Happy Mother's Day!

I so hope all of my lovely ladies out there were able to celebrate Mothers' Day in a way that is special to them. The weather was wonderful here so there was opportunity for families to enjoy the outdoors.

So I have been playing with the glue sticks and I have to tell you it has been quite fun. Now I have a silicon craft sheet that I purchased to use with Bo-Nash a while back. To explain if you aren't familiar, Bo-Nash is a fusing powder for fabric. I specifically wanted to use it with my Angelina, but that is for a future blog entry. What I discovered was that I could also use parchment paper for a surface that the glue would not stick to, so you don't have to have a silicon surface. Actually, I think using the parchment may be better because it is disposable, cheap, you can cover more surface with it, and it is translucent so you can sort of see through it if you are following a pattern underneath. I think it saves wear and tear on your silicon sheet which I prefer to save for other things I want an easy clean up with. (Parchment paper can also be easily purchased in the grocery aisle where they have aluminum foil and sandwich bags.)

It was difficult at first and I had no idea that glue sticks went so quickly! Ugh! I mean, I'm glad I got a large pack of 40 but I don't think it will take me long to go through them. It was hard to get a consistent thickness in the lines too, but I have an ancient glue gun so that could be part of it. Maybe the newer models have solved that problem. The main lesson is that you have to have thick lines in order to get it off the surface without it tearing or sticking to itself. With practice of course, it gets better, but you have to have a pretty good supply of glue sticks. I also tried to use the wooden blocks with the glue to make stamps and I'm still working on that. I did learn that once on the wood, the glue is permanent, so get a couple of blocks and use one to practice on first.


My trial runs. Not great, but not too bad either for a beginner.

The potential for this is limitless as far as designs. I am very excited about this potential tool and its applications. Stencils and art masks are just a couple of things. Something I plan to experiment with is just have a surface of glue and then cutting into it to make the stencil. I'm looking forward to that! See what I mean? The possibilities just keep coming.

Now I will reveal that the reason that this has captured my attention is that I am anxious to use stencils and masks on my Gelli Plate and then transfer them to my fabric. I am interested in this because I believe for some works of mine I am planning in the future, this will lend the perfect element as a backdrop. The fact that this can be used on fabric for cross stitch, embroidery and quilting, makes it perfect for any application with needle and thread.

I am going to experiment with what I have made on paper to see how they work. I will have an update later this week. I'm also going to have a completed stamp block to share with you too.

Until then, Keep Creating!

Working with Shiva Paintstiks

Shiva Painstiks are a wonderful way to add color to fabric. What makes them exceptional is that they are made from oil rather than acrylic, so they have a rich depth of color that is hard to beat. They come in a nice variety of colors, are blendable, and have beautiful iridescent colors as well. They stay put when applied and do not bleed around the borders of their color. Clean up is easy. The down side is that they are difficult to apply evenly to a rough textured fabric like Aida cloth and they do take a while to dry. They are a bit messier than acrylics as well, since they have a tendency to leave tiny bits of themselves around the work area (so you have to be diligent since they are permanent). That is why you see the parchment paper under the items. But they are washable (not dry cleanable) and they are OIL paints for use on fabric which I absolutely love. So here you can see that I am experimenting with the different colors to see how they look and how fast they dry on my samples of Aida. I'm also looking at silk fibers and Floche to see how those match up as well. I will be playing with acrylics next and maybe, if I am still undecided, I'll get the fabric markers out too. Right now I just want to get the fabric prepped for the next project so I can start to work right away when ready.

I am loving the colors for this project!

Big thank you to Joe for getting my laptop back so quickly and doing a great job!

Until next time a small thought nugget:

"If one only wished to be happy, this could be easily accomplished; but we wish to be happier than other people, and this is always difficult, for we believe others to be happier than they are."
~Montesquieu