The core ingredients

The core ingredients for a night sewing:

Machine - check. 

Pot of tea (to distract me from wine) - check. 

Bowl of cherries (to distract me from chocolate) - check. 

TV on Demand (to distract me fullstop) -  check. 

I'm sorted.

Screen Printing at Home II

After the screen-printing "Baking Incident" my next attempt was not going to involve the oven.

I've made two modifications to the screen printing process described in a previous post:

1.) I used a clear transparency paper to cut out the design. I was a bit nervous this might be too flimsy but once taped to the screen, it works just fine. You could certainly use something thicker if you preferred, as long as it didn't make cutting out the design too difficult. The benefit is that after printing, simply wash the paint off the transparency for a second use with a different colour.

2.) I used the iron on its hottest setting to cure the paint. This was easy and clean and works well. I've washed the trial runs to ensure no issues and they came through perfectly.

I love this feather design - its simple and sweet, a bit of a dreamy with a bit of a rustic element.  I used the print to decorate a cushion and love the way it has turned out. Printed on the calico it is a real cottage feel but its still soft enough to lay your head on and sturdy enough to throw about.


Now to get my A into G: the push is on. With a bit of help I'm trying to get products together. I've done some of the purses I had hoped for, and am liking the way they are turning out.

Happy New Year

Happy 2012 (somewhat belated).  A new year begins, and goodness knows what it will bring. Hopefully many adventures, laughter and joyful times for all.

Christmas was glorious in Wellington this year - a total stunner.  And Wellingtonians, often deprived of some decent summer days, made the most of it.

We took off after Christmas to capture some "guaranteed" sun up in the Bay of Islands and then the Coromandel.  As many many others will appreciate, the fact it rained nearly every day meant it wasn't exactly the ideal summer break.  However, one has to appreciate we live in a stunning part of the world. 

However, I'm now back at home, back at work, and conscious of the date - mid Jan. Eeek.

During 2011 I set myself a task of two market stalls this year (repeating last year of having a stall at the Newtown Fair in March, but also doing the Jackson Street Fair in February).  I am now starting to wonder how I will get around to making enough products to sell at two stalls.  The Purple Palace had absorbed so much spare time in the last 6 months my usual stash of products has whittled away and I am starting from a position of being somewhat behind the 8 ball.

First thing is to replenish the purse stocks. I've opted to try a number of different sizes ranging from the small, to the usual size, and up to larger clutch sizes.  And I'm going to try my hand at producing something with my new expert screen printing skills.

Let the sewing begin!