I’m sorry for the duplicate post. I accidentally hit publish while creating it.  So, now that I have your attention…

I am taking Ruth’s Printing, Stenciling with Thickened Dyes class, so I’ve been practicing.

I made nine different colors using acid dyes and two thicknesses.  I have several stencils laying around so I couldn’t wait to get started.  The feather was the most open so I started with that using three different colors with different thicknesses and brushes.

I used commercial prefelt for the feathers.

The midnight blue feather was created with a thicker dye mix and stencil brush.  But I found the brush kept pulling up the fibers.  So, on the yellow I used a thinner dye, with a foam brush, but I didn’t get as much definition and more running.  For the red, I used an old stiff paint brush with a thicker dye and I got a little better definition.

Now I realize this is all new and practice will help me learn to manage the process better.

I tried a plastic stamp with a thin silver and thick purple on prefelt.  But neither stamped well.  I think  the surface of the stamp was too smooth.

Then I tried a butterfly stencil (which was too detailed) with commercial felt.  The gold ochre was done with a thick dye and thin brush.  While wet it wasn’t too blurred.  However, after setting the dye and drying it was blurrier. This was while it was still wet.

The  teal butterfly was done with a brush, again on the commercial felt.  Same result after drying. Plus the dye and felt were very hard.  I had thought I’d do some stitching, but I think it’s too stiff.

Then I tried a Stencilgirl stencil I had purchased for the Paper Lamination Class.  I decided to use two separate colors on prefelt.

I will felt all the prefelt ones to see the results and how it changes, if it does.  I used a second piece of prefelt to tie the feathers together in one piece.

Next I’ll try making my own stencils and stamps and continue to play with different tools and dyes.

Hopefully, I won’t give you an early preview next week.