In Print

Some of my things in this month's House and Leisure mag: bag and brooches, vases, and a toy.

Toothpaste - the end

"sigh..."
"Let's try that again."
"Now... don't eat it."

"...but don't eat it."

More Toothpaste

Toothpaste - a new comic

Catalogue

This isn't the most aesthetically pleasing photograph, as none of the colours profit much from being near each other; but it's a visual list of things I like at the moment.

Clockwise, from the top left corner:
Tea, specifically, Dilmah tea, which really is as good as the packaging promises it will be.
A new fountain pen, so that I can read my own handwriting.
Very pretty wrapping paper.
A stencil for labelling discs, so that I'll know what's on them without having to guess.

And in the background, two ripple stitch scarves, one in 4-ply acrylic and the other in DK wool. I've (finally) fallen for crochet, partly because of all the beautiful ripple blankets I'm seeing everywhere. But I'm far too lazy/busy to make a whole blanket, and I can't bear the thought of yet another unfinished project. Scarves seem do-able.

Coffee 2

Coffee

I've been longing to ink this since I drew it almost 2 months ago; you'll see why tomorrow!

Goodbye Satellite

Digging through my cupboards last night, I found this: it's a linocut cover for a limited edition of blackmilk's 'Goodbye Satellite' , made a few years ago. We printed each cover by hand, and typed the song titles, to get that subtle embossed feel that only a real typewriter can give.

I spelled satellite wrong the first time around. In case you ever do something similar, woodfiller can indeed be used to correct mistakes on lino blocks.

Holiday Snaps

These two Skapies will be going abroad soon to test the waters. Brown Bunny wanted to go too, but concerns were raised about his exitable temperament....

'No Picture Friday'

The best intentions in the world won't get you through a week's worth of very late nights unscathed. My scanner broke, the bank was off-line, and it felt as if my eyes were on stalks. So while I finished one comic, wrote a few more, did four illustrations and made three dolls (as well as doing my tax stuff!), there's nothing to see here...

Rather head on over to Heather's new shop and buy something lovely!

The End of Chocolate

Apologies for that alarming title; all I mean is that it's the end of the 'Chocolate' story.


"I didn't know. About chocolate."

"I think... I'll wait here."
"Ok, bye!"

"I saw a petrol station just the other side of it."
"Did it have a shop?"
"Was it 24-hrs? Did you see?"
"How much money do we have between us?"
"Let's go, people!"

Have a look....

Irene at Bloesem has written a post about me today. Do go to her blog - it's one of my favourite daily reads, full of lovely things and ideas.

And have a look at Hannah Morris's site as well. Not only does she do a drawing a day here; she also manages a new illustration for Women24 every day!

"Ok, the closest town is 60 km away...."

Piecework

I first thought of these about a month ago, drew them up last weekend, cut the stencils this past weekend, and printed them last night. Getting Stuff Done.....

This was just a rough attempt, for the next lot I'll print them on thicker, glossier card so that the white stencilling shows up on it's own better. And I'll use a stencil brush, though I do like the draggy lines. And experiment a bit with PVA, oil paint etc. And cut the stencil from acetate, rather than sticky vinyl, so bits don't break off.

The idea is to make 'component' stencils to mix and match. The white design is part of a crochet doily chart - I love the fragility of it, and the crocheted article never seems to retain that.

Lost!

I found this at one of the local charity shops this morning. No fibre content, no suggested needle size, no washing intructions. It's practically Dharma Initiative yarn.


And I got - wait, let me count... 41 small and 10 big balls for R2 each. It's very thin stuff, about 3-ply, so I'm fantasizing about a few WW2-style 'jumpers', severe and detailed and hard-wearing......

Oh, and on with the comic:

I've been longing to ink this frame since I drew it; sometimes it's like that.... A whole story, and it's all really about one frame. You can see the original pencil version, in an older post, here.