Letterpress workshop

A few months ago I attended a one day class to learn the basics of letterpress printing at GTO Printers in Auckland.  It was a small class, only three of us in total, which worked out perfectly.  It was so much fun, the day just flew by.  We started by working with a little Adana press (hope I've got that right), setting metal type into an alphabet.  Getting all the letters set correctly, left to right (or was it right to left???) and the right way up really messed with my head.  There were a few back to front, upside down mishaps to start with.  And if you get it wrong, you have to pull the whole row out and start again.   Then we designed a postcard to print, also in metal type.

By the end of the day we progressed to using the wood type.  We were running short of time, so did a collaborative print on the proofing press.  I loved using the wood type.  The objects themselves, with all of the different shapes and colours left from previous print jobs make just as nice an image as the final print, don't you think?

Dress-ups

I have been collecting items for our dress up box, and when I came across something similar in a shop recently, I thought it might be fun to have a go at making my own.   This is my second attempt.  The first was a more 'boy-like' version with lightening bolts and crosses.  I couldn't get a photo of my little miss in this version (she will happily pose for any photo except the one you want!), so her brother was happy to oblige.

Linen Teddy

Last month I was lucky enough to get a whole weekend to myself to attend Handmade in Wellington.   There was so much inspiration, from fun classes on handmade cosmetics and jewellery making, to wandering around the shops and cafes in Wellington, and actually being able to browse for as long as I wanted!  One of the highlights was meeting the lovely Melissa Wastney from Tiny Happy.  When I got home, I ordered a copy of her book Sweet & Simple Handmade.  It's a really beautiful book, with so many lovely projects to make for kids.   This is the first one I've made - the linen teddy.  It was a really easy project to start with and I enjoyed making it, with a bit of input on fabric choices from the kids.  I added the dress (which isn't in the pattern), just because I could :)   It's for a little friend of ours who just turned one.

My Creative Space

Hi.  Over at My Creative Space again this week with lots of lovely crafty people.  I've actually been doing a bit of sewing this week, attempting to make Tessuti's Valerie top, which looks pretty straightforward except that I have used this beautiful satin fabric (kind of Japanese looking) which is slipping around like a fish all over the place and is so far a dismal failure.  I have pulled a thread right across the front of it, so badly that I think I'm going to have to get more fabric and cut another front.  So I'm a bit bummed about that, and too chicken to post any photos just yet!

But I've also been doing a bit of bookbinding, making some more blank books / sketchbooks out of some lovely thick blank paper, covered with old maps and pieces of paper I have collected over the years.  Sometimes they are just slivers of paper bags from my favorite bookshops, so small you would hardly notice, but it is enough to make me daydream for a while when I look at them.  The one I used this time was from Berkelouw Books in Eumundi.  Sigh.... if only I had a magic wand.  Anyway, not quite sure what I'm going to do with all of these blank books.  I guess one can never have too many sketchbooks, right?

Home Grown

We got all enthusiastic about our vege garden this year, after moving into our new house.  It has been such a beautiful sunny summer this year.  Almost no rain for months.  The rest of the garden has really suffered but we were a bit more careful with this little patch .  The best thing has been the telegraph cucumbers, which started out as one tiny little seedling and has now crawled all the way off the garden bed and down the path, producing at least twenty huge cucumbers.

What do you think of the purple capsicum?  Looks better than it tasted unfortunately. It was an interesting texture, but quite dry and not very fleshy on the inside.  It has inspired me to see what interesting varieties I can grow from seed next year though.

Camping

We've just returned from a two week camping trip to Great Barrier Island.  A four and a half hour ferry ride from Auckland, this has to be one of the most beautiful, unspoilt places in the country.  Days spent reading, swimming, exploring and traipsing backwards and forwards to the beach.

Our twice daily commute to the beach.

Heading home

It feels a bit strange to be back in the city, with so many things to do and so little time to do them.

I took a couple of projects along with me, but only managed to get stuck into one. Too much reading, dreaming and making plans!

This shirt started out as a purchase from the menswear section from a local opshop. A couple of hours later, and here it is as a tank. A super easy Wiksten Tank. I must start remembering to take 'before' photos!

Best Bread Ever

I'm not much of a baker, especially bread.  And I'm pretty happy with my Vogels toast with Vegemite and a poached egg on top.  Yum.   But when I discovered this recipe on my favourite foodie website My New Roots the other day, I couldn't resist.  I am converted.  I dare you to try it!  The Life Changing Loaf of Bread

Intaglio etching

We've all been laid up with bugs in my house this week, so there hasn't been much new creative stuff going on.  Nothing serious, just nasty colds.  I'm dying to have that clear headed feeling again that comes with recovering from a bout of illness, where you're full of ideas and have the energy to get into them.

Anyway, I thought I'd post something I made a while ago, in a printmaking class I took.  The first is an etching, made with the skeleton of a day lily from my garden.  We used a zinc plate, painted with a waxy substance (called asphaltum) with the lily sitting on top, which is then run through a high pressure printing press.  The lily is peeled off, leaving an image on the plate, which is then dipped into a bath of acid and the image is etched into the plate.  Ink is applied to the plate and run through the press again with some paper.

It's such an incredibly fiddly process to get right.  If you run the plate through the press at the wrong pressure you can buckle the plate, if you leave the acid in the bath for too long you can bite too hard into the plate and lose the detail in the image, you can put your inky fingers all over the plate, soak the paper too little or for too long.... the list is endless, and I did all of these things and more.  It was so incredibly frustrating!  However there's a moment after you run the plate through the press, when you're holding your breath as you peel the paper up to have a look.  And when you get it right, it's just magic.  The results are worth all the effort.  It's quite an addictive process.  Each time I printed, I thought, maybe if I just ink it up and run it though again I can get something better.

The second print was a bit more straightforward.  It is a drypoint etching, which is a drawing scratched with a needle into plastic, inked up and run through the printing press.   The image on the bottom left is a printed photo of some refrigerated shipping containers.

I'm quite addicted to printmaking.  Unfortunately it's not the kind of thing you can do on your own at home without considerable setup and lots of dangerous ingredients.  But also, there's so much to learn, I think it's best done in the company of someone very experienced.  Maybe I will go and look at the class timetable for next term...

My Creative Space

Another chair done (the one on the right), eight to go.  I spent hours pulling out staples from the old upholstery and it took about five minutes to re-cover it.  Now just have to find some more fabric for the rest!

Check out these awesome crafty folk over at My Creative Space.