Promo shirts for the upcoming Expo ...

Some of you may have seen my earlier posts where I used the new ProvoCraft YuDu silk screen system to create personalized shirts and canvas. I worked with the machine a third time to create some promotional shirts for my Krew to wear at the Bay Area (Pleasanton) Scrapbook Expo next week.

Kits2Remember has come out with some new flourish rubber stamps and I wanted to promote this new product, so I made matching shirts for my Mom, Nancy, who runs the cash register at the booth, Kathi and Jen, two friends and volunteers traveling with me up to the Expo from Southern California (if you took a class from me last month at the Orange County Expo, you may have met them), my sister-in-law, Gina, the graphic designer who helped me to create the stamp designs, and myself.

I used two different colors on these shirts, teal blue and brown, and used a total of two screens. I spun the screens and adjusted the shirts on the platens to create whimsical designs with the flourishes, which worked most of the time. Sometimes the flourishes were a little off from where I wanted them aesthetically, but that's what you get when you "eyeball" the design, instead of using the recommended, and provided, grids for proper spacing with the YuDu. The shirts are still legible, so I am fine with it. But, if you are a perfectionist, be sure to follow the YuDu instructions for multiple designs!

Here are some photos of my steps:


Here I taped down my transparencies so I could burn the emulsion on the second screen I used. I used my friend and fellow YuDu guru Lori's advice and used a spray bottle instead of the sink sprayer and I got a good emulsion on the first try. Thanks Lori!


I then silk-screened the shirts, making sure the first design dried before I started in on the next. I also learned to be careful not to over-flood the screen. This makes designs that smudge outwards and fill in thickly. Not good.

And then, last but not least, one of the completed shirts, front and back:




I am looking forward to wearing it next weekend!