CARD ART 2021

the card art that almost wasn’t. 😅

I cooked up my idea earlier this year and naively assumed it would be an easy process so I bought some block printing supplies and put off working on it until mid-december.

I started with the Speedy-cut pink soft block and realized I was in a little over my head and needed to spend more time fine-tuning my design and practicing my carving technique. I also just went for it with my acrylic paints which were way too thick.

I sent my friend Adina a message and she set me straight on the right supplies to use. (she has great ‘process’ highlight on IG.) I switched to the Speedball Red-Baron linoleum block (not sure it really matters for novices like me) and picked up the water-soluble Speedball paint Adina recommended for quick drying time.

I wanted a snowy pine tree look so I used white paint on green paper to keep the steps to a minimum. once I did a few practice carvings and cut the green paper to just smaller than the card, it was easy peasy:

roll paint on brayer, roll painted brayer on block, place paper on block, brayer over paper and peel off.

I love it! I try to use both red and green but I couldn’t figure out a way to add red in here without creating more work for myself. as it was, I didn’t get these printed until December 22. fortunately I had already made out the interiors and the envelopes so it was quick work adhering the photos inside and the print on the front.

and yes, the picture I took of the ‘kids’ is horizontal in my vertical card. 🙄