dyeing paper

Hey there campers; it's been awhile!

I thought I'd test the waters with a brief post about dyeing paper for special projects like wedding invitations, book binding or Christmas cards.

I dyed this fuchsia paper for wedding invitation inserts this summer.

You can dye any paper; it's made of plant fiber most of the time, like cotton clothing. High cotton-content paper and paper with linen fiber get the best color, but even regular newsprint or drawing paper can be dyed using Rit Dye or Dylon. (Dylon is my preference.) This color is called Flamingo Pink.

I used a 110 lb arches cold press watercolor paper trimmed to A4 size, then pre-soaked it in a bath of hot water with just a dash of dish soap. I use the dish soap as a nod to my method of dyeing clothes; I always pre-soak and wash to achieve even dyeing by saturating the fabric and removing any waxes, oils, or fixatives. With paper, the saturation is key and the soap, while probably not completely necessary, is just a little bonus to help assure that the saturation is allowed to happen.

I dye paper in my stainless steel kitchen sink. It's easy, large, readily available and unlikely to stain. I boil water and pour it into the plugged sink; just until I have 2 or 3 inches of water in the sink. I add 3 or 4 times the recommended amount of salt and stir until dissolved.

I add the dye before I add the paper, and stir till dissolved. A quarter of a package is a good place to start, since I dye paper in batches. Paper into dye, saturating one side and then the other, eight or ten sheets in the bath at a time. Keep track of how many, as you'll be turning and repositioning the sheets in the bath every ten minutes or so for relatively even dyeing. And repeat until the dye cools or you get a color a couple of shades deeper than your desired result (dyed paper and fabric tend to lighten as the dry).

Of course, the idiosyncrasies of hand-dyeing are often desirable. I like to sprinkle a little dye powder in the bath to add speckles sometimes.

Rinse in cool water, then press gently in a towel,  hang with pipe cleaners ("chenille stems") and clips, and let air dry.

Paper will warp a little as it dries, so ironing will be necessary to run dyed paper through a printer or a printing press. Use a press cloth and turn your iron on the cotton setting, no steam.

Thanks for dropping in as I attempt to get my sea legs back! I hope you'll stop by again soon. I aim to.

happy easter !

(p.s. you can make these photos bigger by clicking on them . . . but you probably knew that!)

tie-dye mania !

My sister-in-law always comes up with great birthday party ideas for my niece and nephew; my favorites are the ones that include a little project for everyone to do. A couple of times, we went to one of those paint-your-own-pottery studios; this year, she bought some white t-shirts and a couple of tie-dye kits (similar to this one, but larger, to dye more shirts). Awesome!

We all watched a short video that came with the kit, then went to town.

Here's how our three came out:

We ended up with a huge variety of shirts between the twenty-or-so of us at the party, and each one was beautiful and different.

Some tips for keeping things tidy:

1) Keep it outdoors if possible. Spilled dye is easier to clean up with a hose or the rain.

2) Cover your work surface with a water-proof cover if you care about your work surface staining.

3) Keep clean-up supplies close at hand. This might include paper towels if you use them, or reusable towels you're not concerned about staining.

4) Keep ziplock bags at the ready. Tie-dye needs to sit overnight; party guests can transport their shirts home for washing if they have the mess contained.

This is a pretty awesome party project for large or small groups, and people can spend as much or as little time on their shirts as they like. Thanks for inviting us, M!


(p.s. you can make these photos bigger by clicking on them . . . but you probably knew that!)

rainbow tie - dye birthday cake

Happy Birthday to Me!




I saw a similar cake on Pinterest awhile back and wanted to replicate it, but the only recipe I found was pretty wild, including diet Sprite and diet pudding mix. Since I avoid artificial sweeteners when possible, I chose to go a more straight-forward route.

Pretty simple; mix up a box of white cake mix according to package instructions. Scoop out a cup or so, dye it red, add raspberries. Divide evenly and dollop in the center of two prepared pans. Scoop out another cup or so, dye it orange, add mandarin orange bits. Divide evenly and spoon on top of the two red dollops. Repeat for yellow and green, without fruit. Help mounded batter settle by striking the side of the pan with your hand.

Repeat for blue, indigo, and purple, mixed with blueberries. Once settled evenly in pan, bake in pre-heated oven. Cool, remove from pans, frost with confetti frosting.





I want to try it with cupcakes next!

(Other Pinterest inspiration posts: here, here, and here!)


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Fabulous!

I like everything about this!



I like the packaging design, I like that it's available in a bunch of colors, I like that you don't have to get messy dye-fingers, I like that there are different formulas for natural and artificial fibers, and I like that I can buy it locally from Oregon Art Supply. Before this, I had to special-order dyes for polyester and nylon.


http://www.dharmatrading.com/html/eng/5590684-AA.shtml
http://www.oregonartsupply.com/