stamps

Easter stamping with my kids.

Not sure what we are planning on stamping for Easter. Never heard of cards for Easter or welcoming Spring. But my kids love stamps and they will love these homemade stamps. I've been focused on so many different mediums that it is causing me to take a few too many trips to the art store. While I am having great fun exploring watercolor and collagraph printing and drawing more than ever it is getting to be a bit of an expensive habit and not really inline with the minimalist philosophy. I don't see anything exactly wrong with buying supplies to make stuff. But I should question what I need before I do so. My storage space is far from unlimited. So for this week I will be focusing on materials that I have that I have been neglecting. Stamp making is easy and fun and something that I can do with the kids. These materials were literally sitting in a drawer untouched for years. I have not shown these new stamps to my girls yet. Can't wait to see their faces and see what we make together. 

hand carved stamps on stamping material (the pink is the best) and firm drafting erasers 

hand carved stamps on stamping material (the pink is the best) and firm drafting erasers 

Collaboration

Inspired by the magical creativity of my six year old daughter. Having just finished carving the large block that I have been working on since November and not feeling quite ready to start printing with it I needed something creative to do with my time. So I started a collaboration with my six year old daughter. I took drawings of her's and turned them into small woodblocks to print with her after school or on the weekend. Ideally when her little sister is not around or occupied with something else. So far we have a mermaid and a butterfly. The butterfly has eyes in her antenna as well as long eyelashes. Awesome! I have a bunch of these small blocks of plywood to carve so I can keep this up for awhile. Stay tuned for more carvings and the prints. 

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