Printing

Hello Everyone! All Hallows Eve for me is the time when fantastical things can happen. All you have to do is stretch your imagination a little. I love decking our house with a myriad autumnal and magical decorations. My husband and I carve pumpkins and happily dole out candy to all who stop by, children and adults alike. This year however, I had been feeling very lackadaisical about my favourite day.

Carol’s announcement of the Ghastly Ghouls blog hop was exactly what I needed. I love her blog hops, she makes them fun.

The Idea

I have been doing block prints on paper for a while. Printing on fabric would be new to me. This was just the occasion for trying that out.

The Raven was certainly going to be a central part of the picture, but the context was not quite clear to me at first. Visiting a favourite spot, a grove of oak trees, sparked an idea. What if, on All Hallows Eve, for that one night, the spirits of the trees are set free as birds! They get to spread their wings and fly across the world.

Who else but the adventurous Girl and her Cat would venture into the woods to witness such a magical moment, perhaps even talk to the raven spirit of this ancient tree.

Then, one Sunday, the idea materialised into a drawing.

The Making

I find block carving extremely calming. Just like the Girl and her Cat, with my kitty right beside me, I ventured into the world of bringing the spirit of a tree to life.

The Printing

This is the part where I stepped into the unknown territory. The new Speedball fabric ink I got kept drying out on me, causing very blotchy prints. After a few test prints, I gave up and went back to my favourite ink which tends to stay wet longer. That way I could mix a couple of inks to get the right colour and pull a few prints with ease.

The Not So Magical Moments

Of course, there had to be a few hiccups. Two of my sweet kitties got sick at the same time, both needing a lot of TLC. Tight on schedule, but I made it.

My iron decided to stop working at 10:30 at night, right before I started ironing the fabric pieces for printing. My dear husband mended the cable while I got everything else ready.

I had to wash the old Speedball ink off the block before I could restart with the new ink. That caused the block to bend, making it impossible for me to apply ink properly. After several unsuccessful test prints, I had to call it a night. I set the block under LOTS of books to try and make it flat again and went to bed.

These are the test prints. With the slight changes I made on every print, I saw improvements. That was extremely encouraging. I wanted to do a few colour fastness and wash tests, but I ran out of time. The bottom three I saved for a later day for that purpose.

The Joy of Success

Next day, much to my delight, I was able to very successfully pull a few prints by applying all the modifications I figured out the night before.

I set them to dry on the laundry drying rack. The texture of the canvas fabric gave it a tapestry style look which I really love!

The Finish

With the prints almost dry, I started working on my finished project. Using one of the prints, I made a bag with pockets. The canvas fabric is stiff enough, but I still used interfacing to give it a sturdier body.

Here are a couple of photos of the inside and the back of the bag. Please click on them to see the larger phtos.

A Giveaway

As I was making the bag, I thought it would make the perfect giveaway for this festive event. It’s a 11″ x 9″ sturdy bag made of canvas fabrics with three generously sized inside pockets. I can think of so many things to use this bag for. (Bag contents not included)

My giveaways are for those who subscribe to my blog via email. This is where I share my photos and work in context and communicate with you directly. Thank you for reading and for all the wonderful comments!

The giveaway has now ended.

Just Let Me Quilt

I love taking part in Carol’s Halloween blog hops, and I am so glad that I got to participate this year again. She keeps the event fun and open, which lets me try out new ideas for my project. She also makes fantastic quilts and patterns, specially Halloween themed ones. Make sure to visit her website see her beautiful works.

I am sharing this day with these wonderful ladies –

Creatin’ in the Sticks

Inflorescence

Samelia’s Mum

Songbird Designs

The Girl And Her Cat witnessing Flight of the Tree has become one my favourite Halloween stories. I love those magical moments!

Happy Halloween Hopping!

-Soma

I am linking up with the linky parties on my Events And Links page. Please pay a visit to some of them.

Leave a comment

Today I have quite a list of things to share with you. New finishes and projects. The revival of a linky party and news of an upcoming giveaway. Also, there’s a new place in the shop for The Girl And Her Cat. I called the very first post of this year Little Stories. It is a blend of the many things I worked on during the long winter break. I miss sharing the little things that I come across now and then and I almost always have a little story or an anecdote to go with my work. I thought I’d make Little Stories a series. So, without further ado, let me show you around.

After The Storm

Twitter Art Exhibit is an event where artists send their works to be sold for different charities each year. This year, all proceeds will go to the L_I_N_C, supporting leukaemia and other blood cancer patients and their families.

Last year I injured my right hand very badly. For a while I couldn’t even hold a pencil, let alone draw and carve for a relief print. Thankfully, they extended the deadline and I was able to finish this print. I am happy to say that it got sold within the first day of the online shop opening. That made me incredibly happy.

My hand has also mended enough for me to knit again. The background in the photo is a cardigan that I finished knitting, now waiting for a zipper. The front is a hat that I am currently knitting using wool that I purchased on our travels. Hopefully I will be able to share the finishes here soon, along with pattern links and review.

We decided not to travel this year. Since I really miss travel photography, I thought I would take this chance to go through old travel photos and share them here. Wandering Camera linky party is coming back. It not only motivates me to work on my photos, I also love seeing yours. If you follow me via email, you will get a reminder.

Even though I miss the excitement and wonder of visiting a new country, I am content with wandering in my painting books for now.

Paintings From The Lost Pages Book

Here are the last few paintings from the Lost Pages book. Please Click on the image thumbnails to see the photos and read the captions.

I finished this book on my birthday. Since I am squarely a winter girl, I thought it would be apt if The Girl And Her Cat were enjoying the aurora during an Arctic dawn.

This one is really special to me. I painted this bow and arrow imbued in dragon magic for protection and strength for an old friend who was going in for cancer surgery the next day. The Girl And Her cat brought him to safe harbour though the storm.

Lost Pages Paintings

You can see all the paintings from the Lost Pages book together at the above link. Each page of this book tells a little story.

Here is the latest stack of books I have made for painting since December of 2020. They are all named and at least one of them is an illustrated story. Most of them are about The Girl And Her Cat.

A Thank You

I really want to thank each one of you for visiting me and leaving such wonderful encouraging words, not to mention continuing to purchase from my shop. Each sale is very special to me, whether it is a quilt pattern or a an art print. The sales enable me to make donations to my favourite shelters and humane societies. I will have a special Thank You giveaway next month. Stay tuned!

Until next time,
-Soma