Linocut makes me happy

My phenomenal print teacher gave a project with linoleum earlier this semester and pretty much the whole class fell in love with it. It's linoleum like kitchen floor tiles, but a soft material that's perfect for printmaking. Cutting on wood can be supa frustrating...if you have grain that's too small then it's hard to do cross cuts and it splinters if you're rockin it too hard. Over cutting sucks too cuz once it's gone, there's no going back lol! With linoleum, it's a lot easier because there's no grain and since it's a soft material, it's self-healing. Which means if you cut too far, most of the time it heals itself. Like magic!

Here is my largest Maneki Neko:



The actual prints are still at school...they're all monochromatic teals. I heart them.

Semester is almost done!

This semester, and last few months for that matter, have gone by so quickly. I've been so busy with school work that I've pretty much ignored all else. Hardly any blogs, and almost zero new listings on my etsy. But the work I've been doing for school has been pretty awesome. My printmaking class has had me turning out some things that I didn't think I was capable of and silkscreen class is still to come!

Crafting wise, recycling has been my big thing as of late. Envelopes out of old magazines and making little paper boxes have been the best! Thanks Etsy! Here's a really cool idea for sellers of little things...

I figured out how to use every part of the PayPal receipt to make a great presentation:
1. cut your awesome cool receipt in half



2. Cut the bottom half in half



3. Follow the great instruction of EtsyLabs to make these two halves into a top and bottom box that fit together



4. Now, you still have some little thin scraps left. Use them for super cute filling! Just fold them a couple of time long ways to give a little cushion and stuff your box



Tada! Now you have a super cool packaged item. I do it all the time...it makes me smile ^_^



Only two weeks left in the semester...more coming during the winter break!