Ok, yes, it’s April, but that’s ok: I am just a day late and anyway nobody’s reading. I got well again and all is fine. My sewing education is going well. I bought myself an overlock and cover stitch machine and I manage to thread it, which is apparently a great achievement, as most people just give up and never use their machine, which I really cannot understand. Yes, this machine needs to be converted and rethreaded very often, but in comparison to what you get when you use it, it’s really worth the time and effort. There are videos on YouTube for each type of threading, and I watch them reverently.

I ordered my new fabrics from Spoonflower. Here’s a photo of some of them – those that are based on one of the stamps I carved recently:

And I already used it for making this beanie:

I made some other things, hand warmers that did not really turned out very well, because I made two right ones, lol… and some place mats out of some other fabric samples, those were easy and look great. Only I did not take photos of those.

On Instagram I continued my 100 day challenge, but mostly played with old stamps and new ways of printing them:

I did several Lino prints which mostly did not turn well. I tried new ink – Caligo safe wash. It did not improve my printing skills. In thinking what to do with so many misprints, I started making collages. Here’s what I did:

So, this was how I spent my March. Going into April and looking forward to learning new things…

So, it’s the last day of February, I almost missed my monthly post. LOL…

The thing is, I’ve been sick for three days now, having a cold which I got who knows how despite all masking and sanitizing. Anyway, hoping it will not develop into something nasty, I am laying low and pretending that all is fine. Hard thing is sleeping with blocked nose of all things cold related that is the hardest.

As for the art: I was really regular on my printing Instagram account – posted every day since 1st December. Currently I am doing the 100 day challenge – nothing special, just posting a print every day for 100 days. I started carving lino again and did several prints. Here are the two I like the most:

I also fixed my sewing machine and started a course on Domestika and already did my first sewing project – a drawstring bag, which I made out of two pieces of fabric I used for trying out fabric printing. Turned out ok, nothing really to be proud of, so I am not showing a photo. I am really glad that I started sewing. It was on my list for last year, but it did not happen. So yeah!

Somebody bought a roll of wallpaper in my Spoonflower shop! I really didn’t expect that, but hey! So I decided to put some more effort into updating it, especially now when I can actually use the fabric I am making. I created five new patterns. Waiting for five more and I will order test prints.

On the private front, it was LIli’s birthday end of January and then mine beginning of February. I bought a coffee machine for myself and we are happily caffeinated since then. I got promoted at work, which came together with a nice salary raise, even though my job is not very fulfilling, this will help bring more meaning to the whole thing. Thinking about art supplies and stuff, of course.

Although I make effort not to write about politics and society, I really do hope that the war will not spread to Europe. I’ve seen one and I do not wish to see one more. Here’s to a better March!

Hello. Long time no post, right? So, I have tried daily post, did not work, then I have tried weekly post, did not work. Now obviously it’s time to try monthly post. Twelve posts a year, that should be feasible even for myself, right? Let’s see…

I have been doing art in the past six months, not too much of it or not as much as I would have liked, but nevertheless. I made almost a year long break on my printing account on Instagram because I was intimidated by other people’s good work. That was a new feeling for me. Also, I started counting likes and followers, which was also very unpleasant thing to do. So, I decided to give it a break and see. That was in February 2021. I returned on December 1st to participate in #carvedecember challenge and I had a good time. I continued to post every day since then. I did a lot of quick carves on plastic erasers and that was very relaxing and carefree activity, and then I did even more prints by combining and overlapping those blocks. Such as this one:

I also decided that it’s time to get myself a printing press. I opted for woodzilla press because they are truly beautiful to look at unlike most others that look really terrible. It arrived before Christmas and I tried it several times already. It’s working really well and will be extremely valuable when it comes to printing lino carvings. Here it is:

During my long break from printing and Instagram, I spent a lot of time thinking what I want to do with my web site and managed to come up with a rather clear picture, so I started restructuring it again. I want to make space for the diversity of my art, because that is who I am. I like to do many things and I do not see why I have to limit myself because I would like to perfect just one and gain certain group of followers and make a business out of it. It could be nice, but maybe it’s just not for me. So I will just continue to do what feels right. At this moment it’s experimental printmaking, digital collage, digital illustrations in Fresco and occasional coloring page to offer on my web site. I also plan to do some sewing and fabric printing and to update my online shops.

Here are two more photos of things I did in January:

In private domain, things are mostly the same, the only exception being Lili:

Lili is now almost one year old. She came to us on 30 April 2021. She is gentle, soft and adorable and has brought much joy and stability to our lives. She is helping Lola overcome her timidity and anxiety, she is also helping me calm down and be a better human to both of them.

That’s it. Have a good month, until I, hopefully, write again.

Oh, it’s already Monday! Two hard weeks behind me with two hard audits at work. But, it went ok and I am here and no audit until end of April, YAY! Hungary introduced even stronger covid restrictions until 22 March, with most shops closed. There are around 8-9 thousand people getting officially sick every day. We are still ok.

I do very little art these days, so nothing much to show except this pattern which I made for this week’s Spoonflower challenge:

The theme was cryptozoology and I tried again to turn something basically scary and ugly into cute. Don’t know how well I managed having it swimming in a cup, but anyway, seemed like a good idea.

I took a holiday on Friday and today is a public holiday, so I had four days to relax, which is basically what I did. I rested, walked, went to the market on Saturday as usual, did some little cleaning and some drawing and some game playing. It was helpful. I am worried and stressed about the situation, seeing how weather is improving and we are still locked and prevented from moving freely. Mother’s surgery is even not possible at the moment because all elective surgeries got suspended.

OK… Take a deep breath… and try to flow gently… Nothing else would make any sense at this moment…

There was a 5 day long audit at work last week. It was terrible, so no time for anything really. The madness continues tomorrow with another audit on Tuesday and Wednesday. Then I plan to take holiday.

This is the pattern for this week’s Spoonflower challenge:

Otherwise, things are depressing. Lockdown is extended and measures are stricter. Mother’s surgery is nowhere to be seen, and she is getting more and more anxious, which is making me anxious too.

So, hard times. I will be here waiting and drawing. Here’s the dancer from last week on black background. I would not mind it on a tshirt.

It was a busy week and a busy weekend. I missed to write my post yesterday, so I am doing it now on Monday morning before I go to chiropractor. I was working this week on a drawing for the next Spoonflower challenge which is themed Rococo. I am so very impressed by those enormous dresses and hairdos, wondering how much time women spent on dressing and making themselves presentable. What a strange age and fashion! Here’s my entry:

It took ages to draw, but I am really happy with it.

And that’s all. I did not do anything else, only started drawing another dancer figure because I really enjoyed this one, so I would like to try another one. I am learning more about Fresco and I really love it. I was also researching Behance and Adobe Portfolio because I realized I would definitely need to make a portfolio sooner or later. Today a new Immersion course is starting. I hope there will be some instruction on Illustrator for iPad.

Weatherwise, I think the spring is slowly coming, we are having nice sunny weather and for a few days it was really very warm, but now it’s more like it should be. I met with the gardener and discussed upcoming works. They will come this week to start – one tree needs moving to another place, the big tree needs trimming, raised beds need finishing and so on. I am so much looking forward to all plants and grass starting to grow. It was a long ugly winter.