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Spunky Eclectic ceramic travel mug sheep

Hand-painted with cute sheep by Amy King. I met her as Spunky Eclectic, fiber woman. Who knew she also paints and throws pottery? The great thing about this mug is that it’s ceramic so it goes in the microwave to reheat that tea I can never seem to finish before it gets cold. And the heavy ceramic and tight-fitting travel lid helps the contents stay warm longer whether I’m out or at home. It’s generously sized but not too big either. Wash, rinse, reuse.

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img_3182Did that title make any sense at all? I suppose this is somewhat of a review. I originally got this paper-backed fabric for use with inkjet printers for another project. I used it this week to make labels for some baby carriers I donated to a not-for-profit group, HUGS. HUGS is run by two sisters who sell selendangs through their website. A selendang is a traditional piece of cloth used in Indonesia for many purposes, one of the most important being carrying babies. The sisters then donate the profits back to providing traditional selendang baby carriers to mothers in need, mainly in Indonesia I think. Go check it out, a really lovely family effort.

Anyway, you are wondering what this has to do with me printing fabric labels on my inkjet printer. I purchased and used some of the beautiful HUGS fabric to make into more structured two shoulder carriers. I wanted to put their logo on the strap so I decided to try out this product, PhotoFabric from Blumenthal Craft. I think there are many other brands of this same type of stuff. While the colors could have been more vibrant, I was impressed at the detail I was able to get, 5 point type was perfectly readable. I cut out the labels and turned under the edges with the iron and then sewed them on. It worked very well and looks nice. I test washed one of the labels and it did not bleed at all even under hot water.

You can also draw easily on this paper with colored pencils, which makes it great for kids. You can take their drawing and incorporate it into a sewn fabric creation. I’m curious to see if it can withstand machine washing. If so, I’ll certainly be using it to put “made by mom” tags into my kids’ clothes!

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