FaveCrafts is having a free book giveaway. To visit FaveCrafts go to http://www.favecrafts.com. Not only are new crafting ideas presented regularly but you may also put your hat in the ring to be chosen to receive the "Zentangle 2" book. Many of the ideas in this book seem as if they would be very useful to those who journal and to all of us who may occassionally need a creative jump start.

Painted, Decopaged, and Embelished Hen Eggs

Many years ago I became preoccupied with the egg form as a canvas for painting and embellishment and experienced a significant level of success with such venues as The Egg and The Eye Gallery and Robinson's Department Store. As other artistic applications evolved, the humble egg eventually found its way back to the breakfast table. Recently the egg form beckoned me again and over the past few days I have developed a drying platform that facilitates working on more than one egg at a time and almost 2 dozen collaged and sculpted eggs have been created. You may see just a few in the Roxio link posted here.

Cranes over Marsh Land Notecards

Notecards and envelopes seemed to spring naturally from the screen print on fabric of Cranes over Marsh Land. Ten printed cards and envelops make a set that is worthy of gifting.

Cranes over Marsh Land Notecards

Cranes over Marsh Land

The lure of possibilities inherent in the screen printing processes has overpowered the siren calls from the sewing machine. I haven't 't tried my hand at this before now, but, as of today, I'm hooked. I do not have the lighting equipment for the emulsion method, but there are myriad other ways to utilize the screen for printing and now I want to try as many as possible.

"Cranes Over Marsh Land" utilizes 4 different printing methods.

Step One involved cutting a sheet of newspaper slightly smaller than the back side of the screen frame.

In Step Two a rough circle was torn out of the newspaper. This was taped to the back of the screen with masking tape.

Step Three involved placing the screen on fabric that had been pre-washed and pinned to a padded board.

In Step Four ink was placed across the top of the screen and drawn across the circle shape. This was repeated 4 times, twice at the bottom of the fabric piece and twice at the top. A quick washing of the screen followed.

In Step Five, wide masking tape was torn in strips and randomly placed on the back of the screen. As in Step Four, ink was placed across the top of the screen and drawn across the entire screen. Again, a quick wash of the screen made it ready for the final printing.

Step 6 involved drawing a flying crane shape onto the dull side of freezer paper and cut out with a craft knife. This piece of freezer paper was then ironed, shiny side down, onto the back side of the screen.

In Step 7 ink was placed just above the crane shape and then drawn across the screen. Yet again, the screen received a quick wash.

Step 8 involved placing painter's tape along the bottom edge of the top print and along the top edge of the bottom print and ink was drawn across the open space, thus creating an integration of the top printing and the bottom printing.

Because the dark gray "marsh grasses" slightly show through the red strip overprinting, another layer of red will need to be made, but once that is complete and ironing sets the color, quilting can begin.

Aspiration in Progress

"Aspiration" nearing completion

This seeds of this work began to grow as I took a look at my transparent vinyl bag of fabric scraps and decided that it was high time to either start using some of the scraps or find a better place to store them than under my sewing table. I began laying out some of the pieces on the dining room table and started to see a design take shape. It was at this juncture that I figured that the design needed to be placed on a fabric backing. I had tried to save the initial design with a digital picture, but since some of the pieces were rather small, I wasn't having much luck putting them back exactly as they were in the photo. As the design unfolded, I added other elements such as mesh from a potato sack and embossed strips of aluminum from a roasting pan that I had colored with alcohol inks. I was amazed at how easily my machine stitched through the aluminum.

Aspiration