I made a mistake! Not an "It's the end of the world" sort of mistake, although it did at the moment sort of feel like that to me! It was more like a darn it, "I wasted all that time because I didn't read the fine print, you are an idiot!" kind of mistake. You know the kind of mistake where you rub your eyes and forehead over and over again muttering a few expletives to yourself for being so stupid!
Well, yup, that kind of mistake!
You might remember last week I posted this picture 
of my handprinted fat quarters for the Maze and Vale handprinted fabric swap.
I was feeling pretty good about them. And, then, something just before I was about to head off to the post office to send them out clicked in my head...what if I used the wrong ink (ahem, remember I told you I am a novice!) and what if it wasn't washable?!
I tested one and washed it to be sure. It turns out, it wasn't :( Virtually all evidence of my birdies had been washed away! What?! Are you kidding me?
How did that happen? Well, I think I just got confused. I saw one of the brands that leslie had recommended when I was at the store. There was another one, but I didn't go with that brand, I should have, because I think that one specifically said washable (or something like that). As I was paying attention to Violet and Henry and making sure they weren't getting into too much trouble I think I got mixed up and thought I read washable on the ink I purchased, boo!
So, what to do!! I couldn't, in good conscience, send off my birds if they weren't washable! So, off I went to the store again for supplies...And, in the eleventh hour, I started over again. It felt like those moments in college when the night before a big paper was due and you realized you royally screwed something up and you had no choice but to start over or mostly over the night before!
This time, sadly, I must say I am not quite as happy with my printing. The colors aren't as nice, the placement isn't quite as nice and the stamping itself wasn't as good. The ink I used the second time around was not nearly as thick as the ink I used the first time which, to me, made it harder to apply onto my stamp. 
So, this novice learned a lesson, and feels a bit guilty about the less then perfect fat quarters she sent off. Sorry swap partners! You should know that you are getting both the original, non washable fat quarters and the second round of washable ones!
Oh, and ps...you should definitely take a look at the flickr group for this swap, there are some amazing handprinted fabrics in there! Something for me to aspire to next time. If there is a next time... ;)
