Artistic Endeavors

 You know what they say about hobbies — there are actually two hobbies involved — one the hobby itself and the second is collecting all the supplies needed for said hobby.  

The first, the hobby itself, is an artistic endeavor for me.  As I have mentioned before, my father was a talented artist that flourished in the world of comic book artistry.  You might scoff and say that wasn’t a real job but indeed it supported us as a family and put me through college with no debt.  So, I think that qualified as a real job.  He worked for some of the largest comic publishers around at the time and I was always proud of his work and, to be honest, a little bit jealous of his talent.  I couldn’t draw a straight line with a ruler as the old saying goes so I found my outlet in embroidery, cross stitch, quilting and such.  I still enjoy those pursuits but a few years ago discovered cardmaking.  

An example of my dad’s work — he liked to do scary stuff!

So, cardmaking has sort of satisfied my need to “do art”.  There is a creativity to it that you don’t necessarily get with needle arts.  Playing with papers and stickers gives you a wide berth to make it “your own” whereas following a cross stitch pattern to the letter doesn’t — unless you change it up which I have never done.

Since I have been away from it for awhile and needed some inspiration, I have been watching lots of videos and learning new techniques and seeing new supplies.  One technique that well and truly caught my eye is monoprinting.  I fell down that rabbit hole instantly.

With monoprinting you use what is called a “Gelli plate” to transfer paint or ink onto a piece of paper.  I have watched at least a hundred videos about the process because it is an absolutely mesmerizing thing to observe.  So….I had to buy one.  They aren’t horribly pricey and I hope to get some use of it — or least an interesting blog post, probably of “bloopers”.

The Gelli plate 

A Gelli plate positioner to help cockeyed people like myself line things up — having a double astigmatism is a challenge when trying to do things “straight”. 

I haven’t tried it yet.  You will know when I do.  I have a shoebox full of acrylic craft paints which should work fine.  Also, distress oxide inks seem to work well too so we will see what I come up with.

Another area that I have been exploring are all the new paper, sticker, die, options out there.  There are any number of places to shop online for these things but a couple of places that I am drawn to are The Washi Tape Shop (thewashitapeshopw.com) and Paperwrld.com.  Absolutely gorgeous offerings from both of these and I intend to spend a good deal of time today creating in my mind — I need to hold off on creating from my pocketbook because I have already done a lot of that and like Natalie Bowers says “use what you have”.  So, after working on organizing my stash I have found a number of things that I didn’t know I had so I need to slow my roll (as my daughter likes to say) and get to “shopping” from my own stash.

And then, last but certainly not least, there are all the videos from the new-to-me and exciting crafters and creators of content.  I have mentioned Natalie Bowers several times and I really enjoy her videos and her approach to cardmaking, it speaks to be because it is doable.  However, there are so many others that represent various examples of expertise and I have enjoyed many of them.

So, in this cold and icky weather this is how I am spending my time these days.  It is a cozy pasttime, a little music, a little tea (or wine whichever suits you) some supplies and off you go.  And the good thing about it is — it’s only paper — not so precious that if you mess up it is ok! And I mess up a lot.  So, it is right up my alley and I hope to have some examples of my “work” (hahaha! Sounds SO arty!) here soon to share.

Have a wonderful Wednesday, all, and stay warm and safe!