I’ve been trying leaves I don’t usually use and some different strategies for cooking them up. Prunus leaves, kindly contributed by this block of flats. I am sure they wouldn’t mind!
Maple… I think this is Japanese maple.
I have tried several different sheoaks.
Some of the results are really spectacular. My favourite is quite green, very exciting.
Here it is beside the prunus prints.
They are pretty pale…
The maple leaves were interesting, and I love the impression of the string ties. And this sheoak came out better than any other so far. I tried 6he leaves out on a linen collar, and wrapped it around a rusty spring I found in my leaf gathering travels. This bundle was so small I overlooked it, so this one had a long time in the pot, which is no doubt a clue for future experiments.
Some results were less exciting. I did get a pale green print from our birch leaves, which is a first and might be promising.
I went back for more juvenile E Polyanthemos and this time, not so great prints resulted, but I did get some that were quite green, and that’s promising too.
Meanwhile, the saga of the neighbourhood bees continues. The lorikeets moved out of this nesting box, and the bees moved in weeks ago. There is now honeycomb visible in the opening.
Local & Bespoke 
Very cool! That green is amazing!
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Thanks! I thought so too! I have seen pictures, so knew it could be done, but have had limited success until now.
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Nice prints, what fabric did you use? I have a purple prunus that gives great prints on silk.
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Thanks! This is cotton calico. Silk is a happy thought… I will have to try it!
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beautiful prints, and lovely that “your” bees are thriving.
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Thanks so much! I share your enthusiasm for bees having a happy time.
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LONG ago I use Japanese Maple and got a brilliant yellow, alum mordant, and the leaves were purple, wonder if it was a different variety. I have looked up she-oaks from another post i follow and the name cracks me up for some reason…………
Happy New Year!
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Happy new year, Susan!
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