Monogram Madness- Part 3

Ok, just so you know and as promised, the madness is REALLY stopping here! I have not changed my mind and decided to add a Part 4, even though I am admittedly tempted. For my sanity, I must step away from the monogramming and obsess about something else (like my daughter’s wagon “float” for her school parade). I’m thinking that we all will need some chocolate after this madness, so look for a quick and easy recipe that I will post in the next few days for an incredible molten chocolate cake that you can make in 10 minutes! So, lets get some closure here and move right along to Part 3- Elegant Monograms/Screen Print Technique...

If you've been following my Blog or have met me in the grocery store, you know that for more than a year, I have been obsessed with these fabulous Neiman Marcus velvet monogrammed pillows pictured below.

Aren't they fabulous!

A few weeks ago, Neiman’s came out with a newer selection of velvet monogrammed pillows but this time the pillows were in a beautiful neutral light taupe color, which is even more fabulous to me because taupe is my staple color in my home. Below is a picture of the taupe pillows to come out.

What really blows me away about these pillows is the texture and technique of the monogramming itself on the velvet. Up until this point, the only monogramming on velvet or plush type fabrics that I have ever seen has been traditional embroidery and seeing this aged and rich paint variation in the monogramming technique looks really amazing to me. I had to figure out the technique because I was not about to spend $500.00 on a pillow. Thus the crusade to master the technique began.

I have to give credit to my super creative friend, Suzy Childers of Lou Stationery Studio as she was the biggest help in assisting me in conquering the technique. As we took a closer look at the pillows, we realized that while the designs had a painted or stamped look, there was no way to get the fabulous color/paint uniformity on a plush fabric with a traditional stencil or stamp. We figured out that the design/monograms must have been created via a screen print. The screen print process and screen paints are the only technique that could produce such fabulous results on such plush fabric. Ironically, it just so happened that Suzy had a Japanese screen print machine laying around (seriously!) that she rarely used that could produce fabulous and reusable monogram screen print screens for this type project. I'm not sure I could function knowing that I had such a machine in my presence! So Suzy went to work on her computer and designed a prototype for us to play with and this is what the screen itself looks like that Suzy designed.




Here's the deal, I could only find one company that sells pre-made screen print screens and screen print paints, which I found at Hobby Lobby. The company is called Simply Screens and you can take a look at their very limited selection here. Simply Screen has one template for letters as of right now, which I used for the "C" and the "J" on this pillow below.



I have not been able to find anywhere online where you can have someone custom design a screen, so for the last few months, I have begged Suzy to consider designing and selling them for us creative chicas. Thankfully she has agreed and is in the process of working out the details and will probably have a few templates for you to choose from with your monogram. Here is picture of another pillow (dupioni silk) with our prototype.





Keep in mind that the screens ARE reusable (clean with warm water immediately after use) and can be used on fabric, paper, canvas, wood and almost anything with the appropriate paint for the item you are monogramming. The cost for a Suzy Lou custom designed screen will be $50.00 (not including shipping), which is not bad at all considering the graphic design work and the many monogrammed possibilities the screen will produce. If you are interested in having Suzy design a monogram screen for you go, to her website and send her an email and tell her you have to have a fabulous custom designed screen and she will get back to you with the details. The link to Suzy's website is here.

Because I recommend using the Simply Screen-Screen Print Paints that can be found at Hobby Lobby or online at http://www.shophobbylobby.com/, I am using the same instructions and technique recommended by Simply Screen that can be found here. The technique is VERY easy and hard to mess up! If you buy one of Suzy's screens, use the Simply Screen Paints and technique as well for the best results. On a side note, you can mix colors to fine tune your color. If you are not interested in custom designed screen, try one of the Simply Screen designs. Hobby Lobby in Lufkin does carry almost all of the screens that the company produces and you can find them and the Simply Screen Paints in the fabric paint section. Again, if you are going to paint on velvet or silk, I highly recommend only screen print paints because they are thicker (more silicone than traditional fabric paints) and the paints stop exactly where you put it.

If you are not interested in screen printing, consider iron-on letters as well. I found these fabulous iron-on letters also at Hobby Lobby for $1.49 and I thought they looked beautiful on cloth napkins.



Well my creative chicas, we have reached the end of the Monogram Madness saga! Whew, now where to put all of these pillows! Before I close, I want to thank Jane at Finding Fabulous for highlighting Monogram Madness-Part 2 on her fabulous Blog (Jane likes the word "fabulous" too) which you can check out here.

I want to thank all of you that have left sweet comments, sent emails and stopped me out and about to tell me how much you are enjoying The Exchange, it warms my heart! Thank you! I appreciate all of you and please send us pictures of your fabulous creations! Remember, I am sending some chocolate your way in a few days!

Cheers!

Cyndy

Linking Monogram Madness Part 3 with these fabulous blogs:

Room to Inspire
Finding Fabulous
Shabby Nest