Not All Hearts and Flowers

A couple of weeks back I mentioned that I had joined a group that was sharing cards (mostly Valentines) during the month of February. We were not allowed to post them before the end of the month in order to insure that we didn't spoil the surprise for anyone. Well, the month is up and though Valentines Day is long past, I do feel the need to share these lovely cards with you.

This is my second exchange, and I am finding I learn new tricks with every card that comes in. One of these is actually a small painting of a rose tucked into a slit in the top of the card so that it is framed within the card itself. I think I may have some of this sort of card around here somewhere as I remember sending family pictures as Christmas cards like that many years ago. I'd forgotten that such cards even existed. In the picture I'm sharing you may also notice that I have actually framed one of the cards myself. It was just the right size to fit into a frame I picked up at IKEA recently, and because it features teapots, I now display that one in my kitchen. A lady from Mumbai, India sent cards featuring hand painted scenes from her city, complete with a note inside explaining what the picture was. The one I got featured Marine Drive, also known as the Queen's Necklace because at night the lights look look like a string of pearls from elevated points along the road. Another cleaver person managed to tie Valentines to the Olympics, which were happening this same month, by simply turning one of the rings into a heart. That is so clever. I would never have come up with an idea like that!  A more classic one came from the only person who had also been in my last exchange group. It featured a cute bird with hearts for feathers and was made even more special with a good sprinkling of glitter.

I made some cards too, of course, and mine are totally different from the ones I received. In fact, my own cards are not even all the same style or medium either as I was experimenting with alcohol inks and a stamp I carved. Then I "found" flowers on another one, used a pinched toilet roll to stamp some hearts, and even did a bit of line drawing.  It was great fun. The only thing they had in common was that I was going for reds and pinks.

I even hunted out some more flowers and made a birthday card for a family member while I was at it. It's just plain fun to find things in random patterns.

I can hardly wait for the next exchange. It will have  a spring theme and take place in April.

Carving Out a New Hobby

This week I learned a new skill, and had fun doing it.

Local artists Holly Dean and Laura Starkey are putting on a series of mini 2 hour workshops, and I decided I wanted to get in on one of them.

I became interested in multimedia art a while back and looked into purchasing some interesting stamps to add to what I was doing. I found the prices to be rather high, especially since I wouldn't want to use just one or two stamps in too many pieces.  That would become rather boring, I thought. I considered carving my own, and actually came home with a blank 4 x 6 inch carving block from DeSerres one day, but I never did anything with it. This mini workshop was just what I needed to give me a kickstart in that direction. Holly and Laura taught me how to design, and carve a stamp all by myself.

First we were introduced to our cutting tools, and got to make various marks on scraps left over from Larry Thompson's Lino cutting, just to get the feel of things.  Of course, being the klutz I am, the first time I tried to change a blade, the whole tool assembly fell apart, and I quickly pushed the pieces over to the instructors to be put back together.  After that Laura decided she should teach us how to fix our tools if that sort of thing happened again.

Upon looking into the cutting tools available, I found a set that includes a little wooden dowel. It seems that using the blades often pushes them more tightly into the handle, and instead of risking cutting yourself, or having the whole assembly fall apart like it did for me, all you need to do is shove the dowel up through the handle to help push the blade out.  That was a definite selling point for me as I didn't find the blades easy to change.

After our practice strokes we were all given a couple of feathers which we could use for inspiration to make our first stamp. That was fun, and I learned a few tricks along the way working out how to accomplish what I had in mind.

Then the moment of panic arrived. We were given a blank similar to the one I had purchased months previously, and told to trace it on a piece of paper, and draw what we wanted to cut our stamps to look like.  We could cut the blank into smaller pieces if we wanted.  I was tempted to do that as I was still feeling the need to practice, and making more than one stamp would give me time to improve my technique.  But what do you draw when you are surrounded by artists, and don't think you draw well?  A moment of panic set in until Laura walked by me and suggested I had several interesting patterns right on the shirt I was wearing.  As my mind has gone as blank as the block in front of me, I took a look at my shirt. The patterns all looked pretty complicated to me, and I tried to draw a few of them on the paper provided.  I knew time was limited, so I set out to reproduce the picture of a bird on the blank, and started to really get into the process.

While this is the first time I've cut stamps, I think they turned out rather well, and know I'll be using them. Already I'm starting to see all kinds of designs in my day to day world that are calling out to me to make them into stamps. I think I may have a new hobby.

Maybe you would be interested in some of the workshops these ladies provide. Check them out at Artsy Life Workshops.