Hand Made Christmas Cards

I have this old Speedball block print that I made years ago.  It's my favorite holiday card design. 

When I needed cards to tuck into Christmas gifts for my family, I dug this block print out.

It was lovely not to have to go out to shop for cards!  Instead, I played beautiful music, and printed up a stack of cards.

Once you've carved a design in a printing block, you can make all the prints you like, even years later.

  The process is easy.  

You squirt a blob of ink onto a smooth surface like the enamel pan above, then roll a brayer back & forth through the ink to form a smooth, uniform layer.  As you roll the brayer, it picks up a smooth layer of ink onto its rubber roller.  

Once your brayer is evenly loaded with ink, roll it over the block print, then lay a piece of paper on top of the block.  You transfer the print by rubbing on the back of the paper.  I rubbed with my fingertips.

I used water-based Speedball black ink because it's easy to clean up.  I printed onto 55 pound vellum paper. The thin paper picked up the ink beautifully and had fewer missed spots on the prints than heavier papers.

After the prints are dry, you can trim up any uneven paper edges. I used a paper cutter to get straight sides.

You can layer colorful papers under your print or just glue it onto a blank card.  I used Yes! Paste, a thick, archival glue that you spread on with an old credit card or palette knife.  The paste is thick enough so that the paper doesn't warp or wrinkle as it might with liquid glue.  You could also use a glue stick.

Make sure you sign each card you make!  I signed the backs.

If you'd like more details on designing and cutting your own block print, you can read this post.

Happy Creating & May Your Yuletide be Artful!

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!

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!

Making an Autumn Leaf Stamp

Inspired by the beautiful autumn leaves, I wanted to create a print for some greeting cards.  I began with leaves picked up on a walk, and sketched them in my nature journal.

When I was happy with my sketch, I made a copy to play around with, adding swirls and other design elements in pen.

I transferred my design to the block I intended to carve using an old trick. I laid down several heavy layers of graphite with a 4B pencil on a separate sheet of paper, then placed the graphite transfer paper graphite down on the stamp block, and placed my design face-up on top.  I drew slowly over each line with my mechanical pencil. 

After transferring the design onto the stamp block, I carved away everything but the design I wanted to print.  I used Speedball Lino Cutting tools to carve a Speedball Speedy-Cut block.  This is the type of block that's soft as cream cheese, and super easy to carve.  You have to be careful with the edges to keep from getting broken.

Finally!  I had the stamp cut.  It's best to wash off your stamp before stamping with it the first time -- I skipped this step, and wish I hadn't!  As I inked the design onto cards, little discarded bits on the stamp made goobers on subsequent prints. 

I cleaned up the stamp and pad, and then created some exciting artworks!

One delightful discovery I made after I printed a bunch of cards was that the design worked no matter which way I turned it.  Now I have a stack of fresh cards to send to family & friends, and that makes me happy.

Welcome Autumn!

Coffee Shop Fridays: Icelandic Volcano Cards & The 87% Rule

 

I never know what will come out of my Coffee Shop Friday night painting sessions.  Often, I experiment with abstract images, letting colors interact with each other and the brown paper that serves as my canvas.

After the paint dries, I take a viewfinder -- just a piece of cardboard I cut a rectangle out of -- and search my paintings for interesting sections to make into art cards.  

I used to be far more precious about making cards, taking hours to get everything "perfect."  But I know there's no such thing as perfect, and that attempting to create to that standard steals my joy.

So, I've developed The 87% Rule:  get the design to about 87% of what you think ideal is, and glue it down.  Move on.  This approach frees me up, helps me tap into my intuition, and keeps my creative flow going.  

And it's way more fun!

I have been watching videos of the Icelandic volcano, with golden & crimson lava shooting like a geyser, and flowing over the purple-black volcanic rocks.  White clouds of vapor often enshroud the volcano.  

I realized about halfway through creating this series of cards that my paintings expressed the heat and drama of the volcano.

Flames lick. Vapor rises.

Lava coils in the heart of the volcano, ready to explode.

By letting my intuition lead me in choosing paint colors, patterns, and card designs, I allowed my soul this visual discussion of the volcano, the power of nature, and the creation of a new landscape -- a new reality.  

Our minds express themselves in symbols and imagery.  It only makes sense that allowing our intuition to lead us opens the doors to express whatever we are processing internally.