Do you YuDu?

Okay, so a few days ago, I ventured out on a new craft. Those of you who know me are thinking, OMG ANOTHER ONE! Yep, I can't help. It is in my genetic make-up. My grandmother had a craft room that most people would drool over. She could make anything and always had every tool available. I think she hand-made everything she owned. But, the funny part was that every tool seemed to come from this small closet in the room. I used to think of it like Mary Poppins' bag. Even her sewing machine would disappear and become a table (After she passed, I got the sewing machine, and I felt like I had won the lottery. It is older than dinosaurs, but still functional.).
Anyway, so I had gotten the YuDu a little more than a year ago. I had intended to make some t-shirts for my cheerleading team, but with chaos and packed schedules, it didn't happen this way. But, Sunday, I was in a crafty mood and pulled it out. In case you're saying, "YuDu? Did she mean Voodoo?" A YuDu is a screen printing machine, and you can screenprint anything, even your wallpaper (probably, and before you put it up, of course).
So, I watched the video and then ventured on my craft magic. I'm trying to mimic the DVD, and I ruined the first emulsion sheet that came with the machine. I looked at my hubby, who somewhat took an interest in this project (most likely thinking he could get some cool SAINTS gear from it.), and said the other sheet has to work. Well, it didn't. I was bummed and projectless, so I turned to YouTube to get the answers to the lack of answers in the manual. YouTube has a howto video on everything. Come to find out, many people had the same gripes; thus it left me trying to find another way. Instead of emulsion sheets, I found liquid emulsion. Wanting to run immediately to Michael's to get some, I looked at the clock. Darn! 9pm. Michael's closes at 6 on Sundays down here. Looking at the product, I thought how familiar the box looked. I ventured to my craft closet, which is bigger than my grandmother's was, but much less filled. When I opened the door to the closet, staring right back at me, front and center on the shelf, was the box of liquid emulsion. I don't remember ever getting it, but I have a horrible memory. Nevertheless, I saw it as a gift from my grandmother and went to town with the liquid emulsion. Emulsion is light sensitive. I wanted this to work so badly and the instructions called for this process to be done in a darkroom. Well, I didn't have the proper bulbs, so I said, "No problem, I can do it in the dark. I have night vision eyes." Surprisingly, I did do it, but I put too much emulsion on my screen and the screen took the entire rest of the night to dry. At about 2am, I threw in the towel and went to bed.
The next morning, I put the screen to dry for another hour and finally got it dry. I did a little happy dance and finished the rest of the project. After the emulsion, it was a breeze to make the shirt. My result was a t-shirt for the cheerleading camp we are hosting after Thanksgiving.
My poor YuDu, however, did not have such a good result. When I tried to dry the screen after I cleaned it, it sounds like YuDu came down with laryngitis. I overworked the fans, I guess.
Lots of <3,
Jess

2 comments:

  1. Jess! It's been way too long, and your blog is making me feel like I'm catching up with you and all that you've been doing! Love reading about your book and all your projects! Keep up the posting!

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  2. Hey, hun. I miss u. I'm trying to keep up with it. :o( One of these days I'll get the hang of it. <3 U.

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