Compass Print

So a while ago, far too long, I decided to do a print of an old looking compass or the four cardinal points. Well it is finished! And I think it turned out great. I had the approval of the roommates and Jon after all the final touches so here it is!

I found this picture on a tumblr and saved it for one thing or another… turns out it was the inspiration for my print

the inspiration

so the work began…

original little sketch; multiple attempts at sketching it; then tracing paper; then finally transferred to linoleum ready to cut!

print is carved out and ready to go!

final compass print after cleaning up some stray lines

Right now I have a turquoise/teal color ink on white paper… any suggestions of other ink color/paper combinations that would look well with the print?

Also, the idea was brought up to put the print on a pillow… who knows how to do that?

Channeling My Inner Martha Stewart

Oh Martha, how I envy your crafty ways, cooking skills and organization that the OCD part of myself fantasizes about. Your empire is a gift, your criminal history… not so brag worthy but you bounced back. So channeling my inner Martha, but with a more modern twist because I do not live back in the 60s (Mad Men… swoon), I have my herb garden (still alive WHOOP!), dessert for Easter to make, a quiche to perfect, and a new craft… a new print! I made a print last summer for Jon while he was at OCS for the summer and it turned out great and I really enjoyed it.

Here’s the picture of the one I made last summer. It was a rough draft and taken with the fratberry so pardon both the quality of the print and the picture.

the Jon-bear

I got the idea from pinterest to make little stamps/prints out of erasers and I made one:

eraser stamp and how it prints!

Here are some possibilities for the new print… The small ones at the top, like the infinities and hearts and monograms are for the erasers, while the larger ones for the linoleum print. What do you think? Any other ideas?

moustache, monogram, whales, Texas, compass, or a grumpy bear and a grumpy platypus

And as for my dessert, I’ve made these before and they were a big hit for my family, so I made them for Easter! Oreo Cheesecake Cupcakes with a whole Oreo on the bottom! Quite delicious if I do say so myself. I got the recipe here and didn’t make any changes except added maybe like 2 or 3 minutes to the baking time but that depends on your oven. They are of course in Easter cupcake liners.

Oreo on the bottom and pieces all throughout

Happy Good Friday!

Busy As A Bee

The new year is in full swing with it’s now new list of tasks to keep us busy. For me, it’s classes, labs, reports, triathlon training, cooking for Jon and myself, and getting to be a support for the one dearest to me. For Jon, it’s brought on a ton of traveling, interviews, job applications, phone calls, emails, new contacts, resumes, exercise, and trying to find time to eat and breathe and sleep. STRESS! So how do you bring balance to all this? You collect your thoughts. So as a late resolution, I plan on posting at least once a week. I will find the time to do it, and it will be good for everyone: good for readers so they have something to read and good for us to take time out and process everything going on in our lives. A “breather”. Ok the intro is over…

I have a bunch of corks from wine bottles (that I graciously helped drink) and want to do a craft with them. Thanks to the wonderful and time consuming addiction of Pinterest these are some of the ideas I might do:

any suggestions? And keep in mind the collection is growing…