Debut of Treasury Tuesday

Two sellers are on here twice this time. There arent very many people selling typewriter keys. I was looking for some to use for a necklace, and Im not having much luck. Many of the ones I found on Etsy are stickers or prints, not really keys, or even faux keys. But I thought these were all so cool!

Another genius idea

I notice that a lot of blogs have Etsy member features, or Etsy finds of the day or week or something like that. So I was looking through all the treasuries today and thinking I should do a little something of my own. Im going to have Jade Ink "Treasury Tuesdays". Not a real treasury, but a group of 9 of my favorites. Every Tuesday I'll change the theme and post a little something about the featured items and creators. This week Im going to start it on Monday, because Im too excited to wait!

Two Treasuries in one day!

These werent on the front page of Etsy, but its still exciting! :) My "Black Days" necklace was featured in both of these.

Screenprinting: photo emulsion method

Screenprinting is " A stencil method of printmaking in which a design is imposed on a screen of silk or other fine mesh, with blank areas coated with an impermeable substance, and ink is forced through the mesh onto the printing surface. Also called screen-printing, silk-screen process." (thefreedictionary.com)

Thats not a bad definition, but it doesnt mean much if you have never seen the process. Besides, who wants to read a description of a process when they could see pictures instead! This particular post is for the photo emulsion method of printing. (I'll do separate posts in the near future for the other methods.) The photo emulsion method has gained a lot of popularity recently. If you dont have drawing or painting skills, this would be the easiest method for you.

Start by putting your design on plastic, yes, plastic. You can either draw on paper first and then trace, or you can just grab a Sharpie and freehand something, making a positive image. Ive chosen the famous Iwo Jima photo as my subject.

Since my Iwo Jima picture does not take up the whole 8x10" screen and Im really cheap, I decided to add another graphic into this screen in the extra space.

(This next little part doesnt really have pictures) This is where I make and/or fill my screen. You can buy a pre-fab 8x10" screen for around $25, or you can make your own. I usually make my own using stretcher bars (wooden bars used to form a frame to stretch canvas over) although the one is these pictures is pre-fab. Stretcher bars (depending on size) will run you about $5.00 (around $1.00ea), and screen mesh is $11-15 per yard. You also dont have to buy the actual "screen mesh," you could substitute this with sheer fabric of some sort. I usually just buy the mesh. Once my screen is made, I need to fill it with photo emulsion fluid.

Photo emulsion reacts with light and hardens. Any part that does not harden to the screen you will be able to wash out with water. I coat the screen on both sides, then let it dry for about 3 hours in a dark room.

Once its completely dry, I flip it upside down (flat part on top), and place the clear drawing on it backwards. You dont have to do it this way, you could do it "right side up" with the drawing facing the right way, doesnt really matter. I do it this way because the screen is usually already upside down from drying. (If you leave it right side up with wet photo emulsion on it, it'll stick to the rack. BAD.) The purpose of drawing with black on clear plastic is so that light does not get into the areas that you want to print. That way the photo emulsion will not harden in those areas and youll be able to wash it out.

Next, I put a clear acrylic sheet over the screen to hold the drawings in place, and turn on the light. I have a 500 watt work lamp mounted overhead to expose my screens (yes thats yarn holding it up). The stronger the light, the faster the screen will expose. With this wattage, screens take about 15-20 minutes to expose.

(that light is SO mcuh brighter than it looks here...and hot.)

Im able to tell the screen has fully exposed when the exposed photo emulsion has turned from a bright green to either a dark green, or bluish green. When the drawing is removed you can see a ghost image.

Now the screen has to be washed out right away or youll never be able to clear the negative spaces. A garden hose would be the ticket here, but since I live in an apartment right now, I have to make due with the kitchen sink. Its easier to clear the screen with a stronger stream of water, but moderate water pressure and a lot of scrubbing will do too. ;)

Once my screen is clear, I usually put it back under the lamp, the heat helps dry it faster. After its dry, I'll grab whatever it is that I want to print on, usually a shirt :). Lay down my screen, position it where I want.

Get out the ink, apply the ink to the screen, spread the ink with a squeegee.

(that squeegee has been through a lot...)

Once thats done, lift the screen, and there you have it!

The finished product...

(version #1 of Iwo Jima, different versions still to come)

Research

Last night I wanted to print some shirts but only had black and white ones left to work with. I needed something with some color, so I decided to improvise. I have a few wacky colored men's tshirts that my husband assures me no man would ever wear, so I decided to have some fun and print on one of those. The print came out perfect, which kind of made me mad that a print for a girls tee came out so perfect on a bright blue mens tee. So I decided to cut it down and make a chick sized tee out of it. Unfortunately its too big for me, so I need to sell it, although I cant seem to get a good picture of it to save my life. Its this bright "electric blue" I guess you could call it, but it shows up as sky/light blue in every single shot no matter what the lighting conditions are. So Im waiting for sun up to see if I have any better luck with natural daylight.

(*Comes back from tangent...*)

This all got me thinking about marketing these as "extra long" tees for chicks. I attempted to do a little research, try to find out what the standard lengths should be. Im not really sure what to do here. I mean, its hard to judge how long is too long when youre only one person and can (obviously) only wear one size, and you can only make things based on your own preference.

So I need some help from all you ladies out there. With the shirts I have right now, if I made them into girls tees, the lengths would be as follows: S=26" M=27" L=28" Is this too long? I made one for myself, and I dont mind the length, but Im also very short, so I dont know if this is too long, or just right?! So please, if all you ladies would be so kind, please let me know what you think. Oh, and if anyone is interested in modeling any of my wears, youll get some free clothing out of the deal. ;)

Take the survey...

Seriously the BEST ebay ad Ive ever seen!

Current mood: highly amused

This is the greatest, seriously...

http://cgi.ebay.com/ws/eBayISAPI.dll?ViewItem&item=140245977515

Independence Day

Happy July 4th everyone!