kirstencan

Moleskine + stamps

My new notebooks came, and while I think I have just enough room in my last one for this weekend, I couldn't resist decorating the front of my next one:

Metallic marker + magnetic poetry stamps.  My mom recently found the stamps (brand new) while thrifting (in Seattle - what does your mom bring you back from trips? :) and they're pretty fun. 

As I was trying them out, I made a fridge-poetry type of poem very quickly.

It decided to be an Easter poem.  Light brown ink is hard to read so here it is:

let this family

enjoy our time together

feel the warm peace

share the gift of hope

come fill our happy home

for we celebrate Easter

 

Happy Easter!

Printing

Last week we tried a cool printmaking method.

Inspired by Alisa Burke's project, we made plastic bag prints.

To make it easier with two boys printing, I had three bags for each color.  I would roll more paint on one while the boys were printing the others, so there was always one ready to go.  We did red, then silver, and then blue/yellow.

They drew, scraped, and scribbled with various things to remove paint before printing.

The third pass they painted on the bag themselves.

The Redhead is much more free with his artwork, which is actually very inspiring to me, and often turns out with awesome end products.

Monkey tried several representational prints.  He was inspired by his brother to let loose, too, though.

Monkey's favorite print (mine, too).

They were having fun, and I decided to do some printing of my own.  I broke out the gocco and printed a run of birthday cards (old screen, new colorway).

Monkey helped me and was fascinated.  He doesn't really remember helping me before.  I think it's time for someone else to make his own cards... :)

2013 Christmas Cards

I decided to silkscreen my Christmas cards this year.  And I had this little doodle/design stuck in my head.  Finding time to do it... not easy.

But one day was just THE DAY.  I didn't even clear off the table (always a mistake, where do you put the cards to dry?), I just realized I had an hour and could get a bunch done.

Burning the screen.  Once that is successfully done the rest is cake.

Inking.

The first prints pulled.

I had planned this to be on mint cards with gold ink.  But... wasn't loving it as much as I thought I would, so I tried other colors, too.  Pink!

Brown.  That's the color I ended up liking best.  The gold is very subtle on it (too subtle, some would say).

I had to make dinner - so I had The Girl help me print some.

As long as the gocco is out, might as well print up a handful of moleskine notebooks, too.

I tried to get a shot of the ink in the sun, it is shimmery and I like it.

So the design?  Nutcracker!  No wonder I had it stuck in my head!  I tried to represent each part of the ballet in some little doodly way.   Not loving these as much as the last time I printed my own cards, but they're fun.

These were a little harder than Costco cards.  Buying cardstock and envelopes, designing the card, printing the card, trimming the photos and taping them inside... But I'm glad I did it.  And now I already have ideas floating around for next year's card.

Always a fulfilling sight:  the mailbox is full!  Check and check.

I wish I could send one to all of you.  Merry Christmas!  I hope you have a wonderful holiday.

 

New moleskine print

This summer I silkscreened (with my gocco) a new moleskine design.  Because I'm truly sold on making my lists/sketches all in one place.   I had just finished my last notebook, and it's more fun to switch to a fresh, new notebook when it has a fun, new cover, too.

(Did I just use too many commas?)

I really love printing on these little notebooks.  That's why I stock up on them when Chronicle books has their big sale (a boxful just arrived yesterday -whee!).  They're handy to have around for little gifts, too.

I think it's a fun design.

Here are the notebooks I regularly carry around with me:

Three pocket size plain moleskines (my fave).  One is current, the Ok Ikumi one is the one I just finished (and finished so fast when I was sick(est) that I needed some of the lists in it still (birthday planning)).  The pink flower one is older... I don't know how it got in there, but I don't want to lose it.  It's along for the ride?  I'll file it soon. The larger size moleskine is my school planning notebook (the cover is stamped) where I keep lists and ideas for their current subjects, and the cheapo black planner is where I try and keep track of what we've actually done each day.  I carry the school ones with me and work on them while I'm waiting for the boys at taekwondo.

Um, yeah, I like me some lists... you?

And I'm nearly finished with this one... time to come up with a new design!

New Birthday Cards + Giveaway!

I've been wanting to get out my gocco for a while.  I've been wanting to make some new birthday cards for quite a while - my cake cards are just about gone!

Finally, my mom's birthday gave me the deadline I needed to actually make that happen... the night before - because that's how I roll!

I made a 2-screen design - really really simple, but the first time I've done that with the gocco, so that was fun.

The first pass was the multi-colored one.

When they dried I printed black on top.

Finished card:

It's just a doodle I've had in my sketchbook, but I think they turned out cute.

I printed on a variety of cards - thin and thicker, grey, white, cream and pink.  Oh, and speckled.  Always fun to experiment.

The registration was pretty easy - and I made the colored circles slightly different sizes than the balloon outlines on purpose - I like the slightly 'off' look.  I actually like the ones that are more 'off' better than the ones that aligned perfectly.

Would you like some?

I printed plenty - so I have two sets of five cards (and envelopes) to give away!  Because it's been way too long since I've done a giveaway!

Just leave a comment (no seriously, I'd love to know I'm not talking to myself here) - and I'll draw a name ... Friday?  Sure.

**UPDATE - GIVEAWAY CLOSED - WILL DRAW NAMES TOMORROW!**

A whole lotta handmade

We had a delightful Christmas - I hope you did, too!  We are loving having Aaron home to enjoy some time off, so we're definitely still in vacation mode over here.

Anyway, now I can show you the last of the handmade gifts - since they've been opened.  I had fun putting them all together.

Part three of the handmade gifts for the kiddos:  I made the girl two new cushions for under her loft bed:

Both made of Heather Ross fabrics that I had around.  I have a quilt top pieced out of her Mendocino line and used the scraps to make the pink pillow.  And she's been wanting a horse pillow since I made some for her friend.

I made some cousin dolls for my niece and nephew (an AngryChicken idea).  This was a way fun project. I made them collage style, with (overly large) photos for the heads and bodies cut from fabric and paper.

 

Scan, print onto iron-on transfer paper, iron onto muslin, back with a cute print, stuff and they were done.  ...Actually, it was easier than it sounded just then...

I like them, even if my sister called them voodoo dolls.

Besides the annual Shutterfly book for the grandparents (which counts as handmade in my opinion), I put together a handprint canvas from the grandkids.

My parents had us made a handprint canvas for my grandparents for Christmas in 1989 (exactly 20 years ago!) and it now hangs in their own stairwell. Now they have one of the next generation as well.

I wasn't sure if I'd be able to pull this one off, since I had to get the canvas to California for the other grandkids, but it worked out -thanks, Kari!

I finally made Aaron a PSP case - he'd been keeping it in a sock for a long time...  it's a dark stretch denim lined with a soft wide wale corduroy (and a biohazard symbol freezer paper stenciled on).

Neighbor gifts were crocheted dishcloths with dish soap.  My kids were less than impressed at what we were giving.  I think they wanted to give everyone candy or toys but oh well.  I was impressed with my big stack of dishcloths that I made myself!  I made... 16, I think?

 

And finally, I gocco'd some moleskines to give to my sibs.  And forgot to take photos of all of them together, but here are a few:

Oh, yeah, and I made my mom a stack of fabric swatch portraits for her new pretty sewing room.  I'll have to take photos when they're all hung.

Whew! 

And you'd think my project list was quite a bit shorter now...

How is it not?

Karl's cards

A belated Christmas gift finished at last:

I printed some contact info cards for my brother.  He designed them.

It was my first project in my new crafting closet (which is almost done).

It was really cool printing in my newly organized space!  So much that I later finished the last belated Christmas gift I had to make!  I'll show you that one on Monday.
Have a great weekend!

(AND HAPPY BIRTHDAY, MOM!)

2008 Christmas Cards

Last year I picked up some Hallmark Christmas cards at a post-holiday sale.  I think they were 90% off.  But that was before I knew I'd be getting a gocco for my birthday! 
How could I not design my own cards this year?

I started by making silhouettes of the kids, and just added to it.  I'm really happy with the finished product.  The gold showed up well on the red, the design printed well, and I just love those silhouettes.

There is a wallet-sized photo of the three of them on the inside. 

I wish I could have sent them to all of you, my friends, so here's wishing you all a very Merry Christmas!  I hope you enjoy your holiday.

love, kirsten

Cat + Alien

For my brother Kris's birthday I made him some cards he designed himself.  He didn't know that he did, though.  He drew this drawing in the back of a book he gave me for my birthday.  I thought it was way fun, so I screenprinted him a set to give away.

And I printed the mailer, too - so I hope he liked his happy mail!

Happy belated, little bro!  It was truly the post office's fault that this was late - not mine!

Princess Goccos

One of Princess' birthday gifts was a chance to use my gocco to print her own stationary.  Well, we finally got around to it on Friday.

 

She drew the image, and helped to burn and ink the screen.

And then she printed.

A lot.

And matching envelopes. 

I love these prints  - I have one hanging on the fridge.  She made like 50 cards - she'll be writing on them for a couple of years!  I guess she needs a kid's gocco swap...

I've scheduled art for Fridays this year - in the hopes that we'll actually do more of it.  So we're going to do printmaking for a while - different techniques, different artists, etc.  Awesome.

p.s. Monkey threw the hugest, saddest tantrum because he couldn't gocco, too.  Huge tears and much crying.  I didn't even have any bulbs left, so I really couldn't let him.  He had quickly drawn a 'silly rocket' and demanded to ink it with orange and print it. Oh my boy.  The only thing that calmed him down was letting him use my official gocco pen.