Tis the Season....

Every year, I start my holiday cards EARLY.  October early.  And every year, the retailers invade our Halloween with plastic trees, jingle bells and peppermint mochas.  I will unabashedly admit that I love it.  I love beginning my holiday celebration before the Los Angeles weather dips below 80 degrees.  The more time for me to putter around in my apartment with knives and paper and paint, creating my holiday cards, the better.

My crafty sister introduced me to linoleum block printing years ago, when we spent an afternoon creating snowman stamp cards to send out for the holidays.  It has now turned into an annual tradition, a painstaking (and painful!)  process that I insist upon doing year after year.

The purpose of a block print is to carve a design from the linoleum with blades to create a stamp.  The stamp can be used to create multiple prints of the image.  The prints are rustic and homemade, each one slightly imperfect and different than the last.

I have a method to my traditional madness.  A very long winded method, which involves multiple trips to the art store and repeated viewings of White Christmas.  I generally make one or two trips to pick up colored envelopes and card stock.   I keep on hand two or three cutting tools, and a few bottles of block printing ink.  Speedball makes all the supplies one could ever need for this process, including a wide range in sizes of linoleum blocks.   Everything they make is usually conveniently grouped together in any art store, and even more conveniently offered as a packaged kit.  http://www.speedballart.com/

So then I proceed to make a giant mess.  I use an envelope to determine where to score and fold my card stock, then I tear each card by hand.  Normally I am a nail biting perfectionist, but I love the haphazard look to these cards.  Then I place all the cards in their respective colored envelope, and I take a photo.

Designing a stamp is sort of challenging, as the design needs to read well when stamped.  When I decide on a design, I transfer it to the stamp and use a No 1 blade to outline.  I then use the No 5 blade to cut away the obvious excess, then I go in with an Xacto knife and outline again.  At that point it becomes very detailed carving.   Disclaimer:  You are guaranteed to cut yourself multiple times.  Just be prepared.  The blades are wicked sharp.  The linoleum is stubbornly difficult to cut through.  Blades will slip and shave your fingers, I promise.


Now that your fingers are destroyed and your floor is covered in scraps of linoleum, you can finally stamp.  Speedball sells a brayer, a small roller that one can use to roll paint onto the stamp.  I like to use a paintbrush.  A paintbrush gives me more control over the small detailed areas.  It takes some practice to make a good print, and I usually stamp against a firm surface, then flip over the stamp and press the paper to the stamp to get some better coverage.  The best part is, no two cards will look alike.   The inconsistencies make this art form so appealing.

Who doesn't love receiving hand made holiday cards in the mail?  Block printing is a great way to create something personal for your friends and family.   Happy printing!!!