FABRIC ART JOURNAL

I've finally finished my first ever page for my first ever fabric art journal.

I'm doing a journal about Frida Kahlo's works, and quite pleased with the result. I intend to do each page in a different style. It will be 6" square.

click to enlarge

I haven't quite made my mind up on how i will do the edges, we'll see as we go along.

The fabric image was the only one that managed to work with the Freezer paper transfer method.

I'm still working on that one. Another one of those tutorials on the web, that seem so easy, but in reality isn't.
The technique states that you iron the shiny side of the freezer paper to cotton fabric, and voila, just pop it into your inkjet printer and it will print like normal paper.

NOT

first attempt, wouldn't go right through the printer, got stuck inside. so decided to attach freezerpaper/fabric to some thicker photo paper. Tried attaching it with masking tape, but that made it too thick to go through at first , but managed to get one picture from it. (The one on the journal page above)
So then attached it to the photo paper with double sided tape.

no way jose. still wouldn't go through.

So for my next attempt, i'm going to glue freezer paper to photo paper,with the shiny side of freezer paper on top, so i can still iron to fabric.

Fingers crossed this works.

Not sure how much more work i can do this week, as i'm really suffering with acute back pain. Finding it very difficult to walk and sit down. still ne mind aye, as they say in Yorkshire. lol

Edited on Sunday 14/9
The experiment with the freezer paper worked beautifully.
Will show the results and how it was done at a later date.

Hello Kitty

As on the previous post i mentioned that i had chosen the theme KAWAII for Mamma's flickr group swap/challenge.

Here are the 2 cards that i have made especially for the challenge

Hello Kitty ATC
made in felt


Funny BunnyATC
my own design
made from felt

Since making the Hello Kitty ATC, i started looking around, and found all kinds of weird and wonderful items out there.

First of all a Notebook PC

toaster
even makes the toast hello kitty patterned

exhaust pipe
cute eh?


Wedding dress from Etsy seller? $4,000
so elegant

There are even hello kitty wedding rings
Once you're married you can even buy your dear husband hello kitty boxer shorts

And even a power sander for him to take to work

But I thought i'd leave the best to last.

a cute alsation puppy
with his own hello kitty toys


a real life kitty wearing a hello kitty outfit.

ARN'T THEY ALL JUST SIMPLY AMAZING.
There are tons more stuff with the hello kitty emblem on them. Sewing machines, toilet seats, bodyfat monitors, fridges, the list goes on and on.

So i've fallen in love with an imaginary kitten.
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.FOOLED YA
As if,

so here's the REAL Hello Kitty, zettified.

I have had a BLAST doing this week's challenge/swap, i don't think i have laughed this much in yonks.

Researching the photos for todays blog, i had so many tears of laughter streaming down my face, that i choked on em ROFLOL.

Can you IMAGINE getting married in that dress. for pity's sake. lol

And as for the poor hubby, not only having to wear those dam boxers, but having to cart a hello kitty power sander to work, with all his butch carpenter workmates taking the p**s. HAHAHAHAHA

The dog and cat ones are my favourites. The look on that dog's face, can you believe it. I think he has a mental problem, as well as the owner.
And as for the cat owner, can she have any fingers left, after getting that thing on the cats head.

I HOPE I'VE MADE YOU LAUGH AS MUCH AS I HAVE TODAY. GO ON, SMILE, CHUCKLE, OR HAVE A GUT BUSTING LAUGH.

BLOOMIN ECK - MARC BOLAN

Another 2 part story.
First the 'Bloomin Eck"

After my last report, i thought things couldn't get worse. but they did lol

Bought a new vacuum cleaner, and in just under 5 minutes, managed to break it. shoot

The plumber arrived, supposedly mended the leak, and lo and behold, made it even worse. Had a different plumber arrive the next day, and fingers crossed it's fixed. Turns out, that the fitters had put the pipe in upside down, when fitting the new sink, can you belieeeeeeve it.

What else?. Well several other purchases turned out to have bad workmanship, and the weather is atrocious, and i've a headache, and i've run out of wine. lol. Keep taking the tablets girl. roflol

So what about the second part of the story "Marc Bolan".

Well this week is the birthday of a dear friend of mine. Can't say who, as it will give the game away. THINK she is a fan of Marc Bolan, well if not she'll have to be roflol.

I'm sure most of you know of Marc Bolan from the group "T Rex" and if not WHY NOT.

So i have done her a small drawing/painting, with brusho inks and permanent marker pen, on mountboard 8" x 8" (20cm square)

On Mamma's Flickr group, i caused a bit of a furore with the choice of this weeks theme.
KAWAII. what's wrong with that i ask you.
Still it's supposed to be a challenge as well as a swap group roflol. I wanted everyone to get away from the vintage, wings etc. type of thing that we all end up doing. I LOVE A CHALLENGE.

I'll show you my efforts when i've finished them, hopefully today.

THE RETURN OF ZETTIOLOGY

I expect we are all the same, artists that is, flitting from one thing to another.

Me, i go from shabby chic, to zettiology, to fabric art, and finding sooooooooooo much enjoyment in everything that i do.

So today, i just had to return to zettiology, to put a bit of fun back into my life. (still waiting for the bloomin freezer paper to arrive so i can start my fabric journal).

It was soooooo much fun, especially the researching for quotes. I just LOVE research, in fact in some ways i like it more than the actually making of art. But that's another story.

So here's the latest and I'm loving the quote.

PS no way am i mocking people with schizophrenia.

Rubber stamped Teesha Moore images which are then collaged onto Brusho background, and then coloured using Brush Marker pens, Zig Memory Pens and edding Colour pens.

Sharpie pens and souffle white pen were also used, along with photocopies of Andy warhol camouflage, and vintage Bingo card.

All on Mountboard 8.5" x 5.5"

I hope it makes you smile.

Lost for Words

'ANGEL'
ATC
Made for MAMMA's swap

What a day.

It's only 10.47 am, but boy it feels like a whole week's experience has happened in just a few hours.

First off, scrubbed the kitchen floor, and becuase it is mainly white, it takes some cleaning. After the floor had dried, went to put the cleaning materials away under the sink, when noticed that EVERYTHING in the cupboard was soaking wet with water.

Had to completely empty the cupboard (don't know what your sink cupboard is like, but mine is jam packed with cleaning stuff, when only one item is usually used, old tins of paint ((now rusted up))).which made the bloomin floor dirty again.

The trap from the plughole is leaking, and i can't tighten it up. Plumbers coming tomorrow morning.

Then postie arrived with quite a collection of envies.

First one i noticed was an envie practically opened up, with a pair of pinking shears i recently bought on ebay. THE BLOOMIN THINGS ARE COMPLETELY RUSTED UP , and won't cut a bloomin thing. (can you tell i was getting angry at this point).

Got onto the seller, and sent him a rather polite letter, and he has given me a partial refund.

So then decided to open the rest of my mail. One was a rather interesting package, and I opened it with anticipation.

WELL YOU WON'T BELIEEEEEEEEEEEVE IT.
Inside was a book, a really really lovely book, a book that i've been slavering and slobbering over since i borrowed it from the library.

A book for me to keeeeeep, and languish over and treasure for always. A brand spanking new book, smelling of freshly printed paper, ALL FOR ME TO KEEP.

So where did this book come from.

MY DEAREST FRIEND JAN. I'm finding it so hard to believe that someone could do something so precious for little old me. THANKYOU, JAN, BIG HEARTFELT THANKS GO TO YOU. MAY LIFE'S JOURNEY BE SWEET AND SECURE WITH EVERY STEP YOU TAKE. XXXX MARGARET XXXXX

Oh, and what book was it, here it is lol

I've now stopped crying and shaking, and have the BIGGEST smile on my face.

Hopefully i will meet up with Jan, and the rest of the 'gang' one day. FINGERS CROSSED

WHAT A DIFFERENCE A DAY MAKES

Had another go at the Golden Gel Medium Transfers today.

Yesterday, i had printed out 2 sheets of Acetate with the Frieda Kahlo pictures, and like a Booboo, put them away to dry, with the printed parts facing together. And guess what lol, they were stuck together.

So i printed them out again on paper, and left them to dry overnight.

This morning, i gave them a couple of light sprays of hairspray, to stop the ink bleeding, left it to dry a while, and then work began.

THIS time, i slowed myself down, which is very very difficult for me to do.

But the results are a lot better this time round. Judge for yourself.

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Still imperfect, but this time they really do have a vintage look to them, instead of looking a complete mess like yesterdays attempt.

So what did i do different this time round.

First of all i cut each photo copy out with a border left all round. This makes it easier for pulling the paper away.

Then i painted on the gel, but then put a small blob on my finger and rubbed it on also. You can get a better feel for it this way i think.

I also went over the edges, to make sure i could get a better edge to the transfer.

I cut a piece of white cotton fabric, larger than the photocopy, and stretched it out on a flat surface, holding it down with masking tape.

I then laid the photocopy, face down on the fabric, and rubbed with my finger. I rubbed and rubbed, making sure that EVERY part of the transfer had been rubbed down. I didn't rub too hard, but kept on rubbing til the paper itself started to rub away. This way i knew that the transfer had taken.

Then i gently peeled away the paper, smeared a tiny piece of gel medium to the back of the fabric. and left it to dry a little bit.

I then got a piece of cloth, which was hardly damp, gently wiped it over the transfer, and gently rubbed away the remains of the paper.

So will i be using these for the Fabric Art Journal I have just started making. I'll let you know.

Last night i was so frustrated at my miserable attempts at this, that i ordered some Freezer Paper online, so that i could print out my own fabric.

Freezer paper isn't so readily available in the UK, and can only be bought at specialist places, not like in the USA, where it can be bought in the supermarket.

So when the freezer paper arrives, i will show you the results, and then make up my mind which i prefer.

In the meantime, this is the 7th Transfer that i did today, and this one i have falled head over heels in love with.

I know it's imperfect, but i looooooooove the look of it. Something i don't hardly find in my work. Just wish I had painted it.

But that's another story for the future, til then, you'll have to wait.

PS , there were 8 pictures to start with, but one was a complete bodge.

Fabric Art and Skinny ATC's Tutorial

Well yesterday, after reading Jan's blog, i decided to take the bull by the horn, well not literally lol, but had a big clean up of my crafting table. (Mind you looking at it now you wouldn't think i had bothered).

But what i have been meaning to do for weeks is having a go at Fabric Painting, plus collage with fabric.

I sorted out all of my fabric into bags, and managed to fill a large plastic box with them, ooh didn't realise i'd bought quite so many Fat Quarters from Ebay and Etsy. Luscious though lol.

So decided to start small with the experiment, and cut out a piece of fabric from a pillowcase, larger than an ATC, leaving room for seams etc.

Cut and ripped up very small pieces of cloth, and voila, here is Stage 1

I have very roughly sewn the pieces on, with ordinary sewing thread, but also used embroidery silk in places. I've left the pieces in their rough state, as this will add to the feel. Oh and try not to notice the spot of blood on it, you know how we artists have to struggle with our art.

Can you tell what it is yet lol.

I decided to use brusho inks, as i really love the brightness you can achieve with them. They cannot be 'fixed' to the fabric, but as i don't intend washing this, it doesn't really matter.
I painted and sprayed the brusho on, letting the colours bleed into one another.

Next i added a small amount of glass seed beads, size 8, and a small amount of embroidery. To get the beads to look natural, i dropped them onto the fabric, and marked where they fell.
This is the technique used for sewing seeds in the garden for a natural effect. Just copying nature really.

When I had finished this, i realised that it could be made into a Skinny ATC. It's only this week that the Skinny's have come to my attention. Nayski on MAMMA Flickr, makes them, and found out that they are ATC's made to th size 3" x 5". I'm not sure how to display them or keep them, maybe they'll have to go in the Postcard collection folder.
I then attached it to a felt backing, with card in the middle to make it more substantial, did blanket stitch round the edge, and then painted purple brusho to the edges.

'PURPLE HAZE'

I definitely want to take this further, and larger too, as it will be much easier to explore this technique.

DON'T FORGET TO CLICK ON THE IMAGES TO ENLARGE