Valentine's Inspired Weekly Planner

Snowed in and making Valentine's cards, I felt the draw of bright pink gouache paint for this week's planner page.  

I love Valentine's Day, making Valentine's cards and hearts in all shades of pink and purple!

Finding the theme, medium or idea that's inspiring to you is the first step.  The next step is to give yourself time and permission to play with that idea or material.  A weekly planner page is a great, low-pressure place to play.

Happy Creating!

Working in a Series: Valentines

I was grocery shopping the other day and spotted a display of beautiful commercial pop-up greeting cards that popped out into a box, like a diorama with layers of art and figures.  They folded shut to fit in an envelope to be mailed easily.  

Inspiration struck!  

At home, I watched YouTube videos on making your own pop up box cards, and I set to work, first sketching out ideas for designs to try.

I chose an envelope size of 5" x 7" and sized the cards so they would fold up and fit in that space.  The front and back of the box =5" x 5"

The sides = 5" x 1.75"

That leaves a tab of 5" x 0.5" to glue down to close the box.

I cut a stack of 5" x 14" pieces of watercolor paper, then measured and creased the folds.

Now I had a pile of paper blanks to try out those ideas from my sketchbook.

I also took walks to generate ideas.  I was struck by the beauty of the bare winter tree limbs against the bold blue sky, and the backdrop of white snow covering the ground.  Those walks inspired this tree & heart design.

As a lover of collage, I rifled through my basket of collage materials, and found artwork from a date calendar to make into a heart-themed diorama.

I found old music sheeting printed with hand-made heart stamps. They fit perfectly with some fluffy feathers of similar colors.

And I put together some of the leftovers to make simpler cards like this one.

Working in a series is a great way to get your creativity flowing.  You can try a variety of ideas, and if one doesn't work, you don't have to keep it. Having many iterations of a theme gives you lots of ways to succeed.

The process of trying out a variety of ideas, color schemes and materials can inspire new ideas.  You may decide to repeat some of your favorite cards.  

I liked the tree limb card so much, I made a bunch of them.

And of course, I had a few cards, not pictured here, that I threw away.

Working in a series can be freeing.  I hope you give it a try!

Happy Creating!

Valentines Wrap-Up

I created a block print in January to use as my Valentine's Day card artwork, and printed up a stack. You can find that post here:https://betsyblissart.blogspot.com/2024/01/a-valentine-print.html

The only step remaining was to glue each artwork to a blank card, inscribe it and pop it in the mail.

I set up a work station on the floor, cranked up my favorite music, and got to work.

A basket of hand-painted papers, that I created earlier, caught my eye, so I started incorporating them into the cards.  You can find photos of the papers here:

https://betsyblissart.blogspot.com/2023/12/painted-collage-papers-for-care-december.html

My original plan was simply to glue the prints directly to cards, but the painted papers added so much more life to the final card.

A recent visit to the Pittsburgh Center for Creative Reuse turned up four bottles of Higgins permanent ink in shades of pink, magenta, green and purple, perfect for Valentine's cards!

Dropping the cards into the mail lifted my spirits, thinking of my friends and family who would receive them.

Handmade greeting cards are a great way to share your art and show your love for someone.  I hope you give card-making a try!

Copyright Betsy Bangley 2024. All right reserved.

A Valentine Print

Valentine's Day is one of my favorite holidays.  It's all about love, chocolate and sending letters and cards to those you care about.

Each year, I fight back against the cold, dreary weather with bright colors, and hearts.

 

This year's plan began when I was in a local Michael's store buying supplies for a Pet Portraits class I was teaching.  On the way to the checkout, I passed down an aisle of brightly colored papers.  I couldn't help but pick up a pack of pink papers with Valentiney projects in mind.

I dug out linocut blocks and rubber stamps I'd carved in years past, and sketched up new ideas.

The songbird stamp bubbled up to the top of my idea list, 

and I transferred the design onto the rubber block with a graphite pencil.  

You can color the back of your design with a 4B graphite pencil, 

then place the graphite-covered paper on top of the rubber block, graphite side down.  

Now trace over the design with a pencil to transfer it to the block.

I began carving out the design, using Speedball carving tools and an X-Acto knife for the fine work.

Here's the finished printing block. I inked it up with a Ranger permanent black ink pad with StazOn ink.

I was happy with the final result!

Hoping you have fun finding your own way to create with color in winter!

A Blast from the Past

 
 I was digging through my printmaking supplies, looking for old Valentine's Day designs when I found this oversized postcard that I made in 2005.

I designed the art, then carved it into a linoleum block print. I printed up a batch of these on a variety of papers to make Valentine's cards for family and friends.

 I didn't have to travel to get the heart-shaped postmark. 

I shipped a batch of Valentine's cards in a manila envelope to the Postmaster of Valentines Virginia 23887 with a note requesting that they postmark and mail the cards from their town.  I included this postcard to myself so I could have a copy of the festive postmark.

You can still do this trick to get your Valentines postmarked with a heart.  Here are some cities to try:

Postmaster,  23 Manning Drive, Valentines, Virginia  23887

Postmaster, 239 N. Hall St., Valentine NE 69201-9998

Postmaster, 311 California Avenue, Valentine, TX 79854

For more information, check out the US Postal Service's Valentine's postmark information page:

https://about.usps.com/who/profile/history/valentine-post-office-names.htm

Wishing you a cozy, creative Valentine-making session!

Happy Valentines Day!

One of my favorite holidays, today is a day about love & eating chocolate, so it has long inspired me to make cards for friends and family.

I painted a variety of papers with acrylic paint, stamped with handmade heart stamps and commercial stamps, and created collage cards.

The best thing about collage is that you simply allow your right brain to nudge you towards different colors, materials and shapes.  My mantra was "There's no such thing as perfect."  

Get your creation close to "perfect," and start gluing things down!

Wishing you a Happy Valentines Day!

Valentines Update!

Every year, when the snow piles up outside, and the world is monochromatic, I am drawn to brightly colored paint and creating Valentines.  It's part self-care, and part caring for others.  

This year, I combined a masking fluid "pen" and bold Schmincke watercolors.  

• Step 1: Draw a simple design on watercolor paper with a masking fluid pen -- my masking fluid was unpredictable, so I let blobs & thick lines happen.  Sometimes I waited for the masking fluid to dry and then removed big puddles in the wrong places, other times, I incorporated them into the design.  
• Step 2: Let the masking fluid dry.  This takes 20-30 minutes, depending on how thickly you lay it down.
• Step 3: Paint!  The masking fluid allows you to place bold colors right next to each other without any unwanted mixing.
• Step 4: Let paint dry & rub off the masking fluid -- with a gum eraser or your finger. Add any extra touches you like with colored pencils, etc.
• Step 5: Glue artwork to a blank card to create your Valentine. 
• Step 6: Write your message; sign your card; & drop it in the mail.  You just made someone's day!

The beauty of using small pieces of watercolor paper is that you can set up a stack of them, and experiment without the pressure of making "perfect" art.  

I also found a Valentine rose card tutorial video from Ellen Crimini-Trent on her YouTube channel.  You will be surprised at how easy and relaxing this project is!

I hope you'll take the opportunity to play with your art supplies and create Valentines cards to share with the important people in your life!

Valentines Update

This time of year, with the snow and cold blustering outdoors, I find myself drawn to bright, bold colors and making Valentines.  Tonight, I brewed up some green tea, carved a new Valentine stamp, and tested it out on papers that I had previously painted with intense Dr. P.H. Martin's Liquid Watercolors.  Nothing like the thrill of bold black lines against vivid magenta, tangerine and violet!

The Speedball Speedy Cut block I used to create my stamp was super easy to carve. 

I painted on sheet music, pages from an old shorthand textbook, and dictionary pages.  The print added another layer of texture.

A finished card.