Author Archives: glindabunny

Instructables Build “Night” with Lumi!

Posted by on 2013/09/21 Comments Off on Instructables Build “Night” with Lumi!

My daughter Abigail has been sick this week, so I’ve postponed our build night for one week. I’ll hold it Saturday, September 28 at 2:00 pm.

Anyone is free to come – just email me to let me know if you plan on attending (I need to make sure we’ll have enough Inkodye for everyone). My email is rachel dot faul at gmail (written out this way here to avoid spambots). So… what’s Lumi?
lumi screen shot
What to bring:

a cotton t-shirt or other article of clothing you’d like to “screen” print with Lumi paint

According to Lumi.co, Inkodye binds to any absorbent natural fiber such as cotton, linen, raw silk, jute, hemp, burlap, wool and even raw leather, suede, untreated wood and unglazed ceramics.

For photographic applications we recommend materials that can be rinsed and washed in hot water and textile detergent. This allows the light areas of the print to remain undeveloped.

Inkodye can also be used on cellulosic semi-synthetics such as modal, viscose or rayon. We do not recommend Inkodye for use on synthetic fibers such as polyester or nylon, however blends (e.g. 95% cotton and 5% polyester) may yield good results.

Inkodye will not work on materials that aren’t natural and also materials that can’t absorb the dye; ie. glass, metal, plexiglass, acrylic.

I’ll print out some cool art on the transparencies that came with our kit from Instructables. If you want a specific image, please let me know ahead of time so I can make sure to print the negative – otherwise, you won’t be able to make the image on your fabric.

The kit we received came with a large bottle of orange and a small bottle of red Inkodye. We’ll publish at least two instructables after our build night as part of the agreement (hence the free kit). Let me know if you’d like to help take pictures or type instructions for anything we do.

If you’re new to the transistor, please remember that there’s dangerous equipment for woodworking, metalworking, and other purposes in the building. It’s not a child safe environment, and guests may not use the equipment unless they’ve become members/signed a waiver/received training in the equipment for liability reasons. We won’t need to use any equipment for screen printing. I’m happy to answer any questions you may have. I look forward to seeing a few of you on Saturday!

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Etsy Craft Party at the Transistor!

Posted by on 2013/05/23 Comments Off on Etsy Craft Party at the Transistor!

 

The transistor is hosting an Etsy Craft Party!  Member Rachel Faul is organizing this event.

When:  Thursday, June 20, 2013 6pm-10pm

Where:  Orem Transistor

RSVP:  http://oremcraftparty.eventbrite.com/  We need at least 25 RSVPs by May 30 if we want Etsy to send a free box of supplies for us to use at the party!  Space is limited to 50 attendees, so respond early!

What will we make?

*wool dryer balls

*flower finger puppets

*fairy egg in a glass vial pendant

*recycled construction toys

 

Project details from Rachel:

The dryer balls will be more than just that; I’d like to show how to select wool thrift store sweaters for various making purposes, how to unravel them into yarn, how to turn some of the yarn into roving with cheap wire slicker brushes ($4.50 at the grocery store, rather than $25-50 for a wool carder), and how to use felted wool, wool yarn, and wool roving to make a sturdy dryer ball that won’t unravel. Hopefully people will come away with a thorough knowledge of how to recycle a wool sweater for lots of different uses.

I’ll have to pre-cut and pre-drill the wood for the construction toys, but I’ll explain how people can make their own wood parts, and how to cut the plastic hangers and notch them with a simple, inexpensive coping saw to make the beams for the toys. Plastic hangers are notoriously difficult to recycle because of the different kind of plastic in them; they can release harmful chemicals when they’re melted down to be reused, and they take a lot of energy to be melted. It’s much more efficient to recycle a broken plastic hanger with a small saw and some sandpaper to smooth the edges.

If not enough are interested in the homemade tinker toys or if drilling that many wooden parts is problematic, we’ll probably switch to painting sets of wooden blocks. In that case, I’ll show a few color palettes for wooden blocks that evoke different moods in kids. I’ll have acrylic paint at the craft party for simplicity, but we’ll still talk about other non acrylic options for coloring/sealing wood using natural materials – plant based dyes, waxes, and oils, and nontoxic bug secretions (shellac).

If enough people are interested in other project options, there are lots we could do. Some I’m considering offering (depending on interest) are:

bent wood rings
homemade ipad stylus
LED jewelry, possibly with a lemon juice flower battery (depending on interest and time)
sensory toys for autistic kids (and other kids with sensory challenges), especially those made from recycled wool, cashmere, linen, and silk – if anyone wants, we can discuss weighted toys for proprioceptive reinforcement, pocket calming items, communication books/cards, etc.

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