Drawing Maps and Gettin' Hitched

Mike and I broke out the Gocco before the holidays, to work on Save the Date cards for our wedding guests. Since many people will be traveling, we wanted to get the word out as soon as possible. Making that list was damn hard. Especially when you have 70 people who count as family members...on the bride's side!



We're getting married this July, in Ft. Lauderdale. I know. Holy Rusty Hotness, Batman. But there are good reasons. Mike doesn't teach in the summer, we want to have it in my hometown, and many of our friends and family are in school or also teach. Air conditioning is aplenty, so nobody will melt.

We both love maps, and had been tinkering with the idea of making a map for our cards. Many of our friends will be flying or driving down, from as far as the Philippines, Sweden, France, New Jersey and Indiana! We're feeling very lucky.

The cards were a total collaboration and we had a good time doing this. He drew the front, I did the banner, the details, and an illustration in the back. Bickering was minor, but unavoidable.

I am mighty proud of that banner, people. Having us walk off a plank was vetoed though.



I love that everything does not line up exactly. Obviously, some were better than others, but I enjoy seeing that overlap. And here is my cute little anchor below.



The best part was that I was able to use all of my existing gocco and paper supplies for this project! I knew I'd been hoarding them for a reason. Mike learned to gocco, and we did not throw anything at each other.



It was a labor of love, but it's worth it, just to see that pile of cards stamped and addressed, ready to travel all over the world.



P.S. Please tell me I'm not the only person who gets immense satisfaction from a stack of letters ready for post? And did you like buying school supplies as a kid too?

P.P.S. We're having fun planning, but are definitely not going overboard. Ha ha ha! Pun totally intended!

Princess #1 Reigns Supreme!

I was pleasantly surprised to hear that my Gocco Tutorial was featured in Craftzine and Whip Up today. I got the sweetest comments from people thanking me for my time in putting it together. Don't you love how when you know just enough about something that you're not that scared to put out a tutorial to help others?



That is one thing that is remarkable about the internet. When you have a new interest that hardly any of your friends had heard about, there are great online resources out there, and an amazing amount of friendly people willing to share their knowledge.

My tutorial was a way to put more good karma out there from getting so much help on knitting and gocco (wink).

Mike has been in Indiana visiting his family this week. Although I miss him, I'm glad that he has a chance to see them. I was also lucky to have my cousin Cara visit this weekend, and we took a trip to the Jersey shore to see our aunt and uncle.

Apparently, she is still not happy with her mom for giving me the favored "so ugly it's pretty" of our Grandma's scrap afghan. We're currently negotiating a joint custody of the blanket. I must make a mental note to remind her that as the first granddaughter and reigning "Princess Number One" so christened by our late Grandma, it's mine until I befall my throne. (wink)

In the meantime, I'm unwinding every night by crocheting a few rows of my own scrap afghan, dubbed "The Frankenblanket" by Lisa.



It is so uninentionally long, that it will be a vertically striped blanket instead of a horizontally striped one. I love it, and it's definitely a runner up in the ugly-cute category, like my favorite dog, the Pug.



I love it! The only part I'm not digging are the red and pink stripes on the left hand side. Thinking back though, the red mohair was yarn that Mike bought me on my first and only Christmas away from my family, and the pink was something I was going to make his niece, but didn't since it wouldn't be fair to make only her something and not his nephews....so it's quite fitting that the two are together.

I guess I won't mind them after all. I do like inadvertant pairings and found meaning.

Streamlined Gocco Tutorial (for my peeps)

Here is the streamlined tutorial version for people like my mom and knitting circle gals, who I don't want to bore to tears looking though 55 photos on my "extensive" tutorial.

1. Put photocopied drawings on the pad. Insert the master screen which is the cardboard frame with silkscreen inside.



2. Place your lightbulbs into the mirrored housing and place them on top of the print gocco machine.



3. See how the lamp housing is inverted on the machine so that the lights are aiming directly to the master screen beneath it? When you press down on the machine, it sends a current from the batteries to the bulbs thus bursting them and creating enough heat to burn the screen. The screen is treated with an emulsion that activates and burns in areas where carbon and the heat from the lights interact. It does flash, but nothing dangerous. (I swear, Ma!)



4. After you wait for the bulbs to cool, you can remove them from the mirrored housing unit. See how they crack and pop after they're used up?



5. The carbon on the image (black areas) sticks onto the screen where it has burned. You can see a ghost image on the screen. These areas where it was burned means that there is are hundreds of tiny holes for the ink to come through and print on your paper. The other areas are not burned, so no ink will go through.



6. Ink is applied on the screen for the various colors you want to use. I applied a foamy sticker around the pools of color, to keep them from running into each other into a globby mess. The plastic layer goes over the ink, so that it doesn't make a mess.



7. See, gocco is kind of a combination of silkscreen and rubber stamping. You're burning a screen like in silkscreen, but you are not inking and dragging a brayer across the screen to make a print each time. Instead, you're inking enough for multiple prints, and using pressure to make the ink press against the plastic sheet and glass, flatten out and flow through your image. (Kind of like a rubber stamp).



8. After you press down the top of the machine, lift it up and you'll have a print on your paper! Then you can run around the house looking for empty surfaces to print on, as it's that addicting.



9. When you're done printing, hang them or lay them flat to dry.



10. You're done! Clean up and treat yourself to some ice cream with sprinkles.

P.S. I really do want to have a gocco party soon, for real life demonstrations, it's just been a busy month of weddings, traveling and miscellaneous riff-raff.

My Gocco Tutorial

I have been meaning to create a gocco tutorial for some time now. I'm not claiming to be an expert, but have a good idea how it works at this point. My tutorial is meant to be informative, and give a lot of detail with tips that have helped me. I know that there is stuff out there already, but I'm a blabbermouth, and couldn't resist.



It's step by step, in excruciating detail at some points. This is not because I think people are dumb, but I thought it could help anyone who needs a little bit more description and pictures to understand.

I know when I was learning to knit toe-up socks, I was looking for a step by step tutorial that had everything that I needed to see. When I finally found one, it helped so much, even though many may have thought that it was too descriptive.

So without further adieu, here is my Gocco Tutorial. The link will take you to my flickr account where you'll see photos and descriptions below.

Feel free to email me (vanilla.beanie@gmail.com) with any further questions! I hope this can help a few people, and finally help my friends understand what the heck I'm up to. (wink)

Peanut Butter and Jelly Ink

I finished knitting my Declan Capelet, but it didn't turn out how I wanted it too. I think I'll rip it out and knit this capelet instead. I may wait to rip it out until Wednesday's Knitting Circle, as requested by Andrea, but it has already been decided. (I'm the Decider! Ha ha).



This alpaca is so quick to knit up, that the process is enjoyable. I don't mind attempting something and failing, as long as I can acheive an end product that I will love. After all, it is (repeat with me), "prize winning showfleece!" Please note, I will limit myself to repeating that phrase to ten more times.

Don't you like how I am knitting with alpaca, while wearing a knitted wool sweater, and sitting under a woven alpaca blanket direct from Peru? (Thanks again, Aunt Sissy, you world traveller!) Is that a fiber overload or what? Good thing it is balanced out with our ratty free couches comprised of 1970s plastic fibers...

I've been working on the Lace Ribbon Scarf with my Colinette Jitterbug. Not to sound so forlorn about my knitting, but I'm not sure if this yarn is working with the pattern. Perhaps it's destined to become a pair of socks afterall.



Since my knitting has been going south, the universe has balanced out by providing some gocco luck this weekend. Don't let this peanut butter and jelly looking ink fool you, it turned out quite pretty. (The brown was to warm that cool purple shade up).



I'll show you what I can very soon. Here's a sneak peek, since I like you all so much.

Gocco Swap Loot

I wanted to share some of my loot from the Mid-Winter Gocco Swap. The prints I received were only from one of the groups, you can see more prints in the flickr group here.



I did a side swap with Kristen of Taylor Made Designs. Isn't everything she does great? I love the wine tags she added to my package. You can check out her etsy shop here.

She pays so much attention to detail in creating an entire package. Although, what do you expect from a talented graphic designer? (wink).



Thank you everyone!

Mid-Winter Gocco Swap

I had a hard time coming up with ideas for the Mid-Winter Gocco Swap, with the practically balmy weather we've been having in Philly. I was thinking of ice skaters, but was eventually drawn to umbrellas.



One of my favorite fountains in Philly is Logan Circle. Walking past it on my way to work in galoshes, I was inspired to do my print with it in mind. Working on floorplans in AutoCAD all day, I am constantly thinking in plan view, and sometimes my drawings reflect that.



I patched and pieced together my screen to create some quick cards and embellish some envelopes. I hope these bright colors help with the mid-winter blahs!



I did put a quick wash of watercolor on the flat notes only. After creating the actual prints with all the different colors, there was no way I could do that again and make the deadline.



Thanks again, Sarah, for organizing a great gocco swap! It was a great excuse to do something that is slightly scary-- putting your work out there. I'm glad I did it.



I can't wait to see what everyone else created!

Pop. Pop. Pop.

It's been hard to find inspiration for the Mid-Winter Gocco Swap with all the rain and sixty degree weather we've been having in Philly. I finally got the ideas in my head onto paper, and they're coming along (fingers crossed, though!)



For someone who does a lot of linework and watercolor, it can be a challenge to translate my style into ink and layers. Luckily, I have a treasure chest of Tria markers and tracing paper to assist in the process.



Pop, pop, pop, pop! are the sounds of gocco bulbs exploding. One day I'll create my gocco tutorial and this will make more sense.



There's something so soothing about mixing paint or ink. Seriously, try it. You feel so accomplished and professional for those brief moments.



There's some heart crossing and superstitious rituals when peeling off the image and seeing if your master was created properly. I think that Andrew's heart shaped lucky rock helped in this case, as it was 'touch and go' for awhile.



Then there's the fact that I was overzealous with my design and amount of colors for my first layer. You'll have to wait and see.



In the meantime, I should have a legwarmer reveal by Saturday. Taking the bowl of yarn to a Superbowl party, and stuffing the yarn into a gallon sized ziploc bag turned them into a travelling project after all.

To all the people who found me insane...well, that realization was frankly inevitable, my friends. (wink)

Bowl O' Yarn

A work friend asked me, "Mariss, why haven't you brought in your legwarmers to work on during lunch?"

"Um, because there's so many balls of yarn it's become unmanageable for travel," I replied.

Exhibit one: Bowl O' Yarn. You see, Mike and I were watching a movie, and him sitting on the couch was hindering my color selection. The lightbulb flashed and I kindly asked him to get me a large bowl for my yarn. Problem solved.

It certainly worked, I finished my first legwarmer this morning. All 26". Here's a sneak peek below.

Mmmm. It looks like a Noro Sandwich.

I'm not going to model them until I finish the second one. I don't want to ruin the surprise for you (and oh, will they be cute!). Plus, I should probably suck it up and shave my legs before my "fashion shoot".

Alright, no more knitting until I finish my gocco prints. Now there's some motivation!

Illustration Friday: Plain

Ah, my first Illustration Friday post of the year, for the topic, plain. Did I want to draw anything plain? Of course not. So I included the absence of plain in the rest of the drawing (wink).



And, no. It is not a wedding dress, people.

Also, damn you, lighting! I had to say it. I can't have you thinking I made the watercolors that yellow.

Now I need to start working on my prints for the Mid-Winter Gocco Swap. Do umbrellas count as mid-winter? Please remember I'm a native of South Florida...

Dia De Los Muertas

November 1st was Dia de los Muertas, or Day of the Dead. It's not supposed to be a morbid holiday, but a celebration and remembrance of your loved ones.

When we took some of Andrew's ashes to the family cemetery in Davao last year, my Tita Jean told me that the whole family would visit on All Saints' Day, as is the custom. I found that so reassuring--that he was being remembered.

I started thinking about the skulls or calveras, when I saw this fabric from Alexander Henry. I couldn't wait to paint my own interpretation. Coincidentally, it was around Dia de los Muertos, so I drew skulls in Andrew's memory.



I used some of his treasured belongings for inspiration. Old band shirts, his favorite stuffed animal, studded belt, and a rock he gave to my mom because it looked like a heart. What a mama's boy (wink).



I looked at a plastic skull of Mike's for reference, and just started drawing. I messed something up, and painted flowers in the skull's mouth to fix it. After that initial mistake, it was easy and somewhat cathartic to fill in the other parts with memories, words and symbols. It all spilled out, I hardly had to think at all.

Midway through the illustration, I realized that I was using the wrong damn ink! I couldn't paint over them with watercolor or everything would have bled. I decided to make prints with my gocco, and watercolor over some of them.


Click on the picture for notes on some of the symbols.

I was amazed at the details my gocco picked up. When you print, it's hard to stop. I want to print on every blank surface. Since that's toxic, I made extra prints for Drew's friends instead.

I made two versions of the painted illustration, and have a few more blank ones to paint. (Click here for the second version. Mom, pick which one you and Dad want).



When I paint or draw, I feel close to my brother, since he loved to draw. The fact that he's gone completely sucks, that's without question. However, the fact that I have an encyclopedia of (mostly hilarious) memories to choose from, makes it a little easier to bear.

What symbolizes your loved ones to you? I'll pick crossword puzzles for my mom, the board game Monopoly for my dad, Macri's Deli for Tracy, and the great state of Indiana for Mike!

Bridal Shower Invites

As promised, here are the invitations I designed for my friend, Vic's bridal shower. I created the design, set up the gocco, and let Olivia print them up. (Hey, she wanted to learn!)

Here are conceptual sketches and practice, that did not make the final cut:

The final original design, and the finished invitation:

And a whole bunch of invites waiting to be mailed:

The whited out areas are to protect the innocent! We only made so many party favors. (wink!)

Baby Shower Thank You Cards

I've finally finished baby shower cards I designed for my friend, Nicole. She doesn't know what she's having, so I tried to make the colors unisex.

These were a lot of fun to make, and I think they're pretty adorable. I have about 15 extra cards, which I'm selling in my etsy shop here.



I learned to make a granny square finally, thanks to my friend, Clara. I always had a block against granny squares and crochet stitches, (besides the single crochet my grandma taught me at age six). Thanks to a lunch date and quick tutorial, I'm over the wall.



I must say, I'm usually not a granny square person, but have you seen the gorgeous hexagonal squares around? You should click this link, you'll be so inspired... I also checked out Simple Crochet by Erika Knight from the library. Her projects are very contemporary, simple and gorgeous.

For those who asked, I had a great time at my high school reunion. There were some people who I genuinely wanted to catch up with, and was pleased to hear about their lives. Here's one shot of Heather and myself, obviously not having any fun at all...



Enjoy the remaining hours of this beautiful weekend!

Eight Random Things

I didn't mean to have such a long blogging absence. I've been busy and decided to enjoy the last bit of summer. I also had to let Mike use the computer at night to work on teaching assignments, which is a worthy cause if you ask me!



In the meantime, I'm co-hosting a bridal shower for a friend this weekend. (More excuses for my absence!). Below are a preview of the invites. Let me tell you, they are tres cute.



I've also been knitting and crocheting a bit, but will show you that later too. I'll do the infamous Eight Random Things instead...

1. My Lolo Basa (Grandfather) was the first registered architect in Davao City, Philippines. He also raised 9 children by himself, after my Lola and Tita (Aunt) Alice died in a tragic plane crash. I didn't get to see him very often, but I always loved him so much. I've heard I get my artistic talents and love of reading from him. (sweet)

2. I was a springboard and platform diver from the age of 8 until 18. I can even do handstands on the platform!

3. I went skydiving once, but only because my mom wasn't home when I called to ask. It was very spur of the moment, and was unbelievably fun. Once is enough though, don't want to tempt the fates. Until I'm 78 -- when all bets are off!

4. I am glad I was dorky in middle school. If I didn't go through that rite of passage, I wouldn't be who I am now. Which is that person who talks to people in line at the grocery store. It makes life more fun, and the stories more interesting.

5. I used to pull up my dress as a little girl to play with my bellybutton. I did this at a school play, when I was the innkeeper's wife, and at my aunt's wedding when I was the flower girl. I was 3 though, and got over that stage!

6. I scar very easily. I get keloids, where your body doesn't know when to stop making scar tissue. It's more common in people who have more melanin in their skin. But I'm lucky, and don't have a scar from my old eyebrow ring (ha ha) or earrings. In a way, it's like I'm genetically superior, like Wolverine...

7. In 5th grade, a flasher was following around my friends and me at a public library. It was really creepy, but we reported it to the police and the guy was eventually arrested due to our report. We were really proud, after getting over having to say the word penis to the officer.

8. I am very fussy about socks. I used to change pairs of socks up to 3 times when I was a kid until they felt okay, and my Velcro shoes were comfortable. I also used to roll down my knee high socks when we went to the ballet. I still can't wear uncomfortable socks now. (Keep in mind, I wore only flip flops until I was about 18!)

Sorry about all of the run-on sentences and sentence fragments...and nobody is tagged, as I'm the only person in the world who has not done this one!