Tuesday, July 30, 2013

Update - Use Every Stamp 2013

Some of you may remember that I am participating in Use Every Stamp 2013.  The class started at the beginning of the year, so it is time for a "check-in".   I was trying to find more ways to use my stamp collection, and my challenge was "Use 'Em or Lose 'Em."

How am I doing?  "So so" is the answer to that one.  I've been attracted to drawing, calligraphy, and gelli printing this year.  I have used some small stamps with calligraphy and some foam stamps with gelli printing.  But, I'm still not using my stamps as much as I should, considering the space they take up in my small office/studio.

How does it feel?  As we move firmly into the second half of the year, I'm thinking a lot about "losing" some stamps.  I've gained clarity that there are some stamps I won't be sad to lose.  (I've never been very good at letting things go when they are no longer used.   The voice in my head keeps saying things like "What if I need this one day?"  So, this is a big step.)  But, I'm bummed out that at the half-way point, I estimate that I've only used about 10% of my stamps.  At this rate, by the end of the year I may have used 20%, and I don't feel that I will be willing to lose the other 80%.

What have I accomplished and what still needs to be done?  I'm marking off stamps in my stamp catalog as I use them.  I've learned that I reach for many favourites over and over again.  I've given a few stamps away and I've been through all my boxes of stamps and removed those that are clear "losers".  I've put the "losers" in the basement and if I don't go down and reclaim them for a specific project they're definitely going.  (The boxes contain wood mounted and clear sets).  I've learned that this project was too big for one year, so I won't try and tackle the CD cases of unmounted rubber until 2014.

My current method isn't going to get me far enough in 2013, though, so I'm adding to my strategy.  I'm going to get out one box of stamps each month and deliberately try to use the stamps in the box that haven't been used in 2013.  We'll do flowers in August, move onto leaves and foliage in the fall, and so on.  As I use my stamps this way, I'm going to follow the tips suggested by Susan on her blog, Simplicity.  (She's also running a Use-Your-Stamps Challenge):

As you use your stamps, pay attention to how you like working with each stamp or set. Is it worth the space it's taking up? Do you want to get rid of it? Perhaps you're not quite ready to say goodbye. If so, put it in a box in your basement or closet for six months or a year. After that time, you'll either be ready to say goodbye or welcome it back into your stash. Time lends clarity.

Who thought that saying good-by could be so hard?

Saturday, July 27, 2013

Silly Scraps Saturday


This is a simple collage made of scraps, done in my Scrap Journal.  I made my Scrap Journal with my Bind-It-All, especially to hold these "warm-up" collages.  When I want to make something but I'm not inspired to do anything specific, I make one of these.  One usually leads to two (or more).  I got the idea from iHanna's "Every Artist Needs a Scrap Notebook" post.

Every Saturday I post one of these simple collages.  Thanks for visiting my blog and I hope you are enjoying the weekend!

Friday, July 26, 2013

Links I Loved This Week


Where did this week go?  Maybe I spent too much time surfing blogs and not enough time making art LOL  Here are a few links I loved this week:

Beautiful calligraphy on Ruth Korch's blog.  This blog is new to me and I can't wait to see more!

Lori is loving and drawing gardens over at Elvie Studio.

Love the green, kraft, and white colour combination here.

Dawn wants to see YOUR journal pages for her new book.


Saturday, July 20, 2013

Silly Scraps Saturday



This is a simple collage made of scraps, done in my Scrap Journal.  I made my Scrap Journal with my Bind-It-All, especially to hold these "warm-up" collages.  When I want to make something but I'm not inspired to do anything specific, I make one of these.  One usually leads to two (or more).  I got the idea from iHanna's "Every Artist Needs a Scrap Notebook" post.

Every Saturday I post one of these simple collages.  Thanks for visiting my blog and I hope you are enjoying the weekend!

Friday, July 19, 2013

Link Love!


Here are some links that made me stop for a second look this week:

Who wouldn't want to receive a gift like this on Balzer Designs.

Free vintage clip art from Joanna Grant Mixed Media.

Here's what to do with Gelli Prints at Scrappystickyinkymess.  This blog is new to me so I'll be spending some time looking around.

I'm definitely on board with Use it or Lose it Challenge at Traci Bunkers.

Here's a good productivity/energy boosting tip from Just a Lucky Dog.

Best wishes to you all for a fabulous weekend!






Thursday, July 18, 2013

Dancing in the Moonlight

I did promise not to bore you with gelli prints.  But these two are kind of different, made with sillhouettes.  They are just pictures cut from magazines, laid on the plate to form a mask during printing.



This one had a bit of an accident.  The silhouettes were covered in acrylic paint and stuck to the print.  Oh well, a happy accident!

I plan to incorporate these into a handmade journal.  I will fold the prints down the middle leaving one figure on each page.

Wednesday, July 17, 2013

Wide-Eyed and Serious


"Wide-eyed and Serious" is drawn with watercolour pencils in my old book journal. You are beginning to see backgrounds made by cleaning off my brayer during a gelli plate session.

Tuesday, July 16, 2013

This Face Has A Body

For a change, I thought I would try drawing a whole person!  She thinks that "Common sense is the collection of prejudices acquired by the age of eighteen."


This wise woman who quotes Albert Einstein appeared in my old book journal recently.  She was drawn with watercolour pencils on top of a background created by spritzing and cleaning off stencils.

Monday, July 15, 2013

Neuland with Script

I attended a fantastic workshop put on by the Westcoast Calligraphy Society on Saturday, and came away with many pieces in progress and with this finished one.  Instructor Violet Smythe took us through the Neuland hand and then we began the fun with bleach, sumi ink, pastels, gouache, and lots of other fun supplies.


The Neuland in the background of this piece was done with chopsticks dipped in bleach.  The negative spaces were coloured with various media and the script on the top was done with a white gel pen.  Fun, fun, fun!  

Sunday, July 14, 2013

Spritzed Artist Trading Cards


Stamp by Eureka


Stamp by Hero Arts

While putting away some Gelli Prints, I came across some spritzed paper and decided I had to do something with it.  I made a few artist trading cards and used some much loved stamps at the same time.

The background paper was actually waste paper used to protect my desk from over-spray, but I thought it was too yummy to discard.  After stamping with black ink I added a bit of colour to each image with pencil crayon.

Saturday, July 13, 2013

Silly Scraps Saturday

These little trees keep showing up LOL.  It is a hand carved stamp.


This is a simple collage made of scraps, done in my Scrap Journal.  I made my Scrap Journal with my Bind-It-All, especially to hold these "warm-up" collages.  When I want to make something but I'm not inspired to do anything specific, I make one of these.  One usually leads to two (or more).  I got the idea from iHanna's "Every Artist Needs a Scrap Notebook" post.

Every Saturday I post one of these simple collages.  Thanks for visiting my blog and I hope you are enjoying the weekend!

Friday, July 12, 2013

Fabulous Blogs


Blogs that I saved for a closer look this week:

Linda provides wonderful posts, tutorials, tips and videos to help with gelatin printing on Printmaking Without a Press.

These Gelli Print collages on Jessica Sporn Designs are definitely miracles and magic!

This has me tempted to try some "protractor art".

Some great examples of what gesso can do for you over at Help [Me] Ronda.

Geninne is giving away a copy of her yummy looking new book!


Thursday, July 11, 2013

Gelli Plate Artist Trading Card


Whenever I make artist paper of any kind, I ask myself, "So, what are you going to do with that?  Will it end up in a file/box/baggie with all of the other artist and scrapbook papers?"  This question haunted me long before I bought a Gelli Plate and prevented me from buying one earlier.

So, almost as soon as I made a print or two I had to do something with them.

Sunday, July 7, 2013

Playing with Silhouettes


I've been playing with silhouettes this week.  They make great images for gelli plate printing and for journals.

I made a stencil and a mask at the same time by gluing a magazine image onto chipboard and cutting it out with a craft knife.  On the left page I applied gesso around the mask, and on the right side I applied gesso through the stencil.

This is a spread in my old book journal.  The background is spritzed watercolour through stencils

Saturday, July 6, 2013

Silly Scraps Saturday


This is a simple collage made of scraps, done in my Scrap Journal.  I made my Scrap Journal with my Bind-It-All, especially to hold these "warm-up" collages.  When I want to make something but I'm not inspired to do anything specific, I make one of these.  One usually leads to two (or more).  I got the idea from iHanna's "Every Artist Needs a Scrap Notebook" post.

Every Saturday I post one of these simple collages.  Thanks for visiting my blog and I hope you are enjoying the weekend!

Friday, July 5, 2013

This Week's Links


Here are some links that stopped me for a second look this week:

I like this Journal Page Tutorial from Radish Blossoms.  It explains clearly how and why she did certain things as she completed this journal page.

I love the alcohol resist that Vivian shows here.

I highly recommend The Journal Fodder Junkies Workshop.  One of the things I love about this work is the use of squares/rectangles on the backgrounds.  I love the transparency of all the layers too.

Here's a new blog from Trish Bee.  She makes over old techniques.  Very cool!

Here's a quote worth remembering!

Tuesday, July 2, 2013

I Bought a Gelli Plate

Drawing is on hold while I create some prints and get it all out of my system.  I'll try not to bore you with too many.




We're having a heat wave here on the Wet Coast and I can only work in my attic office/studio in the morning.  After that I melt into a puddle.  Gelli printing is a basement activity and it is nice and cool down there!

Monday, July 1, 2013

Missy


Missy is a bit judgmental sometimes.  Either that or she is sucking marbles.

Missy was drawn in my old book journal, using Pan Pastels.  The pastel part was easy.  Drawing is a bit hard in this book because I can't see the drawing very well until I add the colour.  But this leads to some interesting characters, like Missy.

Happy Canada Day!