He does sound like a butt. I joined a few swaps on Swap Bot and sometimes they would specify what kind of artwork they wanted. Some were super strict. Once, they wanted to do a letterbox trade... and actual letterbox. So I tried to join, and they said I couldn't because I only had 5 trades on the site and it required 10. I told them I hosted quite a few actual letterboxes, like more than they EVER did, and LTCs, etc. They still wouldn't let me trade. Idiots. I understand rules, but she could've added me. I ended up dropping out of the group.

Just checked out this story in my local online newspaper. This kid has some skills!

Chelsea High School Student

Wow....how great is that!!! Tremendous talent.....I'm so jealous!

Wonderful! Love to see it when kids master great skills.

Has anyone used any of the cutting machines by Silhouette? I hear they have one that can make stamps. I'd like to figure out how I could test drive the device before deciding whether or not to invest in one. It would be fun for paper cutting projects even if the stamp thing is too overwrought

http://www.silhouetteamerica.com/shop/machines/cameo

The Paper Boutique carries them if you have one of those near you. They would be able to show you how they work. I decided against it when I was looking into a few years ago. They basically use templates.

I have one. I haven't tried making a stamp yet. I use it for paper crafting and love the machine. They have a wonderful library that you can select images already designed and they also have a tool for creating your own art work. I haven't had much time to test out the creating your own art work but hopefully this winter when it is too cold to be outside!

http://www.cityartsydney.com.au/artwork/forgotten-songs/

The cages are motion activated so they sound as you walk around under them. Signs on the ground tell you which bird you're hearing AND the only sound during their normal hours so the nocturnal birds can only be heard in the evening or at night.......

Fabulous experience!!

Just got an email with a 40%off coupon for ALL fine art supplies at Michaels now until Saturday august 27!
Wanted to pass on the savings.

Online code: FINEART82116

Have any of you ever tried any of the subscription boxes for art supplies like "sketch box"?

I subscribed to ArtSnacks for quite a while. If you draw, it's good fun to try new things. You will probably get a lot of pencils, erasers, and sharpeners, though.

I thought that something like it would help me build a good base for ltcs.

I have gotten into watching twitch.tv which broadcasts artists doing what they do live. It mostly features gamers but there is a large category for "creative". In it, I have seen metalsmith, leatherwork, sewing, making yummy food, drawing, but what I REALLY want to see is some logbook making and some stamp carving. Do any of you broadcast on twitch.tv?

Never heard of twitch.tv. Too bad you don't live closer, I'm doing a bookbinding class in October :).

BB

I have seen some stamp carving on Instagram, here and there. Uusally in fast time, though.

Sea lemon for logbooks

There are stamp carving videos on YouTube. Not sure about logbook making. I've tried making a video of myself carving a stamp - it's challenging to hold the camera in a good position to actually see the detail of the carving. I ended up building a stand to hold it over the stamp, but then it gets in the way and makes seeing the work area difficult. Still working on it...

is this still open?

YES!!...it is. What would you like to know?

I have a colored picture that I want to use for an image to carve. I'm computer illiterate. How do I make it a b/w image (like a coloring sheet) so it's easier to transfer?

You can try this:

https://online.rapidresizer.com/photograph-to-pattern.php

You upload the picture, and play with the various options until you get what you want. And it's free.

Thanks. I bookmarked it so I won't forget.

I have done acetone transfers of color images on to pink stuff with very good results. I suppose it would depend on the image whether or not that would be easy to carve.

I have even had black and white images xeroxed on the paper they use for color copies (at the Fed Ex/Mailbox place near me they use better paper for color copies) and it makes for a better transfer than getting it done on the regular black and white copy paper.

The easiest way is PhotoShop ... if you have it.

The easiest way is PhotoShop ... if you have it.

Or GIMP if you don't. GIMP is free, and powerful like PhotoShop.

Last night was a nightmare. I tried 4 x to do pencil transfer with different pencils. 2 were of a very detailed carve which I ended up scrapping. I finally had to go with my graphite pencil. For some reason my pencils wouldn't rub off on pink or Japanese stuff last night even though that's how I always do it. I finally found a simple turtle image that I now have half carved. I guess I'm going to have to find some finer-point graphite pencils if my reg. pencils won't work anymore.

Were you penciling directly on top of laser printer ink? I've had trouble getting pencil transfers from on top of laser printer ink, and I thought it was an issue with my mechanical pencil. When I used tracing paper over the image, the pencil transfer worked great.

Am I missing something or can't you just make a copy on your printer and press black & white instead of color print, if your printer has this ability.

I’ve had trouble getting graphite to transfer too. My solution was to take a digital photo of my drawing, download it to my computer and print it out. Then transfer it to the carving medium.

I edited that to say "depend on the image" rather than the "page". Typo.

It says to download it on to a Mac I have to first download something called "macport". I dunno.