recent favorites

I thought I would share some recent finds on Etsy I'm coveting.

Printable DIY Gable Box from Finch & Hawk

Burnt Mango Orange Stacked Deco Silk Screened Slip Cover from erin flett

Tealeaves 6-color screenprint from jackiepeppermint

Bouquet wall clock from decoylab

screenprinted folk bird tree tote from dutchdoor

Poison Arrow greeting card in the New Wave Victorian line from thespottedsparrow

All images are from their owners' Etsy stores.

before and after

I have a little before-and-after for you today. A little art for my husband as a Christmas gift.


I found these pseudo-oil paintings in a thrift shop. They were labeled "French, 1950's". I think the frames are beautiful and were exactly what I was looking for.
So, I primed over the prints, painted the frames with a lovely brushed nickel spray paint (Valspar, I think) and transferred the silhouettes I did of our two pups and painted them with gouache. I added monograms for them too. "A" for Addie and "C" for Conner.


Ta-Da! They're hanging in our living room next to my Keep Calm poster (in Apples and Orange orange, PMS 151) from sfgirlbybay.

vote for me!

As previously mentioned, I entered a design in the Spoonflower contest.

Will you vote for me? Be sure to click "submit" at the bottom!

Thanks!

calendar contest.

I've entered a contest! It's a Spoonflower themed contest. This makes me super nervous because, you see, I've never done this before. I'm not sure when voting will be. I've submitted a calendar design I just happened to have done this week.

My plan is to actually screenprint the calendar, but I thought it would be fun to submit it for voting.

You can find my design here.

ornament swap!

freshly{blended} is hosting their 4th annual ornament swap.

I'm thinking about signing up, but I don't put up a tree. Is it weird to participate in a swap without a tree to hang them on?

If you're going to sign up, you better hurry (as should I), sign ups end on Nov. 7.

stamp happy

Look what just came in the mail!


Ooooh, I'm so excited. It's so beautiful and I can't wait to use it.
It came from this Etsy shop.

Print Gocco Fun

I promised I'd be back with more, and here I am.

click on the image for a larger view.

I printed my business cards using my Gocco PG-5. This was a first for me. I was so nervous to use it since supplies are so precious, I didn't want to mess anything up. I read and re-read and watched tutorials until I was confident it was as easy as it looks. And, it is! I even printed two colors, which is difficult since the PG-5 doesn't have any built-in method of registration (I used graph paper, by the way). I used this and this as my encouragements.

I will admit that I made a couple mistakes, but I've learned from them. First, and this one I expected and was prepared for, I didn't use smooth paper. I was completely compelled to buy Eames Painting in Canvas Finish (in solar white from Neenah). It's beautiful paper and it was a must-have. The other errors were minor. I should have paid more attention to the paper registration when I was printing the first color.

All in all, I had a great time, and it didn't take long. I did let the orange ink dry overnight just to be sure it was dry enough for round two. Then again, overnight before trimming.

Now I want the other Gocco machine with the registration and larger printing plate. I also wish I'd climbed on to this wagon a long time ago (I've had my Gocco for several months).