Eco-Printing Addiction

I call it "cooking leaves" but it's officially Eco-Printing. Mine is done with heavy weight watercolor paper but it can also be done on fabric. 

Paper is my first love in the art world, so that's my choice for this technique of sandwiching materials such as leaves, twigs, rusty nails, etc. and steaming the package of goodies for 2 hours.

I have a really nice two-tiered vegetable steamer - it's now my tool of choice for steaming the paper.....vegetables will get steamed in the microwave now. My steamer is not too large but it's perfect for me for now. I enjoy making mini-albums, cards, postcards, and small works on canvas so I'm happy staying small.

There are lots of techniques on YouTube for doing this and wonderful artists who teach. and create beautiful prints, such as Jacqueline Sullivan, Trish McKinney. Check them out.

It's very difficult for me to walk past my steamer and not get something "cookin'"!! I even have leaves and bits of flowers in my freezer to get me through the winter. My 7-year-old granddaughter was enlisted by me to collect materials from her yard in North Carolina and a friend fulfilled my request for magnolia leaves. I'm using them in another project but one or two will end up in the steamer.

The reveal of each paper is intriguing and I've re-steamed them with other materials if I didn't like the first one.

Give it a try and post what you've done! Now I need to put more of my finished ones to good use.


Happy steaming!



Blessings........
Candice