Nika Paper Arts



Nika Paper Arts is located in downtown Windsor, Nova Scotia. This shop is the perfect place to get all your mixed media supplies! Nicole, the owner, is a mixed media teacher and artist. She is very knowledgeable about all the different paints and other media she carries. I was surprised at the variety of things in the shop. One small room has lots of trims and ribbons.

I went in looking for fabric paints, specifically a navy blue to paint a pair of white shoes. She had just what I was looking for! In fact, she carries quite a range of paints. I did purchase some screen printing inks for fabric and paper by Versatex.

Here's a few photos of the store:

Making Stencils

I came across an interesting article on stencils and paintstiks on  the Cedar Canyon Textiles web site. They were advertising a new book, Design Magic. I liked the design on the front cover and discovered, as I read further along, that it was made from stencils. These were commercial ones.
Stenciling is a great way to customize your textile art.




Here are a few ways to make your own stencils:
How to Stencil Fabric
Fabric Painting With Stencils
10 Tips for Fabric Painting
Videos for Making Stencils for Fabric Painting
FAQ's about Fabric Painting
How to Make Stencils

Fabric Designs

Finding interesting fabric designs for a special project isn't always easy! Many textile artists will usually take a piece of fabric and change it in some way using such products as dyes, paint sticks, fabric paints and crayons, resist, stamping . . . the list is a long one! I have also printed directly onto cotton and silk from my computer.

In my search for things, I came across Spoonflower where you can design and print your own fabric. I was also fascinated with the blog for this site. Check out the many fabric designs. They are fabulous!

This site also has a list of interesting blogs and links to check out.