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Sunday, December 30, 2012

Tutorial - Screen Taping

As shown in the previous post, I have thermofax screens for sale in my Etsy shop, PGFiber2Art, and you can buy from other vendors on the web as well.  If you purchase ready made screens, you will likely have to tape them yourself before you can use them.  Taping the edges is an alternative to mounting on a frame; it is less costly and the screens take up less space for storage.  I prefer to use duct tape from the plumbing department of the local home supply store.  It is heavier weight than standard duct tape, and holds up well against water when cleaning the screens.  Here are the steps I follow when taping a screen.


Remove the screen from the paper image. Remember that the rough mesh side of the screen is the top and the smooth plastic side is the bottom.











Cut a piece of duct tape slightly longer than one of the long edges of the screen.


Flip the tape over, sticky side up, on your work surface.  Place the edge of the screen on the tape so it overlaps about a 1/4 inch.  Smooth the screen on the tape so it is adhered all the way across, with excess tape on both ends.














Carefully fold the tape in half over the edge of the screen lining up the 2 long edges of the tape. Take care to line up the edges first, before allowing the rest of the tape to meet - once it starts to stick, you won't be able to reposition it!


 Press the 2 layers of tape together, then use your fingernail to crease the folded edge so it lays flat.
 














Flip the screen around and tape the opposite long edge in the same way.



Trim all 4 ends of the tape even with the screen.
















Turn the screen 90 degrees and tape the short ends in the same manner.


Again, trim the excess tape even with the edges of the screen.


Label the tape at the top of the screen so you know which is the top (for some designs, it will not matter which is the top); also be sure to write on the mesh side, not the plastic side.  While you can actually print from either side, the mesh side will  wear better than the plastic side.  That's it!  Your screen is ready to use!


  

Sunday, December 23, 2012

New Screens in Etsy Shop

We've added some new screen designs to our PG Fiber2Art Etsy shop.  Most are nature items, one new graphic image.  If there's an image you would like but don't see, let us know; we might be able to help.  All are made from our own original photos.  Here are a few of the new ones:



Monday, December 17, 2012

Holiday Tags

I haven't made many holiday projects this year, but one thing I did was make these little gift tags/ornaments.  I drew 2 small designs for thermofax screens - holly leaves and a pointsettia; printed them on red and green fabric, and then fused them to 2 1/2 inch squares of timtex, red on one side, green on the other.  After a bit of trimming, I satin stitched the edges and added some elastic cording.  A quick and easy project!

Saturday, December 1, 2012

Open House at AA

We had fun today at the Artistic Artifacts open house, doing demos of screen printing, meeting enthusiastic crafters and reconnecting with previous aquaintances and students.  And of course checking out all the goodies in Judy's shop!



Above are some of the new screens we have for sale.  Coming to our Etsy shop soon!

We have 2 classes scheduled for 2013 (so far): March 2 is Turn Photos into Thermofax Screens, and April 13 is Printing with Thermofax Screens.  The first class teaches you how to manipulate a photo in Photoshop Elements to change it to a black & white image and apply filters to make it look more like a drawing than a photo.  The printing class covers all you need to know about printing technique, supplies, paints, taping screens and allows plenty of time to practice with the instructors screens. Check the Artistic Artifacts web site for more information.