A Healthy Glow

The other day I mentioned that I picked up some new inks for my screen printing press that GLOW IN THE DARK. I was finally able to use them yesterday afternoon. I am so pleased with how they turned out…

The color really TEALS the deal for me…

I absolutely love the teal color. I was a little nervous that the inks would be difficult to clean out of my screen (they weren’t!) and that they would be too transparent like my other glow-in-the-dark ink. Fortunately, they were not too transparent on a light-colored fabric. I did try making a print on some darker-colored fabrics and it was difficult to see the design. I will need to put a layer of white ink down if I want to print on darker fabrics.

I am sure you are wondering whether or not the ink actually glows too… IT DOES! Here are some photos I snapped with my camera. Unfortunately my camera did not take the best photos in the dark, but you can totally see the glowing. The actual glow was brighter than this. Too cool!

Let it GLOW!

I think these bags turned out great! And this glow was after a very short charge under a lamp. I think they are a cool bag for kids. (Or adults!)

For good planners: These would make excellent Trick-or-Treat bags!

Of course, they are available in the Pink Toe Press Etsy Shop.

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The Process of Screen Printing

I’ve been printing a lot of new tote bags lately! They are currently available for purchase in my Etsy Shop! I thought it would be interesting to share some of my process photographs with you. It is important to show the polished final product. But with something as hands-on as screen printing, I think it is important to show the process as well!

Carefully pulling the ink through the screen to make the print on canvas. 

It’s important to have your inks mixed before you start printing. You can either buy ready-made ink colors or mix your own! This red-orange ink was made from a pre-mixed orange and process red. I’m using my smallest squeegee to make sure I get the right coverage and pressure with each print.

All that careful work paid off! Look at that beautiful print! Since I am only printing with one screen today, the printed bags can be hung up to dry right away. On to the next bag!

The finished print: Looking GOOD!

When it’s time to change a color you need to wash the screen out COMPLETELY and let it dry. There is a chance that some of the ink from the first color would pass through with the new ink color if you are not careful, and that will muddle your colors or, even worse: dry in your screen.  Between colors (multitasking while waiting for the screen to finish drying) I heat-pressed the first set of bags so that the colors be permanently on the bag and will not run if the bag gets wet!

Back in black! The black ink is a little thicker than the orange ink, so it takes a little more ink to print the same design in black.

 

Some of my new tote bags are made from brilliant colors of cotton canvas. Black looks best on them, so I changed ink colors to black.

Carefully lifting the screen away from the bag. This is one reason why it is called “pulling” a print!

Go Green! This bright green canvas is one of my new favorites!

More colors of tote bags coming soon. I am in the process of MAKING MY OWN TOTE BAGS out of 100% cotton canvas made in the USA to ensure the quality and colors are up to my high standards! New colors include yellow, natural canvas, and avocado.

I am even offering small purse-size (or kid-size) tote bags! They are 9 x 12 inches and are a really great size!

All of these amazing tote bags are available in my Etsy Shop!