Kristin's Peace Flags

Last summer I posted these pictures of flags that Kristin and I printed.  They hung in her yard all winter.

This is what they look like now.  Not too bad.  But it looks like they have done their work.  Interesting how the red and fuchia have faded to nearly the same color.

Prayer flags for Andy

I got up this morning with a plan.  My brother's wife is having surgery next Friday so I wanted to make her some prayer flags.  Since the ink I print with takes a few days to dry, I needed to get it done today.  I only photographed 2 of them as I was working today, but will take a picture of the string once they are done.  I made a string of 7, colors running from yellow green through red-violet, each with a different image and word on it. 

It is silly, but it makes me feel like I am doing something to help the person in need-good thoughts... 

Then, sincer I had the ink out, I printed some terns, crabs, and kingfishers for future quilts.  I love the crab and kingfisher but the tern stamp need some work.

Prayer Flags #3-#7

 My granddaughter, Olivia, spent the night last night and we got up this morning and continued with the Prayer Flags for Her Grandma Darlene.  I had some commercial foam stamps and some word stecils that were perfect for her to work with.  The flag below needed a little something more and I was itching to use my new thermofax screen, so I added the little birds.

 On this one we decided to have her write her name more than once so it became a design element.

 I am continuing with my Home theme.  My stamp did not take the lumiere metalic paints very well, so I stamped it again in a different color so there is sort of a shadow.  Anyway that was the intent, successful or not.  These are a great way to try our new products and techniques.  I love, love, love my crab stamp.  this is the first time I printed with it.  It will be clearer when I print with ink.

 This is the first print I made with the Kingfisher stamp, also.  this was carved from linoleum, and once again didn't take the paint I used as well as I would like, but it will be great with ink.  I am really pleased with this stamp, also.  I had never printed with sequin waste before.  I used it as a stencil and as a stamp.  Again, not perfection, but experimenting with new toys.

 And here is my partner in crime for the morning, Olivia, with all of the flags strung up behind her.  I like them!  I am probably through, now, unless Truxton wants to make some next time he comes to visit.

Here is Olivia with a piece of fabric she painted to take home to he Mother.  I carved the leaf stamp.

Prayer Flag #2

 My second prayer flag-this time sized as it should be.  I guess my theme is Home.  If I do text again I will have to come up with a different way to apply it because I don't like my handwriting.

 Here are the two that I have completed.  I am just pinning them to the clothesline to photograph them but will string them up when I am done.  I don't know how many I will make-at least one more to go on the other side of the large one.

I got some thermofax screens in the mail the other day and played around with this one today.  It is called Cascading Branches, but I like it turned upside down.  Unfortunately I printed the orange in the lower right corner upside down.  I do like the effect of layering and think that it will be cool to print foliage, print a bird, then print more foliage on top.  The top half of this fabric was an unsuccessful attempt at rubbing with shiva paintsticks.  Now I know that I need a rubber mat of some sort to keep the plate from slipping, then tape the fabric. The second picture is the fabric before I screened it. It is better with the sreen print on top.  In all of the DVD's that I have watched, it seemed like they were pouring alot of paint onto the screen.  With the thermofax screens, I found out quickly that I didn't need as much paint as I had put down!  I used a cut off foam brush rather than a squeegee.  I watched Lynn Krawycz's DVD and some Utube videos and the screens came from her, also.  Perhaps the next screens I order will be my own design.

Prayer Flag for Darlene

My daughter-in-laws Mother has been ill since last Christmas.  In fact, she has been away from home, on Kodiak Island, in Seattle for treatment since then.  She has been on my mind alot lately.  Although Alexandria is working on a project that I am going to take part in(don't want to give it away if it is a secret), I wanted to do something.  I read about The Prayer Flag Project on jane LaFazio's blog.  Last night when I came home from work at 10 pm, I grabbed a beer and headed for the studio, if that is what you want to call my closet down in the dungeon(but that is a story for another day).  A prayer flag was not my intent but that is where I eventually ended up.  Obviously, I did not read any instructions, since my flag is much larger than it should be, but it is what it is.  I think that this first flag of mine is about 12" x 18".  Smaller will be much less consuming, but this is the size the elements I wanted to use required.  My prayer is for Darlene to return home soon.  Her family is here.  We live on an island in the North Pacific where salmon is a huge part of the culture.  Salmon return home to spawn, so i wanted them as an element in my flag.  I had some wooden letters that I glued to a piece of mat board and covered it with matte medium before I left for work so when I got home tonight it was dry and ready to print.  I am not totally satisfied with the print job-it is a bit splochy, but adequate for this project.  I enjoyed the hand embroidery alot.  I worked on it on the down times at work today.  I mostly sew beads by hand-thread is nice.  You don't have to pick up a bead with every stitch. 

Anyway, back to my point.  I think it would be awesome if, upon awakening after her surgery next month, if there was a string of prayer flags to greet Darlene.  Then she can hang them outside her house in Seattle, and all the good will and love in the creation of these flags will bring her peace, love and home to her family. 

 You can look at Jane Lafazio's blog and see her wonderful flags here: http://janeville.blogspot.com/2011/07/prayer-flags-5-6.html. 

Here is a tutorial:

http://theprayerflagproject.blogspot.com/p/tutorial.html

And here is the main page of the Prayer Flag Project:

http://theprayerflagproject.blogspot.com/

Like I said, I got a bit out of had with this first flag of mine.  The size is 5" x 8", and they are to be completed in an hour.  Anyone interested?