Okay, I didn't get to go cache-hunting this weekend. We have had intermittent storms in Atlanta, so I had to wait. (It's all those tropical storms and hurricanes!)
But yesterday I found my first cache! Yay!
It was every bit as much fun as I expected; I can't wait to go hunting for more. If you have a GPS (or access to one), I highly recommend giving it a try! No matter where you live, there's probably one not too far away.
Xandria
Tuesday, July 19, 2005
Saturday, July 16, 2005
Eraser Carving Fun
I found a few great sites on eraser carving today. I had practiced on erasers when I took printmaking, but I was just playing with line. Some carvers, though, have created some really impressive stamps.
If you are interested, the Carving Consortium has a really nice gallery of images, though browsing isn't very user friendly.
If you just want to play around with it, Stamp Mania Australia has clear, straightforward instructions to get you started. If you are serious, though, or a perfectionist like me, check out this page by Carolyn Hasenfratz of Lime Green Evolution. It's much more in-depth, and has great diagrams and examples. There's also good advice on choosing images to carve.
Another good site is Tabloid Trash. It's just an archive, now, with cross-links to the Carving Consortium, but there is a good "how to", as well as a nice gallery and the "C.O.W.", or Carving of the Week. Very nice! The instruction page is written by a non-artist, so there are lots of tips on working with copies. The transfer tips could be especially helpful.
The consensus is that pink rubber and art gum erasers aren't worth the effort, and I agree: the best pink or gum eraser won't work as well as an inexpensive white vinyl eraser. (Magic Rubs aren't as good as Staedtler Mars erasers, but you can still get good results with them, and can usually buy them by the dozen at one of the office supply superstores.) Just make sure your eraser doesn't have any raised areas (many Staedtlers do). If it does, it's unlikely your design will allow you to carve all of it away, and it will show up when you stamp. I found this out the hard way-I'm glad it was a quick, easy-to-carve design.
If you are interested, the Carving Consortium has a really nice gallery of images, though browsing isn't very user friendly.
If you just want to play around with it, Stamp Mania Australia has clear, straightforward instructions to get you started. If you are serious, though, or a perfectionist like me, check out this page by Carolyn Hasenfratz of Lime Green Evolution. It's much more in-depth, and has great diagrams and examples. There's also good advice on choosing images to carve.
Another good site is Tabloid Trash. It's just an archive, now, with cross-links to the Carving Consortium, but there is a good "how to", as well as a nice gallery and the "C.O.W.", or Carving of the Week. Very nice! The instruction page is written by a non-artist, so there are lots of tips on working with copies. The transfer tips could be especially helpful.
The consensus is that pink rubber and art gum erasers aren't worth the effort, and I agree: the best pink or gum eraser won't work as well as an inexpensive white vinyl eraser. (Magic Rubs aren't as good as Staedtler Mars erasers, but you can still get good results with them, and can usually buy them by the dozen at one of the office supply superstores.) Just make sure your eraser doesn't have any raised areas (many Staedtlers do). If it does, it's unlikely your design will allow you to carve all of it away, and it will show up when you stamp. I found this out the hard way-I'm glad it was a quick, easy-to-carve design.
Friday, July 15, 2005
Going on a treasure hunt...
My husband gave me a Garmin iQue last year as a combination graduation (Bachelor of Arts in Fine Art, btw) and birthday gift. I've always loved scavenger hunts, so I was really eager to try geocaching. Well, somehow, I have never gotten around to actually trying it! I can't believe it, considering how much I love parks and day hikes.
I'm going up to Chattanooga to visit the aquarium next weekend, and it just seems like a perfect opportunity to do some caching. But my whole family (mom, sister, brother, husband) is going with me, so I better know what I'm doing.
This weekend, I'm going! I went online at lunch and found out there are dozens of them in my area of suburban Atlanta! In fact, I was able to figure out the general location of three in my area strictly from the description. How can it get any easier?
I hope to get several done this weekend, at least those three. I can't wait!
By the way, if you're interested in geocaching, scavenger hunts, or rubber stamps, check out Letterboxing North America! Letterboxing combines all of these in a really fun, unique way. The cache contains a rubber stamp and notebook; you bring your own stamp, a notebook, and an ink pad. You stamp the logbook, add the date, and then stamp your book with the stamp in the cache.
Most of these hunts don't use GPS, but I have seen letterbox entries at geocaching, too. Now I have a motivation to hurry up and carve the "personal" stamp I've been meaning to create for a year!
I'm going up to Chattanooga to visit the aquarium next weekend, and it just seems like a perfect opportunity to do some caching. But my whole family (mom, sister, brother, husband) is going with me, so I better know what I'm doing.
This weekend, I'm going! I went online at lunch and found out there are dozens of them in my area of suburban Atlanta! In fact, I was able to figure out the general location of three in my area strictly from the description. How can it get any easier?
I hope to get several done this weekend, at least those three. I can't wait!
By the way, if you're interested in geocaching, scavenger hunts, or rubber stamps, check out Letterboxing North America! Letterboxing combines all of these in a really fun, unique way. The cache contains a rubber stamp and notebook; you bring your own stamp, a notebook, and an ink pad. You stamp the logbook, add the date, and then stamp your book with the stamp in the cache.
Most of these hunts don't use GPS, but I have seen letterbox entries at geocaching, too. Now I have a motivation to hurry up and carve the "personal" stamp I've been meaning to create for a year!
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