Thursday 15 November 2018

All The Good Things can make purple fish


Who says that fish can't be purple!?  Well you never know there may be some, we may just not have seen them!  Plus in crafting fish (and anything else) can be any colour we choose - so I chose purple!

I love this stamp set, though I have to admit I probably won't use the phrase it came with that often, but you could use any sentiment you like for a birthday, get well or good luck card!

I also used Wink of Stella and flicked it across the card for some sparkle - it's my latest favourite crafty thing!

Stampin' Up! materials used:
Stamp sets - All The Good Things
Ink - Gray Granite, Highland Heather
Cardstock - Whisper White, Highland Heather
Embellishments - Wink of Stella
Adhesive - Tear & Tape
Tools - Stampin’ Trimmer, Sponge Daubers

Tuesday 28 August 2018

Screen Printing Gold Ink Review


Hi!  Today I would like to share with you my review of a selection of gold screen printing inks. You may have noticed in recent posts that I have been creating my own screens for printing, and have been printing onto bags which is great fun.

I have also been on the look out for a really good metallic gold ink, which is reasonably priced, readily available and prints well.  Having managed to get hold of a selection I thought I would do a video which is at the bottom of this post, and share my thoughts here.

I used a screen that I had made myself with Heat Transfer Vinyl (HTV) and screen printing mesh, observations printing onto black fabric are as follows:

Jacquard Professional Solar Gold
Consistency - very thick
Smell - not much of a smell
Colour - beautiful rich and bright gold
Print - any surface
Set - leave to dry, then heat set
Washable - yes
Clean up - soap and water.  Came off the HTV & mesh screen easily
PLEASE DO NOT USE on the blue Screen Sensation screens as this ink will remove the blue media and ruin your screen.  This is my own experience, and even with this, it came out on top for me for using with screens that I have created myself, just a shame it can't be used on the SS screens, though I would use a number of these other inks on them and also achieve really good result 




Imagination Crafts Starlights Textile Rich Gold
Consistency - quite thick
Smell - bit of a smell
Colour - beautiful bright gold
Print - fabric, fabric coated surfaces
Set - leave to dry, then heat set
Washable  - yes, up to 40 degrees centigrade
Clean Up - soap and water
I love the colour of this ink, only downside is the very small pot as its only 50ml 



Pebeo Setacolour Shimmer Opaque Gold
Consistency - a bit runny
Smell - slight ammonia type smell
Colour - quite a bright gold, but not as rich as the Jacquard Professional or Starlight Textile inks
Print - farbic
Set - leave to dry, then heat set
Washable - yes, up to 40 degrees centigrade
Clean Up - soap and water
I quite like this one as its a bright gold colour with good coverage, but it's only a 45ml pot 



Jacquard Versatex Gold
Consistency - very thick
Smell - slight ammonia type smell, but only if you put your nose right over the pot
Colour - a nice bright gold, not as rich as the first two listed above
Print - fabric, paper, wood, canvas and other porous and semi-porous surfaces.  Not suitable for vinyl or non-porous surfaces
Set - leave to dry, then heat set
Washable - yes
Clean Up - soap and water



AV Vallejo Textile Metal Gold
Consistency - reasonable thickness, but definitely not one of thickest
Smell - none
Colour - a nice vibrant gold
Print - fabric, paper and card
Set - heat set.  Bottle also says you can air dry for 48 hours with no need to heat set but I  have not tried this out yet
Washable - yes, up to 40 degrees centigrade
Clean Up - soap and water




Hunt The Moon Gold Metallic
Consistency - thick but runny (hmm... not sure that makes sense - you need to watch the video!)
Smell - quite smelly, with an ammonia type smell 
Colour - nice bright gold colour
Print - fabric, paper and card
Set - heat set
Washable - yes
Clean Up - soap and water
Even with the smell, which does seem to decrease the longer the pot is open, I will definitely be using this one!





Screen Sensation Gold Metallic
Consistency - quite thick, but not the thickest
Smell - none
Colour - a nice bright gold
Print - most surfaces
Set - heat set
Washable - yes
Clean Up - soap and water





Speedball Gold
Consistency - very thick
Smell - slight smell
Colour - a pale goldish/silverish colour, quite pretty if that is the effect you want
Print - fabrics and card, not for use on nylon
Set - heat set
Washable - yes
Clean Up - soap and water






Decoart So Soft Metallic Glorious Gold
Consistency - very runny, but this is advertised as a paint for applying with a brush, stamp or sponge and comes in a very small pot
Smell - slight smell
Colour - quite a pale gold
Print - fabric
Set - dry for 48 hours
Washable - yes
Clean Up - soap and water






Screen Sensation Gold Shimmer
Consistency - reasonably thick, but not the thickest
Smell - none
Colour - very very subtle shimmer, not easily seen on black fabric
Print - all surfaces
Set - heat set
Washable - yes
Clean Up - soap and water


All in all, I would say that I was pretty pleased with printing all these samples of gold ink - I have some prints for reference, and can look at them all together to compare so that I can choose the right ink for what I am working on.

I hope you have enjoyed reading and watching this review!
Happy crafting!
Mandy




Sunday 12 August 2018

Golden Fish Screen Print Tote Bag


I had chance to have another play with my Silhouette Cameo to make some more screens this weekend which has been fun!  This is a tote bag made using a lovely fish design - the Heat Transfer Vinyl did take a while to weed to make this screen, but I think it was worth it.  Think I will make a t-shirt next with this one!

If you would like to purchase one of these bags, I have a few for sale in my Etsy shop.

Materials Used:
Screen Sensation - screen printing unit, inks, tape
Arteza - Heat Transfer Vinyl
Hunt The Moon - screen printing mesh
Silhouette - Cameo
Cricut - Easy Press and mat
Other - tote bag 

Friday 10 August 2018

Money Can't Buy You Happiness (unless you spend it on fabric) Tote Bag


I've been having fun screen printing recently, and mostly onto bags - it's easy and fun!  For this one, I even made the screen myself using Heat Transfer Vinyl, my Silhouette Cameo and screen printing mesh - and I have to say I was pretty pleased with this one!

If you are interested in getting hold of one of these, please take a look in my Etsy shop.

Materials Used:
Screen Sensation - screen printing unit, black ink
Arteza - Heat Transfer Vinyl
Hunt The Moon - screen printing mesh
Cricut - Easy Press and mat
Other - cotton tote bag

Wednesday 10 January 2018

Party Like A Panda


Oh My Goodness!  I am so in love with Stampin' Ups! new Sale-A-Bration Party Pandas stamp set!! I have used it to create some party accessories - invites, a banner, cupcake toppers, a mini popcorn box and a gift box!
 
You will see the name Flora on the banner, which is the name of my panda bear pictured.  I was given her by my sister when I was born, so Flora is a little on the old side now and as you can see well loved.  She normally sits on the top of a bookshelf as she is a bit delicate, but I thought you would like to see her as she is what started my love of giant pandas!
 
I have used a number of products to make all these goodies, and I also have ideas for more, I just could not wait any longer to share what I have completed so far. 

Stampin' Up! materials used:
Stamp Sets - Party Pandas, Letters for You, Brushstrokes background
Dies - Layering Circles framelits, Stitched Shapes framelitts, Layering Ovals framelits, Large Letters framelits, Popcorn Box framelits, Banners framelits (retired)
Designer Series Paper - Petal Passion
Card - Blushing Bride, Whisper White, Whisper White thick card, Basic Black, silver foil sheets
Ink - Blushing Bride, Basic Black
Markers - Blushing Bride
Other - Big Shot, Stampin' Dimensionals, Whisper White organza ribbon, silver mini gable boxes, Snail adhesive, multipurpose liquid glue, Stampin' Trimmer

Other materials: Brother Scan N Cut, toothpicks, cupcakes!