If you read the last post you know that I bought some paint while in Hawaii to play with while on vacation. I’ve always admired these Monarch Ferns. I love the little spots on the leaves. I asked several people what they were, and the response I got was that they were weeds that they grow up through the lava flow. Well, weeds or not, I love them.
Before we left I packed everything I needed to print leaves except for the paint. I had mixed up some paint to take with me, but decided it was too risky to put it in my luggage. Here is my “kit.” The red thing is a stamp pad which I had to cut up to get in my luggage! You can print without padding, but the prints just turn out better. I did find that the plastic I brought was not large enough for the table so I added plastic bags. Note to self: Next time bring a large piece of plastic! I did buy a pad of Strathmore Printmaking paper since I do like to do a test print on paper before I move it to the fabric, and my fabric supply (that I brought with me) was limited.
The day after I bought the paints I set up my printing area on the condo’s lanai looking over the ocean. Oh my! What a wonderful view and sound as I printed.
Here are some leaves we collected on our morning walks. Most of them were the Monarch ferns, but a few were papaya leaves.
Here are my first prints on paper. I especially loved the detail of the papaya leaves.
Time to move on to fabric. If you are new to printing on fabric, check out my leaf printing tutorial which also includes my YouTube video.
Here is the one print with the papaya leaves. They seemed to be pretty sturdy, but when I started printing with them they started to fall apart. I do love how they printed though.
So I preserved some to bring back and print here at home. To preserve leaves, check out this tutorial.
Once they were in the water for several days, I placed them between paper towels. After a couple more days I packaged them up for the trip home, putting them between two pieces of cardboard.
They made it home. However, the papaya leaves molded and were real fragile so I tossed them. But the ferns held up nicely and once it warms up a bit, I’ll be printing more.
I plan to create a large wall hanging with the prints, but will add several more pieces. Meanwhile, there are several other projects on the back burner. Thanks for dropping by.
Lynda, I love your leaf prints! How fun that you were able to do some while in Hawaii!
Judy, Thanks! It was nice to create a bit of art on vacation!
Leaf printing is one of my favorite things……how did you ever stop with all that great foilage? Glad you were able to preserve some for at home use!!!
Kathy, I was just focusing on those ferns. I know, it was hard, but….