So today I finally got the product out and created a screen. I realized that I made a mistake and only ordered the refill sheets and not the starter kit, which includes an exposure frame. Well after reading the directions and the description of what the exposure frame is, I fashioned my own out of stiff cardboard, plexiglass, black felt, and clips.
I created four hand drawn designs and scanned them into my computer. I played with them in Photoshop and darkened the lines and printed. I followed the directions given on the package and I think I got great results. I used one sheet of the screen print material and did four designs on it. I have cut the four designs apart and think I will frame them with some duct tape or something, just so I have a handle to hold while printing.
Below are my results. This first one I repeated several times and I sort of like how some of the prints weren't perfect, almost like deconstructed printing, sort of.
I wanted to try mixing some of my black textile paint with some sodium alginate thickener to see if I could extend the paint. Well I had some of the thickener sitting all mixed up on my shelf, for oh maybe a month or two (again, not exactly sure with my memory), anyway, the moral of the story: Don't sniff the old thickened paste...oh my!!! I think I burned the hairs right out of my nose. It had a strong ammonia smell. I'm guessing I stored it too long. Down the drain it went. Just a word of caution for any of you who may have some of this stuff sitting on your shelf.