Alright, I have hit a bump in the Bear Pillow Project. I made Prototype Number 2 and the shape is still far from where it needs to be; so, now I am going to do a deep dive on the internet, and consult all the stuffed toy/pillow experts. I'm still hopeful I can figure out a shape that will work, but my back up plan is to make a square pillow and focus more just on creating a pattern with the shapes and ink. So, I'll keep you updated. Thanks for following the process. A fe

I finished printing both sides of the pillow. For the second side, I taped down the fabric, so, it wouldn't move while I printed, which worked great. But where I had tape, some of the threads came apart when I removed the tape. So, I'll add fabric tabs on either side of the bears that can be cut off after printing, but can be a spot to safely secure the fabric while printing without worrying about damaging the fabric. Once, I printed both sides of the pillow and the ink dr

So, I started on the Bear Pillow which led me to realize several things.  First, I need a small funnel to fill up the small bottles with ink, because the opening is smaller than I imagined. Two, the linoleum is thinner than I expected. So, when I ink the shape I make, the ink gets on my fingers. If I attempt to stamp it, the ink would inevitably transfer from my fingers onto the fabric, because I do not have enough material to hold onto to keep my fingers out of the way. I

So, I almost have everything I need to start making the bear pillow. I got the fabric in yesterday and it looks perfect. I was going for a natural color in an organic linen that feels good and looks good, and that's what arrived. So, I've drawn the seam allowance template onto the fabric, but my low odor permanent marker bit the dust, and I don't want to use a sharpee that has a strong odor. So, once I get the low odor markers in, I'll finish tracing the inside template t

Last night, I drew the bear pillow template on poster board. Next, I’ll cut him out and trace him to see how the the shape looks. If all is well, I’ll draw a second template that will include the seam allowance. If his shape is not right, I'll make some changes and try again. I got some more supplies in today: tools for carving linoleum, bottles to divide the ink for each project box, polyfil to stuff the pillows, and thread.  Linoleum is a material similar to rubber.  It’

So, I am working out the details for the second Project Box (I'm kicking this name around for our art box). This project is the Bear Pillow. I'm trying to streamline this project as much as possible to help increase the likelihood that we will all enjoy and finish this project. So, this is what I have so far. In each box I'm planning on including the following, which is subject to change as I create my own pillow and see how things works out. In the box: 1. A right and le