Oofta. Calling last week insane would be an understatement. Don’t get me wrong, I’ve experienced busier weeks in the past, but this one was different. It definitely tested my ability to remain creative when life gets busy. In a way, I felt like I was in college all over again, managing my various classes. Only this time around I wasn’t juggling class projects, but rather “life projects.”
Cute, sassy hips.
I would define “life projects” quite loosely: various parts of my life vying for my attention. You know, things like family, friends, work, blog, sports, home life, etc. And this week, it felt like I had about 17 different “life projects” to tend to, yet I desired to remain creative amongst the busyness.
My eyes are bigger than my stomach.
For those who know me at all, they know that I like to keep busy. I like my plate filled with options to pick from, including a million unfinished projects. I just pick and choose which project fits my ever-changing artsy desire and run with it.
Too squished for ears, but three side-by-side is the vision for my end goal!
As a part of The Heartward Project, I’m trying to give my creative side a bit of structure and certainly some accountability, hence the blog. Yeah, HENCE. (House Bunny anyone?!) Implementing structure for my creative projects is certainly a new concept to me, and this week, it kicked my butt.
Committing to Deadlines
I’ve set a goal for myself to update my blog once a week regarding The Heartward Project, specifically on Thursdays. It’s a great way to keep creative accountability. This kind of accountability requires a deadline. The downside to that: I have a deadline. Of course this is just a guideline, as some weeks it simply won’t be feasible to reach that goal.
Hands down, family comes first.
I had two creative deadlines to meet this week; one was flexible but the other not so much. Posting to my blog once a week is a personal goal, but throwing a baby shower for my sister easily trumped my plans!
Planning for it was so much fun! And the best part about it: I still got to use my creative juices. From meal planning to banner-making and other décor, my brain was able to still remain creative during this busy week. And all thanks to my mom and sisters, we were able to pull together the cutest woodland-themed baby shower.
So, printmaking?
Despite the other “life projects” this week, I was still able to squeeze in some printmaking. Can you believe it’s already my third week of printing? The first week I explored the basic beginnings, making a “Happy New Year” stamp to kick off The Heartward Project. The second week built off of that by creating a couple of repeatable stamps that made some crazy cool patterns.
This week I wanted to play with layered stamps; patterns that require multiple stamps to have multi-colored prints. I brainstormed all kinds of ideas, and then I found the cutest turtles with interchangeable shells on Pinterest. Oh for cute!! My brain spun this idea round and round when it struck me: elephant ears.
The images scattered around this post show what I’ve accomplished thus far, and it is very much just a step towards the final vision of mine. I’d love to have three elephants side-by-side, with all-black bodies. Each elephant would be sporting different patterns on their ears and I envisioned them being printed in gold. All prints thus far have been solid black, but I already had some gold ink that I used when I screen-printed my wedding invitations, so I thought I was set to go.
A fun experiment with my goopy ink.
What the ink!
So I’ve had it in my head that I would be able to use screen-printing inks for block printing. I’m not really sure where I pulled that from, but I do know that the screen-printing inks that I have are much too thin for block printing! Every time I print, I learn something new! More research needs to happen on my end, but I’m remaining hopeful that those inks are still an option for future prints.
What a conundrum. My block printing ink has been too thick, and my screen-printing inks were too thin. Perhaps I could try mixing my black inks to find a happy-medium consistency
Don’t forget, stamps are reusable!
I’m a little bummed that I wasn’t able to finesse the use of the inks I have, but that’s not the only bit of my plan that fell to the wayside. Remember my vision of three elephants side-by-side? Well, let’s just say that elephants are wide animals, and their large ears don’t help! I didn’t have time to prep a larger piece of paper to fit three across, but oh the dream! Mix that in with the ink issue, and I had hit my limit for the week.
By struggling through these prints, I learned so much! The faster I rush a project, the less satisfied I am with the outcome. I have every intention of revisiting these elephants before January is over, and because of this busy week’s struggles, I’ll now be able to do it well!
Related: 2017: My Most Creative Year Yet // The Heartward Project Kickoff