Layout...

Working on sizing and layout for the next Celtic knot work stamp sheet. All Loden's work.

Squids

Loden showed me a new way to "clean up" images to prep them for stamp sheets. It is great, but it doesn't seem to have cut down on the time it takes me. Really, much of the time spent is due to the irresistible urge to keep changing little things, here and there. A curve, width or slant of a limb, etc.


This squid image, at least, is done. The images on the left will be the stamp images. The ones on the right are reverse-value to see, roughly, how each stamp would look on velvet or stamped light on dark.

I still have to clean up one more squid image. We have an image of a cuttlefish that will probably be included as well. Between the two of us we also have sea weed, shells, a sand dollar and a horseshoe crab. We will have to play with sizing and layout to see what makes the cut.

Other ocean elements

A couple more draft versions of works in progress.

Celtic knotwork in the works

Loden is currently working on a range of Celtic knotwork designs for stamp sets. Here is a shot of one, in progress.

Squid, squid, squid, squid, squiddley-squid, squid, squid

Why yes, I'm still fussing with the squid designs.

No - that's not the half of all of the drafts and versions.

Yes, an image so "simple" and "cartoony" should take less time. But the arms and suction cups need to be arranged...

just

so....

hmmm...

Squid-dle-y doo

Drafts

I have been grabbing time here and there to work on an ocean-themed stamp sheet and have been caught up in an image of a squid. Questions about size, detail, how much "artistic license" to take in order to make it work as a velvet or clay stamp. An earlier version had much longer arms, but squid arms are not as long as those of octopi, in relation to the body.

Hope to wrap this up today, as I have many other ocean elements to get to. Want to get sheets into production before the ad comes out in Rubber Stamp Madness.

Virginia Lee Burton and Folly Cove

"Kitnip"

One of my favorite images by Virginia Lee Burton as part of The Folly Cove Designers.

I recently visited my family in Gloucester, MA and went to a new gallery in Lanesville with my mother - Flatrocks Gallery. It opened in what once was a new and used bookstore. (I can't find any good images on the web, and their website is currently bare.) They have a lovely outdoor garden space with sculptures and inside there are two rooms - one is the gallery and the other is still an operating bookstore. After looking through the art gallery we went into the bookstore and this book caught our attention: "Virginia Lee Burton: A Life in Art", by Barbara Elleman. We spent a good bit of time huddled over it, so my mother purchased it and slipped it into my suitcase without telling me. (Thanks, Mom!)

(Click on the book to flip through it on Google Book Search. Worth a look.)

Virginia Lee Burton wrote and illustrated several books for children: "Mike Mulligan and His Steam Shovel" and "The Little House" possibly being the most well known (full lists of books she wrote and/or illustrated are here).

I hadn't known that the person behind these books was from Massachusetts. It turns out that she had lived in Gloucester and was the central figure in the Folly Cove Designers. I had heard of the Folly Cove Designers before and had seen some of the work of a previous member before. The Folly Cove Designers carved wonderful images in linoleum and had quite an operation until Virginia's death in 1968. They printed on fabrics for the home that were sold locally and in some large department stores. More info and images here.

I love the style of the prints made by Folly Cove, and it is obvious that the aesthetic of the group was influenced by Virginia's "Arts and Crafts" style.

And, of course, the book has me thinking even more about uses for our rubber stamps. I'd been thinking lately about making images that fill the entire sheet, so that they can be inked and used much like large linoleum sheets (shown above). This book has me even more inspired to look into that option. Perhaps leaving enough space between individual elements in a sheet so that they could still be cut out and used separately.

Hmmm....

Illustration by Virginia Lee Burton.

Update:

I guess there is quite a revival of interest in VLB and the Folly Cove Designers. Just saw this PDF of an article in Vogue this past May: http://www.virginialeeburton.com/images/VLB_in_Vogue_May08.pdf

Tiling rubber stamps on paper

Click on the image above to see more photos on Flickr.

Loden played around with grouping stamps from our Moon, Stars and Trees, Fish, Waves and Bubbles, and Celtic Triangle Knotwork sets onto one acrylic block, then rotating and stamping the block over and over on paper (tiling).

I really like the results. We want to try them on fabric next. I see pillows, wall hangings, placemats, etc..

New Business Cards

We had many, many cards made... and then, of course, Loden worked on a new stamp design that we now wish we had put on the cards. Guess it is just added incentive to distribute these cards so that we can create a new design for the next batch!

And now we have to get the new website fully up and running...

(I've whited out the phone number in the image of the front of the card. Of course, anyone who physically handles the card will have the number...)

New Stamp Set - Pre-Order Discount

Update, April 4, 2008: I am leaving this post up, but the Pre-Order Discount for this particular stamp set is no longer available.


I've been away for the last week or so, but managed to do some final "tweaking" to the designs for our third stamp sheet and send the file off to the manufacturer.

Hopefully, we will have our first batch of sheets within a week or so. I'm posting a limited number of sets at a discount before we get the sets in our inventory. 25% off the usual price for a sheet. See our Etsy shop for any listings.

Happy St Patrick's Day!

Cards, cards, cards.

I just realized that these were appropriate for the day.

Taking part in a swap on Etsy. 20 people in the group - oops - probably a little too large a group. I haven't had the time to be able to make purely handmade items, such as embossed velvet balsam sachets, so I've printed out loads of the Celtic mandala cards last night.

Loads. of. them. Now they need to be sprayed with a fixative.

There are plans to come up with more card designs, eventually. But I think printed goods would be in their own shop on Etsy, and the clothing patterns will be moved to one as well. Need the current shop to have more focus.

More stamps in clay...

Red Hot Pottery has some more works in ceramics that incorporate our stamps - you can click on the images below to see the listings:

Fairy and elf stamps

As I mention in the last post, I have been working on designs for a rubber stamp sheet that may not be that appropriate for clay and velvet. I learned about a submission deadline for a magazine and I decided I would try to create a set within their stated theme.

I feel a bit out of practice - used to trying to create bolder more solid images - and I do sometimes wonder how "cute" I want to go with things. Ha. Shall see.

I've loaded images of the different fairies and sprites in progress onto my Flickr account. I go into some detail about the images in the description. Suppose I should have saved that text for the blog. Oops.

I've started pasting patterned layers under the images, as well as putting "watermarks" above the images. I've just been advised by so many people to take these kinds of precautions when putting things online. I know that it makes it less pleasant to look at... may try to figure something else out in the future.

I did mean to mean to work on more images today, but have spent so much time getting this blog back in order and loading things on Flickr!

Ah well...

Berry and Leaf Rubber Stamp Set... Almost There

I think I am almost ready to send in the file for the next stamp sheet set, which is based on the images I've been working on (and posting about).

On my Flickr account I've posted other images that I have been working on that will probably feed into the 4th rubber stamp sheet that will be appropriate for use with velvet and clay. Probably more of the nature/leaf theme.

I may have a sheet ready before that, though, which will be smaller, more delicate images of fairies and elves. I am trying to get things ready for a submission deadline and that has made me rethink my priorities. Initially, I was assuming that I would focus on stamps that can be used for more than paper, but this project came up and I decided I would give it a try.

I will post about that next.

Flickr...

OK - "broke down" and created a Flickr account.

See the little slideshow, to the upper right of the page, or follow the link above. I will add more images and details later, but I did include some background information in the descriptions for some of the images - such as the when/how they came about.

I'm getting a lot done tonight... just no actual art!

Art Geekery

(Originally posted Tuesday, February 12, 2008)

I COULD be faster/more efficient at producing art, but like pretty much all people who enjoy arts & crafts, I get caught up in the tactile experience. (My Mom says that I would seem mesmerized when we'd go to fabric stores when I was a kid.)

I am still not a total convert to doing art digitally - I "need" to hold an actual ink-producing pen or marker in my hand for a lot of things - but one thing that does sometimes give me a kick is how the different versions of an image look in thumbnail view in my computer files. Especially when the images are boldly black and white.

Maybe it is just me...

Berries and Lace

(Originally posted Feb 8, 2008)

Been a busy week - not as much progress on art images as I had hoped.

Posting the latest drafts of some of the other images I have been working on for the next stamp set. Still not sure if I will start working on the bird as well, or if I will work on some more Celtic/knotwork/flourish-y type of designs.

I'm posting 2 of each image - once with reverse value, which gives a better idea of how the image will look when embossed on velvet. These images are based on Mucha designs, but I have reworked them to be more suitable for stamps.

Plugging along...

(Originally posted on Feb 3, 2008)

I think I am calling this image "done". This image is grainier than the working file, obviously:


I had forgotten how involved "cleaning up" an image for a stamp can be! I made changes to the image and had to determine how thick to make the black and white spaces, etc. I plugged my tablet into the computer and was able to make use of the pen feature, which improved things, even though I am still getting used to it as a tool. I just can't use a regular mouse to draw anything. In the past, I had to tweak what I could on the computer, then print the file to do any real drawing/edits by hand, then scan it back in, tweak some more, and repeat. Of course, each time I had to do that, there were more "artifacts" in the scanned image file that had to be cleaned... shadows, paper fibers, bleeding from the ink, smudging.

Good to finally start getting the hang of the tablet. I bought it years ago on the advice of Rachel Anderson. I bought it over Ebay from a store called "Geek Boutique". I picked it up in person and they were located in a storefront that used to be a Woolworth's my family went to a lot when I was growing up.

Sigh, Woolworth's...

Now - to work on the bird or something else...

Sketching New Stamps

(Originally posted on Feb 2, 2008)

I am not working on Celtic designs after all. I am working on the leaf design I mentioned in the first post, as well as an idea for a swallow and some other design elements that will all hopefully end up with the same "feel" so that it is a coherent-looking stamp set.

I mentioned that I was working with a scanned image of the leaf stamp. I have "filled it in" a bit. Scanned that back in and will neaten it a bit. Will see how much more tweaking it will take:

And here is a scanned sketch of a swallow:

I looked at some photos of swallows in flight, but was also keeping in mind the stylized swallow designs for tattoos and jewelry which are currently very popular on Etsy. I am going back and forth between leaving the head at the current size, which is more true to life, and making it larger. I sketched in the outline of a larger head. Might just play with it a little in Gimp to see what it looks like with the larger head. Don't want it to look too cartoony, but I also don't want the image to be too "delicate". Especially with velvet in mind, I want the stamps to be on the bolder side.