Monday, March 07, 2011

Hand Printing Anyone?

I enjoy things that are handmade.  Whether I have made them or someone else.  There is something very satisfying about handmade objects.  Creating them is especially rewarding.  I have tried many types of arts and crafts projects over the years.  Some have become part of who I am.  Knitting, for example.  But other things like quilting, cross stitch, embroidery, spinning and so on, have been tried and eventually fell by the wayside.  Not enough time, didn't enjoy the process and other reasons.  I recently came across this book and had to have it.  It is called "Print Workshop"  by Christine Schmidt.  It is a book filled with hand printing techniques and original projects.  I love wood block art and other forms of hand printing and this book looked as though hand-printing might be something I could do.  It is filled with great illustrations and clear, step by step instructions for some tempting projects.  Some of the projects are more complicated than others, but there are plenty of cool ideas for beginners.  Plus the projects in this book can open your eyes to all the possibilities in hand-printed art.  For instance, who would have thought that wrapping string around a wood block and then using it like a stamp would have such pleasing results?  I'm going to give that one a try.  I also want to experiment with using vegetables for stamping.  Ever hear of potato stamping?  We tried it years ago,when my kids were small, as one of our experiments with art.  Lots of cool ideas in this great book.  Now, just finding the time to actually try some of them is something I need to figure out.  Stay tuned!  If anything works out, I'll be sure to post the results here.   
 

3 comments:

Ruth Abel said...

This looks interesting! Looking forward to hearing about anything fun you make. I love pen and ink myself, hand printing looks like fun!

Kim said...

I will let you know what becomes of my hand printing attempts. When I find the time to actually try it!

Kim said...

Ruth, you could SO do this. I think you should consider having a shop in Etsy!!