Blogged at last!

Hope this works as I'm trying to blog from my iPad! Yikes

I'm hoping to make changes in the coming weeks as I have neglected my blog this summer Oooops 

I have been thinking a lot about a different style of presenting and hope to develop this over the coming weeks.

Best wishes

Marilyn.

Eco Dyeing on card and paper

As promised Eco Dyeing part 2

You will need:

Selection of plant material
Card or Watercolor Paper I used 140lb Acid Fee
Old Ceramic wall tiles
Rubber bands or string
Steamer, mine came from charity shop
White Vinegar.....you do not have to use this, experiment and see which you prefer. 

First of all I gathered my blossom

Offering from the Spring Garden

Gather Card, paper and cut to size required

I use two ceramic tiles 6 x 6 inch

as you can see these are old used ones

I dip my card or watercolor paper into white vinegar as I layer up

Begin layering up

Place first card onto tile

Laying out on card

Layout on paper

Side view of layers

Once I have all my layers on I place the other tile on top and secure with bands or you could use string

Then you are ready to steam

I use an old stainless steel steamer

The steamer lid will not fit over the tiles so I improvise by using an old Aluminum saucepan, just be careful when removing as steam escapes quickly ......I always turn off my cooker first and leave to cool.

Once your prints have cooled untie and wash any stubborn foliage off in water.... leave to dry.

A selection of prints on card that were steamed for 1 and a half hours

Daffodil, Grape Hyacinth and forget me not, you can see in this photo that some of the plant stuck fast! it has removed a little of the surface....but I like this as I feel it looks like an old plastered wall

This card was only steamed for 1 hour

I love the touch of Pink here from the Cherry Blossom

Cherry Blossom, Camellia petal and Rose shoot from a shop bouquet

Wild Geranium Herb Robert, Grape Hyacinth, Cherry Blossom and Poppy leaf

Wild Geranium Herb Robert and Spruce the dots of Blue are from the Grape Hyacinth

A few prints on Paper

I love the painterly quality of these prints

Cherry Blossom and Grape Hyacinth that has run.....gorgeous

Grape Hyacinth bells lose, touches of wild Geranium

I would like to say that I am only a beginner.....who is learning everyday, I have taught myself with the help of online tutorials and the kindness and patience of many facebook friends who are teachers in Eco Dyeing and Printing.

I hope you are inspired to have a go.

Lots of love for now 

Marilyn xx

Eco-Dyeing and me.

Last Summer I discovered the joy of Eco-Dyeing.

I'm not really sure how it all began, one day I was dyeing with tea bags and the next Eco-dyeing. I started to make friends on facebook with lovely kind people who have become great friends, always so willing to offer support and advice.

I bought India Flint's book 

Then I started to experiment, at first I had no success but this only made me keener to achieve a print. There was a lot to learn about mordants, the word mordant means to bite. I learnt this was important.......I read and read as much as I could and everyday practiced, this was not difficult as Eco-dyeing is such a joy the excitement and anticipation of untying  a bundle has to be experienced.

I started off like this

I soaked overnight in an old aluminium saucepan some cotton fabric......this was an old sheet cut up, the solution was white vinegar and water.

At this time I did not know printing on silk and wool gives better results :-)

Then I gathered together some small twigs

and leaves from the garden.

Then I started to roll out

Then secured with bands....at first I did not know that the better and tighter you secure your bundle the better contact to print.

Then I placed in my aluminum saucepan of onion skin dye, my wrapped bundles and boiled for 1 hour. I left to cool until the next day.

Here is a selection of prints from last summers experiments

Leaves on silk

On cotton

On Cotton

These prints on cotton were boiled in an aluminum saucepan with a Rhubarb mordant

These are a selection of prints that I stitched into, I made 4 separate collages with them.

 These are prints on card

I printed on gift tags

I used my prints on Rice paper to make a cover for a book

 Water colour paper print with stitch and pressed flowers

Thanks for reading my blog post and give Eco-Dyeing a go it will bring such joy to your creative life.

Love Marilyn xx

Happy New Year everyone 

This is just a short post to say a quick hello
I'm busy working on some new books at the moment and hope to bring you another "how to post" soon!

The images here are from my work on "The Memories of Rosemarie Richter" 
I have been in a very reflective mood recently.........due I think to the start of another new year in my life. My Mother Rosemarie Richter is in her 87th year! It has not been an easy life partly because of her experiences of the war and because she has never had the ability to move on from those years.
If I have learned anything from this........ it is we who choose whether we want to forget or keep feeding those issues, like a cancer that keeps growing until it is all consuming.  

Here are some images of her portrait I created them on Handmade Silk Paper.
Hand stitched with sewing cotton! it was a wonderful lesson in tone and shade while stitching. They have a small amount of graphite on them.

Thanks to all for supporting my new art page Interlaced-Textile Arts on Facebook.

Each stitch is with single thread cotton........the nearest I could get other than using real hair! That I will leave until another time.

Love Marilyn. xx