Printed Daisies

So you don't fabric paint because you say you can't paint? Have you ever tried printing instead? These colourful daisies were created with only four elements -- circle and petal lino-cuts (stamps), a real leaf from the garden, and a toy wheel for the stem.

"I don't know how to do a lino-cut," I hear you cry. Well, it's easy but you do need to have a lino-cutter if you're not going to do serious damage to your fingers. Alternatively, you're sure to have potatoes in the house or be able to buy plastic erasers at a local store. These carve just as well and you can do it with a basic craft knife. So no excuses!

The first step is to decide how big you want your flower to be, which obviously depends on your project. Decide how large your want the overall flower to be, as this determines how big you make the centre of your flower and the petals. You don't have to measure accurately, simply think "petal at top plus centre, plus petal equals how big, and how much space for the leaves and stem?" Unless you want to make a sunflower, your petals will be larger than your centre.

Find a round object about the right size (for example, a coin, a bottle lid, a glass) to draw the circle. Carve a circular centre piece , gouging it out a bit to give it some texture. Then carve a few petals. Simply mark the length you want the petal to be, then draw a curve between the two points freehand. Don't worry about getting both edges to match perfectly -- the slight variations add interest and enable you to turn the stamp around, giving even more variety to your petals. You could carve only one petal if you're meticulous about cleaning it when you go from dark colours to light; I find it easier to have separate stamps for light and dark colours. Though you can get some spectacular colours if you don't clean your stamps! But be careful you don't just end up with a muddy brown mess. You could also cut a stencil for the centre, but if you cut a stencil for the petals, you'll have to wait until a petal was dry before you could paint one overlapping it, or be very careful to wipe the bottom of your stencil dry between petals!

Now go into your garden (or a friendly neighbour's) and pick a couple of leaves from a tree or shrub that are about the right size to fit with the head of your flower. Pick them from unobtrusive parts of the shrub, and if possible take a few different sizes. You're looking for leaves that are fairly stiff (these are easier to print from) and that are smooth (hairy and waxy leaves don't hold paint very well). Leaves with prominent veins give great results. Of the various leaves I've tried, I found hibiscus ones worked the best.

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