Diversions

After a hiatus and period of reorganization, the HOW forums HOWieZine is back with issue #14: Coffee. As an occasional coffee drinker, I didn't have a lot of strong feelings about the subject, so my 'Zine pages do not have a lot of concept behind them - they are just visual contributions to the whole of the theme. I think that is what I like about this project - in the end you have a visual catalog of one theme interpreted by several different artists and designers.

My first page was done in the same style that I illustrated my 2010 calendar in - what goes better with coffee than donuts?! BFF :)


My 2nd page actually began as just brainstorming for my concept. After looking at the little drawings, I decided that a visual contribution in the style of sketchbook doodles was easily a concept in and of itself. There are so many coffee cup styles and coffee items, I thought this doodled collage would be an interesting addition.

Visit the newly renovated website for past HOWieZines and details: http://howiezine.com/

Friday & Fiona have been with us for almost an entire month now! Here is some video from May 7th. Friday & Fiona both went nuts for packing peanuts! They loved playing in the box and batting after packing peanuts on the floor. Enjoy :)

Here is my first attempt at making my own crafty headband. I ordered some more feathers so I could experiment some more. The feathers available at the local craft stores are pretty boring! This is just peacock feathers and some blue-dye feathers. I needed a couple more peacock feathers to really get the density of feathers that I wanted, but the pad I glued them to is black and it blends with my hair, so it's not that noticeable. However, there will be more experimentation to come! I like the way it looks - it makes my "up-do" hair days a little snazzier.

Last year Lifestyle Crafts released "The Letterpress" Machine much to the chagrin of many letterpress owners. When I heard about the machine, the only thing I wanted to know is if you could make your own custom plates. I didn't really care for the idea of creating presses from the same pool of "clip art" that everyone else on the planet would be using.

Why I bought "The Letterpress"
I checked out the review by Kristen at Papercrave.com and her update about custom plates. When I found out that you could, indeed, make your own custom plates, I was on-board because I could get the letterpress kit and the Epic Six by Quickutz for 50% of their regular cost with coupons and a partial gift certificate. If it hadn't been for the discounts, I probably would have waited. I bought "The Letterpress" because I wanted something new to play with, I don't have the room or the money for a proper letterpress, and thought this would be an inexpensive place to start.

My thoughts on "The Letterpress" System
Everything Kristin pointed out in her blog coverage is quite true. The ONLY useful thing in the letterpress kit is the plastic foldy plate that you must have in order to run it through the Epic Six press. The brayer was terrible, the foam stickies to hold your paper in place were hard as HECK to get off the plastic and therefore are not reusable or repositionable, and the plastic plates are HORRIBLE. One of mine was broken when I opened the package - didn't even use it yet. The others cracked upon rolling through the pressure of the machine. They were very cheap quality, so don't even bother with buying any others! I've already contacted them about replacement plates, but I'm not sure why I am bothering!

A bonus to having the whole system is that with the Epic Six, you can use it as a die-cutting machine. I haven't done that yet, but for those who scrapbook or make cards, that might be an added bonus.

Lifestyle Crafts Accessories
The accessories sold in the stores are bogus. Buy the ink - it seems to be of decent quality and the right size tubes for what you are doing. Buy the paper if you must, but you can buy 250 8.5 x 11 sheets of Crane 110lb Lettra online for $35-$40 bucks plus shipping and that is a much better deal. You can buy a palette knife for mixing inks in an art supply store. Use double-sided tape instead of their sticky adhesive sheets. Get your own brayer! I didn't like the size of their inking block either. Since I bought a 4" brayer (I would recommend a 4" or a 6") the block is too small. You can go to the dollar tree and buy a cheap document size photo frame and use the glass to roll your ink on.

My Experiment
As I am not made of money, I'm going to have to wait until I can get a custom plate made. A 6"x8" polymer plate from boxcarpress.com would cost about $35.

When I was buying my new Speedball brayer in Hobby Lobby, I saw these thin sheets of linoleum for print-making. They looked to be a little over 1/8 of an inch thick and I wondered if it would work in the little press. So, I picked up a 3"x4" sheet for $1.99 and gave it a shot.

The idea was to see if this linoleum would be hard enough and precise enough to make an impression into the paper.


1) I cut a simple little design out of the linoleum. You can see how thin the sheets are. It was REALLY easy to cut through. I really like this product. You can pick some up on Amazon - Easy to Cut Unmounted Linoleum by Richeson.
2) I tried to cut down as far as I could in order to make sure the cut-away areas wouldn't interfere with trying to get an impression.


3) Then I decided just to cut the excess away to prevent it from interfering with the impression.
4) I inked the little design and set it up to print on a little piece of the 100% cotton paper that came in the kit. (This photo was actually taken after I had already rolled a print)


5) For this first print, I took out ALL of the packing. The only packing that comes with the kit is one sheet of medium weight paper and the clear, plastic board with the grid. I took that plastic board out too because I knew the linoleum was thicker than the dies that come with the kit. When I rolled it through, it was easy to crank, so I knew there would be no impression. But, to my surprise, the Epic Six served as a nice little "printmaking" press. If I had inked my design better it would have been a more even print. The bad inking wasn't really my fault. My new brayer has issues...it must have been on the shelf too long because there is a "dry rot" area on it that the ink doesn't work well on. I'm not sure what is going on, but it definitely has a defect because that strip of rubber is darker and slicker than the rest of the roller.
6) For the second print, I put all the packing materials back in. Obviously, this was too much pressure. The ink spread and the cut-away areas of the linoleum began to press into the paper.

I found an alternate use!
So, I think another neat way to use this little "press" is as a linoleum (sheet only) carve print-making press. If you take out the packing that comes with the press and experiement with your own packing, this press makes a handy way to evenly press a hand-carved design. You could easily come up with your own way of registering your art so that you could print multiple colors.

For the Record
I do not think this thing will EVER replace the quality of a real letterpress. There are serious size limitations and most users will never take the time that you'll need to really perfect the process of making a print on this little plastic machine. Given the low-quality of the ready-made plates, non-art/design users are going to be disappointed with their results and have a hard time coming up with all the resources to make this endeavor worth it. I don't think that letterpress folks have too much to worry about - ultimately, there is no way that anyone can produce commercial quantities on this machine. The process of hand-inking the plate each time and cranking it through each time will limit the number of items produced. This process is to letterpress what Gocco was to screenprinting. I have ENORMOUS respect for the true art of letterpress. While this machine is fun to experiment with, I yearn for the real thing!

As some of you may know, our beloved cat, Figaro passed away this March leaving a gaping hollow spot in our hearts. Our quiet home needed a cat, so we adopted not one, but TWO. Here are my sweet lovely kittens, Friday and Fiona!

I've been going home everyday at lunchtime to check on the kittens just to make sure they are staying out of trouble. They like to get on our kitchen table. That is a terrible habit for them to get into, but it's hard to stop the little devils!

Today Friday has been featured on The Daily Kitten Web site! Tomorrow The Daily Kitten will feature Fiona as well! Check them out :)

This book is the most useful quick read you can ever invest in. It took me half an hour to read it, but I already want to re-read it. The Artist in the Office - How to Creatively Survive and Thrive Seven Days a Week is one of those books that just "gets me" and I immediately thought of at least a half a dozen of other people who I know would love it and understand it.

In the book, Summer Pierre examines the duality of a creative person - especially a creative person who is "stuck" in a job that renders their creativity seemingly useless. Even if you have a job in the creative industry (which I do), it's easy to feel like you are leading one life for your work and another for your creative self. Pierce takes you through several scenarios that open up your mind to the positives of the "humdrum" job and talks about ways to inject creativity into your daily routine. The ultimate message is to make the most of your days, start now, and take back your life!

While it is geared toward artists and creatives, I can see VALUABLE lessons in this book for anyone who is feeling less than satisfied with their work/life balance. This book is a giant pep talk on looking on the bright side and improving your life without making radial, fly-by-the-seat-of-your-pants changes.

We just finished another amazing doodle swap over at The Doodle Swap Project. Round five was the largest group yet - forty in total! This round (the first ever themed round) was themed "hand-drawn typography". I have to admit, it wasn't my first choice, but it really opened up a whole new level of doodling for me. I really, really enjoyed this and I am STILL thinking about words I would love to make into doodle creations. For my set, I chose to doodle song lyrics from some of my favorite songs. To see my doodles in better detail, check out my set on flickr.

This project presented me with the same problem I have when it's time to download new music. What song do I want? I know there was something I wanted to get, but I can't remember what it is. With this project, I knew there were TONS of songs I loved and there had to be some doodle-able lyrics in them somewhere. But, I was drawing a blank! Most of my lyrics went back to my favorite artists of the 90's. I have to admit, 3 of my doodles don't fit that theme because I was running out of lyrics! ha :)

I have decided to dedicate a small water-color sketchbook that my brother got me for Christmas to typography doodling. I will be on the look-out for interesting lyrics, phrases, or words that I can "illustrate" in my little watercolor journal. I am excited about the idea and I think I can fill up the notebook pretty quickly! I've already got a few started.

To see what other doodlers have done for this round, check out the flickr pool. Catch up with new events by visiting The Doodle Swap Project blog or become a "fan" on facebook!

Butch Anthony of Seale, Alabama may be my new home decor hero. On his 80-acre homestead he creates art, architecture and curiosity. Not only is this place his home, but it's also the "Alabama Museum of Wonder" and home to the Doo-Nanny folk art festival each and every March since 1996.

His self-built, log cabin home is a thing of beauty. The raw wood paired with stark white walls and unique details like windows made from beaver dam twigs are sophisticated Folk. His art is often repurposed items that would have been thrown away.

See more of Butch Anthony's home architecture in the New York Time's slideshow:
Backwoods Design and the Art of a Doo Nanny

Other Links:

Butch Anthony on the History Channel's series American Pickers

Interviews with Butch Anthony by Tommy Morehead: Part1•Part 2•Part 3•Part 4•Part 5

Doo-Nanny Official Web site

Sometimes I really have my stuff together, but sometimes I feel so overwhelmed with daily life. Get up. Rush to work. Work for 8-9 hours. Run errands. Go home. Do chores. Relax for about 2 hours. Sleep. Being a creative being, that routine can only sustain me for so long and then I need to DO something. I have a instinct to create or talk about creativity and if I don't have an outlet, I get a little depressed and stir-crazy. It even leads to burn-out which effects my job.

I was the April issue of Better Homes & Garden and saw their monthly calendar article which is usually themed. This month was "A Month of 'Me Time'". The advice is based on a book by Lisa Quinn called Life's Too Short To Fold Fitted Sheets. Isn't that the truth? Sometimes I look at all the work I put into a clean house and wish I could convert it all to energy spent creatively. Granted, I am the kind of person that needs to be in a clean, organized home, but wow, it takes up a lot of my time. And when I am done, I am tired. Hiring a maid is out.

I am a bit of a "homebody", but when I am at home, I don't get as much creative work done. A messy bedroom and a pile of unlaundered clothes are there to taunt me until I finally step away from what I am doing and attend to them. Last week, I went to the coffee shop with my portable art supplies to finish up a Doodle Swap Project swap. I was incredibly productive while I was there.

So what do I do when I feel like I'm drowning in a world without "Me Time?

For starters, I am involved in some creative group projects such as The Doodle Swap Project and HOWiezine. They are things that keep me happy and fill a creative void that my 9-to-5 job creates. These things keep my wheels turning and it's a great opportunity to share with a community of other artists. The organization of these projects takes place online and through social media resources, so it makes it very convenient to keep up-to-date.

I have a "studio". I have one room that is full to the brim with art supplies, books, my computer, and lots of inspirational trinkets. The trick is to keep it functional. I have a LOT of stuff and it gets a bit out of control at times. But, the great thing is that I have a place that is all my own. I can put on my favorite music, clear off my work table, and get started making something.

Because the internet is much more cultured that the area I live in, I take time out to look at other creatives online. I browse blogs and other creative Web sites for inspiration and project ideas. Seeing the things that other people have done lights a fire under my dormant ideas!

I take my camera and go for a ride. This is something I would like to do more of. When I go, I just focus on driving around (preferably in the country) looking for things that strike me. Then I pull off the side of the road and take photos. It's a great thing to do on a beautiful day.

As often as I can, I like to get together with other creatives in person and share experiences. If you can attend conferences and workshops then great! But, if you can't, having a creative buddy to bounce ideas off of is another useful outlet.

Even though I feel like I have made much progress in making time for the creative side of my life, I think that things can always get better. As most people do, I have good intentions, then life gets in the way. Maybe "A Month of Me Time" is a good idea. Perhaps I can start scheduling in times to be creative on a monthly basis to make sure I have one creative outlet per week.

What are some things you do to make time for your creative self?

I miss my blog. Facebook has lured me to it's dark side with it's quick to publish options and almost instant gratification. When I get notifications that someone "likes" my status or I get emails that someone commented on a photo, I know folks are listening. There is no doubt that Facebook's constant stream of information is a great way to share what is going on in your life or your work.

It's been quite a while since I have added anything to my blog. I have to admit, since the popularity of FB has skyrocketed, I feel like blog posts are almost obsolete. Facebook provides almost the same type of interaction in a quick, easy to publish way. The biggest advantage of blogs is the ability to elaborate on a subject, but most readers like quick messages anyway, so Facebook fits the bill!

Many times when I blog and share that blog post on Facebook, I receive comments on my Facebook profile rather than my blog comments section. Any commentary is good commentary, but when everything funnels back to Facebook, why bother with a blog? I try my best to practice what I preach and make sure I comment on blogs rather than the FB posts that share the blog posts.

Blogs are still outrageously popular when it comes to the major blogs that are practically full-time jobs for their writers. But, can the little guy's blog survive Facebook? What is the advantage of a blog for folks like me? I still look at other people's blogs, do you?

I recently added my 2nd Etsy item to my shop just in time for Valentines Day. This set of 4 friendship & love cards includes some artwork from my 2010 calendar as well as 2 new illustrations. I think these cards would be fun to give to friends or that special someone any time of the year! Each card is 4.25"x5.5" (A2) and the set includes 4 matching pink envelopes. They are printed on high quality Curious papers-it's part of their iridescent collection so they are sparkly too!

This is the first item that is actually shipped out in the mail, so I'm really excited and I can't wait to send them out! In celebration of my 2nd item, I'm going to make a special offer! The first person who purchases my 4-card set from my Etsy store gets not just one set of cards, but an additional set of cards for free when they mention this blog post in the comment section when purchasing! So, that's 8 cards for the price of 4! You can either give those extra cards out to friends, or make it a gift! Order now and you'll have plenty of time for card-sending during the month of February! :)

The animal group FoCAS (Friends of Cullman Animal Shelter) in Cullman, Alabama asked me to design a Christmas T-shirt for them to wear in the local Christmas parade. Animals are my soft spot, and since I have worked with them on T-shirts designs before, I knew it to be a pleasure! Donating time to help a cause that I love is always a treat. I was so glad to help them!

I updated my Etsy page to include some better photographs of my calendar! Hopefully these will compliment my product a little better!

Group shot of the loose calendar pages.


Hanging in my office.


Details of the illustrations.

Wow, I'm making my first venture into the world of Etsy a little late in the holiday season, however, I thought I would just jump in the best way I can at the last minute rather than wait for another holiday season to totally pass me by.

My 2010 "We Belong Together" printable pdf wall calendar is available on Etsy! This little calendar features 12 original illustrations by yours truly. It's a great way to celebrate friendship in the coming year. Makes a good last-minute gift because you just print it yourself on whatever kind of card stock you wish. The calendar is easy to print and assemble taking only 6 sheets of card stock, 1 easy cut up the center of each sheet, and a standard .25" hole punch (which is marked) to create the hole for hanging.

You can purchase my calendar on Etsy here: http://www.etsy.com/view_listing.php?listing_id=36449610

And I have the photos to prove it. Check out my set on flickr here.

Hello everyone! As the holidays approach, I start feeling crafty! I get some extra time off near the holidays and always want to pull my sewing bags out! Over the weekend, I was working on a few felt ornaments in the style that I made last year and decided to try something new. I just cut this cute little owl out of felt and began stitching! Afterwards, I was really pleased, so I scanned in the piece of felt that I cut his body out of and created a pattern to share. There are so many styles of owls you could create. I really love the little snowy owl! I hope you enjoy making these little guys - Christmas ornaments are a hoot! ;) Click here to download the PDF!

I'm not sure why, but I've always assumed that a lot of the high contrast, high detail photography was straight from the camera. But, I've learned that a lot of these fashion magazine style photos are enhanced by shooting a series of images with various rages of shadow/highlight. Those are merged into one High Dynamic Range Photo. Typically these HDR images are shot using the RAW file format on professional cameras, but I found a tutorial that gives you the run-down on getting that effect with just one JPEG image.

My camera will shoot RAW format, but they do take up quite a bit of space and are usually a waste of space and time for my needs. It is nice to have the option to shoot in that format because you can capture a lot of information that can be good for subtle and intricate ehancements.

I took one JPEG from my recent vacation photos and applied the HDR techniques from http://www.nill.cz.


This original image of Belize City was taken with my Nikon D40 from the rainy window of a bus. The rain on the window already gave it a vingetted blur effect naturally, and the colors were so vibrant, I thought I would use this photo as a test.



After the effects of the fake HDR enhancements, you see a higher contrast image, but without the loss of detail that you get with just adjusting the levels. The tutorials use of blending modes and transparency really helps create a nice surreal and dreamy effect.

For this image, I'm not sure which version I prefer but, the results of this effect can really change a photo's mood.

After sticking with the identity I created for myself in college, I decided it was time to freshen up my look. I think the biggest challenge that a designer will ever face is designing their own identity. It's something that defines you and is very close to you. It's something that brands you and your work and shows the world what you are all about. It's hard to find one symbol that sums up what your service or company is all about.

I knew when I first designed my logo almost 8 years ago, that I liked the concept of a designer who was willing to seek out unique concepts and look for solutions in any direction necessary to meet the clients needs. That is why I chose the arrow imagery.

When I knew I wanted to redesign, I wanted to keep the basic symbol of arrows, but I wanted something that was clean, simple, and a little more refined. I also wanted to emphasize the fact that I am a print designer. Those things led me to my updated look. The logo is encased in Cyan, Magenta, and Yellow and the take the edge off of the black, I went with 80% black instead. It's colorful, simple, and I think it reflects me and my design style much better than my previous logo. I'm truly happy with the new facelift!

I'll post photos of my new business cards soon. The colorful logo works well with French Paper's Pop-Tone in Lemon Drop and Razzleberry and French's Dur-O-Tone in Steel Grey. I'm very exciting to start handing them out! ;)

It's been a while because I've been a busy little designer! Last week, my coworkers and I managed to get ourselves a day-pass (thanks to Tamye Riggs!) to TypeCon 2009. So, we signed up for a workshop on Thursday and a full day of sessions on Friday.

Thursday's Hatch Show Print workshop was SO MUCH FUN! We met up at Portfolio Center in Atlanta at 9am and printed until around 4pm! It was a long day of messy inking and I loved every minute of it. Jim Sherraden is resident print-maker and historian at Hatch Show Print in Nashville, TN. Hatch is owned by the Country Music Hall of Fame® and operates like a working museum. Hatch is one of the oldest working letterpress shops in the USA and they have designed and printed posters for country music's biggest stars like Hank Williams and Johnny Cash.

Jim is a great guy to talk to. He got us started by giving us an overview of the print blocks and their history and gave us a basic review of print-making. After that, we got started - it really was a full day of printing. If you have the opportunity to take a workshop, it's well worth it. Check out my photos from the day on flickr.

The second round of doodle swapping is coming to a close! Doodles are beginning to show up in mailboxes and on the Web! Here's an over-view of all my doodles. Once again, I decided to challenge myself to be in ALL the groups, so I had 20 doodles to produce. Here are 19 of them - I somehow counted incorrectly, so one last-minute doodle is missing from this group of scans. Oddly, these doodles went faster than my last set of 16 that were less detailed! I loosened up my style and went with pure sketch-quality fast doodles and I really love the results. I need a sketchbook full of this kind of work. For some reason I find fruits, vegetables and desserts a lot of fun to draw. The watercolors were fun to work with on these sketches...and I worked with the color a lot faster on these than with round #1. I would say that each sketch probably took a grand total of 10 minutes each for preliminary drawing, inking, and water coloring. My favorites have to be the pear, tomatoes, icecream cone, and sandwich.

This round was like therapy for me. I've been overloaded with 32+ page projects that have kept me in front of the computer non-stop. It was nice to take a break and just draw...

For a closer look and my doodles and everyone else's too, see our flickr pool at www.flickr.com/groups/doodleswap

For the doodleswap blog check out doodleswap.blogspot.com