DIY STRIPED CLIPBOARDS

I mentioned a few posts ago, that I've been creating quick, fun (and often print-inspired) DIYs twice a month on the blog of Art Star Gallery + Boutique, a longtime handmade shop here in Philadelphia.  Last week, I took some of my old clipboards and jazzed them up with some screenprinted stripes.  Sometimes I'll do anything to encourage a little organization and bookeeping in my studio!

For the full tutorial, go to Art Star's blog post, where you can read all the juicy how-to details.

While you're at it, check out the posts by Christie Sommers of West Oak Design - my fellow blogger in craft!

NEW SEASON, FRESH START

We all have our strengths and weaknesses.  Blogging is likely one of my weaknesses; just can't quite get the knack of consistency (but I sure do enjoy it when I do find the time to connect my fingers to a key pad).  I'd like the think, however, that one of my strengths is buckling down in the studio during the winter months - I mean, what else would I do?

Here are some printed goodies that I've been working on lately:

Cocktail napkins for your {insert favorite booze} drinking pleasure

Springtime tableware, featuring my new seasonal linen color: MINT

Bi-Monthly DIY blog posts for Art Star, a local handmade boutique here in Philadelphia

And now that the hibernating months have come to a close, hopefully you'll see me more...xo.

ALL WRAPPED UP

I have a brand new obsession.  It all started a couple of weeks ago when I (finally) gave in to my desire to tempt to figure out repeat printing once and for all.  Repeat printing allows for one continuous pattern, with no visible beginning or end.  I had played around with it some, but only on a very small scale.  I won't bore you with the details, but it required a lot of head scratching, calculations, and trail and error.  In the end, it wasn't as hard as I had made it out to be - isn't that always the case with items of procrastination?  And the result is that I am now obsessed with screenprinting wrapping paper.

All wrapping papers are now available for purchase in my shop.  And if you need me, I'll be hiding behind yards and yards of kraft paper, in my studio printing more.

INTRODUCING BONNIE KAYE STUDIO

I can't believe that we are already knee deep into September.  How on earth did that happen?!  I'm sure you are like me - still in the glow of the craziness and laziness of summertime, and not quite ready to pull out sweaters and boots (ok, maybe a little ready!).

Looking back, I feel pretty pleased to have accomplished so much this summer here in Philly, including painting a mural on a shipping container at the Spruce Street Harbor Park and working with Mural Arts youth to design and paint neighborhood-based patterned murals along Pearl Street in Callowhill.  Most of all, I was thrilled to get my act together in my studio and release a small, limited-edition batch of screen-printed textiles under the label, Bonnie Kaye Studio.  These linen products, mainly housewares and totes, were inspired by my love of gardening, patterns, and dinner-parties.  And all designs are named after some of my closest girlfriends - those that helped to fuel the fire for my studio endeavors.  I invite you to check out some of my favorites below, including cocktail napkins, placemat/napkins combos, and throw pillows, or go straight to my online shop to view the whole collection.

More designs and color-combos will be released each season.  It's a simple start in the direction of my love of printmaking and textiles, and I'm really excited to see where it takes me. 

If you are local, look for me at Clover Market this Sunday in Chestnut Hill 10am-5pm, where I will be selling my textiles alongside the talent paper artist, Made by Liddy.      

IN THE STUDIO: PROTOTYPES + TESTS

{linen tote bag prototypes}

I've decided that my Monday posts are going to be all about the past week's work in my studio.  I figure this is a good system for a) making sure each week is productive in the studio, b) constantly sharing my work and, c) starting the week with a blog post that will get my creative juices in gear.  Well, at least, this is the hope.   Wish me luck.

{neon screen-printing ink tests}

The past few weeks in my studio have been all about prototypes.  I've never made many bags before, but I'm having a blast making some linen tote samples with little printed elements.  I didn't realize how many decisions there are to make when designing a bag ... width, height, depth, length of straps, pockets, etc, etc, not to mention fabric, colors, print.  There are a lot of variables which makes it pretty fun.

And then there's testing out prints + ink.  I inherited some neon screen-printing ink from a friend, so I decided to burn a screen with some of my recent block prints.  I'm kinda in love with the pop of neon on these neutral fabrics.  I think they are super playful for spring and summer so it's a nice incentive to hustle to get some of these products out as soon as possible.

Since I leave for vacation (Austin!) on Saturday, I have a huge list of items to accomplish before I step foot on the plane.  Time for another cup of coffee.  Let's do this.

IN THE STUDIO: PATTERN PLAYTIME

Now that Spring is here, I feel way more productive - probably due to not freezing to death 24/7 and having more daylight.  This means more time in the studio, more energy to be creative.  I thought I'd share some block-printed patterns that I've been working on in my print sketchbook.  You'll see I quickly transitioned from abstract to florals.  Pretty soon, they'll be turned into screen-prints for easy printing onto fabrics.  That's right, I'm getting ready to launch a new line of printed textiles!  
(Check out my former textile business here.)

Any favorites?  I'd love to get some feedback!

handmade photo albums

A few weeks ago, my husband mentioned how much he loved our annual handmade photo albums.  He told me how he recently pulled them all out, and admired photo by photo all of our adventures we have had together over the years.  The guilt, however, immediately set it because, well, I was a bit behind in creating them.  Make that 3 years behind.

So I dug through my digital photos, and narrowed down each year into about 40 photos.  Next came out the paper, binder's board, glue, and thread, and before I knew it, I was elbow deep in some coptic stitch binding.

I still have a ways to go, and as I begin to take more daily pics on my phone, I'm eager to see how that will effect my albums.  Thanks to Instagram, maybe my future albums will be square.  (Any recommendations for good ways to get Instagram pics printed??)  Either way, I'm happy to have such a physical and personal way to store and share all these monumental and mundane moments of our life.  Sometimes, digital just doesn't cut it.

~ Bonnie

custom monogramming beirn bags

I love it when I get a chance to get my hands dirty and work on challenging custom print jobs for great clients.  Having worked with New York based Beirn handbags several years ago on some limited edition block-printed handbags, they inquired recently about printing some custom monogrammed totes for their staff.  For those unfamiliar with Beirn (pronounced 'burn'), they are a mother/daughters family-operated business that produces luxury snake skin bags.   

The stripes and letters were all carved by hand out of linoleum and then hand-printed onto the bags.  I love how they turned out, especially on the hot pink handbag below!  Monogramming is such a classic touch to these timeless totes.  

last minute handmade cards for mothers

I meant to sit down much earlier in the week to create Mother's Day cards, but a handmade treat is better late (hopefully not!) than never.  Having recently discovered the true magic and wonder of art masking fluid, I was delighted to sit down for a minute to design some cards.

If you have never used masking fluid, it is basically paintable rubber.  Once dry, you can paint over it - as I did with some inexpensive watercolors - and once your painting is fully dry, you rub off the masking fluid using your finger or an eraser, leaving behind the design that you "masked."  What a lovely invention!  And it helped to produce some pretty Mother's Day cards if I can say so myself.

A few helpful tips:

~ Don't use your favorite brush!  While you should clean your brush immediately afterwards with soap and water, I have never gotten my brush to clean up to its original state.  So be prepared for a little brush damage.

~ Be sure to let both the masking fluid and the top coat painting fully dry before moving to the following step.

~ Test out your specific paper before doing a big project.  Masking fluid doesn't work as well on soft papers.

Overall, it's a fun and easy technique and if you are a little last minute like me.  I highly recommend giving it a go.

printing a better blog header

Yesterday, it was time to finally sit down and design some imagery for my blog header.  It was looking too plain, so I sat down and carved three small blocks based on some drawings of plants that reside on our fire escape.  Plus, I've been doing some printmaking with my students recently and was itching to do some in my own studio.  I decided to simply print the design in black since I could easily change the color in Photoshop.

Here's how I did it:

I played around with the images and text, changing the colors and manipulating the prints.

I narrowed it down to two designs:

1 /

2 /

I'm still on the fence as to which I like best, but am currently testing out the 2nd option (my husband's favorite!).

So what do you think?

making art daily

I've been feeling rusty lately, artistically rusty.  I don't doubt my creative powers, but I feel my hand longing for more direct contact on paper.  Like most anything that one wants to be or stay good at, one must continually practice and exercise that skill.  While my hands stay quite busy as a teaching artist or on freelance projects, I fear of losing some of my skill-set unless I incorporate personal daily artmaking back into my routine.

This week marks that start.  Along with my morning coffee or evening tea, I am aiming to draw, paint, sketch, or print my way back into total connection with the thing I love most.

And if you are in the same boat and could use some studio kickstarting, I highly recommended the book, Let's Make Some Great Art by Marion Deuchar.  While it's kid focused, it's completely adult-friendly, giving you refreshing ways to get your creative juices flowing. 

gathering inspiration

This week, I took on the task of giving my current inspiration board in my studio a facelift.  Having a large, visual area of tactile inspiration is really important to me, as it is to most artists.  My current board was too small and not magnetized. 

The shape of my board mimics a large mirror that we have hanging in our loft.  First, I painted 4 layers of magnetic paint.  Next, I painted 2 layers of chalkboard paint.  Finally, using some acrylic laying around my studio, I painted a faux, trompe l'oeil frame around the board.  I'm super happy with the results, and now I have plenty of room to hang, draw, & write.  Now, I just need to buy more magnets . . .  

Before I decided on my design, I found many other inspiring and lovely inspiration/mood boards online, which you can find below after the jump.