I had a lovely note from a reader in response to last week’s newsletter. She said “this book sounds very interesting, but I’m not sure what it is about…” Talk about your V-8 moment! When an author is wrapping up a book project, she naturally assumes that everyone knows exactly what she’s talking about. Oops! Here’s some additional information for our new community members — straight from the back cover of the book.

Add Texture To Fabric, Craft And Mixed-Media Projects

If you love texture, this book is for you! Rubbing Plate Roundup is the de finitive guide to adding visual and dimensional texture to
your fabric and craft projects with the simplest tool imaginable — the molded plastic rubbing plate.

Join Shelly Stokes — author, entrepreneur, artist and teacher — for a leisurely tour of not one, not five, but twelve completely different techniques for adding texture to your art. From gelatin prints and paintstik rubbings to embossed metal and paper castings, you’ll be amazed at the range of possibilities!

Whether you are a crafter, quilter, potter or mixed-media artist, you’ll find useful techniques in familiar territory — and plenty of
inspiration for venturing off on new artistic trails. Each technique is fully illustrated with complete supply lists, clear instructions and
beautiful step-by-step photographs.

Fire up your imagination, gather your collection of rubbing plates and get started — you’ll be creating textured treasures from fabric,
paper, clay, metal and paint before you know it!

Last Chance to Pre-Order Rubbing Plate Roundup

With the book arriving any day now, we’ll be shifting from the Pre-Order form to the regular Online Store. Here’s the scoop.

The Pre-Order form will be available through the weekend. If you place your order using this form, you hop to the front of the line and your book goes out first. (If you choose to pay by check, it will go out as soon as we receive your check.)

We will add Rubbing Plate Roundup to the Online Store on Monday, December 19th. If you have other items on your wish-list, you can order them all at once next week.

Reminder: Holiday Shutdown

Please remember that Cedar Canyon Textiles will be closed the last week of December. We will ship all pre-paid orders placed through Thursday, December 22 before we close for the holidays. (And yes, if you order in the wee hours of the morning on the 23rd, we’ll do our best to get your order out the door!) We’ll be back in the office bright and early on Tuesday, January 3rd and resume shipments at that time.

Even though we will be closed, the last week of December is still a great time to place an order. Price increases go into effect at the beginning of January — do your shopping before the end of the year to save some green!

The Rubbing Plate Roundup Book is in the hands of the printer. I don’t have a final delivery date yet, but our printer is doing their best to getting it through the process as quickly as possible. I am confident that we will be shipping before the holidays. I’ll post a final update in next week’s newsletter.

As I read through the book one last time before sending it off, all I could do was smile. It came together beautifully and I’m absolutely delighted with the book. It was definitely worth taking the extra few weeks to get it right. Here’s the blurb from the back cover:

If you love texture, this book is for you! Rubbing Plate Roundup is
the definitive guide to adding visual and dimensional texture to
your fabric and craft projects with the simplest tool imaginable –
the molded plastic rubbing plate.

Join Shelly Stokes – author, entrepreneur, artist and teacher – for a
leisurely tour of not one, not  five, but twelve completely different
techniques for adding texture to your art. From gelatin prints and
paintstik rubbings to embossed metal and paper castings, you’ll be
amazed at the range of possibilities!

Whether you are a crafter, quilter, potter or mixed-media artist,
you’ll find useful techniques in familiar territory – and plenty of
inspiration for venturing off on new artistic trails. Each technique
is fully illustrated with complete supply lists, clear instructions and
beautiful step-by-step photographs.

Fire up your imagination, gather your collection of rubbing plates
and get started – you’ll be creating textured treasures from fabric,
paper, clay, metal and paint before you know it!

I really enjoyed the process of putting this book together. It was a great excuse to venture beyond my comfort zone. I challenge myself to think up at least 20 ways to use the rubbing plates — and I did! And I got some wonderful ideas from you, the members of the Cedar Canyon community. It was tough to narrow the list down to the 12 techniques that are included in the book, but it was also a lot of fun. I hope you enjoy reading and working through the book as much as I enjoyed writing it.

Last Chance to Pre-Order Rubbing Plate Roundup

As we wait for the printer, you have one last chance to jump to the front of the line by pre-ordering your copy of Rubbing Plate Roundup. When you pre-order the book, you get 3 special benefits.

1. Your order goes out first. My staff has been working hard to get everything ready so we can get the pre-ordered books out the door as fast as I can sign them.
2. I will personally sign each and every book that is pre-ordered through this special offer. I’m going to have a serious case of writer’s cramp, but you’re worth it! I sincerely appreciate your support and I want this to be special — for you, I will sign the books!
3. We’re going the extra mile for our pre-order customers. We are including two free rubbing plates with each book, one from the new Doodles set and one from another set. The plates are chosen randomly as we pack the orders, so I have no idea exactly which plates will come with your book.

Click on this link to reserve your spot at the front of the line. The link will take you directly to a special order form that does nothing put process pre-orders for Rubbing Plate Roundup. (You can also find a link on our home page.)

If you have a US shipping address, you will be charged an even $30. That’s $22.95 for signed copy of Rubbing Plate Roundup, 2 free rubbing plates, and just $7.05 for VIP Priority shipping.

For our customers outside the US, the cost will be just $37 USD. That’s $22.95 for a signed copy of the book, the 2 free rubbing plates and VIP Priority shipping for just $14.05. We know that international postage rates are very expensive, but you’re in luck. We’ll pack your book and rubbing plates in a flat-rate envelope instead of a box and that will allow us to send it for a fraction of the usual postal charge.

Finally, before you ask — no, you can’t add other items to your pre-order. If you want to combine the book with other items, you’ll need to wait until the book is added to the regular online store. I’ll keep you posted of progress next week.

End of Year Notices

Holiday Shutdown: Cedar Canyon Textiles will be closed from December 24 to January 2. The offices will open again on Tuesday, January 3. Any orders placed through the online store will be shipped when we return in January. (I haven’t figured out how to recruit Santa’s elves to help out during the shutdown — I think they go somewhere warm for a well-deserved after-Christmas rest!)

Fair Warning: The prices for many of our products are going up in January. We hate to raise prices, but our production costs have risen sharply along with petroleum prices. If you have something on your wish-list, be sure to place your order before the end of the year — you’ll automatically save 10% (or more) on your order. Click here to visit the Online Store.

I’ve had some good questions piling up on my desk. If you have a question, please send it to me through our Contact Page.

Heat Setting (Carolyn Carson)

Q: I’ve been using Shiva paintstiks to paint on cotton batik fabric in my art quilts. Since they’re meant to hang on a wall, is it essential that I iron [heat set] the fabric after the paint dries? What will happen if I neglect to do this?

A: If you are creating fabric for a wall hanging, there is technically no need to heat set the paint. Jut let the paint dry on it’s own time and it will be fine. Heat setting speeds up the end of the drying process and is recommended for anything that will be washed, but there is no compelling reason to heat set fabric that will be used in wall hangings.

Cleaning Stencils (Carolyn Collins)

Q: I have been using iridescent paintstiks and the snowflake stencils to make some fabric. Is there a particular way to clean the stencils when I am finished with them for the day? I do have the Cedar Canyon Brush Cleaner — thank goodness!!

A: Yes, there are several ways to clean stencils.

1. Wipe the stencils as you work. I keep a piece of scrap fabric or paper towels handy. After I stencils an image, I put the stencil on the scrap fabric and gently wipe the paint off with another piece of fabric or a paper towel. I wipe both sides as I often have just a little bit of paint that gets under the edges of the stencil openings.

2. Mist the stencil with a solvent and wipe with a paper towel. This is very useful if you have paint buildup on the stencil. I don’t care for most solvents, so I use something like Citra-Solv. Citra-Solv is a concentrated orange-based cleaner.

3. Clean with Cedar Canyon Brush Soap. Scoop some brush soap out of the jar and smear it on the stencil. Remove the soap with a damp cloth or paper towel. Works like a charm, and is totally non-toxic. (And don’t forget that the brush soap is a great hand cleaner!)

For more information on Paintstik Cleanup, visit this entry over at the Blog. If you need some of our wonderful brush soap, you can order from our Online Store.

Fiber Content and Paint Durability (Katy Meile)
- in response to our Fabric Paint educational e-mail series:

Q. Your articles on various fabric paint topics were useful and I have stored them for future reference. I have a question that I don’t feel was answered: What effect does the fiber content of the fabric have on durability? My background involves yarn and fiber dying, so I know some dyes are suitable for cellulose fibers and others for protein. How does this fit in, or does it?

A: Fiber content is not going to be an issue with paints. When you dye a fabric, a chemical bond forms between the dye molecules and the fibers. That’s why you need certain dyes for cellulose fibers (cotton, linen, rayon) and different dyes for protein fibers.

When you paint a fabric, the bond is strictly mechanical. The paint adheres to the surface of the fibers rather than forming a chemical bond. The only fabrics I know to watch out for are those that have been chemically treated to be stain resistant. If the fabric is stain-resistant, it may also be paint-resistant.

Keep in mind that almost all fabric coming into the stores is treated with finishes when it is manufactured. That is why we recommend pre-washing fabric before painting it. Use a plain detergent when pre-washing fabric and do not use fabric softener. With that single step, you should be ready to paint.

Paintstiks “Under Glass” (Marti Hale)

Q. Can fabric colored with paintstiks be framed under glass or acrylic, or does the glass need to be left off as in an oil painting?

A: I am not an art conservator, but there are some common sense things you can do here. If you want to put the fabric under glass or acrylic, I would use a shadow-box approach or at least a spacer between the glass and the fabric. I don’t think you want the painted fabric touching the glass.

I would personally wait at least 6-8 weeks for the paint to dry before framing a piece. Paintstik oil colors are oil-based paints and they take longer to dry than water-based paints. Better safe than sorry.

For a definitive answer to this question, I would contact the art department at a local college or university or consult with someone at an art gallery that handles oil paintings.

Are Paintstiks Odor-Free? (Cynthia Van Buren)

Q. I like the idea of using the paintstiks on fabric. Are the paints without any fumes or smells?

A: Not according to my sensitive nose! (said with a big smile) The paint manufacturer calls the paintstiks “no odor” but I disagree. I call them “low odor.” They smell like a combination of wax and oil paint, but the smell is very light compared to a traditional oil paint. I notice more an odor as the paints are drying than when I am painting. It’s not obnoxious, but it’s there.

Some people notice a residual odor in scarves / garments. It depends on how sensitive your nose is. One of my best customers successfully removes the leftover smell by gently washing her fabric with Fabreeze for the Wash.

If you are particularly sensitive to chemical odors, I suggest purchasing one or two colors and experimenting with them to see if it’s a product you can work with. As with any product, there’s no sense making a big investment only to find out you are too sensitive to the smell to enjoy using it.