How not to Print!

Printing Poppies
I want to make some poppy lace- as one of the things I remember from my childhood in the Netherlands is Flanders poppies. They used to line the sides of the road and used to lace the wheatfields on the farm. I remember picking them as a child- I loved the colour and the black centres. So i want to make some poppy cutouts. I decided I would first print the poppies and then paint them with dye so I can get the black and red in the right areas. Well that was mistake number one!I wanted to print with black textile ink- but that ink is too runny, so I eventually had to resort to mixing it with gold so that it was thicker. Then I should have taped the silk to the table, and I didn't- anyway that is the way it is going to stay now. I am waiting for the ink to dry so I can do the dye painting. I have one piece of silk that has horrible smudgy poppy prints and the other two pieces are so so, but as it is raining I can't go outside to work- and there is not enough space inside.Oh well!