Tuesday, August 17, 2010

Stencils, fabric, and coffee on Tea Tuesday

Recently I applied for Simply Spray Fabric Paint in exchange for a tutorial. I received these, about the same time I found a new box of ink jet labels lurking in my office supplies. I had plenty of time to play yesterday, since I was without power for somewhere between six and eight hours.

With so much "unplugged" time on my hands, I decided to practice using the Simply Spray before I wrote the tutorial. The ink jet labels have nothing to do with anything, except they just happened to be on my craft table at the time I took the photos of the spray paint.

For those of you who are new to my blog, or for those of you who may have forgotten, way back on April 20, I ranted wrote about my disdain for plastic and set out to use a few plastic lids to make stencils. If interested, here is the original post and how I intended to use the lids. As I mentioned in the original post, I am craft knife challenged and it took me forever to get up the nerve to cut the stencil.

As you can see, I was not as ambitious with the details of the coffee cup stencil as I originally sketched it. However, I was pleased to have managed to cut it out at all. The first thing I did was lay my plastic cup stencil on a piece of clean-up fabric from my recent flour resist dyeing session.

I apparently didn't get the stencil placed properly, because instead of an image of a coffee cup, there was just a blob of paint.

To correct this, I used my Wacky Tac to make the stencil repositionable and grabbed a second cup of coffee, my drink of choice both yesterday and today, this rainy Tea Tuesday. It is just the way I like it, freshly ground French roast beans, white with half and half. And thankfully I had made a fresh pot right before the electricity went out.

Yep, this is the mug I purchased last Wednesday, a tongue in cheek response to our recent heat wave. Now don't you feel cooler already? Could this be what caused the heat to break?

By now, the Wacky Tac was dry and I positioned the stencil on the fabric and sprayed again.

And again the stencil didn't work! I can tell I must practice a lot more before I write the Simply Spray tutorial. Or maybe I just need a different stencil.

Whatever the reason for the failed experiment, I'm now enjoying a cup of coffee today also, and am off to visit all the other coffee lovers oops, I mean tea drinkers participants of Tea Tuesday. Please check out Kimmie's sidebar for the other fabulous ladies participating in this. And Kimmie has always made a point of telling us it's OK to drink something other than tea. So if you want to join us each week, please just let Kimmie know by leaving her a comment.

The nice thing about joining these lovely ladies for tea is you get exposed to some pretty unique and wonderful art along the way. Everyone's style is so different and unique and I learn so much from each blog I visit. That is definitely the case with today's blog of choice. It belongs to Bea Neal of Dog in the Hole Studio. Bea has a colorful and eclectic style which ranges from graffiti to Zetti. Her photos are superb and not to be missed. Then there's her take on life, often so funny and truthful that you'll be glad you stopped by. So please hop on over and say hi to Bea today.

20 thoughtful remarks:

Cynthia Schelzig said...

All these experiments...seeing what works and what doesn´t...what a fun way to spend the day.
Don´t forget...Viva...2130 tonight:)
Cynthia Schelzig

ooglebloops said...

I like your coffee stencil - don't think you are 'knife challenged" at all!! It has a certain charm!!! I am here for Tea- drop by if you get a chance!!!

Healing Woman said...

Hi Elizabeth,

No electricity? That must have been a douzy of a storm. At least you got some time away from the computer. I think that is very important once in awhile.

I like the experiment you conducted. You are always willing to show results, good or bad-that's one of the reasons I love coming to your blog.

I checked out Bea's blog, became a followers instantly since the art is so good and she is so fun and left her a message about your sending me there.

Thanks so much~
Have a great day ahead
Cheryl

donnalouiserodgers said...

Hi Elizabeth,

never mind, that's what experiments are for to find out what does and doesn't work - love the mug - see you tomorrow...

Dianne said...

you are a faithful reporter of the process...wonder why the paint seeped under there even with the adhesive? does the paint say anything about the angle from which you should spray? just wondering...interested to see the continuing progress. this is something I have not tried, so maybe you will inspire me to give it a try!!

Terri Kahrs said...

Hmmmmm . . . I'm very surprised that the spray paint didn't work with your stencil. I've seen that particular spray in the store and was tempted. Love that snowman mug! Hugs, Terri xoxo

~*~Patty S said...

Happy "T" I see we both switched to java today AND I also notice you like some coffee in your cream LOL!

thanks as always for sharing your creative process ... wherever it leads you!

Happy Day ... I'm headed to the country to play with art friends ... gotta run
oxo

Julia Dunnit said...

How infuriating - I mean, what are you to do - lay down a stencil and spray...shouldn't be any harder than that really - are you using super absorbent fabric? I dunno. No doubt you'll figure it tho. Love the mug! Was it a stoem that knocked your power out then? Lordy!

BadPenny said...

we have quite a few mugs that are perfect for hot chocolate - somehow I don't want to drink tea from them - I like a finer china for tea....but a snowman might cool you down. My son tells me to stick my head in the freezer when I'm too hot !

Caterina Giglio said...

love your post, art is hit or miss sometimes!! I do miss coffee, but at least I can have tea!!

Laura Haviland said...

What a great posting,thanks for sharing.
It is said there is no mistakes in art.
Have the best day. Hugs to you Laura. xoxx

Unknown said...

what a great post! I so glad to see all the imperfections and oops's of your art adventure - I don't feel so alone :)

and your snowman mug is just hilarious for a heat wave :)

happy T today!!! Kimmie

*jean* said...

hi E...love your attitude...the snowman cup made me giggle...and he's adorable...did you know that there is a heat tool with a stencil cutting tip that makes cutting through plastic like cutting butter? walnut hollow makes it and i got mine at michael's...it seems like your fabric absorbed the paint...you may need to seal it with something first...best wishes for the power to come back soon!!

Liverpool Lou (Anne) said...

Hi Elizabeth, it sounds as though the spray paint is too wet to work this way, perhaps they would work if you used a repositionable spray adhesive on the stencil? am thinking that may possibly prevent the paint seeping under the stencil though I don't really know.
Glad it's finally cooled down for you :-)
Anne xx

Lori Saul said...

Great experiment- and use of time while the power was out! I checked out your blog sites and again what fun. Happy stenciling!

Dianne said...

Sounds like a fun, though perplexing experiment... Hope you get that stenciling worked out soon....

Esther said...

Hi - your snowman mug really made me smile, would of looked quite at home on my desk last week! Hmm...frustrating when things don't work how you think....maybe you should of used the ink jet labels after all!! xx

Seth said...

I love these posts where you share your experiments with new techniques...no matter how they turn out, they are always interesting. And how cool that you turned hours without power into such a fun time.

Mary Helen-Art Saves Lives said...

I have seen these spray dyes at our Hobby Lobby and when they go on sale I think I will try a couple for small compositions ...they look like fun! Imagine and Live in Peace, Mary Helen Fernandez Stewart

Unknown said...

dont you hate when you are sure something will work and then it doesnt? I love the stencil though......I am betting money that you will figure out this spray stuff.....