Collagraph Printing and Winter Seedlings

I have some collagraph prints lying around on my desk this morning - I've been wanting to try this technique for ages and used my XCut machine to print with after finding a Facebook group all about it.  It's a great way of making prints without investing in a proper press and I am quite pleased with the results.  I kept the plates very simple - I didn't want to invest a lot of time and effort in them if it was going to be a disaster!  I also kept to my current theme of the winter garden.

These first prints turned out quite well and I was able to take several copies from each plate.  I found the only print I had real problems with was the minimalist one (bottom of first photo) - it smudged from the very first print and all subsequent ones - just proving that I'm not cut out for clean and simple!!

 

I decided to try a little more detail and scratched this leaf into the surface of some board.  I only had 3 successful prints with this and then the board deteriorated beyond use, but it's all a learning curve!

These are the used plates, some still strong enough for another print run but a couple have had it. 

I'm linking up with Julia over at WOYWW 

Collage - Black to White

 I'm continuing my collage journey and using prompts from Randel Plowman's The Collage Workbook.  

Challenge 3 is using shades of black to white.  I collected so many scraps I had more than enough to make two collages, although I think I prefer the top one.

I also made another white collage (you can see my previous white collage here).

I made it alongside last week's white collage but it really wasn't working for me. So before finally binning it I played around with it and added some buttons and somehow it seemed to work and bring it all together. 

And finally, I printed off some textures for a future collage and this is how my desk looked last night.  I grabbed a quick photo before tackling the roller and glass plate - the one job I don't like doing when I've been printing!

I'm linking up with Julia over at WOYWW this week.

Lino Cutting and a Shed!

 This is my desk just as it was yesterday afternoon, as I frantically printed a lino cut that I had made for my brother-in-law's birthday.  

He has a new shed/workshop, which is his pride and joy and also his sanctuary, complete with wood burning stove - hence the chimney on the shed roof.

I'm linking up with Julia over at WOYWW this week.

I'm also sending love, gentle hugs and positive thoughts to dear Shaz Silverwolf.

 

 

Midnight Garden

Some sketchbook pages on my desk this week, for WOYWW.

The theme being the garden at night - one of life's pleasures is sitting in the garden as dusk falls and seeing the changing colours and shapes, the moths and  other creatures that appear - we have a hedgehog that has been visiting us over the last few weeks - and even the scent of some of the plants seems to intensify later in the evening!

Cyanotype printing

I've been busy this week printing cyanotype prints in the garden.

Not much sunshine around so making the best of it when I can!

Garden foliage and lace held down with sheets of glass.

Some of the prints being washed off in the kitchen sink - the stripes across the photo are the reflection of my kitchen blinds in the water - however I tried they just kept wanting to be in the picture!

I am linking up with Julia over at WOYWW this week.

Night Garden

I love my garden in the late evening, when the sun has gone down and the scents are often at their strongest.
                                                                                     

   I've been using fresh foliage picked from the garden for making cyanotype sun prints, then screen printing with beautiful, creamy Jacquard textile paint, 
and lots of machine and hand embroidery - and there's lots more still to do!

Heuchera flower sun prints with printed seed heads

Printing over the marks left by teabags!

I knew moths would have to sneak in somewhere!

I'm linking up with Julia over at What's on Your Workdesk Wednesday