Splitcoaststampers.com - the world's #1 papercrafting community
You're currently viewing Splitcoaststampers as a GUEST. We pride ourselves on being great hosts, but guests have limited access to some of our incredible artwork, our lively forums and other super cool features of the site! You can join our incredible papercrafting community at NO COST. So what are you waiting for?
I’d like to color the flattish, bright white, braided cotton cord that’s attached to an art journal. It’s about 5/8” wide and 21” long on one end and 11” on the other, so not skimpy. But it can’t be unattached - it’s woven into the outside binding.
(Maybe someone skilled could unattach/reattach without destroying the binding but that someone is not me.)
I was thinking of watercoloring, then read an article that suggested watercoloring fabric and then painting a mix of water and fabric medium on top. I have more highly pigmented pan watercolors and inexpensive brands.
The goal is sort of ROYGBIV to echo the cover.
Ruled out:
- Plaid fabric “ink” at Michaels - unless someone really thinks it’s the way to go. A Craft Test Dummies video indicated it’s really paint, the consistency of honey, but it did well on fabric.
- Rit Dye - too big a production for a cord permanently attached to a small journal.
- Tea or coffee dying - because the cover colors are very bright, not a vintage type book.
Brushos work great with ribbon/seam binding so I think they'd be good. You could work a small section at a time. But if you ever get it wet afterwards the colour would probably run, unless you coated it with some protective medium.
Neat idea! I have tons of colors. I wonder if the colors can be diluted with blending solution - putting drops in paint palette wells. I should get some white, braided cotton cord to experiment on. Just called Jo-Ann - they have several types.
And have a fan blowing fumes away since the cord is so long!
maybe colouring it with alcohol markers or permanent markers would give you more control. I have never tried this myself.
I think you can also dye cotton with koolaid if you really want to experiment - on second thoughts, that is not practical as it would need to be heat set.
Plus if I got thirsty I could dip the cord in water... ;)
I hadn’t thought about markers or alcohol markers! I have Sharpies and Copics. A bullet tip would be best given the width - and how long they are. Worth trying. Definitley will be visiting Jo-Ann to buy some cotton cord to play with. Thank you Jenny!
Update: I stumbled across fabric markers by Crafts 4 All on Amazon. Broad tip on one end, bullet on the other. The markers are easy to use and colors are vivid. They have 12- and 20-packs, lots of reviews, overall 4.5 star rating. All the ideas here are terrific and for a more special application down the road I’ll probably try some.
We’ll fill this small journal up during the 6-week class, and the markers seemed like an easy (aka lazy) method for a quicky journal.
Alcohol markers or inks would be an easy solution, especially since it sounds like you already have a good supply. I'd stay away from most paints. Acrylic would make it stiff, watercolours might come off when handled and naturally are water soluble, which could be a problem.
Alcohol markers/inks can be diluted and mixed with blending solution. All most blending solutions are is an alcohol base with no pigments.
Thanks, Embri. I would have gone with alcohol inks but because of the rain deluge that’s gone on and on and on, I wouldn’t have been able to have the window open and a fan pushing out fumes.
I have some Copics, most likely not in all the colors I wanted, and the cord is quite long. By the time I colored both sides and edges, with ink soaking in, I’d probably deplete my not huge stash! And I agree - acrylic wasn’t an option.
I found fabric markers that work well.
BTW, I found techniques with watercolors that people have used even for pillow cases, but the fabric markers seemed easier.
The Ken Oliver journal doesn’t have many pages so will be filled at the end of the 6-week class and will sit on a shelf - it’s not like it will get wet. I’m actually not into art journaling. I joined because I like the instructors’ cards and wanted to get out of my comfort zone. In just two sessions I’ve learned a couple of techniques, practiced stuff I’d been clumsy at, and found a paint I really like (I’m always donating paint other than wc, not my thing). Score, right?
Glad you found something that worked for your project.
An art journal to keep track of your class tutorials sounds like a great idea, I'd never considered using one for that purpose. Mostly I've stayed away from journalling / scrapbooking because the end result doesn't seem like it'd be useful for me, and I don't need more shelf-warmers taking up precious book storage space.
A technique journal though, that I could see using... *ponders*
Oh no, I don’t keep an art journal for class tutorials. : )
I’m in a once-a-week art journaling class at my LSS. Each week for six weeks we complete a project directed by our instructor on two pages, using paint, ink, stamps, various techniques. Outside of that I don’t do art journaling.
Thanks for letting us know. I was wondering how it had worked out for you.
You�re welcome. I always want to hear the rest of the story. : )
Minor disappointment - the set of did not include light colors, despite the caps showing several. I emailed the Amazon seller about it. They were terrific, apologized and offered to refund my money. (I said no but they issued a refund anyway.) They said the double-sided markers should be stored horizontally but Amazon won�t necessarily do that, so the ink gets concentrated on one end and gets darker.
Huh? The only issue I�ve seen from storing double sided markers vertically is that one end does may not get sufficient ink. I said thought it could be a manufacturing problem, and suggested they put a note on the website page.
Side note: I stored Prismacolor alcohol markers for over a decade vertically without using ever them and they were/are fine.
Quicky once-over with the markers and done. We all did the striped cover with the words, though I used different alphas afterwards at home plus a couple tiny extras. Fun, have been learning, even though I’m more clean & simple cards! Some white was left on purpose on the cord, since the gelato coloring was not perfect coverage.
Painting Dying Cotton Cord
