Seven years of making

Today is a special day. Seven years ago today, I started this blog. The first few posts were labelled with Making __________. 

In my mind "making" is the word that encapsulates my days. It soothes my soul to have the work of my hands involved in something useful. If it turns into something wonderful... even better! Oh, the adventures, the lessons, the growing that has occurred in the last 7 years. I am only the same person in that I still love to "make". What I make now is another story.

My latest project has been to make myself a desk calendar/planner. Last year, I inherited and "refurbed" an outdated planner. But it just wasn't pleasant to the eyes and it didn't get much use. So this year, I aimed for lovely.

 
I dressed up the covers of an old book with gorgeous paper from Hollander's. The plan was to use a spiral binding, but the cover was too thick to fit into the machine. Plan B included 1" book rings.

The dividers for the months are from my stash of painted papers... too pretty to cut up, not pretty enough to stand alone.

 The pages are designed to keep a log of my life. No diary or journal entries... just what I did and when. Very helpful when trying to remember the sequence of events... or win an argument. Heh heh.

I dipped into the boxes of leftovers from printed/painted papers - the insides of die-cuttings, almost-right experiments, hand cut shapes and bits - to find decoration for various spots that needed something.

I'm happy - a month late for keeping tabs on the new year - but late is better than never, right?

Happy birthday little blog. You make my heart and hands sing.

And whatsoever ye do in word or deed, do all in the name of the Lord Jesus, giving thanks to God and the Father by him. Colossians 3:17

Practical vs creative

Somehow, in the midst of trying to be productively creative, I lost my way. Literally, my way.

There is a natural conflict when a practical person tries to be creative ... the practical demand for "useful" can quickly crush the joy of seeing "beautiful!" appear as the fingers manipulate color and paper and glue.

I have been working to fulfill a friend's request for flower cards, and trying to invent something that was easily reproducible (just in case they took off and I got an order for 100 copies, you know). But reproducible, I discovered, has no texture. It's smooth, and boring, just like the one before it and the one after it. There is no life... no beauty that brings the I love it! gasp, or the desire to reach out and touch.

So, onward into bumpy, spattered, layered, one-of-a -kind! Let the joy of creating be the reward for creating. It is enough for the inspired heart.

I will praise thee, O Lord, with my whole heart; I will show forth all thy marvelous works. Psalm 9:1

The "studio table" norm

Achieving normal on a work table takes time and effort. The put-away neat stuff is easy. Just put things back where they belong. But a table surface built in the heat of creating is a one-of-a-kind, hard fought, creative mess! (Be sure to check out the inspiration for all of this - The Altered Page blog)

Many hours of work (really? work?) passed between this and this...

which grew into this...

 and grew some more to become this.

I figure when I have to search for every tool, it's a very productive day. Yesterday was very, very productive.

I now have, ready to use, my pigeon  - made entirely of  gelli printed papers, then embellished with paint and ink.

 

 Look at the texture these collaged papers add. I am just loving this!

And for the road trip on Thursday? I have 3 pieces of guerrilla art. Oh yeah. This is a wonderful way to make a mess.

Better is the end of a thing than the beginning thereof; and the patient in spirit is better than the proud in spirit. Ecclesiastes 7:8

Show me your studio table

The challenge was thrown out by Seth Apter  nearly 2 weeks ago - show the world your studio table.

So, I added my name to the list and on Thursday, I'll show my work space. Before that could happen however, I had to find the surface of that table. I picked up, put away, taped lovely clean white paper (my paint catcher/stamp checker/color tester) in order to show that there actually was a table in the room!

all nice and tidy

The first project to hit the sparkling clean table top was a shadow box that is to be filled with military memorabilia - medals, ribbons, etc. It isn't a messy job. In fact, it's a very precise art in itself. I'm learning a lot of trivia regarding military honors... my respect for the men in my life who have made it from the swearing-in to honorable-discharge has grown immensely.

This is what the surface looked like a couple of days later. Turns out I spent more time researching than actually creating. Still pretty tidy... aren't you impressed?

Stay tuned. The show-and-tell comes Thursday.

Ye are blessed of the Lord which made heaven and earth. Psalm 115:15

Gelatin prints made useful

There are a million things I should be doing, but those million things are always pressing. so rather than neglect this blog of mine any more... here I go.

A few months ago, under the influence of gelatin printing joy, I made a vow to myself that I would not do any new gel printing until I had used the huge stack of already printed papers sitting at the end of my worktable. I have kept my vow. What a journey it has been.

I scanned the best pages. I cropped and saved. Papers were then rotated, cropped and saved again. By the time I finished cropping, saving, rotating again and again, I was not only dizzy, but my files were full of amazing backgrounds just waiting for something interesting to happen.

For instance, from this (obviously printed on a scrap of paper) ...

 the lower right hand corner was cropped and became the background for this ...

which was printed and attached to note cards that I love. (A bit of bubble wrap stamping and some black, blue and white paint at the base of the lighthouse were also added.) And this is just one of the crops!!!

I just love when things that are fun also end up being useful. There has been so much progress made on the stack of printed papers that I am almost ready to start printing again! Life is good.

Jesus said - I am the light of the world: he that followeth me shall not walk in darkness, but shall have the light of life. John 1:8

Harvesting delight

The first lavender harvest of 2014. Can lavender lemonade be far behind?

  ... if God so clothe the grass of the field, which today is, and tomorrow is cast into the lemonade, shall He not much more clothe you, O ye of little faith? Matthew 6:30

Let the "using" begin

Since discovering the art of gelatin plate printing - Ha! the unparalleled delight of gelatin plate printing - my practical side keeps prodding me with questions.

Sure it was fun, but what will you do with them?

Stacks and stacks of what? For what?

That's not so great ... what will you ever use it for?

And then came the demand... No more until you use the piles you already have!

So, in the three months I have been missing, my time in the workroom has been spent finding for ways to use all of this colorful paper. I have begun to make a dent in those piles.


For instance... this was a flop. The paint wasn't cooperating. The colors were iffy. Though it was not good, it had something...

 

I put my scanner and PSE to work ...overtime. It allowed me to discover parts that are more beautiful than the whole. Because my projects are mostly 4"x5" I picked out areas that I thought might be useful and...

...with some added mark-making, stamping, old dictionary scans and a teeny bit of paint, I have a product! This is just one of my experiments. Though it still needs tweaking, I am encouraged to find that I do have a reason to keep working!

This is my favorite so far with the yellow background. added to this is an image transfer, stamping (with a hand cut stamp), and a strip of paint ridden deli paper. yep... my fav so far.

Trust in the Lord, and do good; so shalt thou dwell in the land, and verily thou shalt be fed. Psalm 37:3

Still printing

I think spring is on the way. It's almost April. It has been at least 10 days since our last heavy snow. Is there hope for us?

I just made this guerrilla art with a gelatin plate print background. I love that there are ways to use the stacks of colorful papers.

Spring and useful product?!? Makes me smile.