Ice Prints

I had fun making ice prints last fall. I collected leaves I liked and first pressed them dry for a few days. I just put them on parchment paper and put them in a book which I weighted down. When dried, take a piece of heavy watercolor paper (hot or cold press) and soak it in water for 5 minutes and put it on foamcore or styrofoam. While the paper is wet drizzle watercolors on it. Next lay the dry leaves on the paper, pressing on the leaves lightly to get out air bubbles. Put the paper in a level spot in the freezer overnight. Take out the prints and leave for a few days to dry thoroughly before peeling off leaves...and voila! Enjoy them as they are go use as cards or the background for Calligraphy.

Posted by Nell Hall

Using Paste Paper made in Jerry's Journal Page Class

I did this for my Mother. She turns 92 tomorrow! She and Daddy (also turning 92) are both sharp cookies, still live on their own, and Daddy still drives them everywhere. Amazing.

My Mother is an avid reader, and one of her all-time favorite authors is John Irving. If she ever hears that you have read A Prayer For Owen Meany, you will be on her short list. It is #1 on her list, and I must say that it is also #1 on mine. Best ending ever!

"Keep passing the open windows" is a recurring phrase that the Berry family uses in The Hotel New Hampshire. It is their way of telling each other to persevere.

Since my Mother has lived to be 92, I feel she is A Perseverer!

This piece of paste paper was made in that Beautiful Beginnings journal page class that I took along with Nell and Harriet at Jerry's. You can see it in the post below sans lettering. This is so much more fun than writing on plain white paper!

Last night I worked on this Zentangle. I had made a file containing copies of designs and instructions on how to construct them, so I decided to actually do one. From what I have seen online, most of the Zentanglers stick to designs to fill in the "strings." I wanted to incorporate this into lettering (of course)! So, this is my first attempt. I have some more ideas that I will be using and am pretty excited about it. Not enough time in a day.

This was done in a lettering journal that I practice in. I used Faber-Castell Pitt Pens to do the lettering and coloring and just used a micon pen to do the drawing. Next time, when I am serious about it, and after a bit more practice, I will use watercolor paper and watercolors and maybe a "real" calligraphic pen.

I am scheduled to share at the TCG meeting in September about the Neuland Hand. I think I will incorporate Zentangling into the letterforms...just to make it a bit more interesting!

Journal Pages

Nell, Harriet, and I took a Beautiful Beginnings class at Jerry's Artarama today.

First of all, it was such great fun to take this with friends. I highly recommend doing that! This 2-hr class was all about making journal pages. All three of us kind of figured out that it was basically what Mary Lou taught us at her house, only this time, instead of being individual pages to use as book covers or backgrounds for lettering individual pieces, the techniques were to be used on each and every page of a journal.

Deb, thought of you. This woman, Ophelia Staton, wakes up at 4am to journal! I do not know who is more dedicated to daily journaling...you or her! Visit her blog at http://opheliasart.blogspot.com/ to see her work.

At any rate, I really enjoyed it. After the class was over, I asked the group if anyone would be interested in learning calligraphy - that Nell, Harriet, and I were in a Calligraphy group and that I taught at Jerry's. EVERYONE wanted my card!
Watch out girls, our group might be expanding!

Info for Stampbord Charms

Below is some info already given in the emails, but Peggy thought it might be a good idea to have it here so it is all in one spot.

Here's a link where you can buy the 1"x1" stampbord tiles for your charms: http://www.anotherstampcompany.com/Merchant2/merchant.mvc?Screen=PROD&Product_Code=1x1sm&Category_Code=sbmi

The liquid that was applied to the moon on my charm is called Inkssentials Glossy Accents. It is a clear embellishment.

Here are some other links that I have enjoyed :

http://www.articusstudiodesign.com/id75.html

http://www.stampbord.com/featured-how-to.html

Stampbord Charms

This workshop was not necessarily calligraphic, but when you are a letterer. . . letterist, calligrapher, calligraphist, whatever you want to call yourself. . . you are and ARTIST. And that leaves a lot of room to play. And play, we did!

Anything we learn can somehow make its way into our lettering world, can't it? That was my whole purpose in taking watercolor classes; to meld that medium with lettering. A whole new world was opened up to me as a result.

So, even though these little tiles did not start off strictly as letterforms, I am pretty sure that one, if not all of us, will take them there!

I cannot wait to see what you will bring to the table!