Newly Listed Prints

Here are a few of my newest prints that are recently listed in my Etsy shop! There are more still to be photographed and listed so check back soon! 
Wishing you all a wonderful week!

I'm back!!

It's been quite a while now since I've posted anything on here. I've found it difficult to find a balance between the creating of new prints and helping to spread the word with all of the social networking sites...10-20 minutes on each site equals hours of my time....hours that are surely helpful in the long run, but in truth...they're hours I'd rather be creating instead of tapping away on my laptop! My hope is to turn this around and start posting more regularly again! 

In short, the last few months have been extremely successful!! My featured artist show at the Paper Hat was wonderful and I am still tickled by the amazing turnout of friends and family for my opening reception! I learned many things while doing this show, but one of the most exciting of which was learning that if I can sustain a similar amount of sales that were made during the course of my exhibition, turning Wooden Spoon Editions into my day job is a real possibility! 

It's been severely cold here in Minnesota the last few weeks. With windchills reaching -30F or colder, I've been dreaming of warm summer days. Which in turn has produced my newest print! I will be dropping off a couple of these at the Paper Hat tomorrow and hope to list it in my Etsy shop within the week. 
Hope you're having a great week!

Check back soon!!

Fresh Ink :: Antlers

Last night I printed quite a few of the next print to be apart of my White Ink Limited Collection! I am really happy with the finished print as well as the color of the handmade paper. The exact hue of the paper is so tricky to capture, so, in a word...bordeaux. 

Hope you have a lovely weekend! 

I'm looking forward to printing and carving a couple new designs, as well as having a dear friend of mine from college and her husband stay with us while they're in the Twin Cities for a wedding. :) 

+ + + This is the same friend that I created this special print for her little babe's nursery.

All Packaged Up

I've spent the morning packaging my prints and journals :: making sure everything is just-so. I'll be dropping them off at Paper Hat on Thursday! :)

Also, I'm having a Xmas in July SALE in my shop! 25% off select things!

Fresh Ink :: White on Blue

I wanted to experiment a bit with some of my prints and some different paper than I typically use for printing. I've had my eyes on this Lama Li paper for quite a while and thought I'd give it a try. The paper is handmade in Nepal and comes in a wide range of colors - but wait....even better - I found out that a percentage of the proceeds from the sale of these papers supports community development initiatives like clean water, road construction, and other infrastructure projects in Nepal! Pretty sweet deal! 

All in all I'm really happy with how this turned out. 

Come back to see more soon...I got two other colors! :)

:: Hand mixing ink to warm it up ::

:: Rolling the ink out with the brayer ::

:: After ink is rolled onto matrix with the brayer ::

:: Burnishing the back of the paper with my wooden spoon to transfer the ink to the paper ::

:: Finished print and matrix ::   

         

:: An afternoon spent printing on new paper produced some fun results ::

:: Can't wait to do more like it! ::

Fresh Ink :: Lady + Bug

Step 1 of 2 is complete! I just wrapped up printing these little ladies, and now have to wait for them to dry before I can begin step 2. 
They were a bit tricky at times during printing since there isn't a lot of inked block for the paper to "hang" onto.
But, with some careful hand placement and patience, I think this little commission piece turned out pretty well! 

  

Fresh Ink :: A Tale of Two Trees

I printed a new moleskine design over the weekend, what do you think?
Hope you have a happy week!

Fresh Ink :: Snow+Flake+Tag

Snowflake tags! 

Fresh Ink :: Tannenbaum

I'm really happy with how this little tree printed! I'll be using these little guys as gift tags for the holidays, but will maybe print them on other things in the near future....possibly a little moleskine? 

Hope you're having a good week!

Fresh Ink :: Winter Berries

Yesterday was a very successful printing day! I printed more paddle prints, as well as a few paddle Moleskine Journals. I finished the day by printing the berry branches I recently finished carving. I can't wait for the ink to dry so I can go back and add a touch of red to each berry!   

Fresh Ink :: Snow+Flake

Happy Halloween! 
For a lot of people, including myself...it's still too early to see or hear about the winter season. 
However, visions of snow on Halloween aren't that crazy... 
Many of you Minnesotans probably remember the infamous Halloween blizzard of 1991 - when the Twin Cities received 28.4 inches of snow, setting a single storm record for the metropolitan area. I remember the year of the blizzard clearly :: I was Pippi Longstocking - the wire in my braids and freckles painted on my face were the only indicator of my costume since I was otherwise wrapped in my warmest winter coat, boots, mittens, etc. Do you have a memory of the Halloween blizzard? Or maybe another crazy weather related Halloween memory?

Fresh Ink :: Finely Feathered

I just finished printing on a Moleskin journal for the first time! I was curious to see how the ink would transfer to the cover of the journal since it's very different than the paper I typically print on. 
The feather design was a fun one to do, I wanted them to appear to be softly floating down the cover.   

Getting a descent photo of this was difficult - I apologize for the weird shadow at the top 

Fresh Ink :: Birch

I just finished printing the birch trees :: FINALLY!  
They were tricky to print since so much of the block had been carved away - leaving not much left for the paper to "grab onto." To be honest, I'm glad these trees are finally done...they took way longer to complete and were a bit finicky with all the fine lines and details. 
Hope you have an enjoyable weekend!

finished print 8 x 10"

close-up of inked block

Fresh Ink :: Twig & Leaf

The last few days have been a bit cooler here and have me thinking of fall. The fall is my favorite time of year for a couple reasons :: the biggies are our wedding anniversary, and my birthday. I also LOVE the fall for it's crisp evenings, cozy layers, and seeing all the fall colors everywhere you turn. 

I was hoping the ink I mixed would of been a little more orange...I was going for more of a warm bittersweet color. On the palette it was perfect, but then printed on the paper it came out a touch more red than I had hoped. Ah well, I still am happy with how it turned out!

:: Don't forget to check out my Etsy shop for more prints ::

Open for Business and a Giveaway!

Spinning Wheels, Turning Heads

Red Red Wine

At Woods Edge

I'm celebrating the opening of my Etsy shop 
by offering a giveaway of one of my prints! 

The winner will have the option of choosing one of the three prints pictured above. To enter my giveaway, you may do one or both of the following options listed below. By doing both, you'll double your odds of winning! :)

1. Become a follower of this blog by clicking 'Join this Site', (if you're not doing so already) and leave a comment on this post about which of the three prints you would prefer and why. Please make sure that your name links back to an email address so I can contact you if you're name is chosen. If you're already a follower and would like to participate, simply leave a comment at the end of this post.

2. Become a follower of @WoodenSpoonEdns on Twitter and retweet my post about the giveaway. If you're a winner, I'll DM you for your contact details.

:: This giveaway will last one week ::

The winner's name will be randomly chosen using the random number generator and posted on my blog next Tuesday, August 23.

The above prints measure 5 x 7" and will fit in any standard 5 x 7" frame or mat.


All packaging and shipping will be paid for by me!

Good luck to all!

**If you would like to enter the giveaway and are having trouble 

becoming a follower of this blog and/or leaving a comment, 

you can click into my profile at the top and email me!** 

Fresh Ink :: Down By The Seashore

This little print was made with one of my dear friend's in mind :: she's having her first baby in just a couple months and is decorating the nursery with a beach theme. I had a crazy hard time getting the ink color right for this print. However, after printing it eight times - I finally got the gray I was envisioning. That said, I'm really happy with how it turned out in the end! 

Happy Friday to you all, I hope you have a good weekend planned!

:: Don't forget to check out my Etsy shop for more prints ::

mnartists.org

My paddle print was on the homepage of mnartists the other day! Oh for fun! :)

Fresh Ink :: Paddle Oar Row

I'm really happy with how these prints turned out, although...I don't think I'm quite finished with them. I'm interested in experimenting with some other mediums to introduce another color or two into these prints. Has anyone tried using watercolors on Rives paper? If so, what were the results like? Hope you're having a good week :: almost FRIDAY!!!

:: Don't forget to check out my Etsy shop for more prints ::

Fresh Ink :: Red Red Wine

While we were in California, Tim and I bought a slightly more pricey bottle of wine than we typically purchase at Hahn Winery. Having safely arrived by FedEx just a few weeks ago, it is tucked away, patiently waiting for us to open it for a special occasion. 
I'm really happy with how this one turned out + it was pretty painless to print too! Hope you're having a good week and keeping cool despite the tropical weather we've been having!! 

:: Don't forget to check out my Etsy shop for more prints ::

Fresh Ink :: Sip & Perk

Coffee seems to always "pop-up" at significant moments throughout my life. To name a few...I met my husband Tim while working at a little coffee shop in the art building where we went to college, after graduating we moved to Italy and lived above a quaint cafe that we frequented daily, at our wedding the bridesmaid's dresses were espresso and the groomsmen's vests and ties were mocha and latte... (none of these were planned, but were later pointed out by Tim's best man during his speech!) Is there a common theme that weaves its way through your life?

** The ink looks like it's black in these top photos, but it's actually a 

dark chocolate...or espresso (wink wink) **

:: Don't forget to check out my Etsy shop for more prints ::