Yellow Stickies are My Friend

I've gotten to so much more done, art-wise, in the last few weeks than I have in the couple of months I have been employed. I have posted close to twenty new listings to Etsy, from new illustrations to new card designs to new colors of old designs. Last night alone, I carved one new design and printed it in three colors as well as printing several other designs in new colors (all of which will be photographed, edited and listed this afternoon, presuming the sun comes out).   I've also managed to blog almost every day (whether you like it or not), while still getting all my stuff done around the house and having the evenings free to spend with my husband.

I could not have done it without yellow sticky notes.

I have discovered I am a list person.  I always knew I was one of those people that has an easier time getting things done if I check stuff off a list (sometimes even going to the extent of breaking one chore into multiple sections to mark off so I feel like I've accomplished more).  I never realized to what it extent it motivated me.

Everything has gotten done because I found a pad of sticky notes in the drawer and one evening made a list of everything I wanted to do the next day on one, stuck the note to my laptop, and went to sleep.  The next morning, I started checking things off.  By the end of the day, I'd gotten nearly everything done and carried what I hadn't over to a new list along with everything else I wanted to get done.   And so on it went.

I am the kind of person who is inspired through motivation.  I read somewhere recently that the more you produce, the more you are inspired to produce.  However, for me, getting the production started in the first place is the hard part.  So I recommend to anyone who is having a hard time getting started, make a list and make sure that list has a date on it, because I've never met  a person in my life who doesn't work at least a little better on a deadline.

Inspiration doesn't have to be found.  Sometimes you can make it.

Dogwood Card Process

I just finished a new flower design, based on dogwoods that bloom here in North Carolina in the spring (the state flower, but not the state tree).  What follows is a photographic representation of the process of making the linocut and printing it on paper and on card.

The original sketch, cut down to fit on the block.

The image has been transferred to a Speedball linoleum block.

The flowers have been cut away so they will show through the white of the paper.

Ink on the block, rolled out and the first test prints made.

A close-up of the test prints.

I always to test prints, so i have a good idea of how the ink is transferring and the best way to clean the image up.  I then file away the test prints to and the original sketch to refer to later (and in case something happens to a block and I need to recreate it).  

UPDATE: The cards have been printed and are for sale in my Etsy store. Check them out here.