Sunday, December 14, 2008

Happy Holidays

OK, so clearly I've been neglecting the blog...but it's not like I haven't been crafting at all. So let's get to business. :)

So I've been experimenting with my gocco, which I totally love and have been trying to stock up on supplies. Word is that no more presses will be sent to the US and the supply market may be drying up by the end of the year. Luckily, I have about 150 screens and bulbs to get me through my various projects. Here's my latest...of course they were printed like a month ago and I haven't sent them out yet. Isn't that just the way with holiday cards? But they turned out well, I think. Drawn with the carbon Riso pen, I thought this not only captured the holiday spirit, but I tried to incorporate my own little science-y take on things.


So this next one is probably my favorite card that I've made in a long time. I was doodling during another boring science talk (I tend to go to a lot of these) and happened to sketch a picture of Washington State. Which then had to have a happy face, 'cause that's just how things go. And "voila!" The Happy Washington card was born. What's great about gocco, is that you can print multiple colors at once, so this was done with only one screen and 3 different inks. I haven't tried to register anything yet (registering is when you use multiple screens and have to match them up). In any case, I was more than pleased with how this turned out...also drawn with Riso pen and printed on notecards from Target.


Ooooh, yay! So for my birthday. In celebration of my 30th (!) birthday, I had a prom-themed dance party. In the age of the evite, I think people really appreciated getting a real invitation in their mailboxes. We dressed up and danced to 80s and 90's music and it was awesome.


OK, so a change of subject, but still fun! I've been experimenting with making pop-ups. :) 'Cause, you know, I have to try anything that has to do with paper. This one turned out particularly well...people at work were brainstorming about a tuberculosis pop-up book...we'll see. I'd love to do that instead of my dissertation, but somehow I doubt that my committee will go for that.


Back to basics...books! These last few picture are of books that were custom made for my Auntie Grace to give to her friends. They measure 9 x 11 with 20 pages of cardstock. Instead of using solid colors on the inside, I used fancy, printed paper on the inside. I'm partial to using non-patterned paper on the inside, especially if the paper on the outside is very ordered.