handprinting update.....

now everything is printed and posted and i managed to squeeze in something little into each parcel i can do another big reveal......yes i did reprint, late one evening and it was so much easier, mild temperatures made all the difference.  i managed sharper edges and smoother ink and will have to add a little more flexibility into printing next time around.

the grey/black/blues stayed as they were i loved them. i managed to mix a lovely teal and printed a small swatch onto grey cotton to send off to Leslie (seems only fair she should get a little extra for her organizational work, i am sure you agree!)

i also mastered my colour panels and decided to go with shades of greens as two of my swappers had yellow,green,blue as their colour preferences - try as i may i could not find a way to mix them to my pleasure....but here is what i ended up with.....

fingers crossed and maybe my legs too hoping everyone gets a little joy when their packages are opened. 

a long hot wait...

we have had a long run of hot days and nights, the littles have not slept well, the bigs had not slept well. everything slowed right down. the essentials were done and not much else.

that being said my best friend and fellow swapper drove out for our printing date earlier in the week and we stopped and started our way through our printing, lunching and entertaining 3 littles all who wanted to 'stamp'.

my plans for lovely blogging photos of printing processes, our lovely quiche and salad lunch and the necessary cups of tea and louise slice all fell away as trial and error and a travelling timetable took precedence.  i took a moment of quiet yesterday while one pitter slept the other adventured and i battled to get out some coloured prints i was comfortable with (love will never happen for me if it is not grey). i may still take another spin on the stamps tomorrow if the opportunity presents itself.........colour is hard!!!

but that said this is what i will be popping in the post if that fails. after another press (ironing in 36 degree = not fun), trim and suitability lovely wrapping.  i hope everyone gets the piece they may have eyed up!

next time around i will definitely participate again but make the change to screen printing as i really did love the sharp edges from my paper stamping, which after lots of fussing i just could not achieve on the fabric.  i think possibly it was a mistake to pre-wash the fabric? 

i have a few plans for making this week, we will see how we go.........no i am printing again i can not like the last print, any takers?

putting the tools down..

i have finished carving my stamps for the hand printed fabric swap.  now i am not as fond of my first (that roundy fellow in the bottom right of the picture) but as a set they make sense and i am itching to get some ink on them.  my lovely friend and i have a printing date next tuesday which will be fun especially considering it will involve the little people underfoot (fun = possibly disastrous.)

the fabric will be line drying today and i am hoping for a cool night to iron in the next few days

now i have used ezi carve blocks this time around although i was sorely temped by the japanese wood blocks,  next time i will make the change if i am planning to do larger stamps. i will be working with my coping saw and some ply i have stashed away to make three baking plates for the 3 feathers.

and you get to see this last photo as i took it on manual settings and am pretty impressed with myself.  i have a few carving tips to post but not today.

hand printing fabric.....so far so good

 inspiration

 carving tools and ezi carve blocks

 feather stamp components

 zen rock stamps

 first time with permaset inks

 100 % cottons

and some late and lovely christmas presents

the fabric swap is under way

maze and vale fabric sample pack

maze and vale fabric sample pack

today was the big day.... hand printed fabric swap group announcement, i was pretty excited, kids at christmas excited really and after bustling though an assortment of homely duties i popped inside to see the email from Leslie in my box, did i rush in.....no.  i made a simple lunch of ham and cheese toasties and chocolate milkshake and sat down ready to really enjoy the moment.

what i was not ready for was the first name on the list.....Leslie herself, if i were still capable of flipping and cartwheeling (i feel i should be able to cartwheel but think that nobody needs to see it) it would of happened then.  no i just sat there smiling myself silly.  i do feel like a little bit of a Leslie Keating/maze and vale stalker and will be happy to finally meet her in person at the next finders keepers market in melbourne.

now looking at the rest of my swap buddies is no less intimidating (oh how i have to brush up my blogging skill set) here are there links and few things i found that i love from each of them

Krista from Spotted Stones. Krista has whipped up these, i just bought the pattern last week and can't wait to get onto them.  she can do this in an hour, i am in awe and have yet another pattern to buy and she is from what i can see something of a quilting goddess.

Kylie of Paravent. oh this is what she did today, i am definitely going to do some practicing. She also made herself this t, i love the stunning colour and hope i can mix up something like it for my prints. and last but not least i am cheered by the fact that i am not the only one who has to commit to finishing things off

Sarah from SarahWaterhouse.  i am more than a little smitten with her fabric bundles and it makes me more excited that i have a fat quarter whinging its way to me and her waves, oh the waves have me all at sea.  Sarah also has some great straight forward how its done posts on her blog here and here for me just starting out i am thankful for creatives who share so openly.

and of course 

Leslie herself of maze and vale, i picked up a couple of sample packs (pictured above) a week or so ago  (follow maze and vale here to keep up to date when these pop up into the shop, they go fast) and pop over  to her shop to pick up some fabric and one of her dropcloth artworks.