Linoleum Block Carving & Printing - a Craft Club's project.

Several weeks were involved in learning this printmaking technique in which a sheet of linoleum mounted on a wooden block is used for a relief surface. A design is cut into the linoleum surface with a sharp V and/or U-shaped chisel, with the raised (uncarved) areas representing a reversal (mirror image) of the parts to show printed. The linoleum sheet is inked with a roller and then impressed onto paper.

My "Angel" pattern was traced onto the block; then outlined with a marker

Carving away the linoleum not part of my pattern

A variety of colors of inks and papers were used for printing

Our prints waiting to dry.

Memories of Lena lives on in Santa

An elderly woman named Lena passed away this year. This photo of "Santa" was created by using Lena's personal items. Fur from a coat; a table cloth; a holiday scarf; a broach; a salad bowl etc.

The story and Santa as shared by a member of my Craft Club is this:

Her "Santa memory" arrived recently in the mail and was a surprise. An artist friend of the family was hired to create one for each member of the family. We didn't take it apart, but could see the base is a small wooden salad bowl turned upside down. The body is actually a stuffed paper bag glued to this bowl then decorated with personal items. The head and face may be made of clay or paper mache and painted.

I'm so impressed with the idea and wish I had thought of this when my mother and mother-in-law passed. Not too late after I pass though...just saying.

A Felting We Will Go...

Needle Felting is a technique recently learned at craft club. Some wool, a special needle, a piece of foam and an imagination is all that's needed.

A store in my neighborhood - Fiberwood Studio - sells a colorful selection of wool. It took very little wool for my animal projects so it was not expensive at all. I did invest in a couple of needles but with a 40% off coupon at Hobby Lobby that also was inexpensive.

Here are a few finished projects I'll pass on to the grandchildren this holiday season:

These next four are pages of a "Pocket Book" for the 1-year old:

SPICY!

Spent a few minutes today going through my spices, herbs etc. Some of them looked pretty old so I started sorting them. Turns out I have 60 different jars and only 10 have not expired!  Guess I'll be making a stop at Penzey's soon to pick up some fresh ones, but only a dozen will actually be replaced for now.  If you're interested, here's a link to a Penzey's coupon!

Look through your spices - can you top my list of 50 expired spices?

accent

Adolph's

arrowroot

basil

caraway seeds

celery seeds

chervil

chili powder

chives, freeze-dried

cilantro leaves

cloves, ground

coriander

cornstarch

cream of tartar

cumin, ground

cumin, seed

curry powder

dill weed

fennel seeds

garden mint

garlic powder

garlic salt

ginger, crystallized

ginger, ground

Italian seasoning

Lawry's seasoned salt

lemon pepper

mace

marjoram

nutmeg, ground

old bay seasoning

onion, minced

onion, powder

orange peel

paprika

paprika, Hungarian hot

parsley leaves

pepper, cayenne

pepper, coarse ground black

pepper, crushed red

poppy seeds

poultry seasoning

rosemary leaves

sage, ground

sesame seeds

tarragon  leaves

thyme

turmeric

yellow mustard powder

yellow mustard seed

Broken Dishes Mosaic

A visit to Goodwill recently provided most of what I needed to create another mosaic. A wooden crate and several plates. The cashier was a bit taken back when I said don't bother wrapping the plates. I plan on smashing them with a hammer.

The inside of the crate is painted gold, but the outside bare. Appearing to be pressed wood but sturdy enough to handle what I had in mind I taped off the inside; lightly sanded the outside, and sprayed it with white primer.

The solid color plates were wrapped in an old towel and smashed with a hammer on the driveway to break into small pieces.  Because the pattern plates would be the focal point I used my craft club teacher's tile nipper tool. It provides more control than a hammer.

Once I had a variety of pieces I decided to use the pattern pieces as flower petals and surround them with dark blue pieces.  I did have some solid light blue and yellow pieces but they didn't provide the contrast I was after.

As with my previous mosaic, I used a premixed combination adhesive/grout. It was like frosting cookies and worked great to adhere each piece to the crate.

An acrylic paint "Payne's Grey" provided a pretty blue to tint the white adhesive/grout before grouting.

The final touch is a border painted with the "Payne's Grey"  on the handle inserts and the top edge.

Now - what should I use it for...yarn, magazines, or gift it back to Goodwill?

The Power of Fragrance

The sense of smell is something I hope never to lose. A cup of coffee; cinnamon; bacon are just a few of the scents that wet my appetite. An apple pie in the oven; a turkey roasting; and sauteed onions and garlic will make my head turn immediately.

Something else though are perfumes and colognes. When I was a young girl, women wore fragrances to mask body odor or to cover up cigarette smell. That habit seems to have waned with the advent of antiperspirants and so few smokers. I don't remember when I stopped wearing cologne; probably within the past 6 or 7 years.  Eliminating fragrance at work became an "unwritten" rule.

Some of my favorite memories though are triggered by fragrances worn by women. One of my favorite aunts always wore "Shalimar". The fragrance can be described as vanilla, powdery, and sweet. I enjoyed hugging her because I loved her smell.  My mother's was Coty L'Aimant - a delicate fragrance combining rose, orchid and golden jasmin softly embraced with sandalwood and vanilla. After mom passed away 34 years ago, I found her L'Aimant small solid perfume container in her jewelry box. I still have that jewelry box and perfume container. The fragrance is quite faint, but still there.

My fragrance is Chanel #5...a complex fragrance which does not allow any of the components to be isolated out of the composition. It is one of the very first gifts "sweetie" bought for me when we were dating. He kept buying me that fragrance for many years. Over time we mutually agreed to stop purchasing gifts for one another and I'm still OK with that decision; but I sure do miss that Chanel #5.
The thought of purchasing it for myself never occurred to me.

This past week while cutting through Macy's at Mayfair I walked the gauntlet of women's fragrances. Typically I ignore them and even go out of my way to avoid that area, but for some reason I walked right through the middle. On impulse I stopped at the Chanel counter and asked if they had Chanel #5 in a spray bottle. Of course they did - in two sizes and three forms. So I bought the smallest bottle. Not cheap that's for sure! Lets just say before tax; it was very slightly under $100. Of course I bought it. I love it and intend to gently spray it on every once in awhile.

I hope if you hug me, you'll like it too.

Grandchildren are such fun!

It is fun to watch the grandchildren grow. In 2013 grandchild #3 arrived much to the delight of everyone.  Just for fun I put together an album with a few of my favorites from September 2013 to September 2014.  Enjoy!

"Fancy Lady" Mosaic

Another project as a result of the Tuesday "Milwaukee Rec Dept Craft Club" is a mosaic. We've played around creating mosaics with paper and jewelry, but this time got serious. For several weeks we talked about what we might use as a base, and what to use as mosaic pieces. Our teacher brought in quite a few different types of tile from "Hobo".  She also found oblong wooden trays at "Goodwill" so we now had our base. My base came from my basement - a round wooden tray someone had given me many years ago.

For the mosaic pieces, my first thought after visiting the local dollar store was to use pebbles or glass gems. I did test out the glass gems by gluing them on a glass candle holder but didn't want to use them on a tray. Instead I found shinny glass tiles at "Home Depot".

The day I brought them to class, our craft teacher also brought in some four inch painted tiles to use as a focal point. There were several really cool designs, but I really like the fancy lady. Using the adhesive, I set the fancy lady tile off center and swirled the glass tiles around her. The grout we were using was white. I wanted to soften that and try to match the light grey in the fancy lady tile so I added "Payne's Grey" acrylic paint to the grout. It did work, but isn't quite as dark and I thought it would be. Anyway I'm quite pleased with the result. Instead of using it as a tray, I'll probably hang it up...probably in my kitchen.

Beginning to glue glass tiles on my tray

"Fancy Lady" off center

Preparing to grout the tiles. Protecting outside wood & "fancy lady" with painters tape.

Waiting for the grout to dry.

"Fancy Lady Mosaic"

This project was loads of fun - messy but fun!  I visited "Goodwill" last week and found a small wooden crate to use as a base for a new mosaic; and bought several Fiestaware plates to smash and use as mosaic pieces.  Never a dull moment.