reborn.

after 3 days of feeling like death i'm finally remembering what it's like to feel human again.

years of working in the service industry have prepared me for getting sick.
{it's part of the job}
i've had every common illness you can get,
but this whole strep throat thing..
that was new.

oi, antibiotics.

i finally had enough energy today to take on all the projects my brain was conceiving while curled up on the couch the past few days.

it felt good to be productive again.
{minus the fever bursts}

i'm just about finished with the 2 owl pillows a friend ordered from me.
a little more sewing and stuffing and they'll be ready to go!
i'm thinking about naming them...
they've taken on their own personalities.
i also had a chance to make some labels for all the sewn goods i'm making.

i wanted a really raw look for them.
one because i needed it to be quick and simple
and two because part of me is still really lazy. :)

with all the napping and cold medicine i found my mind wandering to russian dolls.
{i have no clue why}
maybe i saw a picture somewhere or heard someone talking about them.
my mind does as it wishes.
i'm just along for the ride.

i thought it would be awesome to make some russian doll pillows.
i'm planning on doing some shaped as the dolls and some silk screened.

i made the screen as simple as possible so i can go in and add a ton of hand painted elements.i'm still waiting impatiently for it to dry so i can do some sample prints.
grr..

i also cut out the largest doll image and started pairing it with some fabric.
whew! what a day!as you can imagine i'm exhausted.
but also exhilarated!
i got more done today than i have in a long time
and i'm going to sleep like a baby.

talk to you soon!

xo,meggers

10 point bodoni

i wish the wayzgoose event was every month.

it was a blast.

i was so happy to drag my parents along.
all three of us were drooling over everything we saw.
{letterpress and block printing are such a beautiful art}

my dad even tried to convince the letterpress guys to sell us some equipment.
it didn't work out.
yet.

i thought it was really neat that the kids from UPS were screen printing material for free.
they did such a good job!

i brought some red bulk material and got red on red.
it looks great!
i still have no clue what i'm going to do with it though!

it was especially cool to see this design being sold on t-shirts at sonja later in the week!
gotta love the local support in tacoma!

i bought a ton of little gems in the form of greeting cards and posters
but my all time best purchase ever
was this..

i have admired old letterpress letters from afar for a very long time.
they are normally so stinking expensive even being near them costs you!

you can imagine my excitement when i saw a table with multiple sets for $10!
bodoni also happens to be one of my favorite typefaces (i know.. nerd!)
there were 2 or 3 italic and this little 10 point guy.
i almost cried.

i'm kicking myself for not buying all of them.
the type is pretty small and they do need to be cleaned up a bit...
but it's worth it!

you can tell they were well loved before i came along,
and you better believe i am planning on loving them just as much!
i have some projects in mind!!

remember this teeny tiny canvas i'm so in love with?

i bought 8 more.

maybe i should have tacoma's tiniest letterpress show when i'm done with them?
awesome.

okay, enough slacking.
back to sewing!

xo,meggers

sleepy

for the first time... ever, i find myself wishing for more hours in the day.

my studio looks like an episode of hoarders.
it's pretty frightening.

i started making 2 owl pillows for a customer and am really excited on how they're turning out.
i had to take a quick break from them to make mackenzie's bday presents
{which are awesome)
but i will continue with them tonight so i can post some pictures.

here's what i made for the birthday girl
{she better not read this before i see her...}

this scarf is dropping f-bombs :)


felted flower brooch with zipper leaf

thick headband with felt, fabric and zipper flower
two! jersey arm cuffs with felt, fabric and zipper accents
{diamond and cassette tape}
tree pillow!
it says mp + gi on the tree for her and my brother <3
adorable.
made with felt, fabric, buttons and a ton of hand sewing
plus bleaching, gluing and a little bit of crying :)
it was a labor of love.xo,meggers

eeeek!

after these past few days of stress with health, doctors appointments and work the mr. and i decided we deserved a treat!

so i threw out all reason and bought this!

i am so excited i can hardly breathe!
i have never spent this much money on an item this massive,
but i'm ready to lock myself in the basement and print until my hands bleed.
who's in?

the mr. chose the manliest gift of all for himself–
surround sound.

{as if we didn't already have enough speakers}

so as i patiently await my new arrival we're stuck in the house
setting up his new toy.
thank you best buy guy who said it would be super easy to hook it up.

last time i checked it shouldn't have taken from 11pm to 4am...
to find out it's all wrong.
fail.

while i barely got anything done today on my to-do list
i did get that big something that was on my lifetime to-do list
so i can't be too upset!

in case you didn't pick up on it already..
I. AM. EXCITED.

and broke.

xo,meggers

p.s. mom, dad, you might be getting an extremely large package on your porch in 5-7 days.
sorry. :)

superb

off to work!
i'll be working on more owl pillows as well as some other designs tonight.
i'm on a pillow craze!

tomorrow i'm heading to king's books for their annual letterpress and book art event, wayzgoose!
it's open to everyone and it's FREE!!!
check out the details here.

hope you're all enjoying a little bit of sunshine.
have a great weekend!

xo, meggers

slacking in the name of art..

i was supposed to clean out our junk closet today to make room for all my art supplies....

yikes!
{intentionally blurry to save your eyes}

but....

instead i got distracted by all my pretty fabric paints
and decided to do more screen prints :)

first layer down
all of these are at various points of completion
i also started my owl screen!
i was procrastinating on this one because it's going to take many layers of mod podge to make this baby print clean lines
normally i wouldn't encourage such fine lines with homemade screens unless you have a lot of patience
{which i don't}
but i really like this design so i'm sticking with my goal

this is how it looks after the first layer

you can see a lot of areas where i will have to go back with my teeny tiny paint brush and the glue to thin the print lines.

it will look pretty neat on some tea stained pillows and towels when it's done, though.

and.....

if all goes well i should be breaking ground on my indieTACOMA website this week.
if it weren't for a couple brilliant friends i would have been lost in internet la-la land with no website to be found.

i know some really amazing people.

xo,meggers

regan design.

we're making some t-shirts...

like, soon.

i'm not even sure where we're planning on selling them yet,
but we'll get to that.
locally? online? yes, both?
input?

i wanted to share a couple designs that i started.
as always, they are in raw form and may or may not be what we end up printing.

but nonetheless...
i should have some of rory's designs up in a few days when we get around to talking about anything other than fart jokes.
{we can't help it}
we are not the poster children for maturity.

i'm not quite sure who let us be in charge of running a business together,
but sometimes i wonder how we even dress ourselves in the morning.
xo,meggers

quick things n' stuff.

i have been screen printing my brains out!

{i can't get enough of it}
but i still have a lot of work to do so this is going to be a quick one!

it's been a really exciting week in mail-getting for me.

first off i finally got my holga.
i've been so busy trying to finish all these projects i've started
(a huge step for me)
that i haven't even had a chance to fiddle with it.
ugh.
i'll get to it!
and then the next day i got my business license.
i'm legit!
{at least in the state of washington}i don't know which one is more exciting.
i'm pretty happy when i get stuff.

lastly i cannot wait for you to meet a good friend of mine.
her name is colleen.
she is the most amazing entrepreneur you'll ever meet.
i've learned and been inspired so much from her and now i want you to have that opportunity as well!

i'll be interviewing her this month and talking about what it took for her to get to where she is today.
trust me, you'll want to be here for this.
off to lose myself in some crafting!

easy screen printing d.i.y. part two!

5. practice run

okay, so the glue is completely dry...
[it should be clear with absolutely no white spots}
now we need to see if the screen works!

lay your screen on a flat surface with a piece of paper under it.
using a very small amount of ink (we're talking quarter size!) spread it around with your brush on a washable surface or something you can throw away.
{i like using tupperware lids because paint easily washes off}
weigh down your screen so it doesn't slip while your painting on the ink.
i just used the mod podge bottle because it was heavy :)
now start painting!
remember you can always do another coat (carefully) so don't overdue it with the ink.
i tried a few different portions of ink so trust me when i say less is more!
now you have your test print!
slowly, with steady hands peel off the screen so you don't smudge the paint around...
and voila!
do you like it? are there spots you missed?
if so, rinse the screen with warm water and dry with a paper towel.
then you can go back and paint more glue as necessary.
repeat until your desired effect is mastered.


6. the real deal

alright let's prepare our fabric for printing!

make sure you're using a clean, dry and flat surface.
if your fabric has layers (like a t-shirt) place cardboard directly behind the layer where you will be printing.
if it's a single layer you should still have some barrier between the fabric and the surface.
{messes happen! take it from the master.}

set out everything you need in front of you to make it as simple as possible.
including paper towels just in case!

{i'm doing headbands first}

lay your fabric with barrier as flat as possible.
no bumps, lumps or folds anywhere in sight.

lay your screen down onto the fabric and position it where you want it.
play around with the positioning until it feels right.
now we're going to repeat everything we did with the practice print except this time put your game face on.
(i already printed a couple color layers on before which is why there's an image already on my fabric)
again, peel the screen off sllloooowwwwly with both hands so you don't smudge and there you have it-
a one-of-a-kind screen printed item!
remember to always rinse off your screen after you use it so you can use it again and again!
also read the instructions on your fabric paint carefully.
most paints allow machine washing.
enjoy!

{if you have any questions about the process feel free to ask!}

xo,meggers

easy screen printing d.i.y. part one!

{let's get started!!}

supplies you'll need:
*embroidery hoop* make sure it's big enough so your design isn't cramped around the edges
*gauze fabric* any sheer white fabric will work, but keep in mind the smaller the holes the better the print.
*fabric paint* screen printing ink can be pricey so for smaller projects like this any fabric paint will work just fine.
*water resistant glue* i used mod podge, but there are many out there.
*a sharp pencil* for tracing your design. i use mechanical pencils because they are always sharp.
*sponge brushes* enough so you can have some for painting the glue on and some for the ink.
*your stencil* the less detail the better so you don't have a hard time creating the screen.
*blank paper* to test your screen on when it's done. better to be safe than sorry!

1. choose your design:
a lot of computer programs give you the option of resizing your images (including microsoft word) and making an image all black.
make your image the proper size for your embroidery hoop and print it out in black.
you have just made your stencil design!

2. assemble your screen:
stretch your gauze over the inner hoop of the embroidery hoop and press the outer hoop firmly on top.
as you tighten the screw pull the gauze taut all around the edges.
make sure t0 screw it in as tight as you can and continue pulling the fabric until it is tight and flat.


now trim off the excess gauze.


3. trace your stencil:
flip your hoop around so the flat gauze is closest to the table.
tape down your design to the table and place the screen over the top.
don't press too hard with your pencil while you trace the design onto the screen.
it's important that you only trace what you want to be printed.


4. apply the glue
after you have traced all your black lines flip the hoop over so the flat gauze is farthest away from your table.
paint the mod podge on all the areas where you DO NOT want your ink to print.
that's called the negative space.
you can use a sponge or a paint brush- whatever your comfortable with as long as you get a good cover all over the screen.
this can get messy so be sure to put down some newspaper to avoid drips.
take your time and make sure it's done right!
read the label on the glue to make sure you let it dry long enough.
mine said 15 mins, but because the surface is so large i would recommend 12- 24 hours.



for part 2 i will be showing you how to prep and print your design onto fabric.
i'll be doing scarves and headbands, but you can use whatever you want.
t-shirts are always a good choice! :)

stay tuned! i'll be back soon for part 2!

xo,meggers

extra sleepy, extra excited

i'm so excited for my screen printing tutorial tomorrow!
it's going to be great!
and so easy anyone can do it at home.

i'm also excited because i should be getting this little beauty in the mail any day now!(source)

i have been waiting rather impatiently for my holga for about a week now and i just want it to be here!
i also bought a 35mm converter for it in case i can't find 120n film or a local place to develop it.

i'll probably be going picture crazy for awhile as i also recently found my minolta x-370 and managed to inherit one of either an old nikon manual or a canon manual.
(one goes to me one goes to a friend)
as far as i can tell they are so similar it's an awesome deal anyway you cut it.


(source)

next project?
turn our closet into a dark room.
the mister might need to find somewhere else to keep his pants and socks. :)

xo,meggers

ideas, ideas, fun ideas!

last night i spent hours researching the best at home screen printing for smaller projects.
it was exciting to see how many creative people were using on-hand crafting items to create quality screen prints!
so inspiring!

i decided that this is my next project!
i like how my hand painted scarves were turning out but being one person i am always looking for a more efficient way to get as much out of my time as possible.

this is going to be an awesome project and i plan on posting it as a d.i.y.

so this thursday i will be gathering all my supplies and starting this easy and fun project.

stay tuned for my how to!

xo,meggers