My e-book was a small seed of an idea that I completed in 4 months and turned into a really exciting and useful project. Before I started writing, I realized how much I had to say about dyeing plants; it soon became something more detailed than I could have imagined.
I was inspired to start this project Amazing community on Instagram. I received a lot of questions about my painting process and always gladly shared my ‘tips’. But there was always more to write in a comment or on Instagram, and I felt an idea sparked a little. I could write an e-book to share my thoughts / research / methods with the natural coloring and craft community and finally get a nice record for myself.
Over the course of a few months, I dyed a lot of fabric and yarn, as well as took photos of dye plants. I decided on the title of the book first, and gradually added more as I started writing and building the book. The last thing is a complete guide to dyeing, from washing the fabric, picking the plants, removing the dye from the plants, dyeing the fibers, and then finally checking the strength of the colors. This is a process that I use every time I paint and mix tips and additional information throughout the book.
Many drafts were read and edited, and in the end I ended up with something I was proud of. It was really a dream project for me. I look back at the projects I did during my university years that I thought I enjoyed, but they can’t be compared to anything. I think the idea developed slowly and was mine from the beginning. No one told me I had to write or give me a date to finish. It was a seed that grew slowly and steadily, and my heart was in it all the time. I enjoyed every moment I spent researching, writing, painting patterns, and taking photos of pages.
My vision was to make the pages look very realistic in terms of resembling an original track album. Each page was photographed with small adjustments to reveal the most accurate colors.
I enjoyed designing the front cover the most. I put fabric patterns and my favorite dye plants on a sketch sheet and just put it on my favorite avocado leather scarf and took a picture of it. Then I had a dream for the title of a handletterd! I knew that this was not something I could do on my own, because I had no skills or talent in this field.
At that moment, my mind immediately turned Katrina Sofia who is an artist and recently started a 100-day handwriting problem. I knew that his beautiful writing would be the perfect touch for my book! Thankfully Katrina I was very pleased to participate and I love the natural, handmade touch that his writings bring to the book. I felt that this personal touch of manuscript was especially important because the book was an e-book, not a printed book. I plan to print a few copies in the near future!
You can see some of them above Katrinatest articles. I love the natural, natural style of writing. He wrote not only the cover, but also the title of each part of the book!
This is the finished cover on the iPad. My vision is complete! The book can be purchased at the Etsy store and downloaded immediately.
