Friday, 29 January 2016

Stamping the strips

Well, I had done loads more printing and laid out some of my circles with the strips, was pretty happy with how it looked, got ready to take a photo to post here and new kitten rolled straight over the whole lot.  So no pictures.  

Instead here's a quick summary of what I've used for the printing.  I was swayed in the direction of Liquitex by a post on Julie's blog, though I've ordered a couple of ink pads recommended by other people to try out too.  


As I reckoned I would only want a small amount of each colour I chose to buy the inks, which come with a dropper, rather than pots of acrylic and I'm glad I did.  To mix enough colour for one strip I only need three or four drops of ink (depending a bit on how long it takes me to get a colour I'm happy with) and the same number of drops of the fabric medium.  


I really like this stuff - the colours are strong, and the fabric medium works beautifully.  I did a tiny sample, on white fabric, not pre-washed.  (I'll add a picture when I find it!)  The following day I stuck it under the hot tap in the kitchen and rubbed like billy-o.  Not even the tiniest smear; it stayed just the same and since my quilts mostly have wool wadding that's about the roughest treatment it needs to stand up to.  

I had ordered some (cheap) blank ink pads but they were rubbish, so I ended up mixing on a plastic lid and then just using a quick wipe with a paint brush to put the colour on the stamps.  Worked fine.

So now I've done a big pile of colour definitions - and had a whole other load of fun looking through Webster's and choosing them.


Next step will be to reclaim my floor!

11 comments:

Shannon said...

I love the idea of mixing ink with the fabric medium- I wouldn't have thought of that. All those words and letters are pretty fun- are you going to build them into a larger project?

Soma @ inkTorrents.com said...

That sounds like a lot of fun! I haven't use ink with fabric medium before. I have only used my Inktense pencils with fabric medium, and that worked beautifully. I recently got some acrylic paint, your post is making me want to give that a try. Although the silly kitten spoiled your photo setup, I like the photo with the stamps a LOT!

-Soma

JanineMarie said...

Must be a Jellicle cat. Your prints of the color definitions are delightful. I can just imagine a "focus" group trying to come up with the exact way to define colors so we (might) all have the same image in our minds when we read the color name.

Shelina said...

Thank you for the recommendation of the inks. I just have the cheap standard variety stamp pads, but I haven't played the with much to see if they work. I really like the idea of using the definitions of the colors.

Ann said...

I used Liquitex recently for a painting project but didn't know they have inks, too. Really ignorant question: what's the difference? Could you paint small items with the inks? Just asking because I painted a small postcard sized project. It was a lot of paint for such a small area.
Great post.

liniecat said...

Thats interesting, thanks for the heads up, had seen liquitex t the shows and wondered about its use. : )

Stephie said...

I'm impressed with how clean you've managed to keep your stamps :D Have you thought about a paw print design?!?!

Cut&Alter said...

Love this printing!

Regina B Dunn said...

Yes, cats know just where to go and when. The only time I keep them out of the studio is when the paint is in use. I hadn't thought of mixing fabric medium with ink. Thanks for sharing that!

Lara B. said...

Darn kitty.... they are so good at finding whatever your attention is focused on.
These color definition fabrics are really incredible and so unique Kaja. Perfect for so many uses too. Thanks for sharing how you stamped the fabrics - it sounds really cool!

Cathy said...

Thanks for sharing what you used. I just love your stamping. I'm inspired now to go use all my stamps leftover from scrapbooking days on fabric. I love the dictionary colors. So fun!