block printing on fabric

i love block printing and have been doing it more over the past few years, but until a few weeks ago i hadn’t tried it on fabric. i thought bandanas and handkerchiefs would be a good place to start, not too overwhelming in size. i wear bandanas a lot around my neck or as a head scarf, and almost always have one on a walk or hike.

i ordered some materials to play with- rubber for carving (easier than linoleum for this), fabrics of 100% cotton, and for this first round, speedball fabric printing inks. i did wash all the fabrics before printing on them, and once printed i let them dry/cure at room temperature for about week and then put them in the dryer. even though you don’t have to heat set this ink, i’d read that this might make it hold up to repeated washes better, plus it ended up making everything nice and soft too.

in addition to the designs i carved, i also tried printing with a few blocks from my collection of indian wood block stamps. these have lovely detail but since most are old, there are some variances in the surface that can make printing a bit more inconsistent, and harder on the hands.

i had planned to sell these at a spring pop up sale, but then the pandemic happened. in a way, bandanas are even more useful now (have you seen the videos of how to make one into a mask using hair ties?). i’ll have these at a future sale, but if you’re interested in purchasing one now just contact me and i’ll let you know what’s still available, and mail one to you with free shipping! y’all stay well out there.

a new side gig

i have lots to post and am really behind on writing here (i’ve been meaning to talk about leather marbling at least, and also some recent exploration into drypoint printmaking), but i’m delinquent for good reason- for the past few months, most of my extra energy went into the vintage shop i started on etsy with my husband. we’re learning lots and have been building it slow, but i wanted to share it here too. please stop by and take a look! we’re focused on quirky small objects and wall art, lots of ceramics, folk art, mid-century and danish modern items, weird ashtrays, and boho/ranch/cottage themes. this is our shop description, which also explains the name: trouvaille trading was brought about by our maximalist hunter gatherer tendencies. "trouvaille" (pronounced like tro͞oˈvī) means “lucky find”. we love lucky finds, and offer ours here for your collecting and browsing pleasure. we are in love with old things, well crafted objects, unusual artifacts, days spent wandering, and history of place as well as manufacture.

it’s my second side gig now, on top of a full time job. i feel stretched a bit more thin of course, but it’s been fun to find all these interesting treasures, and it’s been a good collaborative endeavor for us as a couple. plus, it’s great to enjoy objects for a few weeks or months and then pass them on. i like decor changes in my personal space, and it allows for a way to keep our small home curated, since we do love to collect so much!

here’s a link to the shop:
etsy.com/shop/TrouvailleTrading

and here are some favorite items of mine that we have for sale, among many…

adventures in linocut printing

despite the fact that i repair prints all the time, i never really did much printmaking when i was younger, and in recent years i’ve been occasionally making linocuts- either for an upcoming craft show or a group project. it doesn’t take fancy equipment, i can produce them fairly quickly, and the concept of carving in relief seems a good exercise for my brain. i learn a slew of new things every time i try to do this.

for the past few years i’ve participated in a valentine’s print exchange for my local chapter of the guild of book workers. sometimes there is a theme, and this year’s was “romantic cities”. under pressure for time (ever the procrastinator when it comes to creativity), i decided a linocut would be easiest since i already had most of the materials i needed in the studio. i resolved to spend some time across several winter evenings making sketches in order to decide which i liked best for getting my head back into linocutting. i was after a recognizable scene that would fit the theme but not be too complicated or overly time-consuming. this was, after all, a mail exchange.

i chose venice from my sketched cityscapes and set about transferring the drawing to my linoleum, then began carving. i made my first test print on some sumi paper, did some more carving and tweaking on my block, and then made some more test prints. i realized i needed a new brayer, as the one i had been using was a vintage tool i’d picked up years ago at a studio sale, and i was having some trouble with getting it to move correctly and roll the ink on evenly. it was wonky and i was getting frustrated. once the new one came in it made a huge difference in how the prints were turning out. better tool, better result, right?

at this point i’d also learned a couple of other things. one: in the future i’ll carve on pieces of linoleum that aren’t mounted. since i’m printing by hand and not on a press, that will make both carving and clean-up easier for me. but for this project, i already had this untouched linoleum block sitting in a box and was trying to save my pennies! two: use better ink. since i’m a beginner, and under the deadline i had no time to purchase and play around with new inks, i ended up using my small supply of water-based speedball inks i’d purchased with some basic tools many moons ago. those inks aren’t suitable for being serious about a project and i couldn’t get them to act quite right (from what i’ve read, that’s a universal opinion). just like an improved brayer, i know improved inks will make all the difference.

in my mind this was a night scene, which dictated the manner in which i carved the block, as well as my paper choice. I settled on a lovely blue kozo paper for the small edition of prints that would include the ones i was mailing to participants, but i couldn’t resist trying a gold paper too. i liked its warmth and shimmer.

i learned during and after printing that i need to practice better registration and also pay more attention to my desired margins, and therefore the size of my linoleum, especially when the project has size limitations like this one! i would have liked bigger margins.

i’ve saved the block, as i do all of them, so i can print another run of a different color in the future, or modify the block for a variation. if that never happens though, i enjoy the blocks as artifacts of process. i’m thinking of continuing the theme and carving another of my city sketches, perhaps new orleans.

funny thing with this exchange, i thought everyone would choose a city like paris. turns out several of us thought of venice!

remaining prints of both these editions will be for sale. until i have a shop set up, please inquire if you’d like one, or look for me at a future market. happy romancing!

hello...

…and welcome to this work in progress!

i’m excited to be launching my very own website after a number of years of thought. i wanted a platform that would be more friendly to handmade products, and that would feel more like mine in ownership. at about the same time my etsy shop was drawing to a temporary close years ago, i was also beginning to be invited to participate in some holiday markets, which were my first in person experiences akin to craft shows. now, a few years later, i felt ready to make this side gig a little more of a reality.

i’m incredibly new to squarespace and am still learning. i’ll be learning for a while. my professional job (as an art conservator) as well as this creative side arm involve very little tech, since i concentrate on keeping all things analog alive longer. for now, this site is meant to showcase the types of objects i create and where to find them in person locally. eventually i hope for it to be an online shop, but as i’m not sure how this more committed attempt at moonlighting will go, e-commerce is a goal for down the road. by then i’ll have a little more figured out, including my own limitations and the interest of visitors.

thank you for stopping by! please keep doing so. it’s always meaningful when folks support small, handmade, and local. looking forward to what’s ahead for b+b!