Dye vs. Pigment Ink

I've had my HP printer for several years now and I've always been very happy with the quality of prints it produces.  I use it to make all the prints (ACEO / 5x7 inch / 8x10 inch) in my shop.  The printer takes two cartridges - one tri-colour (cyan, magenta and yellow) and a photo cartridge (black, light magenta and light cyan) so I get a good range of colours in the prints.  I print on HP's Premium Plus range of photo paper to get the best results - it also means that if kept out of direct sunlight the prints will resist fading for over 100 years.  Photos which I printed on Premium Plus paper at least 5 years ago look like new, whereas photos I printed on cheaper paper look faded after only a short time.  (I've not been around long enough to test the 100 years yet!!)

The HP inks I use are dye based which, although good for my art prints, has one downside for printing scrapbooking papers - the ink runs if you use PVA glue or glitter glue on them.  Dye based inks are water soluble coloured liquids which are absorbed by the surface they are printed on.

Pigment based inks - like those made by Epson - are made from ink particles encapsulated in a resin coating which sit on the paper surface and are not absorbed into it.  They produce bright colours, will last up to 200 years and are water resistant - so are great for printing scrapbooking papers.  I have access to an Epson printer (which produces great prints!) and I'm using it to produce the papers for my cardmaking kits.

One downside of the pigment inks is that they're not so good for printing on fabric that will be washed often as the ink sits on the surface instead of soaking into the fabric like dye based ink.  I'm experimenting with some fabric printing at the moment, so I'll have to see how the two printers compare.

Crows!

My last fayre at Aldham on Saturday went well. There was a good range of stalls and it was nice to get to talk to customers and other stall holders rather than only selling online :D

Now that the fayres are over I am getting back to painting. Yay! I'm working my way up to Hexley again, but have started with some crow paintings. There are two new ACEO crows, painted in Quink and watercolours. I also have a larger Quink crow painting, which I will be selling 5x7 prints of and making into bookmarks. So keep an eye out for those in my Etsy shop very soon!

Weekend Etsy Sale!!

This weekend I am having a sale in my Etsy shop! It runs from today (27th November) to Monday 30th November. There is 10% off all 5x7 prints and all bookmarks...

Here are the last posting dates for Christmas:

4th December - Australia, New Zealand and the rest of the world

10th December - USA, Canada, Europe, Japan

21st December - UK

Tomorrow I will be having a stall at the Aldham Christmas Fayre (near Colchester), so if you live in the area please come along! It is open from 10:30am - 4:30pm and is in the Aldham village hall. I'm hoping it will be a good day! :D

Treasury feature

Two blog posts in one day! I've just found out that my Siamese Cat ACEO print has just been featured in a treasury on Etsy. You can take a look at the Siamese cat themed treasury by Blushing Mermaid here.

Clockwork Robin...

I have a new Hexley illustration for Christmas! :D It's a Clockwork Robin - what else would you expect to see on a Hexley Christmas painting?!

I was really pleased with how this turned out - it's now my new favourite Hexley piece :) I enjoyed doing the border too - all the holly and cogs took quite a while to do but it was worth it. It reminded me of a few years ago when I spent hours drawing a William Morris style border - time consuming but actually quite fun! I'll have to do some more things like this again soon.

When Edwin Cracknell was asked to make a clockwork animal for Christmas his first thought was a robin. His clockwork birds were held in such high regard that the Clockwork Robin soon became a much sought after item in Hexley.This illustration was drawn in dip pen and ink then painted in watercolours. A print of this illustration will soon be available in my Etsy shop.

My first giveaway - Win an ACEO print!!!

I am very excited to announce that I am running my first giveaway on my blog!!
One lucky winner will win one of my ACEO prints... For anyone who has not come across ACEOs before:
ACEO stands for 'Art Cards, Editions and Originals', they all measure 2.5 x 3.5 inches - the size of a trading card. I discovered them a little over a year ago and have found them really fun to make. They are great for collecting in albums or can be framed to hang on the wall!

Most of my ACEOs are painted in watercolours, I also use Quink (ink), pen, and pencil. My ACEO prints are all printed on HP premium plus photo paper with HP inks on the best quality setting for a bright glossy print. They are hand signed and titled on the back and also numbered if they are from a limited edition.

My ACEO prints fall into two main categories; animals and Hexley based ones.
How to enter the giveaway:
All you need to do to enter is take a look at the ACEO prints in my Etsy shop, choose your favourite and post a comment here telling me the title of your favourite print. Don't forget to leave a way for me to contact you if you win!! If you are the winner you will win a copy of your favourite print. (Worldwide entries are welcome!!)

You can have up to two extra entries into the draw:
One for following my blog
One for blogging/ tweeting etc about my giveaway and linking back to my blog.

To be given the extra entries please just include a note in your entry comment, something like "I am now following your blog and have blogged about your giveaway at www...."

A winner will be selected at random on Monday 21st September at 8pm (London time!). I will contact the winner within 24 hours and post who the winner is here.

Good luck everyone!! :)

Elizabeth Bridges

The first in my new series of Hexley people is complete! Inspired by Victorian and other old photos this will be a series of illustrations drawn in dip pen and ink and painted in watercolours.

Elizabeth Bridges first visited Hexley in June 1895. During her two week stay she toured the area making plenty of notes and sketches which were complied into a book on her return home. In the following months Elizabeth travelled to Hexley on numerous occasions and having become so fond of the place and people there she became a permanent Hexley resident in 1896. With her minature notebook and pencil always close to hand she could often be seen sketching or taking notes on one of the latest discoveries or inventions.

This illustration of Elizabeth Bridges is available to buy as a print in my Etsy shop.

Edwin Cracknell's Clockwork Animals

Amongst the inventions of Hexley are Edwin Cracknell's clockwork animals. He spends his time tinkering away in his shop in Hexley town's Port Street. Clockwork birds are his speciality and if it wasn't for the occasional whirr of the cogs you could almost imagine they were alive!I have some lovely prints of this clockwork bird available in my Etsy shop, he is also featured on some button badges and magnets along with other images from Hexley.
Keep an eye out for more of Edwin's clockwork animals appearing soon - I am currently working on a clockwork robin for Christmas! :)