Happy Thanksgiving!

Gobble, gobble! Not the best calligraphy I've ever done but you get the idea!

Hurry - there's still time! L Letterpress machine give away

OK - I just found out there is a new home Letterpress machine! It just came out. I am so excited! I found it on this great blog: http://www.i-do-it-yourself.com/2009/11/psa-update-on-the-l-letterpress-giveaway/comment-page-10/#comment-4732.

There is still time to get in on the give-away. The deadline is 11:59p tonight!

I *love* letterpress. Many of the invitations I designed in early 2000's were letterpressed by an amazing artist in Scarborough, Maine. Letterpress just gives an amazing textural quality to your project. I had my business cards and brochures letterpressed. I could just sit and feel them for hours!

I've always wanted to do my own greeting cards with letterpress but could never afford it. Now maybe I can! They hope to come up with a custom process soon!

So cool!

Life is getting in the way!

So life is getting ridiculously bogged down and I haven't been able to do any art related fun things lately! But I have managed to squeeze in a little Zenspiration stuff at night after the kiddos are in bed. I'm still in the rough learning stage but I thought I would share the fun.

I still can't figure out why you can't click on my new images to see the larger one. You used to be able to do that in my earlier posts. So I must have somehow changed my settings. Sorry about that. I'll try to figure it out. :-)

In the meantime, here are some roughs.
Truly,
Erica

Zenspirations by Joanne Fink

WOW! I had the *best* time yesterday at the workshop put on by Joanne Fink. It was like decorated versals merge with zentangles and more! Joanne's workshop was called Zenspirations and was it ever!

Joanne is a terrific instructor. She was very organized, had wonderful handouts, and first quality supplies. What I really liked was that she shared so generously with her handouts so that once the workshop was done, you really have a good reference packet to use on your own. The workshop was extremely well layed out - meaning each step was useful and fun and did not waste any time. We got right to creating and I felt I had learned a great deal when the workshop was over and every minute was very well used.

The great thing about Joanne's Zenspirations is it really takes the idea of zentangles one step further. There are so many ways you can apply what Joanne taught. I was always intrigued with zentangles but hadn't made the leap yet because I didn't know what use it would have to me other than a fun time-eater and Lord knows I don't need anymore of those! :-) If you ever have the opportunity to take this workshop with Joanne - DO IT!

We started by learning some basic zentangle like patterns. Then we learned how to apply these to a series of curved lines. Here's my first go:

We then learned how to apply them to versal like capitals. The fun part is the letters are a series of sketched lines so if you make a mistake, you can correct it with another line. It takes away a lot of the pressure of trying to get perfect letter forms. To me, that is the zen part. You can create without worry! Here's a "K" which was one of my first letters.

Finally, we learned how to do something playful and apply it to illustrations and add color, etc. This was with a Sakura gel pen.

Can't wait to play more!

Until next time...

Erica

Zentangle Conference - yahooo!

I'm going to the Zentangle Monograms conference taught by Joanne Fink in Orlando! I am so excited. It's been so long since I've been to a calligraphy workshop - years even!

I have never done zentangle although I've heard about it. So I watched some videos on line and read some stuff on it and gave it a try last night with a ball point pen and regular copy paper. I think I'm really going to enjoy it!

It is complete coincidence that when I turned my paper, this looked like a woman's profile! I'll share what I do in the workshop when I get back.

Truly,

Erica

Water Bottle Carriers

I gave these as gifts to the teachers last year. I loved how they came out. You can get the pattern for free here at Pink Chalk Studio. I think the teachers liked them. I also made them for Mother's day. I added the little beading accent. I wish I could have found bottles to match all the colors but no such luck. Do you know how hard it is to find decent water bottles that don't cost a fortune?! UGH! Anyway, I made myself one, too! :-)