Wednesday, 5 November 2008

Paper cast stamps

I finally tore myself away from the new sewing machine yesterday and went into the garage which is set up for all my 'wet' work - no car allowed in here. I have joined in the free lessons that come with Maggie Greys new book, Textile Translations and although I have yet to start the first lesson proper I have been playing with the techniques. One is to make paper cast stamps and advises using water soluble paper. I had not got any to hand but did have the two layers of paper napkin left over from embellishing the top patterned layer for ATCs so decided to us them. They worked really well so now I don't have to worry about how to recycle the left-over layers.


I also had a session creating painted backgrounds for Sharon's Studio Journals course which involved a watercolour wash and cling film. 




We also had to do one with salt to create additional texture. I have used salt before when dyeing silk and cotton but I must admit I was dissapointed with the effects on paper.

Finally I have also enrolled on Sharon's Sumptuous Surfaces  course which is designing for hand stitching. As we cannot post images on the Forum for that course because of a glitch I will add a couple of ideas that I had. I wanted to keep the image simple so that the embroidered surface would be the focus so decided on an outline drawing of a hawk in flight that I had done many years ago. Here are some of the images that I created in a Paint program. One thing I do like is the movement they suggest.




I have an idea for the actual design but have not started stitching it yet. I did do some experimental stitching on scrim whilst watching last night's election but although there are some useful patterns that may be used in another project, they are not for this one.



Now to go and see if the gesso is dry. The only disadvantage of working in the garage is that I am paranoid about leaving electrical equipment on if I am not there, so the heater only goes on when I am in there working which means at this time of the year things don't dry as quickly as I would like.

9 comments:

  1. I love the bird design I think that could work very well

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  2. Hi Maggie. I love your paper cast stamps, what gorgeous colours and what a great idea to use up your napkins! I too am frightened about leaving electrial things on in my studio(shed!), so I always leave myself a note infront of the kettle to remind me. It means I need to go back out to my studio again to check but at least the kettle has boiled on my return! My memory is terrible, I leave myself notes all over for all kinds of things!!! xx

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  3. I love the design of the birds too, and will look forward to seeing more of its development later. I have used the salt and paint on paper with great success, but perhaps it depends on the texture of the paper? I was neververy happy with my experiments with cling wrap so I need to revisit that, perhaps using more paint and more clingwrap than I have previously. It is hard to have to wait for stuff to dry isn't it? Cheers

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  4. I like your bird designs, specially the second one.

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  5. Thanks for the comments on my color schemes, how are you liking the Textile transformations book by Maggie Grey, and the online course? I am hoping to take a look at the book tomorrow and break down and just buy it. Are you enjoying Sharon's classes.

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  6. Thankyou for your kind comment on my blog, and for the link. I too am quite new to this blogging lark as I've only had my laptop a couple of months. It's great fun and I am improving slowly! What a good tip to use paper napkin layers instead of water soluble paper - much cheaper too - I must try that. Your paper casts are lovely. The colour of my books in the photos, is paler than they actually are - a trick of the light I suppose. I love your bird drawings, they are very evocative of the swooping, soaring and diving movements of birds. I look forward to seeing a photo of the finished piece one day.

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  7. You sound like me-taking as many classes as you can fit in. Those are wonderful samples. Thanks for visiting my blog too.

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  8. Thank you for your comment on my blog, and also for the opportunity to read yours, to discover new-to-me bloggers and their work is always a great pleasure.

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  9. Your paper casts turned out wonderful. How do you like the Textile Translations book? I've considered buying it, but it's a bit pricey considering the exchange rate and the postage, so I'd want to know it was worth it. I've also wanted to take Sharon's Studio Journals class - are you enjoying that?

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