Monday, May 7, 2012

cutting a stencil and applying discharge paste

I could say that I accomplished something today. I feel like I didn't but it was definitely a learning experience. Firstly, I only had a bit of time because Monday is my cleaning day. It was sunny also and I felt the need to get outside.
This afternoon, I set up my stencil cutter which I've barely used and got prepared to cut. In the picture you can see how I set it up. (Well, now that I look at it, you can't really see the layers.) There is the cardboard on bottom, then the paper pattern, the glass, and finally the piece of plastic. All this is taped down so nothing shifts.

I realized quite soon that the plastic I was using was too thick but I finished anyway because I was dying to try it out!
It was definitely too think to dab the discharge paste through and the effect is blurry which doesn't really bother me too much as I didn't want it too defined. I will run to Staples tomorrow to look for mylar to try agian.There are no stores here that would carry stencil material.

Oh, and I was quite surprised by the color after discharging. I do remember now that I read somewhere the color you get after discharging  can be a surprise and it was! I don't mind the color though, I was jsut expecting white.
This is all a very complicated way to make a piece of fabric to try my freee motion quilting on. It would have been so much easier to use a piece of plain fabric but that wouldn't be my way, LOL!
The other thing I did today was to package up some of my mixed media prints and cards. I do have a couple in my Etsy shop but I need these for the shop downtown where I plan to put my things in June.

1 comment:

elle said...

It'll be interesting to compare results from thinner plastic and even different fabric.