Robot Beetle

I needed to make up some samples to help advertise the Stamp Making Class that I am teaching this summer to kids.  I figure the beer bottles and other things I've been recently carving are not really age appropriate.  The younger kids will certainly have a share of different techniques we will practice, but the older kids will get to have even more fun by carving their own stamps.

Draw something, carve it, print it!

So, if you've got bored yet creative kids this summer in the Tri-Cities, you might want to check out the gallery's schedule of kid workshops.

Carved Bottle and Layout

I've been thinking about graphics for the bottle labels for our homebrew.  We drank the first batch without fear of mix-up, but ideally we'd like to make little stickers or something to identify what's inside as we continue to brew.  This is a little bottle stamp I worked on last night.  I"m teaching a kid's class on stamp making this summer at the local art gallery, so it felt good to dust off the tools.  I need to figure out a cheap way to secure or make 18 cutters - the class pack I'd planned on ordering has disappeared from the web store since I submitted my budget request.

I've also been working on the layout of a new bigger Celtic piece. I've got this round border penciled in. I think I will ink it before I go too much further, as all this pencil is very smudgy. I'm not too sure I like the two giant petals at the top and bottom, but small ones were in the way of the triangles I'd laid out in the background. Round borders are fun but much more tedious, since you have to draft the grid before you can draft the knot.  Oh well. I'm sure you'll see more of this later.