Stamp it all on fabric!

What shall I write about this? It is really an easy project! I just used my beloved handcarved stamps to print patterns on fabric. Most of the time I just used fabric ink pads for stamps. I love them because you can use them with really fine structures without losing any of them! Normal fabric paint is way too thick to use it with fine structures. 

There are just a few things to consider: 

First of all you should use natural fibers with most of the fabric ink pads (I don't know whether there is one you could use for non organic fibers) like cotton, linen or also fabrics which are natural based like viscose. 

Second: Prewash your fabric without any conditioner. Most fabrics are treated, no matter if you buy clothes or fabric. Just washing it removes the stuff. But if you use some kind of conditioner, you'll bring some stuff back again on the fibers of your fabric and you don't want that! The fibers should be ready to react with the ink / colour!

Last but not least: The fabric ink pads are not too strong colours and they don't go over dark fabric. So try your colour with a little piece of fabric if you like the result! Have a look at the two pegasus prints. One on natural / creme fabric, the other one on red fabric (both cotton). I used the same blue ink pad for both prints! 

Okay... not just three things... I am thinking of some other stuff which is maybe useful for you to know if you want to print on fabric: If you print on rough fibers / textured fabric, your picture will have some "broken" lines. You could call the effect kind of vintage image but if you want perfect prints you need very smooth and tight woven fabric! 

This blue, white and black pattern on a blue fabric was a mixture of fabric paint leftovers and a fabric ink pad. The black and white is fabric paint and the blue is a fabric ink pad. I diluted the fabric paint a little bit with water therefor all used colours are a little bit translucent. I love the effect where you can see the overlapping pattern!

The rain drops are from a foam rubber stamp I made. I just used a scissor to cut out a drop silhouette and then  I cut the "light reflections" with a sharp exactor knife into it. I just made some cuts in the foam rubber, I didn't cut anything out! On the cuts there always will be a little bit more paint so you can see it in the print!

Have a closer look to see the effect! :)

Of course, I also tried my cell stamps...

...and two stamps I didn't show you before. Some steampunk inspired pattern...

...and a mermaid... sort of ^^

Just circles with foamed rubber!

Octopus, tentacles and lobsters!

I could image to stitch a spider web around the print...

...and of course some kind of ornaments!

Any ideas what I should do with fabrics like this?

Lines and shadows

Some days are just not worth it. Not a moment of it... or so it seems at the first glance.

I am still happy to go into my bathtub now with some great bathing stuff smelling of wild roses and with a little bit of girly sparkles. I bought one but being at home it was not enough so I made some stuff by myself. It's a lot easier than most people think if you have the right ingredients at home. Some of them will be not really cheap but they'll last forever! And after the bath: Just go to bed! Cuddling with my cats, reading a little bit and then just falling asleep... and forget about the day.

On the good side there are the people who will be at your side at a day like this. Giving you some reassurance, helping out of the black hole, drink some champagne with you...

...or tell everyone that their earrings were made by me! ^^

But still... such days drains out every little bit of energy which I have.. and for which I had to fight for over the last days, weeks, months... just emotions but harder than any exercise... so the mind is sleepy but the body is wide awake. In some old evolutionary ways waiting for the attack to come which made the body so nervous.

In this "in between time" I crave to create things. A quote of me is that crafting or better creating keeps me sane. A lot of people smile or laughs when I say this and most of them never realize that I don't mean this in some figurative sense but just the way I said it.

It is like breathing very deep and hard, like getting this nervous energy of the body and the drained moments of the brain in a line. Both together are able to create and not only craft. Although the line between stuff and art is a very thin line and at least in my simple opinion also a very subjective line in a lot of aspects, if I am in a state like this I cross this line at least for myself.

I don't think about what I am making. It is more like looking at something which is already there and creates itself. Sounds strange? Try to image how it is to see and feel the creature which comes out of the broken and rough rubber-like material while you are carving.

They are just shadows, some lines, they are rough and cut within the quadrate... but they have life. They look at me, straight, quiet, watching, and in their own way they are a essential part of me.

I am not sure whether I like them. But I do love them.

Big shrimp

Just a little and short entry for my blog :) I was working on a quilt for my little brother (already bigger than me! although... that's not too complicated ^^). I linked his music on the side of my blog. Just listen to it! He makes cool chill out / hiphop stuff! But working on the quilt took most of my time so... no other projects to show. I would love to show the finished quilt but as it is I forgot to take photos. Was a matter of time you know. Just finishing the last minute (as always...) I just took my bike and drove to my family (and yes, without my digi).

But I will catch up! promised!

And to add something like a teaser: It was a Formentera quilt!

But beside this I made this little sketch from a chinese shrimp crips package. Isn't it cool? I love the black and white image. Would also be great as a linoleum or big rubber print.

This was the original:

Old lobster sketch - water colours (2005)

Funny what you may find if you are searching for something completly different. I was looking for some fabrics I stored about... uhm... two years ago. There is a certain project I want to finish (and to finish it soon!). But on my way I finally found my long missed water colour pens! They came together with a bag and a sketch book with water colour paper. This sketch was totally forgotten by me! Seems that I was into lobster some time earlier than though ^^

Stamp the fabric dead!

 

I just tested the new carved stamps how the would go on fabric and which pattern they would create... at the moment I just have one ink pad for fabric *sniff*... but it's black and very useful for testings like this. The fabric is the already often used cotton leftover (not white but natural colour) I like for first impressions. Tomorrow I will ix the colour and put them in the washing machine... just curious about how well the ink remains in the fabric!

Afterwards I need a lot more colourful fabric as well as ink pads...! I look forward for making a lot of printed fabrics and use them for patchwork and quilts :)

[Edit: I took some more pictures of the fabric scraps today, so I changed them :) ]

 

White lobster - card and envelope

I am experimenting with colours and techniques... for this card I used a silver laquer pen for the background and just the lobster stamp with white embossing power... the envelope is just the jelly fish stamps with white embossing powder... white over white.. I love it.. with the silver.. the effect is quite cool but not perfect.. i think either without background... or the background with a more covering pattern... or the lobster not in white.. (lachafa suggested)

...but I like the metallic light effect of the silver colour...! (a little bit difficult to catch with the digi)

More stamps...

...because my twin needle broke... *sniff*

I have several sewing projects at the moments... all with jersey fabric... but without these needle (No, I don't have an overlock one...) all the work stopped. Inevitably.

Therefore... more carved rubber stamps! The last leftover of the big rubber plate for a mini jelly fish... and an normal school rubber for a bigger version...

Still not what I have in mind but good practice ^^

...both jellys stamped...

...bigger jelly...

...with a black fish and lobster...

...the former rubber plate... ^^

Lobster with mini fish... stamp

...I will have to work a little bit more on the stamp... but after sleeping I think ^^

Nevertheless... here is the sweetie fish... next to cutie lobster... (Yes, I think chtullu is somewhat cute! But may depend on the fact how I adore cephalopodae!)

Lobster stamp - Homarus vulgaris (aka cthullu!)

Out of a small leftover from the big rubber plate I carved the octopus of I made another stamp... this time a lobster! My first lobster ever... lobster... do you know how funny this word sounds? In german we say "Hummer"... a little bit like homarus... but lobster... *gnihi*

Okay... I like him! Do you see the resemblance with... cthullu? And the evil eyes...? What a cutie!

PS: Yes, I am sorry. I used the red ink pad. But it was the only one I could find in my mess which overcomes my desk... I will search for my blue one.. somewhere... here... umph...

And together with the octo stamp... ^^