product lines better. I did quite a few small paintings for the craft fairs, they are easier to tote!

My prints and art bevels were a big success, I plan on expanding those selections this coming year.


The gingerbread houses got assembled and nibbled as usual this year….

It is very serious construction…..

each house is unique and lovely!

But not as lovely as my nieces!

Newest Collage Work

A bit of a mess going on here, but what fun!

I have been working my way through a wonderful book entitled "The Artist's Way" by Julia Cameron. It is a 12 week process that will probably take me longer because I do want to get the most out of it and not have it turn into another time stresser.

I have been finding myself to be less afraid of making messes. After all I am from the 'old school' Commercial Art trained, nothing messy, no ink blots, smudges, etc. This experiment of mine is to give myself the freedom to make a mistake and turn that into art that is pleasing to me.

In the process of printing up my water color and ink paintings, there are a lot of prints that cannot be sold until I get the setting right on the printer. So using the seconds and some vintage papers and ephemera, acrylics, stamps and other found items I had a good old time!

A New Idea

My new Art Bevels!

Working in softer colors and getting back to my favorite watercolors and pen and ink.

These little pieces of art can fit just about anywhere!

They are now listed on ETSY with more to come.

Mixed Media Paintings That Are in the Show at Cornell Street Gallery

I entitled this one "Umbrella Love" for the show but I really wanted to call it
"The Early Promise". That's what I will call it after the show.

"Love is Color Blind"

"I Love You From Afar"

Three new mixed media paintings thatare currently showing at Cornell Street Gallery's "Art and Music Show". The opening is this weekend, February 11th. The musician David Temple will be there for the opening festivities. If you are in the Kinston, NY area it promises to be a lovely evening.
I will have prints posted on my etsy site sometime this week.

Craft Fair at Spackenkill Last Weekend

My booth is a work in progress.



My new design for crows.



I have been having so much trouble getting pictures out of my Droid. It takes beautiful pictures but I can't seem to get them up loaded correctly to Picasa. I have a grey section on a bunch of photos that I can't figure out how it happened. Anyway these two are ok, I have better ones but I am still working on them. The fair was very nice and it was great to see some past customers. I am getting ready for the Dutchess Arts Council Fair next weekend. More birds and paintings and ornaments and note cards........

Butterfly Prints

This weekend I am working on listing prints of my new butterfly paintings.
The originals will be in a show at the Cornell Street Gallery in Kingston, NY opening on the 8th of October.
I love the colors in this painting! The original is on a vintage ledger book page.

New ETSY Listings

New listings on my etsy page tonight!