Holiday Cards. ver 2020
Lino printed card plus colour paper cut outs
One of my favourite things to do during the holiday season is making Christmas cards for friends and family. I have the tradition of hand-making something just a little bit different and uniquely tailored to each person. It is a season where we were all needing a little bit of cheering up, I couldn’t skip out on an opportunity to send some love notes. More than that, it was a project that aided in keeping me busy and fill my heart with joy— through the act of letter mail and handwritten holiday cards!
This year I decided to try lino printing for the cards. The kit had been gathering dust on my shelf with various other art supplies I have hoarded over the years… that I WILL get to eventually. (I have big dreams and plans, I swear!) It was a very fun and good warm-up to get back into the tools. The last time I had messed with lino was probably in high school, mess and all.
Being the over ambitious person that I am, apparently, I trusted my old high school self to have retained some of the lessons learnt and decided to attempt two-toned. Trying to wrap my brain around the negative and mirroring wasn’t the hardest step, aligning the paper to make two tones match was the real pain. There was also the issue of the print method (flip paper or flip lino?!) can affect how certain areas got printed. Let’s not forget the struggle with finding the right consistency for the roller. The high school girl in me remembered nothing. In the end, I just ended up with the tedious method of dabbing the paint on with a sponge.
Phew, that was a lot of complaining. However, the overall experience was the opposite of how I made it sound, even though tough, I sincerely enjoyed every bit of the toughness. The more difficult the journey, the reaching of the finish line — that lift of the paper to see the final result, is that much more rewarding. Each print unique, from the colour choices to how the holly berries were cut and placed; and of course the happy (or unfortunate) accidents. That is the real magic of traditional media and why I love to get my hands messy now and then, combined with the magic of Christmas.
So will there be more lino prints from me? I should hope so! Let me know if you would buy a card like this from me next year in the comments below! Perhaps I can make a pre-order?
