StellaUSA.net

Sildribbling One Scarf at a Time: It's a Wrap Pink Orchids Scarf

2016-04-04T01:13:00.001-07:00

Sildribbling One Scarf at a Time: It's a Wrap Pink Orchids Scarf: When I first started this project I just wanted to do something with out so much planning, just go with it and see where it takes me. Someti...

Short Viedo or Tip Suggestions

2016-03-13T01:27:00.000-08:00

What to do? I need some help with this subject.
What would make a useful tutorial? I am a bit lost as where to start... Help

I have been painting for sometime and some of my best trick and tips comes from not knowing what to do next or having to get creative about streamlining my process.

Funny, I am answering my own call for help. But I really want to know what everyone else thinks. I know my thinker is a bit backwards, all of the time.

What seems most exciting to learn about?

1. Cool fades on flags the easy way
2. More ways to do fades with burning colors together
3. My way of fixing the colors to silk with steam
4. Run through of my current projects in action
5. The best way to trace designs in bed

Any requests or ideas?

Something About Me in Time for Spring

2016-02-06T23:04:00.001-08:00

Something About Me in Time for Spring: I love getting lost in time making something special, sometimes its painting on silk or at the sewing machine just plugging away with my l...

Silk Flag SALE Over 40% OFF Double Swing or Single Set of Flags

2016-01-16T00:20:00.001-08:00

I have a beautiful set of hand painted pure silk flags that have never been used. They are 37" x 70" set of 18 flags. Make a huge impact with double swings or can be resized to 36" x 58" for a single set of flags.

Originally 52.00 get them now for only 29.00 per flag

18 Flag set in Purple, Yellow and Silver 6mm Hobotai Silk

Set: 18 Silk Flags
Size: 37" x 70" or 36" x 58"
Ready to Ship

Design: "Squidy" in Purple, Yellow, White and Silver

Send me a message on Facebook for more information

Go Forth and Be

2015-12-14T23:55:00.003-08:00

One day I was reading a blog (I wish I could remember where I got this from... note to self, get new brain and other parts) Near the end she said "go forth and be awesome" I loved it. Just spoke to me and so I spent a little time making a contribution to the cause. I know its not much but its a start, if we all could just go forth and be in the moment awesome will fallow in unexpected moments.

Is it retro or something else?

2012-06-20T14:04:00.001-07:00

Working on a new design today, I think I am feeling a little on the retro side. The first flag is my original design and from there I used some other color combinations. Which color do you like best?
My vote is for the original but the others are pretty good too.

Original retro burst of all kinds of colors

Blue and greens

Just the burst with salmon pink and red maroon

Soft tones in ecru and peach

Bold black red and ecru

Ready to Paint Shades?

2012-05-20T13:40:00.001-07:00

It's taken about a week but I have my designs ready to paint for my new class "Hand Painted Shades Easy Polysilk Painting" with 5 flags designs and a bonus! Super excited to share this, I think we will start to see more guards this year with there very own hand painted flags.

Design a Band Color Guard Show Theme Board

2012-05-09T14:06:00.001-07:00

I really love the simple lines and complex structor of this Color Guard Flag, with each box being in its own space. This is one visual effect that can be done with hand painted flags.

This flag design was inspired by aspen tree shapes, it's subtle cracks and snaps of her twigs. The individually hand painted box for each flag is something thats been an image in my head for a long time but getting the concept to translate into something that everyone else can see and understand was hard to do with out a photo. So, here we are introducing my first design board!

What shall we call the theme? I have a few ideas in mind but I want to hear yours. Post and let me know your great ideas.

Concept Board #1 Twigs Flags in Gray and Red Box

Adventures in Summer

2012-05-07T00:11:00.000-07:00

Most of my summers, growing up, were spent traveling. When I was very young my parents would pack up our VW bus and off we would go from Utah to California all 10 of us! As a teenager and young adult my summers were spent touring with the Blue Knights Drum & Bugle Corps in Denver. Living in Utah and commuting to Denver took a tole on my social seen in Utah. The few friends I had didn't really understand why I was gone all summer and when I cam back I was transformed into a super human beach body.

It is only fitting that I am still traveling with my kids across the world. Doing what my parents did to me as a child. My evil plan starts with hiking, swimming, national parks, maybe a few lakes, my brothers weddings, our family reunion and if they are really really good I will take them to there first Drum Corps show.

The hi-light of my summer will be my 20 year reunion with all the lovely "92" BK guard/instructors, Drums Along the Rockies and the after party. I am so excited and its been such a long time and wouldn't miss it for the world. The friends and memories I have are truly the one of the most beautiful experiences in my life. I will forever treasure the endless summers spent performing, eating, sleeping, running day after day with my friends which became my family even if it was only one summer a year.

Life on the road

2012-04-27T11:16:00.002-07:00

The hunt for really great show ideas, one of my favorite shows of last year was Cadets of Bergen County "Romeo and Juliet"

Who does your oscar go to?

With All My Hearts NEW Guard Flag

2012-04-21T09:44:00.000-07:00

Because sometimes one just isn't enough. Say it with an explosion of hearts in pink, red, yellow and metallic turquoise. Shine and dance to your hearts content with this flag perfect for a young love flag for band show!

New Web Site is Live TODAY...

2012-04-20T12:14:00.000-07:00

Ekkk and Hurray!

I had a few issues getting this to work but I think I have most of them ironed out... But if you do happen to see something out of whack it probably is just give me a holler and let me know.

I am uploading new products every day, its a bit of a slow process and I am probably doing it the hard way because naturally that is how I do things (backwards).

I would love to hear some feed back on my new site, let me know what you think about my work!

Visit StellaUSA.net and leave me a shout out!

Facebook 50 Fans Giveaway!

2012-04-18T05:56:00.000-07:00

Its easy just like my Facebook page and post a comment here. You could win one of my silk

swing flags “Flaming Glory” hand painted by me!

Hand Painted Silk Flag Facebook 50 Fan Giveaway

Be Sure to leave a comment on this post. Let me know that you have liked my facebook page

and share with your friends!

https://www.facebook.com/StellaUSA.net

Don't forget to Subscribe to my blog and get instantly updated on my Facebook giveaways and news.

The winner will be contacted on Facebook and chosen by Random.org

Winterguard Winterguard Winterguard

2012-04-15T02:26:00.000-07:00

Say it with me now "Winter Guard Rocks!"
I wish I could have made it to Dayton this year, its been way to long since I have been and let me just say that I really need a fix. Yesterday, I watched a few shows from my 2010 finals DVD and I am just about to jump out of my skin to grab a flag and dance until something breaks... which should not take to long! If you know what I mean getting old is not good for the body.

Body issues aside this is what I did get done in the studio, new flags... Yaya

Which color do you think would look best on the field?

Pink flower orange shades guard flag

Teal flower blue shades color guard flag

Purple flower fascia shades band flag

FAQ Hand Painted Silk Flags

2012-04-12T09:11:00.001-07:00

What is the difference between silk and polychina silk?
Polychina silk is a synthetic fabric that is traditionally used as flags for colorguards, its durable light and easy to use. Silk is a natural fiber spun by silk worms, it is also durable light and easy to use. The difference between the two as flags. Silk has a sheen to it where as poly china has less. Polychina is more durable then 6mm silk but will have the about the same life span as 8mm-10mm silk flag. Silk has less drag when spinning but can get sticky when wet. When hand painting silk can use both acid dyes and paint while polychina can only use paint.

How durable is silk?
Speaking from my own experience as a performer we used 6mm silk for our opener show in Blue Knights 1992 Billy The Kid. With a full 3 months of performances on average 4-5 show days a week our show silks were well worn at then end of the season with minor repairs.

What is 6mm or 8mm silk?
mm stands for mummy, this is the thickness of the silk thread used to make the fabric. I use 8mm for standard silks and 6mm only on swing flags which take less of a beating.

Are hand painted silk and polysilk colorfast, will the colors run if they get wet?
Both types of flags are colorfast, washable and ready to spin. The colors are fixed with steam for an average of 6-8 hours then they are washed rinsed repeatedly to ensure that the colors have been set properly.

Can your hand painted flags be washed?
Yes, they can be washed. Its best to use a mild soap, with out bleach or additives (oxi-clean ect.)
They can be hung to dry or tumble dried on low heat.

I have a design idea for a show can you make a flag to fit our show and colors?
Yes, I can make flags in just about any shape, color and custom design. You can even create your own or let me design one for you.

Hand Painting Flags How to Paint Start to Finish

2011-11-28T01:11:00.000-08:00

There are many ways to start painting flags, before we jump into the fun stuff there are a few things we should go through.

I paint on both silk and polyester, they use the same process but different paints and dyes. Just to keep this simple I am going to focus on silk.

The best quality is habotai 8mm silk, there are many other qualities but I prefer 8mm its more durable the the finer silk and its about the same weight as the traditional polychina silk flags.

Silk Painting Equipment
Here are a few things that I uses to paint flags: a frame to stretch the silk on, silk paints or dyes, charcoal pencil, brushes, sponges, resistant and steamer.

Any frame will do, I use C-clamps to adjust my wood frames with rubber bands and safety pins to secure the silk to the frame (very easy and works great for silk flags)

Hand Painted Silk Flag Attached to Frame

Silk Paint or Dyes?

This is where things can get interesting, if you want to get into silk painting as an art you will need to get familiar with both of theses. But for now I will just share what I used on this set of silk flags "Serpent" and "Wheat" both flag designs use an acid base dye, not harsh acid more like vinegar and lemon acid.

I mix my own colors in a large batch, I make a little more then what I think I will need to complete a set. Helpful hit, it takes about 1/2 cup of dye per standard flag. It's very important to make sure you have enough dye made of each color, its very difficult to remix the same color when mixing on the fly...

Transferring the Design

I like to use a soft charcoal to do this, a soft pencil will work too. These lines will wash out after the dyes have been fixed.

Resistants

Before painting a resistant must be applied to stop the flow of the dyes. There are many types of resistance, water and solvent based some wash out and some stay on the silk. For this design I used plain old candle making wax with a little bees wax mixed in. But Candle making wax will do just fine. I like the smell of the bees wax, I feel more "artsy" when I use it!

Using wax can be a little scary because its hot, cold wax could be substituted or a water base gutta could also be used.

I like using wax because I don't have to wait for it to dry and I can paint it on with a round brush. Also, my hand does not hurt from squeezing, when using gutta. The down side to wax, there are no room for errors! If a mistake is made I have to start all over after removing the wax. Wax is a little temperamental it has to be the right temperature to use it and its not easy to remove from the silk. When using hot wax you will need to paint in a well ventilated area. The fumes can be toxic.

Painting The Flag

Here you can see the wax painted on the flag and how it looks after it is painted. This American Flag Design was a custom request for "Hazard Band of Gold" it uses both silk paints and dyes for a distressed weathered effect.

American Flag Hand Painted With Silk Paint and Wax

After the hot wax is applied the dyes are brushed on the silk, I use both brushes and foam brushes depending on the look. The flags below I have used foam brushes with two colors of dyes. The two colors are faded together by hand a processes called burning.

Serpent Flag Design hand Painted on Silk Flag

Wheat Hand Painted Flag with Wax and Acid Dyes

Steam Setting the Dyes

After the silks are dry, they are wrapped up in layers of paper to be steamed. This is how the dyes get premaritally bonded to the silk.

The flags will steam any where from 3-6 hours depending on the colors used and how many silks there are wrapped in a roll.

Roll of Silk Flags Ready for the Steamer

Sewing and Removing Wax

After they are steamed they are sewn with a pole casing and a rolled hem to finish the edges of the flag.

Removing the wax is done by washing the silk, it takes about 3 or 4 wash and rinse cycles to remove the excess dyes and wax with a textile detergent. I give them a final rinse to restore the ph balance of the silk.

Each flag is inspected and signed, ironed and folded.

That's it, tape them up and give them a whirl or chirl!