Sketchbook for the week

Sketchbook challenge theme: Into the woods

Making foam stamps

I love making stamps.  There is something so satisfying about printing with my own designs.  There are many ways to make stamps.  I often make them from erasers but today I decided to try children's foam.  It is a very cheap product that is easily found at craft stores or dollar stores in NZ.

How to make them

What you will need

• A sharp knife or pair of scissors
• Craft foam
• Glue
• Heavy card
• paint or ink

1. Cut out the foam to the size you need with a pair of sharp scissors or a knife.  Cut a piece of heavy card the same size

2.Using a end of a fine paintbrush draw into the foam your design. Glue the foam to the card.

3. Put ink on the stamp or using a stencil brush load it with paint.  Then print on your project

This is another design I did with the same method. 

Another way to make a stamp is to cut out a simple shape

1. with a knife cut out a shape

2.  place the shapes you have cut out on to card and glue down.

3. Use the negative image left behind to make another stamp.  Then print with it with paint or ink

Some more designs

The ideas are endless for designs.  You are really only limited by the size of the foam and your imagination.

The kindness chronicles

When is the hardest time to be kind?  I find it really hard to be kind when I am tired or when I have had some experiences that have left a sour taste in my mouth or when I am just feeling plain blah! It is always so much harder for me to be kind when I am not feeling so great myself.  

But I have found out something very interesting when I am at my lowest and it just feels too hard to go and help someone else.  When I put myself aside and go and do something nice suddenly I feel better, more energised and I get a more positive attitude.  

Kindness is contagious.

Years ago I participated in a snowball service activity.  One person was given the task to go and serve someone 3 people.  Then when they had completed their 3 acts of service they had to go and put 3 snowflakes on the snowball on the notice board.  The next three people then went and served 3 people and put their 3 snowflakes on the snowball and so on and so on until the snowball was huge and each person in the group had been served numerous times.  

The outcome, beside a massive snowball that just kept growing,  was a sense of unity, love and friendship between the group and a feeling of peace in each person.  

Being kind is one of the best things for our health  and for our soul

Be kind today !!

Photography this week

I had a friend come over last week.  She bought me a beautiful bouquet of flowers which she had made herself.  They have graced my dining table and have beautified my home.  I love receiving flowers.  It is so nice to have there beauty in my home especially in winter when everything is bare and barren.  Thank you my friend for creating something so special for me.

Sketchbook this week

New Cardlets

Each of these cardlets Have used the same tools

The same stamps

And the same colours.

The only difference

Was the stencil I used 

for the last stage of the these little cards.

My finished cardlets.

On these cards I took the painted stencil and pressed down on the card to make a negative image.

Using the same materials is great  way of having a wee series born.  The pieces connect but are all different.

Wise words from Lyric Kinard

Introducing Lyric Kinard! Lyric is a textile artist from North Carolina in The USA.  She is such an inspiration.  I wanted to share with you today her monthly newsletter sent into my inbox this morning.  It touched a chord in me this morning. If you sign up to her newsletter or go onto her website http://www.lyrickinard.com/ she also has a very comprehensive list of shows to enter each month and her teaching schedule  for the year.

Find Joy, Be Inspired, Create Beauty When you've got it, you've got it. When you haven't, you begin again. All the rest is humbug. Eduard Manet One doggedly determined step at a time. There are things we do each day that make us who we are as people and especially, as artists. We walk to stay fit, we speak kindly to show love, we observe and sketch and develop our techniques to achieve mastery. None of these outcomes can be achieved overnight. Each of them takes daily practice. When we sit down day after day and keep grinding, something mysterious starts to happen... Unseen forces enlist in our cause; serendipity reinforces our purpose. Steven Pressfield It's the work you've already done that invites future inspiration.Sometimes you can get a burst of energy and you feel yourself literally running up the mountain. Sometimes making art comes in a massive burst of inspiration and out pops a masterpiece. But guess what? Only a well conditioned athlete will get that unexpected burst of energy and be able to run uphill. Only an artist who is already well versed in the techniques of her trade can easily translate that sudden burst of inspiration into a great work of art. What small daily practice will prepare you for your own burst of inspiration? ~Lyric Lyric Kinard, Artist, Author, and educator, can be found at www.LyricKinard.com You can sign up for her monthly newsletter here. © 2013 Lyric Montgomery Kinard. All rights reserved.

A new face book page

I have now got a Facebook page for all my happenings and comings and goings.  

Come and like me and join us on my journey every day.

https://www.facebook.com/catherineparkinsontextileartist

I'll see you there!!