Mucha

Who doesn't love the challenge of a Mucha carve? This is just the stamp from cigarette ad. Hmm this is the second cigarette ad I've carved. I wouldn't have known cigarettes to be a source of inspiration. But I guess the marketing that takes a cancer stick and turns it into a soothing getaway could take all forms.

This is a two layer print from my William Morris Swap. I carved one layer of brown and then another layer with pink, slate blue and gray. It was a lot of fun. I'd like to do it again, but we all need PZ cut back.

Dali Tarot Deck: Temperance

This picture didn't come out the best. This is my first three layer carve that isn't reductive. I carved a layer of red wing and yellow wine goblet, and a layer of flesh and white wing spots. The final layer is the black. I did the mountains later with watercolor pencil. This card doesn't look like anything I've ever made before, in a good way. The only dissapointment is that I didn't quite capture her expression accurately. I cannot wait to see what other people did for the Tarot ring. It's just perfect for LTCs. Here's the original Dali :

Washington State Palette

This is my submission for 3 Blind Mice's challenge swap. I am honored to be chosen for this group. I challenged myself to see if I could carve 12 tiny recognizable Washington State icons. Here's what I chose: Mt. Rainer, Pacific Northwest Native American art, salmon, evergreen, Bald Eagle, the Seattle Space Needle, coffee, tug boat, Rhododrenden, rain, apple and George Washington.

I still have one left for a trade!

The Migrant Monarch card is a design I've had in head for a while now. I had been hanging on to cards with rainforest collage on them for sometime now. I finally found a suitable butterfly to carve and presto! The monarch is colored with twinkling H2Os and the ribbon is enhanced with pearl ex pigments. This card is kind of simple, but I'm happy with shimmery vibrancy.

The card on the bottom is from the Incredibly Victorian Valentine swap. I love how this card turned out. My husband doesn't like the fact that the stamp isn't very Victorian. We will see if anyone notices and I do think the colors are very Victorian.

and some more cards

This had to be posted crooked. It was for the wonders of America swap. At a top diving speed of 200 mph the Peregrine Falcon is not only the fastest bird in America, it's the fastest animal on the planet. This carve turned out so great!

more cards...

Here's what I did for the Pink October swap. October is national Breast cancer Awareness month and there are so many types of pink ribbon promotions in the grocery stores. There is a great website thinkbeforeyoupink.org that promotes product transparency and pinkwasher discovery. A pink washer product is product that claims to donate proceeds to breast cancer but can also be linked to the causes of breast cancer. An example of a pink washer is the Ford Mustang, carcinogens from the exhaust have been linked to breast cancer. Therefore think before you pink, make sure you know exactly how you are supporting the breast cancer cure.  One of my favorite essays is Welcome to CancerLand by Barbara Ehrenreich you can google it, 

This is a gold ingot for the Old West swap. When a miner struck gold, he would take it to be appraised. the gold would be molded into an ingot, and stamped with its weight, purity  and the appraiser's mark. I am really happy with how the colors turned out.  

Got to love our apartment's ugly carpet :)

 

Last two cards

This is my Malayan Tapir from 3 Blind Mice's zoo swap. What a great swap that was!  Isn't it so cute the babies are born with spots. I carved this from a photo. These Tapirs live in the Edinburgh zoo in Scotland. I love that adorable front foot. I only wish I could have captured the baby's snout more accurately.  

My last card is what I did for the Lighthouse swap back in August. I chose the only lighthouse that meant something to me. Faulkner's Island Lighthouse in Long Island 

Sound near Guilford, CT. I visited this lighthouse when I was three with my mom, my aunt Jill and their cousin Joel. I remember clearly the numerous bunnies. They didn't have any predators on this tiny island. The rabbit was my first two layer carve. I used water color pencils for the background.  

My mom's cousin Joel founded the Faulkner's Light Brigade to help protect the lighthouse and to keep it in use. Coincidentally Joel also married me and Alex on July 2nd, 2006.