I saw a tutorial on a blog a few weeks ago about how to make scratch block mono prints using sheets of Styrofoam so this week K and I had a go at it. Of course we didn’t use ink and this was our first try but I think the results were ok considering those things.

First she drew with a pen into some cut sheets of foam that I’d collected:

Tip: Push reasonably hard to get a nice deep groove

Then she used my little brayer to roll poster paint onto the sheets



Tip: For our version we were TRYING to fill the grooves and have less paint on the flat surface, you can do it the other way around if your grooves are really deep and you use ink. If filling the grooves, make sure there is less paint on the flat surface. Also, I recommend using a sponge as Heather suggested in a previous paint related post to fill with paint before rolling. This would give the brayer a nice even thin layer of paint (I have no sponges right now so we didn’t)

Then you lay the image face down on a clean piece of paper and rub the back of the foam with a spoon or something like that.

These are her best prints. The pink one is meant to be her. I like it!

This was fun, she was amazed at the pictures she made and in the future we will try some ink I think.

I thought it was time I showed some new items that are in my Etsy store. I have made the last lot of mica shift into some earrings, pendants and rings and they will be listed soon. The most recent pieces I’ve listed include:

Feminine Florals Barrette

Aqua Necklace Set

Olive Green Elegance Earrings

and eventually I will be listing these, the new mica shift jewellery (if you are interested in any of these pieces, drop me a line and I can arrange it):

Pendant

Ring

Pendant

Pendant

Earrings

Earrings

Earrings

About a month ago I joined a swap which is being run by Cas over at Snailblazer. Its been a while since I’ve joined a swap so this should be fun. We had to send 10 items to Cas and she is going to organise them into even piles and distribute them. I can’t wait to see what everyone has done. Here’s a sneak peek of my little piles of goodies which I sent to Cas a little while ago:

For a while now I’ve been wanting to try out making my own stamps. Its something similar to linocut but the rubber is much softer to cut into which makes it faster. I would like to do linocut again, haven’t done that for a while. When I did lino and wood cut back in TAFE (years ago now, let me see, would have been around the mid 90s) I really enjoyed it. I like all of it except the messy oil based ink you use. Fast forward to the early 2000s and I did print media again at Uni. This time I got to try etching, monoprint and more linocut. I must say that Linocut was the winner there. Monprinting was a bit dull and etching was a bit scary (acid etc…). I did love the etching results but not the process. I did some screenprint too but enjoyed lino more. I think its the process of cutting away that is so soothing and relaxing and the end result is nice and clean.

One of my etchings from Uni days

I always thought that since I don’t have my own press at home (and am unlikely ever to), that I couldn’t do linocut at home. I should have remembered from teaching linocut in Africa, where I had to improvise that a brayer or burnisher works just as well. The kids there did some great work even though their tools and ink weren’t the best.

Back to the carving. I have finally managed to transfer some of my little moleskine sketches into stamps and try them out. Here are the results so far:

I was about 8 years old and my stationary addiction had already set in. Mum had bought me one of those fancy pens that has four different coloured inks when you press down each button and I couldn’t find it anywhere. I’d searched all through my bedroom and in all my drawers and still no pen. Being 8 years old I started to cry, Mum wouldn’t be happy if I’d lost that pen already and then I had a thought. Pray. ‘Ok’ I thought ‘I will’. Simple and quick. ‘Jesus, I can’t find my pen!’ and instantly an inaudible voice, much like a thought entered my head, ‘look in the bottom drawer’. I’d already looked but I opened the drawer anyway, moved some papers and there it was. I know there are people who will put this down to coincidence, some sort of repressed memory or something else but I know that this was God answering prayer. I have carried that with me all this time and I still rely on Him to help me in all sorts of situations. Simple I know, but remembering is a good thing.

There are 233 references in the NIV Bible that use the word ‘remember’ or ‘remembered’ and over half of these refer to God reminding the Israelites not to forget the things he has done for them in the past. He constantly uses symbols within their rituals that remind them repeatedly of the ways that he has looked after them, blessed them and rescued them time and time again. Even the rainbow is a symbol used to remind them of an event that changed the world and they are called to remember.

Our Pastor preached this week about the importance of remembering the ways that God has looked after us in our past and he talked of combining this with forward looking to how he will consistently do this in our future. He talked about putting into practice the art of thinking in two directions – looking back and looking forward at the same time. Worry, doubt and discouragement raise their ugly heads when we forget to look back. We only worry when we forget that God looked after us (or a loved one) in the past and that he never changes. If you can’t recall God doing this for you then it may be that you don’t have a relationship with him.

I am planning on writing regularly about times in my past that God has looked after, blessed and rescued me. I will be writing these things to remind myself of God’s love and care for me, if you find what I write encouraging then thats a great bonus.

Isaiah 46:9
Remember the former things, those of long ago; I am God, and there is no other; I am God, and there is none like me.