THE ONLY PHOTO WE TOOK WHILE ON THE CRUISE...

I've started this post a million times, but I can't seem to put into words what Aaron and I experienced last weekend so I'll let him tell you...

"We embarked from Miami on the ship.

Long story short: it was actually pretty fun. We aren't big fans of cruises, and this one was no exception, but we met some really great people.

Got to see my old pal , Brandon.
Got to meet some really cool artists and musicians in the Christian music community.
Made some great friends with Evan (Mandisa's guitar player, and an all-around great dude), Scott (Third Day's road manager), and Jenna (Scott's girlfriend).

Overall, we had a really good experience. And now we are on to the next step in our journey."

POSITIVE & ENCOURAGING

So, I haven't said much about it, mostly to save face, but Aaron and I are leaving early in the morning to go on the K-LOVE Friends and Family Music Cruise. We booked it a few months back in hopes that Aaron could make some contacts in the Christian music world and now we're thinking it was probably the worst idea ever! There's no way out now so we are hopeful that God will somehow work this out for good! Here's the demo we plan to hand out to 25 lucky passengers. Ha! Hopefully passengers with some kind of pull in the music industry. Are we crazy?!

A SECOND COLOR!

I successfully added a second color! A second run is scary because if you screw it up, all the work you did for the first run is thrown away. And I think I'll be throwing a lot of them away. Ha! Needless to say I learned a lot with this second project...

1. Maybe try and find a new drying system.
(or don't let your dog in the basement when you have wet pieces on the floor)

2. Make sure you carve your linoleum block out BACKWARDS!

3. Stamping a block of ink by hand does not work out so well. (this was probably the biggest mistake)

4. Simple Green doesn't work as well on rubber-based ink, however, mix it with a little crisco and the ink magically melts off.

CAN'T WIN 'EM ALL...

Moises Valdés is a master print maker for artists around the world. He creates limited edition prints and displays them in his gallery in Mexico. He explained to me that his gallery had a dutch modern feel and he wanted that style to reflect in the logo. He also said it would make sense for the mark to include his initials. I thought this solution I came up with said it all! This mark creates the "M V", but it also illustrates the process of taking original art and making a print. Little did I know there was another designer working on this with him and unfortunately he went with this.

COOKING LIGHT FOR THE NEW YEAR

I got the December issue of Cooking Light Magazine and I gave this recipe a try. Coconut-curry chicken soup. I love ordering the soup at Thai restaurants and this sounded amazing! Aaron had the idea to garnish with some bean sprouts. Yummy!

MANBEAR!!!

Aaron loves to draw. Cute little, fun little things like this...

and this...
AND THIS...

Well for Christmas one of our friends took the time to make one of these cute little, fun little things come to life. It's so amazing. I don't even have words... thanks Janette :)

ANOTHER SHOW... ANOTHER POSTER

Santa was good to me this year. I am totally set up with all the supplies I need to get busy with this letterpress. Six different colors of ink, linoleum blocks and carving tools. I am so pleased with the way Aaron's profile turned out. This method is definitely going to work for simple images.

The top poster is partly computer manipulated. I added more type and a splash of color.
Come out to the show Friday!

The project on the bottom is going to be the artwork for Aaron's new demo. I'm about to explore the world of registration. AHHH. I'll keep you posted on the progress.

CALENDARS

I'm gonna call this my first real project on the letterpress. So, of course, I learned A LOT!!

First off... 43 calendars = 516 passes through the press! Next time I think I'll give myself more than just one day. Even with the help of my wonderful friends, this took about 12 hours. Good thing I made a HUGE breakfast.

Two: Opaque White ink DOES print white on a colored stock. A couple of people told me that it wouldn't work. They were wrong!

Three: My mini press is better at printing big chunky type. All of the numbers were pretty much smudged beyond recognition. I wont go that small again.

Four: When you have a plate made, it's a thin sheet and doesn't come with backing. Good to know.

Five: Clean up. Simple Green is my new best friend :)

Six: My friends are so creative!!! They all came up with type solutions that were unexpected and innovative!

EYVIND EARLE

This year my cookie decorating was inspired by Eyvind Earle. I came across his work in Hallmark's image bank. Aaron got pretty excited about him when we found out he was a Disney background artist. Take a look!