GOT ALL THE ROWS TOGETHER

BUS MATRON BEGINNING

Wow, it has been a very long time since I've painted.  I'm glad I got the urge this morning.  This is an acrylic painting done on one of the many 10" by 10" pieces of hardboard that Darrell cut for me.  In fact, this may be the first one I've actually painted onto.

I don't like the smooth surface of hardboard (Masonite), so I've been stalling I guess.  Plus I don't know who to paint...

This morning I decided I had to paint this lady (I had covertly taken a photo of her on the bus the other day).  So, I covered the board with strips of newspaper first.  It made for great texture in which to apply the paint.

I'm not done, I'll have to let it marinate and go back and fix it soon.

SHARP SCISSORS

My favorite pair of Gingher scissors - I've almost worn the finish off of them, but they are still very sharp and functional.

It says sharp!  ( I hope ) in Japanese.

DREARY DAY

It's a wet, drizzly dreary day - perfect for sewing.   And for the first time in a long time, I actually felt like working on the Lexington Quilt.  Maybe it was the coffee the husband bought for me this morning.  Anyway, I made great progress in the morning.  I was surprised how much I got done.

When we got back from our errands I went back upstairs and finished sewing the last of the curved seams.  Can I get a HALLELUJAH!!

No more curves, it's all just sewing the blocks together now!

CAULIFLOWER YUM

A DELICATA SQUASH

I though I'd go back to the watercolor paper again, just for fun.  I don't see a big difference in the way the paper takes the ink from the Kozo.  The thing I don't like about watercolor paper is the texture - it's bumpy.  I'll keep looking for the right paper.

I glued this to heavier stock, also.  I smeared my chop in the process.

AN APPLE

My new favorite apple is the Opal variety.  There were a limited number of them available last year, and I only got a few.   But, they seem to be more available this year.  Get an organic one - they are so sweet and delicious.  

Opal

This was done on the Kozo paper, too.  I might be getting a little more used to it.  The Kozo is very thin, almost see through.  I glued it to a sturdier stock so I could mail it.  That worked good.

A SQUASH

I tried some Kozo printing paper, hoping it would bleed a little more than the watercolor paper I've been using.  It didn't, except for when I went over the 'e' a second time.

This is a bad rendition of a Butternut Squash, in case you were curious.  I'm blaming it on the paper.  The Kozo didn't want to take the watercolors either.  It bled very slowly and mixed all of my beautiful colors into one solid yuck.

This one is going in the reject pile.

AN ORANGE

After I made this one, the book I ordered about Etegami from Japan arrive.  It's a lovely little book, one of the only, if not the only, written in English.

After I read it, I realized I've been doing a few things wrong.

So, the next ones should be better.

TOO LOONIE

MY CHOP

I spent the afternoon making a chop.  A chop is a signature stamp. 

Darrell cut some 3/4" square dowels for me from several different hardwoods.   He set me up with his Foredom high speed drill and a lot of burr bits.  

I am happy with the results.  The one I like best is from the Bubinga, a very hard and dense wood.  It was my second attempt.

Test strips using watercolor.

ANOTHER LOON

I went to Daniel Smith today and got some sumi ink.  I think it is blacker than the watercolor black I was using yesterday.   The rest are just watercolors.   I tried out a couple different papers.

ETEGAMI - MY NEW INTEREST

I'm starting the New Year off with a new interest - Etegami.

If you look on the internet you will find almost nothing about Etegami.

As far as I know - it is making little 'sketch', loose and simple of everyday items and maybe adding some interesting words about it.  It is made in the form of a postcard, then immediately mailed off to a friend.

Do an image search and you will be enthralled just like me.

I first heard about it from a barenforum friend who lives in Italy.  He belongs to a group that exchange cards regularly and it just sounded like a lot of fun.

START THE NEW YEAR SEWING

Didn't do much but at least I did some...

CHRISTMAS MOVIE

On Christmas, it has become tradition that my husband Darrell and I go to a movie and then out to Chinese dinner in the International District.  So, that's what we did.

This year we saw "Imitation Game" with Benedict Cumberbatch (I love saying his name) at the Southcenter AMC.

We had a fantastic dinner at Shanghai Garden, my favorite restaurant.

OFF THEY GO

LAST FEW STEPS

Spent more than a few hours coloring the front of each card.  (and yes, the Grass Green pencil made it through to the last one...with just an inch long stump left).

Then the backs had to be signed and numbered.

The inside was stamped and colored.

Then the labels and stamps were applied.

COLORING EACH TREE BY HAND

Here's what the finished print looks like.  I added my signature stamp to the back.  

I got out my colored pencils, mostly Prismacolor and sharpened them up.  I'm putting a green all over the tree first - "Grass Green",  then highlighting with some blue-greens "Aqua Green" and "Parrot Green" and a yellow-green "Chartreuse".  The 'lights' on the tree are "Canary Yellow".

Dang...the "Grass Green" keeps breaking off... I don't know if it will last through all the trees.

Here's the finished card.  

PRINTED THE FRONT OF CARDS

Went straight up to the studio this morning after I braved the snow to go get a Starbucks jolt.

Nothing better than being in a warm studio when it's snowing outside!

First I had to dust off Harley, my Ettan Press...

Then get it all set up with papers under the jig and a pressing mat board.

Then stir up the ink...

Roll the ink onto the plate...

And pull the first print and make adjustments if needed...

And just keep repeating until the pile of paper is gone...

I was done before 10am - time for a walk.  The snow has stopped, the sun is shining, but the temperature has dropped, better bundle up.

Still lots to do before these cards are ready to mail.

Stay tuned.

STARTED THE CHRISTMAS CARD FOR 2014

I got out my sketchbook with every intention of drawing an owl for this year's Christmas card.  As I was flipping through the sketchbook, looking for a blank page, I spotted this cute little tree that I had sketched several years ago.  I fell in love with it and decided it needed to be this year's image.

I got out a linoleum plate, 4.5" by 6" and drew the tree on it and started carving.

I then realized I didn't have a jig for this size plate and card.  So, I got out a piece of mat board and drew the registration lines and cut a hole for the plate, then covered it with clear plastic Contact paper.  I learned this trick in some class I took years ago, great idea.  It's inevitable that while printing I will get ink on the registration jig, and wrapping it in plastic Contact paper makes it very easy to keep clean.

Cut out enough Contact paper to wrap the front and the back.  This makes the mat board jig wipe-able, in case you get a little ink on it.

Cutting the plastic Contact paper from the plate hole.  I cut it corner to corner, forming triangles.  Then I fold it onto the back.

Finished jig, with registration lines and notes so I don't get confused about what goes where.

I noticed the linoleum plate had fuzzies around the edges from the backing.  I trimmed it off as best I could with scissors.  It will probably keep fraying, so I coated it with acrylic gel medium.

I also got all the paper cut for the cards, too, but I forgot to take pictures.

I'm ready to start printing tomorrow.