18 Jun +10 ways to use your Botanical contact prints (ENG)
So, you experimented with eco-printing. Now what?
There are so many fun and creative things to do with your Botanical Contact Prints. Wondering what those are? Check my previous blog HERE.
I would love to share a few ways to use your Botanical Contact Prints in my new blogpost. Let’s get started with some fabric projects I did.
Fabric
1. Clothing
The first Botanical Contact Print I ever made on fabric was on an old Tshirt. And I was over the moon excited for the results! I still think it looks beautiful. You can print on a T-shirt, but you can also sew your own clothes. I mean, I can’t, but surely some of you might be able to do that.
2. Paintbrush pouch
I like to have some paint brushes and pallette knives in a pouch, so I can take them with me to school or a friend to go painting. To add a personal touch to your pouch, you can create your own! I didn’t use a format for this design, I went with the flow, alright!! It’s not that neat, but when you use this pouch, it will get messy with paint anyway, so I thought it would be okay this way.
3. Art supplies pouch
The same thing with these pouches for all your other art supplies. I find it so much fun to have unique products, to use your own hand made stuff. To print your fabric, and to sew it into something useful, all by yourself. That’s just magic! I also thought it would be fun to add another natural element: the stick. I use it as a button to wrap the string around.
Paper
4. A folded book
Because you have to boil your paper in a pan in order to get an eco-print, the size can only be so big (or small in this case). So I decided to fold my paper. That way I can also unfold them, in order to have a bigger print. A fun element I didn’t think about before was that the paper also can serve as a book, because of the way it’s folded! You can easily unfold it, even tear it apart anyway, there are endless possibilities.
5. Send some handmade cards to your loved ones
Fold your paper in half before printing and put some leaves inside. After printing you can fold the paper inside out, so the print is on the outside. Now you have a beautiful card to send to your loved ones. You even can write on the inside! Something to experiment with is to leave some leaves on the paper, it adds depth in a way.
6. Frame your work
Most of the time I like every single one of the prints I make. But sometimes there’s just one favourite. You can frame that piece! Besides framing one piece, you can frame the whole folded piece, which is just completely different.
7. Use scraps in your collages
Sometimes I don’t want to think my work is to precious. ‘kill your darlings’. So I rip them in half. Then it’s easier to use them in your work, they are already torn, right…
8. Business cards
I was experimenting with different sized papers. So I made these really small ones, and thought they would be perfect business cards! Most of the time I let myself be guided by what I create. First I was experimenting with size, then I found myself looking at my new business cards! I embrace the process.
9. A spiral bound book
Personally I like to work in spiral bound journals. You can work flat and that’s something I like! So I wanted to create my own and that’s what I did. I used all differen kinds of eco-prints for these books. It’s an easy way of documenting all the different steps you took in creating the eco-prints.
10. Mix and match book
I like to combine different papers and art. A fun way to do that is to creat a ‘Mix and Match’ book. In which you can use all kinds of papers. Eco-prints, monoprints, old sheet music papers, photographs you made of you found in books, maybe even handmade paper!
Extra things you can try
- Print over a bad design. When a print turned out too soft for your taste you can print over it again to give it some more depth
- Scribble over it. I saw this somewhere else, but it might be fun to draw over your print. You can follow the shapes of your leaves, or just draw something completely different on top.
- Use as a background. You might be able to scan your designs and use them as a background for your phone, tablet or laptop. Maybe you can alter colors in photoshop, just to experiment, who knows what will happen.
Thank you so much for reading!
I appreciate you for taking the time to read this! I absolutely hope these projects will inspire you to create something for yourself, and have some fun. Maybe you come up with something fun by yourself, please share it with me, I’m already curious!
Make sure to use my hashtag #createwithnatureclub on instagram if you decide to create something with your Botanical Contact Prints! I hope to see you there!