Blair Stocker, Author at Wise Craft Handmade

February 4, 2013

Altered Book Sketchbook

Not sure if I am much of an “art journal” person, but I thought it might be fun to try altering a book to create a sketchbook. I have been buying and using spiral bound sketchbooks for my daily sketches because they stay open, but I like the idea of having a full spread to work with too. A duplicate I-Spy book I found in our basement was perfect for this project… it’s large (10″ x 12″), stays open and flat, it will give me a surface to play with my carved rubber stamps, and another book to draw my daily sketches in.
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January 29, 2013

Carving Stamps

When I turned in the first draft of the manuscript for my book a few weeks ago, the first thing I did was treat myself to a few new craft books. While busy writing, I had avoided purchasing new books that would distract me. But now I was in the mood for someone to tell me how to make something. I happily flipped and got inspired for a couple of days, and one of my favorites is Geninne Zlatkis’s book Making An Impression. I have been inspired by Geninne online for years, and it was just as inspiring to read about her process of hand carving stamps. And, as luck (and a stocked craft room) would have it, I happened to have some easy carve blocks and the needed carving tool on hand. (I love it when I can immediately jump in!).
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January 28, 2013

DIY Wood Burned Bark Valentines

I love using sheets of bark to make all kinds of things, and when I got a new wood burnishing tool, I wanted to make some tree carving-inspired Valentine “cards”. Valentine’s Day seems to whizz by, and I liked that this little DIY felt more long-lasting. Maybe your true love with hang it by his desk at our brand design office. Just a idea…

January 24, 2013

Sketching Faces

This week, I gave myself a personal challenge to sketch faces for the sketchbook blog. I guess its important to point out that I am not really all that interested in sketching faces. Which means you’re probably asking why do it? Lives can certainly be lived fully and happily without sketching anatomically correct faces.
The drawing classes I took in college centered mainly around fashion illustration. The face was always secondary to how the clothes were represented. An anatomically correct face never extended beyond a hint of red lipstick. Whew! I remember thinking back then. Crisis averted. I don’t need to draw more than that.
But now here I am doing this daily sketching for the project (almost size full months of daily sketching!), and it occurred to me that I’ve never really tried to draw the human face. I talk with my kids often about not saying “I can’t do ____”. So, I decided to take it on as a challenge instead of looking at it as a hinderance I need to work around. Bad sketches and all…

Each night this week I have been sketching these imaginary women. No reference, other than the old formula of drawing the face shape, and adding the lines for where the features would go. From there, I spend some time on the eyes- I like good eyes. The nose always needs work. The mouth is also not the way I want it. But I do like a lot of what I’m doing, little things here and there that I am actually satisfied with. I can feel my hand and arm starting to loosen up more and more.
Who knows, maybe I’ll do another week of faces at some point. I have a LOT to learn!

There is plenty I see in this sketch that I could work on, but I kind a like the fact that I enjoyed the process of making it. Which at this stage of my creative life, it’s so much more about the process for me.
(It’s not me, but I did use my hair for reference).

January 21, 2013

DIY Clay Doodle Pendants

I decided to try a simple clay pendant project with all the doodling I was doing in my sketchbook. I have a bit of a necklace problem (meaning I have a large collection) and feel like something is missing when I’m not wearing one. These pendants are easy, easy enough for a kid to do in fact (the adult doing the baking part, of course).
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January 16, 2013

Doodle Sketching

For the past week (maybe longer), I have practiced doing some simple doodling. Staying with it, and adding more and more just to see where it goes. This is a fun challenge for me, this intentional daily sketching/doodling. Its not something I’m very good at, but its fun to try something new!

I have challenged myself to only using black pens on white paper this week, not worrying about adding any color. Keeping it simple, eliminating choices. I got some fun new watercolors recently and, although I’m excited to use them, right now they overwhelm me. So, no color. And no stress over what to draw
And just doodle (which isn’t as easy as it sounds some days).

January 9, 2013

Blogging it Slower

blogging

Sometimes all these colors feel like too much. I want to pick just. one.

I have been blogging in this space for almost 8 years. Eight years. That is actually the longest I’ve ever stuck with any type of journal-keeping of any type. Now, of course, it has all changed quite a bit since I started. Back then it seemed like there was only a handful of us. I knew nothing about google reader. I checked blogs the prehistoric way, by clicking on a saved bookmark. I didn’t have a smartphone, there were no Ipads, If a blog wasn’t updated, I’d just check back later. On my computer.
Reading blogs and making friends with bloggers was an social outlet for me. I was at home with small kids all day, some days feeling lonely and other days a little nuts. It was sanity-saving. I was thrilled to be a part of it.
But over time I realized my own blogging changed. As an example, for a while I experiemented with advertising on the blog. While overall it was a good experience, ultimately it wasn’t for me.Once (or maybe more than once) I nearly stopped blogging altogether. Had I said all I wanted to say? Had it all run it’s course? Are blogs relevant. For some reason I didn’t stop, but I never really answered my own questions.
I’ve felt disheartened towards blogging in 2012. Maybe you’ve noticed it? Things online seem to swirl at a speed that no one person can possibly keep up with. If this is what a blog needed to do, did I want to do it? My love hate relationship with Pinterest is the perfect example. It’s my “5 minutes to kill” eye candy, purely because it all comes at me so quickly. I love getting inspired by Pinterest, but funny thing is, there is a tiny percentage of pins I have ever actually looked at. Many blogs I click on to sparkle with rotating content, clickable this, downloadable that. It was an inevitability that blogs would make this jump and I don’t pass judgement on anyone who runs a blog like this (I read some of them). In this day and age, blogging is done with a lot of gusto and energy.
Over the holiday break I thought about all this, and what I want from this space. I asked myself some hard questions. Some I still haven’t answered. Here’s what I know:
What do I want my blog to be? I want my blog to be an expression of me and what I do. Blogging in my own way is important to me.
What is my blog about? With the support out there from you, blogging has made me realize I am an artist. I want my blog to be about what I make and my creative life.
And all this thinking brought me around to the book I’m working on. Based on the lightening speed of the internet content, sometimes I’ve wondered, why bother? I get discouraged some days (which is all a part of the creative process, but it still sucks). Do people read craft books anymore? Thinking thoughts like this have brought me to tears more than once. Work on a book, as many of you know, is a long and sometimes grueling process. By the time my book is done, it will most certainly feel like some sort of birth.
Where am I going with all this?
Today, I felt overwhelmed by the many things I needed to get done, I am worried about money (being two self-employed people, let’s face it, when are we NOT worried about money), health insurance costs rising, you name it. I needed an escape. Not just for a minute or two, but a real escape. And I realized that two specific things felt really right at that moment.
1- Curling up with a stack of books. With beautiful pictures to give me ideas about how to freshen up our very beige hallway. With beautiful, inspiring text to read. To flip through and read at my own leisure. I get what I missed about printed pages more than ever.
2- Writing this post to you. Just sitting down and writing a blog post about my true feelings around this whole crazy online world and my feelings towards it. It feels incredibly good to write all of this out to you this way.
There has been talk online from others about savoring time, Erin wrote brilliantly about the idea of slow blogging, and consciously relaxing in the new year. Apparently alot of us are thinking about it in some way. I, myself don’t quite know where this talk is leading in my mind. Except to say that I am excited and giddy about the book I’m writing all over again. And that feels really good!
And I realized that I have new energy for the blog. In some form.
If you’ve read this far, you deserve a gold star sent to you.
Snail mail, of course.
Thank you for being out there,
Blair

January 7, 2013

DIY Doodle Rock Craft

When we were in New Mexico last week, we took a walk on the Paseo del Bosque Trail, which runs along the Rio Grande. I brought home a few rocks from there, because you know we love rocks! Later in the week, I spent some time in my father-in-law’s art studio, painting the rocks. It was so fun to do I thought I’d share.
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December 18, 2012

Gray Day Photo Lighting Trick

This is a simple trick to help to better photos in the natural light, without resorting to flash. Photo lighting in tricky in Seattle most of the year, but especially when it is as gray as it has been this season. I take almost all my photos in front of the sliding glass doors in our family room, it is almost the only place that works for photos in our dark house. During the darkest winter months, I may only have a couple of hours at midday that photos would work at all. I could resort to turning on lamps or purchase a reflector, but I don’t like the yellowing of artificial light and this trick works just as well as a reflector. Using this homemade reflector can bounce the light and soften the harsh shadows that show on the side of the object not facing the window.READ MORE

November 19, 2012

DIY Washi Tape Garland

This may be the one and only Christmas holiday I’d like to do in neon, so I’m going to just go for it wherever I can. I pulled out my stash of washi tape and created a quick garland for my studio. I think I’ll get the kids to make some more while watching the Macy’s parade on Thanksgiving Day. It easy and bright, just the kind of project I like.
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