Back In The Swing.

Well... vacation was great! Full of beach and family and parties. So back home again with some new prints. I have been making some custom house portraits on tea towels this past few days - so wanted to show some shots.

I have listed this custom service in my Etsy shop as well - it is certainly fun. I am always a bit surprised when the block gets printed - how nicely the pattern develops from the repetition.

Front. (There are actually 4 houses across the towel, in two rows - they are behing the fold.)

And this is the back - with the single image.

Oh - and a very big thanks to Decor8 for the callout as a contributer to the "Inspire Me Givaway". Just wish I had been the big bingo winner in that give-away! The packs just look so refreshing and tasty!!

Happy Early Birthday To - Me.

OK my big day is not for two weeks (so no songs yet). I was looking at these lovely ceramics by ShoshonaSnow on Etsy- and decided what a great birthday present to get for myself. My hubby said - "perfect" ( I asked because I wanted to make sure he did not have any special gift planned). Shoshona was really great about packing everything so nicely and - right away - (I feel like I just ordered them yesterday )- They came in the mail.

I just had to show them off in these two photos (two of my hand-printed table cloths are under the pieces).



After chatting I found out Shoshona loves lino-block printing too - and her carving of the clay is a way of getting that type of graphic pattern into her work. I was attracted to the graphic nature right away - go figure.

I can't wait to display these in my new house. (The house - unfortunately cannot be packed up and shipped right away like these pieces - and looks like mid July for a move-in date, She says, waiting patiently).

Labor of Love.

I have been diligently working every night - painting - painting. The "Sycamore Road" pattern is taking shape - one small painted house at a time. I had developed the repeat last month - and have been working on the painted technique since. For example - should the windows be painted black (like in my lino-cuts)- or just have a shadow line? I opted for the shadow line. How should the trees be rendered? ( Still working on those).

I have never tried to paint an entire full 56" x 30" before - and especially with such detail. The top photo only shows half of what will be printed on the full width of the fabric ( each house is about 4 inches tall). After this is finished - I am going to change speeds and loosen up a bit by painting my Swirl pattern on a full repeat (finally - as I had the layout completed last December). It will be so liberating. Alas - I am probably looking at about a solid weeks work still to go.

Once the india ink goes onto the prepared acetate - there is no correcting any mistakes. No erasing or painting over - so that is why I am taking my time - and cannot do any experimentation at this point. I have to practice on scraps if I need to come up with a solution.



You can see in the close up - I have put white paper behind the acetate layer to show the final painted version (without the trees and some other planting details added). Other areas have the under layer of sketches in repeat showing through. I used colored pencil to ghost in the sky - to see how the negative space will look in the final print. I still need to create the second positive of the sky ( all painted in black too) - to be made into the second screen.

This pattern will be printed in full width 57" on a beautiful white 100% organic cotton with a sueded finish. It will be a nice weight for both clothing/ crafts as well as home furnishings projects. I have not decided on the color-ways for the houses and for the sky yet- but I have some ideas... I will have a few strike-offs done to determine the final.

Let’s Print.

Yes – it’s just before Christmas – and the pressure is on. I had to get out the old small print table to finish a special gift. It fit’s in my laundry room. Thanks to my husband – first, for moving this table around as much as he has (many years of lugging). And secondly for putting up with drying cloths strewn around the kitchen.




The goal is to have a space set up to keep all of my projects in one area – so we don’t have to live around prints and ink and paper, cloth – etc. It seem to just expand once I open one of may bins that I use to shuffle things about. I’m sure anyone reading this understands the dilemma of “creating” without a designated space.

This is the reality at this point – so I will do my best to contain the fray.

I wanted to post these images to show that you really don’t need a huge space to work printing cloth. The screens need to be small – and I usually don’t work in “repeat” on a true print table. I tend to shuffle around my small table – creating the repeat in a more organic method. The plan is, however, to have my designs printed in a proper method, in true repeat – so to make full yard goods. I will be ready to use these patterns myself – and look forward to making them available for sale.

The one downside to a true repeated cloth is that you cannot engineer the placement of the images like you can when you print specifically for an object. I think this fact will keep me dabbling in printing on my small table – for special projects in the future.

These napkins show how the Large Swirl works so nicely as an individual image – centered on these large napkins. As the napkins are folded the image changes and creates an interesting complimentary geometry between the circle and the square.

I will be putting engineered printed napkins up on my site after Christmas. These are very good quality linen / cotton blend – and last through many washings.