More collagrpahs

So what do you do when your electricity is out for over 15 hours! Wander around the house, then bead, then read using your book light (thank heaven for those!). Yep, our power went out around 6 p.m. on Sat. and didn't come on until Sunday morning around 10 . I had to throw out some items in refrigerator which is a waste but I hate taking a chance on any meat or egg products. This is the 2nd major outage we've had this year, which is unusual for us.
Before the outage on Sat. afternoon I did play some more with collagraphs (I posted on them here and here) to print more note cards. This was the start of my pear. I used a masking tape that was rather smooth and really didn't have much texture to it at all. It ended up acting more like a packing tape.


My friend, Mary, suggested that, because I didn't have a pasta machine to feed my layered pieces through, I should put the layers of my collagraph under the wheel of my car and run over it! Works for me and worth a try, right!
So I took my stencil all inked and layered (I'm using Etching Inks) and placed under the wheel.

Here's the print but you can see the pattern of my tire on the print. Who knew! It was a good idea but I never thought about the grooves in the tire.

This time I used some screen print ink in areas along with the Etching Inks.

I reverted back to using my rolling pin. You can see there isn't as much definition with my print because of the tape. I think they are still interesting and will make nice note cards to mail.

This was the print from under the wheel that I tried to fill in some of the tire spots. You can see how much darker the prints are with pressure.

It is 4th of July but we retiree's get so wrapped up in our every day life we don't normally realize a holiday is upon us. We are going to run some errands to replace our food stuff and I need a JoAnn's run as well.

I'm making strides on my cuff and I also worked on the 'Twins' yesterday. I want to get the one 'Twin' finished for the MQAI exhibit since it's due this month!

Happy 4th and have a safe one!

The Re Do Queen's at it again

Before I talk about my playtime with creating collagraph designs and prints..have to say CONGRATS to my son (& his buddies)! They were in a 6 Hour Adventure Race this past weekend and the email recap of the race is great! It's one I'll print out and keep..as far as results, here's what Darrin wrote: "Our Team JEEP took the Top Spot to finish 1st Place Over All and only 5 Teams cleared the entire course out of the 56 Teams. We fought hard all day long and work together like we have for the past 11-Years “As a TEAM” and finish together “As a TEAM.”

I'm always proud of our kids and the effort they put into whatever they do. Congrats, Darrin!!!! Great job as always! Now take care of your poison ivy and most likely lost toenails!
Now, on to my collagraph design above. This is a technique by Laura Kemshall that I tried about a week or so ago and posted on it here. I wanted to try it again using Etching Inks this time. I drew an apple shape (never said I could draw!) then proceeded to fill in areas with either masking tape or clear packing tape. Then rubbed the Etching Inks onto the entire piece, scraping off excess.


Here are some of my printed efforts.














These are fun to make, even if I can't draw! My thought is to 'press' some note cards. Oh, one addition to the process, it helps if you have a pasta machine to press the prints through. I don't and usea a rolling pin instead! It does work and you get exercise in your upper arms, which is a good to help that 'bat wings' we ladies get after a certain age!
Now on to my continuing reign as the ReDo Queen! I've been working on my Art of the Kitchen piece and had fused the entire piece but....I noticed after my weaving some of the fabric was fraying from all the handling (I used WU instead of Misty Fuse!). Also, the yellow chalk lines, which are needed to line up the weaves, won't come off! My white chalk lines come off and usually the yellow is removed easily as well...but not this time!
Also, if you look closely under the words, Kiss, you can see the the lines between the black and white fabric.

So, to make a long story/post shorter, I'm redoing the entire piece. I did start on it a few days ago and hope to get it ready to quilt by this weekend. I'm going to keep the 1st one and finish it just to hang in our house. Heck, I'll hang it far enough away that hopefully no one will notice it and if they do, they shouldn't get that close!

Weather beautiful again with slight breeze and windows able to be open at night! Bob's Dr.'s appointment is today so we'll see if we're going to just shoot him and what!