Love Print Work...

This little guy was chosen in an Etsyian's Treasury today!

I'm getting way into making prints! It's a whole new way to think about things. It's making me think of things more graphically or stylistically (if those are even the proper terms). And it is very challenging to design a simple image or idea and still make it sing - at least for me. It's a new approach for me, but one I've always wanted to explore and just never took the time to hone in. The new printer is a great motivator. The prints are just wonderful. I can't believe how nice they've been turning out on the Epson Velvet Paper. The prints look better than the originals sometimes! I'm not sure if that's good or bad...but I'm going to take it as good! One thing I would like to mention about the Epson R1900 is that even though it was specifically designed to use the thick stock coated art papers, and even has a feeding slot just for them - it doesn't work!! I've been able to get maybe 1 or 2 prints to go through and never the actual Epson velvet paper (only other brands of similar stock that was slightly thinner). I even took back the first printer to make sure it wasn't a defect and had the guy at the photography store try it, too. The second printer did the same thing! But I'm happy to report, after 3 days of pulling my hair out, that you are able to just say "ignore" to the window that pops up and feed it through the front slot for regular paper and it works just fine...go figure?!

The Little House

Here's the next stage with some paint...just trying out some stuff at this point, but this one has been fun!

I'm building a wall...

Well, last night did a little quick experiment to see if I could easily get a stone looking facade and it totally worked. Now with some paint I'll send it through the old time machine and make it look 100 years old. Now must decide on the rest of the set. Stone pathway? window panes opening outwards? separate panes so they reflect differently? gauzy sheers just barely hanging on? ...the tough part there will be getting a fabric with the right kind of weave that will be appropriate for the scale of the thing and not look stiff...

Tiny Setback...

Well, my trusty ol' computer decided to go into a coma this week, but thankfully it was kind enough to warn me that I better immediately back up all data and replace the primary drive before it froze for good! So with my external drive in hand, I march into the future of computers, hoping everything will be readable for the new guy. And although I do indeed love the speed and storage space of this new computer, I feel like my parents sent me away to a foreign land for an arranged marriage I wanted no part of. My new husband's name is Vista 64 bit. Why couldn't I stay in the arms of XP, so familar, so predictable. I knew all of his faults, by this time in our relationship I had slyly figured out ways to work around his control freak tendencies and pretty much did what I wanted. It was perfect! And now I am forced to look at Vista's cold staring face every day, hiding simple things from me, doing what he wants with little or no explanation to me, constantly questioning my every move! Could my parents have at least found someone who looked like XP? What happened to my nice thumbnails?! Vista has let me down. I know, I know, get a Mac, get a Mac - well, I am not a princess with unlimited funds, so for the time being, I am stuck in this unhappily arranged marriage with the Microsoft family.