Pounce Wheels

When making sheets of artistamps, I use decorative scissors or pounce wheels. Some people in one of my swap groups wanted to see the pounce wheel patterns and size. I made this guide showing the straight(ish) line and some torn to view the pattern. I believe I used the #12 in my last booklet of artistamps. Note: you can click on the photo for a larger view.

Hand-carved rubberstamp

I discovered my love for rubber stamps in college. I had a hard time finding stores that carried them and this was before the ease of the internet and on-line shopping. Several years ago I learned of letterboxing, which is a combination of clue deciphering, hiking, and rubber stamps. [To learn more about letterboxing check out AtlasQuest, Letterboxing North America and Wikipedia] That's when I started carving my own rubber stamps. I am self-taught but wish to learn other methods or ways to do more intricate designs.

Last year I hand-carved a rubber stamp for a swap I did on Swap-bot. It was sender's choice. My partner likes leaves so I decided to carve a Buckeye leaf. After looking at images online, I hand drew a leaf with pencil. I then rubbed the pencil drawing on the block of rubber and carved.The end result with my initial pencil drawing and the inked stamped image.

I sent the stamp to my partner the Netherlands. I liked the carving so much that I did another one for myself!

Happy New Year!!

For New Year's Eve, John and I decided to do something different. My sister and her family had given us a gift certificate to Ohio State Parks for Christmas. Since the weekend was supposed to have mild weather, we went to Mohican State Park and got the New Year's Eve package. By Friday all the snow was melted and we didn't even need coats.

This is the view from our room in the lodge. Each room has a private balcony with chairs.

The two-night package included a gift of champagne (sparkling wine), two champagne flutes, and a box of chocolates. The buffet dinner Friday night was quite tasty and part of the package.

The DJ party was fun with lots of decorations, hats, and horns. But my husband did comment that it felt like we were at a stranger's wedding reception since we didn't know anyone. We met some interesting people and I was surprised to learn so many were locals. But there isn't much else around there for party venues.

The package also included New Year's Day brunch buffet. This is the view from our table.

We stayed in the lodge through Sunday. It rained most of Saturday so we didn't get to hike like I wanted to. Around 11pm on Saturday the lodge lost power. The emergency lights turned on in the hallways and lobby but the rooms were pitch black. John and I hung out in a seating area near a light in the hallway by the lobby. We were given flashlights (a shake-to-charge kind and a left over Halloween themed kid one). Soon a bat was flying around the lights and causing a commotion in the lobby. John turned on his flashlight to get a better look at the bat...and the bat flew towards his light. He kept his flashlight off after that and I had a good laugh. Overall, it was a very nice, quality time, relaxing weekend.

The latest Book Arts class projects

The recent book arts session ended before Christmas and I am finally posting photos now. I will be taking a break from the class for a bit but hope to visit or register again in the future.

We made a needle case which turned out quite well. I went to class without planning out the design or color combination - and yet it turned out perfect. The class has helped me loosen up in my arts and let it flow. I am slowing letting go of my planning /anal tendencies.

The spine is bookcloth and the covers are scrapbook paper that happened to match well. The closure is binding thread with beads wrapped around two buttons.

The cloth inside is an old blanket cut up. The end sheets are wallpaper samples.

A view of the spine and the case open. The back cover has a flat bead where the strings come out.

The last class day we did a folded altered book. Some people made angels or trees out of the design.

I used mine to hold all those photo Christmas cards I receive that won't stand up on their own.

Christmas 2010

Yes, Christmas is over but I finally have time to post some photos. This year I actually did some baking! A tin of cookies and bottle of wine appeared on our doorstep one evening with no note. Since we are in a new neighborhood, I decided to start the tradition of giving my immediate neighbors gifts (I had debated a while about starting such a thing since I will have to continue it each year). We still don't know who left the goodies.

I made cornflake wreaths (in the background) and two kinds of ginger snaps.

I also bought and decorated glass ornaments with alcohol inks (spread inside the ornaments). They were all supposed to be gifts but I gave just a few out and put the rest on our tree. I really liked how they turned out.
We drove to my parents house in Valparaiso, Indiana to spend several days there. My sister and her family took the Amtrak train from the DC area to Indiana.
One day we had lunch at Industrial Revolution. The restaurant had construction worker figures on the roof like they were eating lunch (but their lunchboxes look like laptops) while building a skyscraper. Inside were a few other figures, TVs with documentaries and old comedies (like the Three Stooges), and a train track going around the perimeter of the ceiling.

On the 24th we drove to Lafayette to meet my brother and his kids ("halfway" between Valpo and Indy) for a few hours. Along I-65, there are fields of wind turbines now. I hadn't been that way for quite a while and was amazed at how many were there. We went bowling and had lunch. The cousins got to spend some time together and the adults got to use the gutter bumpers in bowling [it sure helped my score!].

On the 25th we went sledding! I hadn't gone for years. Above is a photo of John and Hannah going down backwards. One of the sleds always turned around part way down the hill - didn't know which way was forward.
This is my sister and her husband getting ready to race down the hill with some pushing from their daughters, Claire and Hannah. I hadn't planned on actually getting on a sled but I did. It was fun although the sleds were not really steerable (my brother-in-law did get a photo of me in mid wipe out).
My husband LOVES popcorn and eats it daily when possible. Last year, we stopped by a farm storefront near Delphos, Ohio on the way home for him to buy a 50 lb bag fresh from the farm. This year that couple had retired so he found another place in the same area. No storefront this time! The farm was busy with corn activity (loading trailers and packaging). He bought another 50 lb bag (and no, the other bag is not finished yet). The poor GPS (see in photo above) was a bit confused and wanted us to drive through the fields a couple miles to the highway.

Marbleized Paper

Last night in Book Arts class we made marbleized paper. It was fun to try various color combinations and designs. The above photo shows a color combination I used without stirring or "design" on brown craft paper. Below are photos of the steps I took and the resulting paper - still quite wet. We filled half the drying racks in the classroom. I look forward to seeing the dry papers next week.

Note: the dark "blob dots" of color are on the bottom of the tray and will not transfer to the paper.

Birds

The nuts and berries from our trees are attracting the area birds. At least, I assume that is what is drawing them to our yard. As they land and take off in large groups, I can't help but think of the Alfred Hitchcock movie The Birds.