I am hooked!! Eco dying is so much fun! Here I'm showing my results, sharing what I've learned so far and some techniques that have produced some really awesome papers!
Your videos and creativity are just amazing. I need to start a LBW (like before watching) club for you because I don't think I have seen a video I didn't like and find some useful tidbit that I found myself jotting down to use for later. Praises to you for all you send out into the RU-vid world to inspire all of our creative sides. I shall click on the "like" button from now on, even before I watch your videos. Come on all you other subbies - show Gayle all your love.
Hi Gayle, These are the most gorgeous Eco Dyed Papers I've ever seen. Most of the other videos were nice, but nothing as lovely as yours! Fabulous! Thank you so much for sharing. Gayle💗
So elegant!!! Simply lovely! Like a Monet water color! The colors and prints on fabric would make beautiful clothes, bags, book covers & pillows. XO❤XO💘XO
Hello Gayle, first let me say I have really enjoyed watching your videos, especially the process of your recent Chrstmas Journal! I have been eco dying since I was a small kid with my Mom, way back in the 70's lol! We have always used alum in our water instead of vinegar... it seems to grab better. You can also get a more defined shape if you pre-soak the paper as well as the foliage, in alum water before making the sandwiches (one bucket for paper and one for plants). Wet on wet makes for a better transfer. I have also used pre-dyed flowers from wilting bouquets and they always turn out great! I don't add food dye to mine but I will add organic things like bark, red/purple onion skins, or annatto seeds, Most trees like oak, walnut, and pecan will help make a more blackish tint. Another tip is to get more weight on your sandwich when it is simmering, add a brick or 2 on top. If you are doing cloth and paper at the same time you can lay out the fabric, place the plants on top or it then a layer of papers, and keep building as many layers as you wish in that manner, then instead of makiing a sandwich, you get a dowel rod or a peice of pipe, roll the whole bundle around it, tie it off with string and proceed as normal to the simmering! I hope this might help you have a bit more fun in your play! Thank you for sharing your talents and light heartedness with us!
Yes, I was going to say to use alum, also. I have found that I like the results of steaming. It gives more defined prints. Simmering gives lovely watercolor effects. Rusty objects in the water also help make the prints darker.
Oh Gayle... they turned out gorgeous!! I’m so thankful that you share your secrets. You are so sweet and generous. The last batch of eco dyed pieces remind me of a beautiful enchanted forest filled with magic and fairies. Just beautiful!!! You’ve inspired me to look for a pot. LOL. Thank you!!!😊
Watching some old videos gayle havnt seen these so.ill be having a gayle binge time love the colors n the way you have done it,not too mention your beautiful back yard n flowers thank you Alanna xx
Wow, Gayle! The dyed daisies - who woulda thunk??? Great results on everything. The old lace tablecloth I use to lay my wet coffee dyed papers on to dry has become one of my most coveted dyed pieces - it is grungy, uneven, stained and I love love love it! It has served through many sessions to get that way but what a bonus result;-)
Those are truly stunning! Such depth and detail and glorious color. And on your second try at that! Very impressive. Thank you for sharing your discoveries.
These are fantastic. I took a couple of eco-dye classes and an indigo-dye class at the nearby art college. Yours are way better than anything we produced. I think technique is important and our recipe was so complicated. Yours is pretty simple, no mashed apples for instance, and I think more effective. The red dye seems to be an effective touch. The type and life stage of the plants are also important. We used leaves almost exclusively because of the season of the year.
Dear Gayle! Thank you sooo much for the Inspiration! I dyed old book pages for my junk journals the way you showed. They turned out the most beautiful! Loving greetings from Germany❣️
Your papers and fabrics are just wonderful Gayle, and so inspiring. I have just done my first two batches with paper and am hooked. I love the results you got and will definitely do more myself and probably add some fabric next time. Thank you for sharing.
Hi Gayle! Yes, I'm still watching videos! I went back to the 2018 video to check it out also, and WOW!! what a great video, with your excellent results!! I am super impressed at how well all of your different Eco Dying papers turned out! You did a great job on both filming and showing your results! It is good to know that it even works with the store bought bouquet because I don't have a garden to choose flowers from! You are so good about informing of all options/substitutions for your projects! Can you tell that I am "a little" excited about all of this?! Anyway, awesome papers & awesome video!! Thanks so much for sharing how you accomplished such a great outcome! Love it and love you! Hugs, Samantha
I tend to say echo dying too. Your prints came out so pretty, I love the ones that were on the outside and have the screening in the design. My favorites are the food colored daisies, I hate to throw flowers away and this is the perfect use for them. It might be worth cutting some clippings of flowers or leaves and set them stem down in a cup of water and food color before you boil them. That in itself can be quite addicting, white flowers really show up pretty with the leached food coloring. I love the fabric. A couple of those first muslin like pieces were my favorites. Thanks for sharing, Miss Gayle!
I have never heard of this before, but they turned out beautiful. I think I will have to try it. I sure do have plenty of trees and plants around me. Thanks for the idea!
Hi Gayle... I did a lot of these last year myself. If you don't want to just have the gray paper background that iron gives, you can also use Alum (the Pharmacy ordered some for me, not expensive). I find I get much brighter colours from all the flowers and leaves and the paper stays closer to its natural colour. And adding other dyes are also good (natural - e.g. avacado skins = pink, or other unnatural inks) as you did with food colouring. I actually do them in a pan in oven either soaked or just steam them.You can also use cream of Tar Tar and or copper with penny's and/or any combo - its just chemistry. But of course it takes time. Still - tis fun!
I was Eco dying yesterday too!! I did not add food colouring but my geraniums and pansies worked out very well. I just have to come up with a better way of squishing them down tightly. I even put 2 heavy rocks on the bundle for added weight. This was my second time and I was happier with the blooms I chose. Will have to see if I can find those flowers you mentioned and will try some fabric too!! Thank you for the video!!
Oh my goodness!! Love this too. Cheap way to get flowers (beside grow your own) is at the floral department, they always have sale flowers that are going bad. A fun way to use them...
Well geez Gayle! Just when I think I've seen you at your dazzling best you just surprise and amaze again!! Lol. Thank you for showing us these wonderful papers. I was ooing and awing all the way.
These are just absolutely gorgeous!! I could picture Fairies everywhere I looked. I am certainly going to try this! Love it!! Thank you so much for taking the time to share this. :)
Really beautiful results. Thanks for the tip on the bouquet flowers. I have been having great results dyeing leaves and flowers using alum as a mordant. The yellow really is prominent. Haven't had as good results with fabric, but will keep trying. You did a great job! Looking forward to seeing how you will use them.
These are all so pretty! I hope I could achieve good results when I try it. I like the patterns of the leaves, we have so many plants around our house. Thank you for sharing.
Yummy, yummy, yummy! Love the results!! It is a very addicting process of experiment and play. Those daisies came out just WOW!!👏👏👏 I have deep maroon day lilies in bloom I am itching to play with😃
Wow! Those store bought flowers made gorgeous paper! Great tip about adding food coloring. Thanks for sharing your results and techniques. I've been procrastinating about eco dying because I didn't want to end up with a bunch of ugly papers. Guess it's time to jump in!
Gorgeous papers!!!! Love them. Haven't found a pot yet but the freezer has a lot of plants in it and some in magazines...lol. Pretty much ready to go. 💜🐞🐝💜
Gorgeous, Gayle. I tried a few pages the other day with lukewarm results. The hubs and Princess Cooper (our 7 year old great-niece) went for a hike up into the woods (until the neighbor told them that in the past 24 hours both a bear and a coyote have been spotted in those woods) and gathered a (VERY) few things for me. So I figured I had nothing to lose in rolling them up in some copy paper and giving it a go. Yours are so pretty!
Wow Gayle! These are awesome! I tried this once before but I used all I had, cheapest of cheap copy paper and all baring one or two got holes or fell apart. I've got better papers now and you've inspired me to try again. I've just started my RU-vid channel this week so thanks for inspiring me to try again I will put the results on my channel, Ali x
I loved your video tutorial, my question to you is how do you incorporate them into paper crafting? Do you fo this to sell the end results? I certainly could see them being used in scrapbooks, on cards, etc. Loved it.
These are all gorgeous. Did you happen to take a picture of your pot when you had all the stuff in it? Would love to see how it fits in the pot and the actual pot you used. I’m a visual learner and would be a tremendous help to see that. Is there a purpose for the watercolor paper on the top and bottom of each stack? Did you use anything to weight it down in the water? Sorry so many questions. These are the most beautiful eco-dyed papers and fabric that I have ever seen. Awesome job! Fantastic job! Thank you. I hope you see this post and help me understand how it looked before it went in the pot. Hugs 🤗🤗🤗
Hi Pam! I put the watercolor papers on the outside of the “sandwich” because they are thicker and I thought they’d hold up better than the copy paper. Yes! I put a big rock in the pot to hold the paper sandwich down in the water. Hope that helps a little! ❤️
Gayle Agostinelli Thank you Gayle. I thought that might be why you used the water color paper. I guess a rock worked good. Beautiful paper. Maybe if you do it again, could you film what it looks like bundled up and in the pot? Have a great weekend! Hugs🤗
I have also been trying the eco dying, or boiled book is what the you tube video I followed called it. SO much fun and I am much impressed with how your batches turned out. the one I watched used packaged dye -- rit. I'll be watching to see what you use them for. Love your videos
Thank you Gayle for sharing with us you're technique. They came out beautiful i love all of those colours really well. I have to try this just need to find a pot big enough. Take care have a lovely break and see you soon. Xx
Thanks, Gayle, for this video. When you next do eco dying, would you take a photo of the wire wrapped bundle? And maybe when you have the package of papers in the pot? Did I miss how long you boiled the water? I have watched several RU-vid videos on eco dying, but I have a short attention span and I only watch if the video is around 10 minutes or so. Your papers are wonderful.
I look forward to your tutorial, Gayle. I’m collecting discarded flowers from friends from Mother’s Day. I am on the lookout for rusty metal. And I actually have a large soup pot that I use for coffee dying, etc. Oh, I need to get food coloring. Thank you for your reply.
Love these..the 3rd time is the charm..love all the colors.I do like the lighter ones also. Gayle awesome job. I am putting this on my bucket list. Tysmfs! 😍
Gayle your eco dye and coffee dye's came out beautifully. I also tend to call it echo dying and I know it's eco. So don't feel bad your not the only one. TFS. I am ready to try the eco dying again. I have done it a couple of times but now want to try with dyes. The flowers from the grocery store was a good idea.
Gayle that’s so awesome and WOW!!!!!! I really love 💕 all of it, and I wouldn’t ever buy those artificially dyed flowers, but, I would now, just for that brilliant effect they give. xx Mags
Gerbera' daisies, yes they always turn out perfectly, even spent buds! Yours are gorgeous! It's addictive right? My geraniums are so cool, I get so excited like you did lol! Also tip: avocado dye in the pot brings colors out as well. I had some old raffia from way back, tied the bundles with it and colors galore! Have fun! TFS!👏
Your prints turned out fabulous. I too find that peony leaves do wonderful. But mine seem to turn a purplely colour.....but I'm not complaining. I have a shrub in my back yard that works great too. Raspberry leaves are just fantastic. My cousin gave me a bunch of bean tree leaves..catalpa... and wow. Also grape vines work great. I found that the alum turned every thing a yellow color so I just use vinegar and rusty bits. Also I put just a smidge of Rit dye in the water. Alas no more eco dying as it's suppose to snow here in the next few days......
They turned out gorgeous Gayle!!!!! I love the colors!!! Did you have the paper folded when you put in in and if so ,did you put leaves on inside and out????? I haven't seen any as vibrant as those flowered paper ones and the outlines are just great!!!!!!!!!😍
Wowza!!!! Your results were pretty spectacular...mine always turn out light..I'll have to try adding food coloring..I know exactly the flowers you're talking about with the dye! Gayle..truly Fantastic!! Brava!! xo
These are so pretty 😍. Perfect for making cards 😍. Loved your work 😃. I would also love to try these techniques and share my experience on my channel 😃
