Posts Tagged ‘Shiva Paintstiks’

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New Paintstik Colors Have Arrived!

Thursday, August 26th, 2010

One of my all-time favorite days of the year is the day new paintstik colors arrive in our warehouse. It’s very exciting to see the actual product after months of discussion about exactly what shade of green, testing 14 versions of red (which don’t turn out the way I have my heart set on) and then figuring out what we should name them. After all the up-front work, I’m thrilled to announce “they’re here!!!”

Let me introduce you to the new additions to our iridescent paintstik family.

Iridescent Lime is a color that truly matches it’s name. It’s very bright when applied to fabric and definitely leans toward yellow. As a matter of fact, it looks a bit yellow on black fabric until you put it next to Light Gold (which I call Yellow). Then it most definitely looks green.

Iridescent Grape is the color of red grapes. It fits nicely between iridescent purple and magenta. To the best of my knowledge this is simply the iridescent version of the Grape color in the matte paintstik family.

Iridescent Watermelon was the result of our search for a bright red. It didn’t turn out to be a true red (nor did any of the other upteen attempts…) but it is a spectacular color and it fits perfectly in between iridescent red and orange. And it maintains it “bright” quality on dark fabric, which is not true of the current red.

Sets and Minis

These lovely new colors are available as single full-size paintstiks, a set of minis, and as a part of a new full-size set. Here are photos of the new sets.

Mini Sorbet Colors

We decided to call the set of three minis our Sorbet Colors. After all, they are named after fruits and really do look good enough to eat. (I thought “Tutti Frutti”  sounded like a great name for this set, but I guess that sounded a bit frivolous to the powers in charge of product names. :-) ) Ah well, Sorbet is a lovely name and very appropriate for the new colors.

Set of 6 Tropical Colors

With 6 new colors between last year and this year, we also had the opportunity to create a new set of full-size colors. With all these bright colors in one place, the only logical name (in my mind) was Tropical Colors. After looking at the same sets for the last 10 years, it’s really exciting to see something new – and I have to say this is a gorgeous sets of paints!

Coming soon to your favorite paintstik retailer…

With the new colors just in the door here at Cedar Canyon, it’s going to take a few weeks to get the new colors out into distribution. Please contact your favorite paint source and ask them to order the new colors for you. If you are really in a hurry, you can contact Dawn’s Quilt Shop in Alexandria, MN (the shop closest to me) or Laura Murray Designs. They can both get the new colors off to you even though they may not be up on the websites.

Happy painting! I hope you enjoy these wonderful new colors as much as I have!

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Posted in New Products, Paintstiks | No Comments »

Free Project: Shelly’s Magic Mats

Friday, July 30th, 2010

Here’s a great little project for our DesignMagic stencils – or one of your own designs! My Magic Mats pattern is the simplest way to make a placemat that I can think of. All you need is two pieces of fabric, some interfacing, one paintstik, one brush, and one pair of DesignMagic stencils. It’s easy!

Fair warning – this is a long post with a lot of pictures. If you want the short version, visit the Learning Center on our site and download the instructions as a PDF. The instructions are posted here.

Here are photos of three finished Magic Mats.  As you can see, you’ll need one piece of fabric to be painted and one that will serve as the borders and backing. Let’s get started!

Material List (for one Magic Mat)

  • 1 (9″ x 17″) rectangle focus fabric (to be painted)
  • 1(18″ x 17″) rectangle of border/backing fabric
  • 3/4 yard medium weight fusible interfacing, such as Pellon ShirtTailor
  • 1 set DesignMagic stencils
  • 1 or more Shiva® Paintstiks
  • 1 stencil brush (more if you use more than one color of paint)
  • Grip-n-Grip no-slip mat [Bear Thread Designs]
  • 404 spray adhesive [Spray and Fix / JT Trading]
  • Removable chalk pencil

Step 1 – Fuse interfacing to fabric

Cut two rectangles of fusible interfacing slightly smaller than the fabric rectangles. (I cut mine about 1/8″ smaller so I don’t get fusible stuff on my ironing board cover.) Fuse the interfacing to the wrong side of the fabric rectangles using the manufacturer’s instructions.

The interfacing adds body to the fabric and eliminates the need for batting. The placemat stays thin, but it’s not wimpy. I used Pellon’s ShirtTailor interfacing, which is a nice medium weight product.

Step 2 – Prepare fabric and stencils for painting

Mark the horizontal and vertical center lines on the focus fabric with a removable chalk pencil.

Place your stencils right side up on your work surface. Clearly mark one as Stencil-A and the other as Stencil-B with a permanent marker.

If you are using pre-cut mylar DesignMagic stencils, place the stencils wrong side up on a piece of newspaper and spray the back side of each stencil with 404 adhesive spray. (I prefer to do this outside or in the garage so I don’t stink up my work area.) I like to call 404 spray “post-it notes in a can.” Once the stencils are sprayed, they stay where you put them and don’t move around as you are painting.

If you are using your own designs cut from freezer paper, do not spray them with 404. Use the information in the Design Magic book for alignment tips and adhere the stencils to your fabric by pressing with a warm iron.

Step 3 – Paint DesignMagic images on focus fabric

Place your focus fabric right side up on a Grip-n-Grip mat (if you have one.) The mat will keep your fabric from moving around while you paint.

Remove the film from the end of your paintstik, rub the paint on a piece of freezer paper, and load the paint onto a stencil brush. For more information on stenciling, visit the Learning Center and download the document on Stenciling.

To paint the first image, position Stencil-A so that two alignment guides are even with the registration marks on the fabric. Paint the fist images using paintstik color and a stencil brush.

Lift the stencil from the fabric. Place the stencil on scrap fabric and gently wipe away any excess paint before using the stencil again. (I don’t usually worry about wiping my stencils unless it’s very messy or if I’m using several colors and don’t want to muddy them up when I paint the next image.)

To paint the second image, position Stencil-B next to the fist painted image. Rotate the stencil until th eimages on the stencil match up with the painted image from the previous step. Use the alignment guides and the registration marks to make sure the stencil is in the right place. Paint the image, lift the stencil, and clean the stencil if necessary.

Continue painting images, alternating between Stencil-A and Stencil-B until you have painted 8 DesignMagic images on the focus fabric.

Step 4 – Allow paint to dry and heat set paint

Allow the paint to dry for 24 hours and then heat set the paint to make it permanent. To heat set, place the painted fabric on an ironing board, right side up. Cover the painted fabric with a piece of muslin or scrap fabric. Preheat a dray iron to the appropriate temperature for the fabric. Press each section of the fabric for 10-15 seconds.

I usually heat set paint by placing the fabric paint-side down on parchment paper and pressing from the back. But in this case, I’ve already fused interfacing to the back, and I think it’s better to press from the top with a pressing cloth.

Step 5 – Assemble Magic Mat

Use a 1/2″ seam allowance for all seams on this project.

Align the long edge of the painted fabric with one 17″ edge of the border fabric, right sides together. Pin as needed and stitch the full length of the seam with a 1/2″ seam allowance. I don’t have a good 1/2″ seam guide, so I actually marked the 1/2″ line on the back side of my painted fabric.

Open the fabric and check to see that there the seam allowance covers the unpainted portion of the fabric. You can always make an extra wide seam allowance if you have unpainted portions of the focus fabric showing at the seam. Press the seam allowance toward the border fabric.

Fold the remaining 17″ edge of the border/backing fabric 1/2″ to the back side a press. After pressing, open the fold for the next step.

Align the second long edge of the painted fabric with the remaining 17″ edge of the border/backing fabric, right sides together. The fabric should form a tube. Pin as needed and mark the seam allowance 3″ from each side. (See red arrow in photo above.)

Stitch a short 3″ seam from each end, leaving the middle of the seam open. You will turn the Magic Mats through this opening later.

Here’s what your Magic Mat should look like so far. The two pieces should form a tube, and there should be an opening in one of the seam.

With the tube wrong side out, flatten the tube so one of the long seams is 1.75″ from the folded edge. Do NOT press the tube flat while it is wrong side out – we’ll press it flat after turning it right side out.

Pin the ends of the tube together and stitch a seam along each end using a 1/2″ seam allowance. Peek inside the mat to make sure unpainted portions of the focus fabric do not show at the side seams. Trim the side seams to 1/4″ if desired.

Gently turn the Magic Mat through the opening in the seam. Use an awl to pus the corners out for nice square corners.

Flatten the placemat and give it a good pressing.

After the mat is pressed flat, top-stitch along the edge of the focus fabric to secure the layers together and to close the opening in the mat. I also top-stitched along the grid lines in the painted fabric. The stitching gives the illusion that the fabric is pieced, but is far less work.

Enjoy your Magic Mats!

Magic Mats really are easy to make, and they are a fantastic way to play with DesignMagic images. They are big enough to show off the repeating designs, and small enough that they can be done quickly. It takes me about 25 minutes to paint one of the panels and less than an hour to assemble a mat. Now that’s what I call magic!

Make Magic Mats for your own home – or make gifts for your friends and family. If you prefer runners to placemats, simply make a longer version of this project. It’s easy!

Download a free copy of the Magic Mats pattern

Visit the Learning Center on our website to download a free, printer-friendly version of the Magic Mats pattern. The pattern is posted on the Design Magic Resources page. You are welcome to make copies for your friends.

Learn more about Design Magic

If you like making Magic Mats, you’ll love Design Magic for Paintstiks on Fabric. Learn to make your own designs, turn them into stencils, and transfer the images to fabric. With Design Magic, you really can design your own fabric!

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Posted in "How To" Information, Design Magic, Free Project Tutorial, Paintstik Projects | 1 Comment »

Design Magic: Make Scrollwork This Summer!

Tuesday, July 20th, 2010

As part of my visit to Bernina University, I offered the dealers and shop owners a free DesignMagic stencil along with a free project. (More on the project at the end of the post.) I was really interested to see which of the 4 stencils (Safari, Scroll, Fractured-X or Wavy Squares) they would choose most frequently.

While all of the stencils were popular, 35% of the dealers chose the Scroll stencil to make the sample for their project. The most frequent comment was that they liked the circular lines of the design — often referred to as “curlicues.”

Here is a photo of the Scroll stencils.

When I created these designs, I was thinking about waves. (If you take one of the curly images and lay it on its side, it looks like a wave breaking — or at least it did in my mind.) But the composite image doesn’t look like water in any way, shape, or form!

Leanne (my trusty assistant) thought the images looked like Scrollwork, and that’s how the stencil got it’s name. (The discussions on names get very interesting at times — much rolling of eyes and tons of laughter as more than a few inappropriate possibilities are tossed about…) But, back to Scrolls…

I used the Scroll design for the very first project I created for the book. I made the little Scrollwork quilt at a retreat last fall. It was really an experiment to see if I could use Design Magic images with patchwork projects (instead of whole cloth), and clearly, the answer was YES! Here’s a photo of the Scrollwork quilt.

Making this quilt led to all of my “aha” moments related to the alignment guides on the pre-cut mylar stencils. when I made the blocks for this quilt, I put them on oversize blocks. Then I had to try to trim them down to size. With some designs that might work OK, but this one was a real bear. All the curves made it tough to find the “corners” for trimming the blocks to size. It was definitely one of those moments when I said “There has to be a better way!” And, of course, there was.

A number of people have asked what color paintstik I used on the Scrollwork quilt. Since there is no “burgundy” in the paintstik line, I made my own by mixing Purple Sage and Alizarin Crimson. (Crimson is a dark red, and the addition of purple tones it down to a nice burgundy.)

Before I go, I want to share one more piece that I made with the Scroll design. This is one of my Magic Mats. I painted this fabric while I was in Orlando. (I’m always happy when I can do double duty by demonstrating on fabric that will actually get used!) I used Chocolate Brown (from the matte color line) on the pink fabric.

I have finished editing the photo sequence for Magic Mats, and I promise to post the instructions shortly.

I hope you are having a wonderful summer. If a rainy day comes your way, grab a paintstik and a brush and make a little Design Magic of your own.

Shelly

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Get your books signed at the Minnesota Quilt Show!

Monday, June 14th, 2010

It’s the middle of June, so it must be time for the Minnesota Quilt Show and Conference in St. Cloud, MN. As a Minnesota girl, I love this event. The MN Quilters put on one of the largest quilt shows in the United States, and perhaps the largest by a volunteer organization.

I worked at this show for many years as a vendor (when I was hand-dying fabric) and as a teacher. One of the biggest thrills of my teaching years was the invitation to teach at this show, as they usually reserve their teaching slots for national instructors.

This year, I’ll be attending rather than working, but I’ll be signing books for a short time on Thursday and Friday (June 17 & 18) between 11:30 a.m. and 1 p.m. for Laura Murray Designs, a vendor at the show. Laura’s vendor booth will be poolside at the Kelly Inn.

We’ll have copies of my new Design Magic book on hand along with Paintstiks on Fabric. Laura also carries a large variety of painstiks products, so you’ll find everything paintstik-related that you could possibly want.

Pick up Susan Stein’s new Textile Art book too!

Susan Stein, who graciously provided all the lessons on stenciling for our blog, will also be signing copies of her newest book at the Minnesota Quilt Show. You can meet Susan and have her sign your books on Saturday, June 19th from 12 noon – 1:30 p.m., also at Laura Murray Designs.

(If you missed Susan’s lessons on stenciling, check the Blog Archives for November 2009 – February 2010)

Susan’s latest book is titled The Complete Photo Guide to Textile Art (Creative Publishing International), and it is a treasure! It’s an indispensable reference guide for anyone who wants to embellish fabric and suitable for beginners and experienced fiber artists. Here’s a picture of the cover.

If you can’t come to the Minnesota Show…

If you hadn’t figured it out by now, Susan, Laura and I are all from Minnesota and we have a very strong connection to the state quilt show. We have many fond memories of working this show in one way or another, and would love to add meeting you to the list!

If you can’t join us in St. Cloud this week, hop on over to Laura Murray Designs on the web. You’ll find all manner of fascinating fiber art goodies, including our new books.

I hope to see you in St. Cloud!

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Posted in Design Magic, General, Guest Artist, Paintstiks | No Comments »

Design Magic: On Safari with Margo!

Wednesday, June 2nd, 2010

After much holding of breath and saying of prayers, the first copies of Design Magic arrived in my office just a few days before Spring Quilt Market. I felt totally blessed that the book arrived in time — and that Spring Market was held in Minneapolis this year. We’re just a few hours away from the Twin Cities, so I didn’t even have to drive as far as the airport.

Once the book arrived and everything was packed, I decided to take a few hours to make something special for myself using the cover fabric from the book. I’ve already worn out the Primrose tote that started my Design Magic adventure, so I decided to make the new Margo bag from my good friend Joan Hawley at Lazy Girl Designs.

Margo is a delightful bag with a zipper at the top — and leave it to Joan to figure out such an easy method for adding a zipper! Margo is a little bigger than I would normally make for a purse (I like them SMALL so I don’t carry too much junk…) but she is going to be perfect once my iPad arrives.

I used the Safari design and a Grape (matte color) paintstik to paint this beautiful piece of hand-dyed fabric. As soon as I finished, I knew it was perfect for the the cover of the book, and I have to say that it made a fabulous bag as well. I had a hard time cutting into this piece of fabric to make something I’m sure to wear out, but hey –  what good is beautiful fabric if it just sits in the closet? If I wear it out, I’ll just have to make a new one!

More about the Safari Design

Matthew Mills, my very talented graphic designer, created the Safari design for me when I was working on the book, and I have to say it is one of my favorite designs. The design is printed in the book so you can make freezer paper stencils from it, or you can purchase our pre-cut mylar Safari stencils. The mylar stencils have several advantages — they are already cut (of course!), you can see through the mylar, and all the alignment guides are etched into the stencils to make your life easier as you paint the images on fabric. Here is a picture of the Safari stencils. (You can see all the new stencils on our New Products page.)

And here a closer look at the Safari design on a piece of the Gradations fabric from Benartex.

I used this set of stencils to make the On Safari quilt project that is included in the Design Magic book.

On Safari is a super-simple quilt. The 4 large panels are painted on fat quarters that are then trimmed to size for insertion in the quilt top. I just quilted in the grid lines. I was surprised how many people at spring market thought it was appliqued or pieced.

At any rate, you can go on your own Safari Design Magic adventure. Make a Margo bag, make a quilt, you decide! Whatever you choose, it will be lots of fun.

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Posted in Design Magic, New Products, Paintstik Projects, Stencils | 3 Comments »

Make a little Design Magic!

Thursday, May 6th, 2010

I know I’ve been missing in action here on the blog, but I’ve been totally immersed in finishing up my new book called Design Magic for Paintstiks on Fabric. The book went to the printer at the end of April, and I should have copies in my hot little hands sometime next week! And just in time for Spring Quilt Market. Whew!

Here’s the cover of my new baby and a few paragraphs from the Welcome section:

Welcome to the world of Design Magic. It’s a magical, mystical world indeed, where simple shapes are  transformed into easy-to-use tools, and fabulous fabric is created in far less time than you ever imagined possible. It’s almost like having your own magic wand!

And now that you’re here, I hope you enjoy the Design Magic adventure as much as I have. The path is full of exciting  “aha” discoveries and “wow” moments. There’s never a dull moment in the world of Design Magic.

So, what’s it all about?

Design Magic is a really slick method for making your own designs and putting them on fabric with minimal tools and time. It’s faster than fusing and easier than appliqué! Here are the 3 main steps.

  • Create a design by cutting shapes from a square of black paper.
  • Make a set of equal and opposite stencils.
  • Stencil repeating images on fabric with paintstik colors and stencil brushes.

The book includes complete instructions for making your own designs and stencils (of course), but I’ve also included a set of pre-cut mylar stencils for those of you who just want to jump in and paint. Here’s a picture of some fabric I’ve painted with the Primrose stencils that are tucked inside the back cover of each book.

There’s way too much to tell you in a single post, so I’m not even going to try. If you want to see what else we are introducing at the Spring Quilt Market, jump on over to the New Products page on our website.

We’ll be shipping the new books and stencils out to our retailers and distributors within 2 weeks, so you won’t have to wait too long to get your own personal copy of Design Magic.

Happy painting!

Shelly

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Posted in General, New Products, Paintstiks, Stencils | 5 Comments »

Fabulous Faces Tutorial

Monday, November 16th, 2009

A few months ago, I posted some of Lauren Vlcek’s Fabulous Faces. Lauren has been suffering through computer problems, but she was able to send the information and photos for a tutorial. So without further ado, here’s Lauren.

Paintstik Portraits, by Lauren Vlcek

cover_faceI fell in love with Shiva Paintstiks the very first time I tried them.  They are reminiscent of the big fat crayons that I used when I was young.  Just looking at them takes me back to a time when art projects were about exploration and play!  Paintstiks are a stick form of oil paint. I love the freedom of oil paints since they don’t dry out quickly.  They are smooth and wonderfully fun to blend with your fingers.

I love any art project that includes fabric and the paintstiks are designed for fabric.  To make the paintstik portraits, you apply them a little differently than the traditional methods.  The faces on my art journal pages are painted on a separate piece of muslin and then cut out and collaged onto the page. However, you can use the same method directly onto an art quilt or even a canvas.

Supplies

01_supplies_small

  • Shiva Paintstiks- antique white, dusty rose, beige, mauve, meadow green/wedgewood blue
  • muslin
  • gesso
  • fine pencil
  • extra fine line artist’s pen
  • Decocolor white paint pen
  • gel pens
  • spray fixative

Step 1

02_gesso_small

Tape a piece of muslin to your work surface with masking tape.  Using a high thread count muslin works best.  Paint two layers of white gesso on the muslin. Allow the first layer to dry before adding the second.

Step 2

03_face_outline_small

When the gesso is completely dry, remove the masking tape.  Draw a faint outline of the head and neck with pencil.  Spray lightly with a workable fixative or your pencil lines will be smudged when you add the paint.

Step 3

I like to use the paintstiks from lightest to dark.  Fill in the outlined area with antique white.  The area covered with antique white can be spread smooth with a filbert brush or your finger.

Step 4

04_beige1_beige2

To add some shadow around the outer edge of the head and in the eye areas approximately halfway between the chin and the top of the head, use a beige paintstik.  Again, this paint can be smoothed with a brush or finger.  While you are smoothing the eye areas drag the inner edges of each straight down to create a shadow along the sides of the nose.

Step 5

05_rose1_rose2

Apply dusty rose paintstik to the cheek areas and blend with a brush or finger.  This color can be dabbed between the beige and antique white around the face to give the face rosier complexion.  Then smooth as before.

Step 6

If you lost most of the antique white areas during the smoothing, you can put them back in by adding some more right over the top using the paintstik and then smoothing them out with a brush or finger.  It is nice to have some white highlighted areas at the forehead, along the bridge of the nose and on the chin.

At this point your face will have color, shape and shadow and is just beginning to resemble a face, but there are no details yet.  The paint needs to dry for 24 hours. When the paint on your face is fully dry, spray it with a workable fixative.

Step 7

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Draw basic feature outlines with an extra fine micron pen in black or brown.  Draw the eyes, nose, brows and lips.  Spray lightly with workable fixative.

Step 8

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Using a meadow green, wedgewood blue, or chocolate paintstik put a dot of paint in the iris area and smooth with a small brush.  Don’t worry if you lose some of the detail line at this time.  Use the mauve paintstik to dab some color on the top lip and dusty rose for the lower lip, again, blend with a small brush.  Allow the paint to dry.  These small areas don’t usually take 24 hours, but overnight is a safe bet.

Step 9

08_finished_face_small

The finishing details of the face are quick and easy.  Replace any detail lines that were obscured with the extra-fine micron pen and draw in a black pupil.  If you want you can outline the iris in a gel pen that matches the eye color you chose in step 8.  Use a fine, white Deco paint pen to put in the whites of the eye and tiny highlights on the tip of the nose and along the top tip of the upper lip and in the center of the lower lip.  You can also put a small dot of white in the eye where the pupil meets the iris at about 1:00.  This brightens the eyes and gives the illusion of a light reflected off a wet surface.  Be sure to spray the entire face a final time with fixative.

sunny_day_small~ Lauren Vlcek lives and teaches various classes in the Colorado Springs area, including one on her lovely faces. She’ll be teaching this class at the 2010 Textile Evolution Art Conferences. (You can visit www.TextileEvolution.com for more details.) Lauren is co-author of a new book called Fabric Embellishing: The Basics and Beyond from Landauer Publishing. It has just been released.

Shelly’s Note

Many thanks to Lauren for providing us with this wonderful step-by-step look at painting faces with Shiva Paintstiks! Have a question? Post a comment!

And as always, happy painting…

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Posted in "How To" Information, Guest Artist, Paintstiks | 4 Comments »

New colors flying out the door!

Monday, November 9th, 2009

Our new paintstiks colors have been wildly popular — especially new new iridescent jewel colors. So, without further ado, let’s take a look at all six colors.

New_IR_Colors_72dpi

New Iridescent Colors

The new iridescent colors are really lovely. They are all the more special to me because I had the opportunity to work with the paint company to develop the colors. (Creating new colors is a most interesting process — there is a limit to how many times I can say it needs to be “just a little more toward the blue” before my paint guy tosses in the towel.) At any rate, our new iridescent colors are Jade, Magenta, and Sapphire. And they are simply yummy!

Jade was easy — we knew this was a winner as soon as we saw the first sample. It’s a lovely blue-green that sits in between Green and Turquoise.

IR_Jewel_Minis_smallMagenta is a wonderful deep pink. I really wanted iridescent fuchsia, but by the time we added the “shiny stuff” that makes a color iridescent, it was no longer truly fuchsia. None the less, I love the color and think its a great addition to the line.

Sapphire was the most challenging. The first sample came back a deep purple. It was a lovely color, but not what I wanted. After 3 times of saying “it needs to be a little more blue…” we had a winner. Sapphire darker than most of our colors, and sits perfectly between the original blue and purple iridescent colors.

We also put the 3 colors in a set of Mini Jewel colors for those of you who like “just a taste!”

I was testing out the new colors while I played with the new Snowflake stencils. (It’s always nice to do two things at once!) I’m probably more than a little biased, but I think they are all just delightful.

snowflakes_new_colors_small

New Matte Colors

New_Matte_colors_72dpiThe new matte colors were developed for an amazing painter named Diana Lynn Cote. If you want to see some incredible paintings, visit her online gallery. Diana paints exclusively with Shiva Artist’s Paintstiks, and her work is truly amazing. The new matte colors are Fuchsia, Periwinkle and Marsh Green.

Fuchsia is, well, very fuchsia. It’s a fabulous, vibrant pink.

Periwinkle is a medium value “blue” that is similar to the iridescent Sapphire — it’s not really blue, not really purple.

Marsh Green is another great color. It’s more yellow than Meadow Green. One of my friends called it “Mr. Yuck green” after the symbol on the poison control stickers. That’s actually a pretty good description — although not terribly appealing.

Here’s a quick sample I made up to show the colors on fabric.

new_matte_colors_small

Enjoy the new colors — and as always, happy painting!

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Posted in New Products, Paintstiks | 2 Comments »

Laura Murray’s Sensational StarBuilder®

Monday, September 14th, 2009

Hey, paintstik fans! Would you even begin to believe that you can make an incredible star quilt without spending ages finding “just the right fabric” and then tons of time doing complicated piecing? You’ll be thrilled to know that Laura Murray has developed a very simple process that allows you to make complex stars as easy as “Paint, Cut, Fuse!” OK, OK — there are a few more steps in the process — but believe me, this is simpler than it looks. Yes, you really can do this!

Laura has just published a book called StarBuilder Inspirations to take you through the process step by step. Her book is not only filled with hundreds of gorgeous photos, but chock full of detailed explanations and a huge gallery to get you started.  I asked Laura to share the story behind the book.

starisborn-lg

A Star is Born

Laura’s Story

As a designer, my process is similar to walking through the woods for the first time.  I need to take one step before I can see where I want the next step to land, and I don’t know exactly where I’m going to end up until I get there.   I love the journey, but I want my discoveries to happen quickly.   It’s the part about “happen quickly” , combined with my fondness for paintstiks that resulted in my vision of  a no-sew approach to design using unmounted stamps, paintstiks and fusible web.  I designed uniquely shaped stamps to use as texture plates for making paintstik rubbings and launched the StarBuilder line last year.  I recently completed the StarBuilder Inspirations book and introduced StarBuilder2 to round out the line. [StarBuilder and StarBuilder2 are the unmounted stamps used to make the star shapes.]

SBbookcoverAs a self publisher, I did most of the photography with some help from Shelly,  who lent a hand both literally and figuratively  (she was my “hand model” in the technique shots, since she has more attractive hands than mine).   Her earlier blog entry called “what we do for our photos” provides a behind the scene look at what it takes to make a good image.  Thankfully, Photoshop provides excellent tools to overcome small imperfections!

It would have taken me many years to produce designs featured in the book using traditional methods of drafting, and precision piecing.   I can happily say my process cut the time down to 9 months, while juggling the demands of a full time business, and traveling 40% of the time. It also helped considerably that my husband, Jim, did most of the painting.  He made batches of shapes in various color combinations, which I began thinking of as my “ fabric Legos”.  I’ve made well over a hundred designs, with endless possibilities just around the corner.   Here’s a quick tour of how it works.

sb1_smallThe Basic StarBuilder Process

No seam allowances and no sewing are required to construct the StarBuilder designs. The unique shapes of the StarBuilders are the basis for Paintstik rubbings, which then produce unique fabric pieces. Fusible appliqué techniques then provide quick and easy arrangement and placement, and the process ends with the final fusing.

Step 1: Paint the shapes

step1Place stamps underneath the fabric, and paint the fabric with iridescent paintstiks. I like the way the iridescent colors make my stars “glow,” but will use some of the matte colors to get specific colors not available in the iridescent line.

Step 2: Apply fusible web

Apply a fusible to the back of the fabric, once you have made sufficient multiples of your shapes. I prefer Steam-a-Seam 2 lite because it has a pressure sensitive coating on both sides allowing for a temporary hold until fused down permanently with an iron.

step3Step 3: Cut shapes out

Cut out the shapes, but do not remove the release paper until ready for placement.

step4step4step4Step 4: Arrange the shapes

Stars are assembled on a base fabric, cut into a square. Orientation marks are necessary on the base fabric to ensure an even distance between the star points. Stars are constructed in a circle which has been divided into evenly spaced sections by lines radiating from the center axis point. Each line locates a “point” on a star. Stars may have 4, 5, 6, 8, 12, 16, 24 points, or more. It’s easy to create orientation templates by using a 360 degree protractor, transparency sheets or clear stencil plastic and permanent markers. (Don’t worry, you won’t have to figure out how to get to 16 points — I’ve done all the math for you in the StarBuilder Inspirations book!)

After all the star part are arranged, remove the paper liner from the shapes, and place the center of the shape directly over the orientation line.step5

step5step5step5

Step 5: Fuse shapes to background

When you are happy with your design, check to make sure the shapes have not moved before the final fusing.

Making a complete star

These photos show the start of a star. If you want to see how to make the Capricorn star shown below, follow this link and I’ll show you the “recipe.”

capricorn-step-4

Shelly’s Note

Laura’s book is literally “hot off the press” and is self-published. The best place to find StarBuilder Inspirations and the StarBuilder stamps is on her website at www.LauraMurrayDesigns.com. Hop on over to her site for more information, more ideas, and lots of other fun things to do with paintstiks.

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A tale of two brushes…

Thursday, September 10th, 2009

In an earlier post, I talked about cleaning brushes, but let’s step back and talk about the different types of brushes that can be used with paintstik colors.

Paintstiks are really dry (compared to liquid paints), so any brush we choose to use needs to be fairly stiff. For the most part, I use stencils brushes. But, all stencil brushes are not the same. Some have long bristles, some have short. It’s just another case of the right brush for the right job.

For the most part, I use two types of stencils brushes. One is a standard stencil brush with long bristles. The second is a denser brush with short bristles. Here’s how I use them…

Standard Stencil Brushes

stencil_brushes

Most paint companies make various grades of stencil brushes, ranging from inexpensive to exorbitant. These brushes are fairly dense, usually flat across the top, and have bristles about an inch long, give or take. The brushes are wonderful for stenciling with liquid paints using a pouncing motion, but have to be used a little differently with paintstiks. (You have to apply paintstik color with a scrubbing motion because the paint is so “dry.”)

  • Positive – these brushes are softer and don’t leave obvious brush marks.
  • Negative – the bristles bend a lot and it takes longer to get an even application of color.

Short Bristle Stencil Brushes

paintstik_brushes

Because paintstik colors are so different than typical paints, I worked with our supplier several years to develop a set of brushes just for our use. The brushes have shorter, denser bristles. This means they don’t bend as much when applying paintstik color, and it’s easier to get opaque images on fabric.

  • Positive – it’s easy to apply an even, opaque layer of color.
  • Negative – because they are so stiff, these brushes will leave definite brush marks if you are working on large areas.

Other Brushes

I occasionally use other brushes with paintstiks, particularly when I’m working with small details. Years ago, I found some “fabric dye brushes” in my local JoAnn Fabrics store. I have no idea if they are still out there, but you can keep your eyes open when you are in fabric and/or craft stores. These brushes are made from dense synthetic fibers and I found them very useful for stenciling images when I wanted to change the color of a very small area.

The right brush for the right job…

For some of our patterns and projects, it is better to use a specific type of brush. When we have a preference, we will tell you on the back of the pattern.

cool_coneflower_blog

For example, it’s much better to use the standard stencil brushes to paint the Coneflower quilt — especially the extra-large flower on the right side of the quilt. The standard brushes are much less likely to show brush marks, making for a more pleasing finished quilt.

So that’s my tale of two (or more) brushes. I’m going to be talking about stenciling a lot in the next month or two, so you’ll have a head start on when to use which brush.

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