Ho Ho Ho....

Well it's sort of Christmassy, isn't it? It's red. 

It's taken more than a year to get from sketch to carved and printed block! The delay  means that I've no idea how I intended to print this, either colour or layout-wise. I have a vague idea that I wanted something posy-like, maybe.

It does look nifty printed on little zip purses. Just the thing for an emergency stash of calming pharmaceuticals, should all the holiday cheer become overwhelming, or your spirits flag at the sight of paper hats and roast meat at midday in summer.

Sixteen Fifteen Ribbon

Two new ribbon prints. Or, more accurately, one-and-a-half: I planned to print two-colour ribbon, but the brown looked so good on it's own that I left it that way.

Colouring-in Cards

Colouring-in is the drawing equivalent of the Nice British Lady Detective Novel. It's not too demanding, yet not completely mindless either. It feels faintly productive, but you can daydream while you're doing it. It's relaxing, and pleasant, and good for making a bit of space in your head, good for untangling other thoughts.

So I made some colouring-in cards:

They're printed on a lovely thick uncoated paper, that has just enough of a tooth for pencil crayons, and goes well with the squiggly dip pen lines.

By happy accident, the ink is not only waterproof, but slightly water repellent too. So paint right over the lines - they tidy themselves up.

I tested pencil crayons, gouache and watercolours. There's a bit of buckling from the wet paint, nothing that a night under a phone book won't fix. (Because you do still have phone books, right? For this sort of thing.)

I've listed these in my Etsy shop and some of my local shops as a set with envelopes. They're thick enough to work as postcards, but you'll have to draw the lines on the back yourself. While my original plan was to make postcards, I'm not sure anyone buys stamps and posts postcards these days, and great-aunt Edith might feel a bit miffed if the card you stick on her present has postcard lines on the back.

But let me know what you think; if you'd prefer to buy them without envelopes, and a touch cheaper, it can be done.

Oh, and did I mention that they're sort of educational, too? I mean, they're more or less made-up insects, but all the bits are in the right places.

It gets messy

Another great post on Pikaland about creating your own opportunities. A good read if you're feeling a little defeated.

I'm a great one for dipping my toe in, making a tiny bit of an effort, and then flailing about in despair because "It's not working!" I do a few drawings, and expect an immediate reaction. I don't get it, and so I stop. Maybe try something else.

And then I'm always surprised when something does start working. There are a few things I doggedly stick with, even though there's no evidence they're good ideas - or little evidence beyond my own convictions. I'm not even sure why I'm carrying on - no better ideas, usually. And then these things get noticed, pretty much at the point when I'm so over them I'm embarrassed that I'm still doing them.

Things take a lot longer than you think they will. Particularly if you keep stopping.

Something new!

One of the most pleasant things about printing is the repetitiveness of it all. One of the most maddening things about it is just that same repetitiveness. So it's nice every now and again to make things that can't be repeated, like broken plate brooches. Old saucers, usually, accidentally smashed, to which I've added bits of my own ceramic transfers.

(A selection of these have just gone to The Fringe Arts.)