friends forever

Sometimes it's so nice to dig up treasures from your stock pile. That's what I did when I used this stamp, that I carved ages ago, for today's Online Card Classes flat card assignment (you can still sign up if you're interested). I hadn't worked on making a print in so long. I must do it more often.

Block printing and I will definitely be friends forever.

Materials:
- French Paper
- Linoblock
- Block printing ink

 What crafty tool have you abandoned and would like to pick up again? I'm sure there's something...

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By the way...

- My holiday items are still on sale (until the 16th!)

- Lettering Delights is have a huge dollar days sale that I keep forgetting to mention. Some of my flowers are on sale there too!

bit of this, bit of that

As I've said before I typically have some sort of side project going. For this week's "just for fun" work I'll be tackling a bit of fabric and more embroidery. This time the fabric I'll be using has already been printed for me (via Spoonflower). We'll see if the idea I have in mind pans out.



This is a cut out of my stamp flower. As you can see part of it is missing (oops!), but I wanted to see what it would look like on paper. I can fix what's missing and then what? Frame it? Maybe.





I had the intention of doing so but at the urging of a friend's request I've decided to add a set of Full Bloom flower cards to my shop. I'm offering them as a set of 6 cards. Each is stamped individually and never in the same exact place. They are all one of a kind, if you buy a set it will be entirely unique.



I promise there will be no more flowers for a while!

happy mother's day

Here's the final touch for the sachets I showed you yesterday—a box made from scratch (hadn't done that in a while) and a preview-of-contents card (sick of the flower yet?). All done!



Many gifts come in pretty boxes, but we all know that the most precious ones can't be wrapped. May all Moms get lots of love, warm hugs and mushy kisses from all their kiddos.

I wouldn't mind breakfast in bed too!

Have a great day on Sunday!

her first embroidery

So here it is. This is part of the gift I'll be giving my Mom on Sunday. The rest will involve printing an assorted set of my block print cards (which she's been asking for a while!) and other tid bits.



Little did I know that this project would offer my little C her first embroidery experience. I was working on the red/pink piece when I heard the very familiar "Can I help, Mom?" Of course! I was so excited and beside myself.

She had it a little harder since I was lazy and wasn't using an embroidery hoop (slightly starched linen made it easier to cheat), but she handled everything so well. She didn't quite understand what I was sewing until I told her that the embroidery I was doing was like coloring but with thread. As soon as I said that she totally go it—she's the coloring queen!



The top pink stitches were her first. The red was much better and by the time she helped me with the purple flowers she was doing it much better. She's such a mini-me maker—love it!



It was great to watch how focused she was in making sure her stitches were close to one another. However, she was moving so much this is one of the best shots I got of her little hands in action.

We asked D if he wanted to sew a few stitches (as C said "Boys can sew too! - Sure!) and all we got was a most disinterested "No thanks." Ah well...

progress

We're in the middle of some small remodeling work of the kids' rooms so all their belongings are all over our living room. To say that I can't wait to have this all done is a huge understatement. I can't wait to put things away! The sleeping arrangements aren't too bad. We managed to squeeze the kids' beds in our room, making things a bit tight but surprisingly cozy.

Since things are a bit crazy around here I'm not getting much done, but after some quick design work I managed to make progress with some embroidery. I'm crossing my fingers that I can get this finished before the weekend...

an old friend

I haven't worked with block prints in a long time and I miss them dearly. I can't decided what part of the process I enjoy the most—drawing, carving, printing—they all offer something special.

I carved this last week and today I'm working on the printing. Next will be some embroidery. I'll post photos of the completed project next week.



If you've never tried this type of project I suggest you visit Gennine's blog. She's a genius on all levels of this craft... and much more.



Enjoy the weekend everyone!

simple prints, loads of fun

I've printed using linoleum blocks but never potatoes. It's such a simple technique and yet I had never tried it. My chance came around because Rae Grant's lovely book, Crafting Fun: 101 Things to Make and Do with Kids, inspired us to give it a try.



We cut out some random shapes and the kids jumped right in with the printing. Little C had a hard time holding the potatoes because they kept slipping out of her hand. So, I stuck a pair of toothpicks in each one to make it easier for her.

Things got a bit messy (part of the fun!), but I could tell the kids were enjoying themselves. They said something about using their prints to decorate cards for their grandparents—not a bad idea at all. So, I think that will be our next step. For now, we can't eat at our kitchen table, because all our artwork is drying on it.



We also printed simple designs on a set of white napkins and matching tablecloth. As soon as I finish the endless amount of ironing I'll have to do, in order to set the ink, I'll show you how everything turned out.

Tomorrow we're going to tackle a recipe in Rae's Cooking Fun: 121 Simple Recipes to Make with Kids book. Predictably the kids want to try something from the dessert chapter.



What I really like about Rae's books is the fact that all the projects and recipes are very simple and easy to follow. There are no big set ups or complicated materials/ingredients to buy. In addition, most of the pages contain vintage illustrations of the 20's and 30's, which add so much to their charm. We will definitely be putting these books to good use.



By the way, our wrapping paper is still hanging on the wall. I'm so tempted of adding a simple rod at the top and bottom to keep it there as artwork. We'll see.

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Thank you so much for your kind message and emails regarding my book. I'm so touched by all your support. If you're interested in purchasing a book directly from me, please stay tuned for details.

hgtv - that's clever

Today I found a DVD that hadn't seen the light of day in a long time. It's the one were we recorded my 2006 HGTV That's Clever appearance. It's so interesting to see how far my work has come.

The day before taping I had a severe case of laryngitis. I never loose my voice. Never. Not even after screaming my head off at some sporting event or concert (back in the day). But of course 24 hours before taping the show I had absolutely no sound coming out of my throat. Talk about panicking. Somehow, the morning the film crew was going to show up at the house, I got most of my voice back. Like my D said today, I still did sound 'weird but ok'.

The whole process took about 5 hours of continuous work. Most of the retakes occurred because I was laughing so hard about the cutesy lines they asked me to say. I felt completely out of my element and it was a long afternoon but it was a lot of fun. It felt like those tough experiences that you'd like to try again once you get past them.

Oh and our kitchen isn't that crazy yellow anymore. Yikes!

Patricia Zapata from Patricia Zapata on Vimeo.

renewal - block print cards

I haven't had the chance to carve out some linoleum in a long time. Creating this at the start of spring just seems so right. I called it renewal to name it after the new season and my great weekend.



My card sets now come with yummy looking kraft envelopes. The cards and envelopes are both recycled and are made at a paper mill that uses hydroelectric energy.

memories on paper

Memories is the name of my latest printable stationery set. I named it that way because I think that even though we may not all have carved our initials in a heart on a tree we do have those special times and places that we remember fondly. This tree is a symbol of the good times. The heart is blank so that you can 'carve' your own initials and those of someone special.



I've went back and forth between printing this design as actual block print cards or leaving it for a printable set. I decided for the later to offer an option that wasn't as geometric as my previous designs.

Speaking of block prints, my cards are back—at the request of a customer. I thought about it and decided that yes I do miss working with ink and paper. For now I only have three old designs in my shop but more will be coming—slowly.

polymer clay + linoleum block

I used a little break from playing with the kids to make something quickly. This left over polymer clay (from this little test) had been sitting as a little lump of nothing long enough. Today I had the block that I made this print with nearby so I created these two little buttons - if you can call them that. Before setting them I made a hole all the way through the circle and the rectangle cutouts in the other. The color of this clay is not my favorite but I'm trying to stay in a "use what you have" mode (easier said than done!). My plans for these involve my sewing machine and the linen in the background. Yes, I said the sewing machine - shudder!

For now I'm just waiting for book revisions. It's going to be another long night...

what I do at 2am

It was a very uneventful weekend. It doesn't help that I was working on Friday and Saturday night until 3am. I'm helping put together a book that will be, in the near future, reaching a Barnes & Noble near you. My part of the project isn't too terribly exciting. I'm just designing the simple inside text part of the book (black & white). However, it is exciting that this project is finally coming to life. I'll post a link to the book once it gets published.

As I was working on chapters and waiting for revisions (2am-ish) I felt I needed to do something other than surf the net or do any "thinking" work. I needed to relax and stay awake! So I started carving a new block using one of my most recent doodles as inspiration. These ovals have been popping up a lot in my sketch book since I worked on this.

The top right orange card is what I started with and the left yellow card is what I ended up with after I decided to keep carving. I used a 3 x 4 block but what I really wish I had was HUUUGE piece of linoleum that I could carve and print on fabric! Wouldn't that be fun?!



EDIT: I posted a new interview at Crafty Synergy - finally! :)