Print A Little Valentine with Me!

I'm happy to say that the Printing Station is back and will be posted at the lovely SOUVENIR studios this Saturday February 13th, just in time for Valentine's Day. If you're keen on a little DIY, come into the shop between 12:30pm-3:30pm to print a little love note with pre-designed plates on the mini Showcard flatbed press. Each print is $5 and you have a choice between using one or two colours.

Swing by SOUVENIR and get your print on. There will also be fresh bouquets, baked goods, and other swell things in the shop that you can pick up for your loved ones or to keep for yourself). It'll be a good time!

for big mistakes eraser printing

A few weeks ago I was able to get my hands on one of those crazy big erasers "For Big Mistakes" and got to do some carving! It wasn't exactly type high so I just placed a piece of cardboard that was about 3mm thick and that did the trick. The eraser is just big (and small) enough that it's not daunting to work with and gives you plenty of room to ink something up that feels substantial. If you happen to have a mini Showcard press, I highly recommend using it to print with the eraser. But if you don't, I still recommend giving the carving a go and finding something heavy enough to put on top of it that will transfer an impression onto paper. Good times!

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crochet rugs

While looking for crochet projects, I've realised that I like to work big! That is, with a big hook and big yarn. I find it easier to use than small hooks and thin yarn. That and the piece works up really quickly with a big hook. So, I thought I'd try making a crochet rug and my first one turned out well, so I went ahead and made another. I love the feel of these rugs. I used cotton sheets so that they're nice and cushiony to stand or sit on.

The toughest part, for me, is the making of the yarn. I used thrifted bedsheets and it takes a while to cut them with scissors. I opted to do that instead of tearing the sheets because I knew I'd end up tearing the strips right through and I prefer to have the yarn as one continuous piece. This nifty tutorial is what I used to turn the bedsheets into yarn. There are plenty of crochet rug tutorials out there and even videos, including this one. I used a 15 mm (Q) hook and the rugs came to be about 3.5 feet wide. For the next rug, I'm hoping to make it even larger which means I'll be looking for thrifted king size duvet covers! 

love and lightning

Lately, I've been preoccupied with carving stamps out of erasers! These days, it's hard to muster up the energy to use the letterpress after the little one has been put down to sleep. But I've found I'm able to just sit at the dining room table, carve out a little image or two and stamp to my heart's content in a fraction of the time it would to print. The freedom to switch colours at a whim, isn't so bad either! But in the end, I finished the new cards with letterpress printed greetings since I didn't want to completely get away from it :) These will be available at this Sunday's Love & Rummage show at The Workroom. Hope to see you there!

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valentine letterpress workshop

Valentine's Day is just a month away and I've got a special workshop for those who'd like to send valentine's the good ol' fashioned way!

Valentine Letterpress Workshop

Saturday February 1st or Saturday February 8th, 2014
$75 + HST

Toronto, ON

Carry on the tradition of sending handwritten Valentine’s notes with your very own set of handprinted cards. No prior experience is needed for this 2 hour workshop. All that’s required is a willingness to get into the spirit of St. Valentine’s and to get your hands inky! Instructions, materials and wood-type will be provided by yours truly. 

Included in the workshop:
-choose from five Valentine greetings which will be handset with wood type (Oh,Cupid!, XOXO, LOVE, dreamboat, Be Mine)
-print on a vintage mini proofing press with one or two colours of your choice
-12 (3.5 x 5”) blank folded cards + envelopes

Participants are encouraged to bring in their own pre-cut cardstock to print with as well!

Email me for registration details at snapandtumbleletterpress(at)gmail(dot)com.

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natural body oil

A few weekends ago I participated in an Herbal Infusions workshop put on by the good people of Kinfolk and it was hosted by Julie Clark of Province Apothecary. I'm not exactly sure what prompted the desire to take this workshop because I don't ever remember being so interested in aromatherapy before. I think the main draw was that it was a hands-on, mini crash course of sorts and I can't resist a good DIY workshop. At the end of the 3 hour info-packed session, I came away with quite a few handmade products and the confidence to make some more on my own at home. Of the items that the group was taught to make, I was most excited about the body oil. We had also tried our hands at an herbal infused steam inhalation mixture, a sugar scrub, bath salts and an apple cider vinegar hair rinse. AH-mazing. After letting the body oil that I made in the workshop rest for a day, I used it after a (body sugar scrub) bath and loved it. I had infused the oil with geranium, pine, peppermint and lime for an uplifting and awakening scent to help me get moving in the mornings (Marcus still doesn't sleep through the night!).

Because I loved the body oil so much, I couldn't wait to try to make another, specifically for Marcus (my 23 month old). He's got a couple of dry patches on his legs and I wanted something natural and organic to put on his skin to relieve any discomfort he may have. I sought out some ingredients and started with something gentle for him. In his mixture, I used grapeseed, safflower and apricot kernel oil as the carrier oils. I had some chamomile tea leaves and found some useful sources on the net on how to infuse that in the oil. Of the options given, I decided on putting the oil mixture in a glass and put it inside a water bath in a mini slow cooker and left it on low for 48 hours. Once that was done, I strained the leaves and added some lavender essential oil for a soothing scent and bottled it. So easy and so lovely. 

I named it the Lullaby Oil and made a little label for the bottle in the hopes that Marcus would be able to recognize it as his own and make it a part of his bedtime routine.

After his bath that night, I used it on him and I think he liked it. He certainly didn't object to the leg massage that went with it :)

*If you want to make your own body oil, please do find some resources and how-to's online. I took some information from these helpful posts - here and here. If you can, I would also highly recommend taking one of Julie's workshops!

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cardboard play kitchen for Marcus

It all started with a simple search on Craigslist for a play kitchen for Marcus. He's very much into pretend play these days and I wanted to help him use his imagination as best I can. The play kitchens I found on CL were either too expensive, too large or too unsightly. Another search on the web lead me to a handful of sites which featured DIY play kitchens made out of cardboard! This was the perfect solution because I was looking for something temporary, inexpensive (or better, free), and customizable. Within the next hour, I was headed out the door on the hunt for cardboard boxes.

One trip to the grocery store, a few empty boxes from home and I had all of my building blocks. Good thing I'm a bit of hoarder when it comes to paper and craft supplies otherwise I wouldn't have been able to put the kitchen together so quickly and so easily.

STRUCTURE
I started by piecing the boxes together as the fridge, sink, stove and cupboard. After setting that up, I wrapped the boxes up in kraft and white newsprint paper for a unified look. The only exception to this was the fridge and sink where I cut the holes for the doors and sink before covering them.

FRIDGE
The fridge was made out of a diaper box which was just long and narrow enough. Rather than just drawing on the handles, I layered a couple of cardboard pieces together and wrapped them up and stuck them to the doors. And because the fridge sat a bit low on the ground I put it on top of another piece of cardboard box so that Marcus wouldn't have to bend down to use it.

SINK
For the surface area of the sink, I covered it with some left-over shelf liner, which coincidentally looks like granite. If there was anything that stumped be about this project, it was how I was going to make the faucet. Turns out, I just dug into Marcus' toy basket and started playing around with the wooden blocks until I got something that resembled a faucet and held the pieces together with Velcro and twine. I added a kitchen sink skirt to cover the existing hole with one of my favourite checkered fabrics. It actually doubles as an apron, but Marcus was moving too fast and too interested in other things to model it for us! I framed two pages of a thrifted book to add some fun and colour to the neutral palate and stuck them to the 'backsplash'.

STOVE/OVEN
A bankers box laid on it's backside makes an ideal stove and oven because the lid opens (or falls) just like an oven door. We put in a cardboard shelf to act as a rack. I used a toilet paper roll cut in half as the oven door handle. The knobs were made from individual bottom sides of an egg carton and glued to cardboard. The stove elements were made of cardboard as well, with string tied around them for texture. At first, I thought I was going to add a clock to the stove but decided that a colourful graphic element would like nice. And so it turned out to be a rectangular shape covered with origami paper.

SHELF/CUPBOARD
The shelf is pretty self-explanatory. Not much going on with that piece except that I was happy to line the shelves with vintage ledger paper. And the cupboard beneath the shelf, has a nifty panel detail made of cardboard on the doors.

COST/PROPS/TIME
The accessories were my only expense for the play kitchen. For under $3, I got a couple of enamel cups, a woven basket and a mini baking tin. The rest of the props I already had or got from my mom's kitchen! The kitchen took me four nights to put together. After Marcus was down for the evening, I had set to work for a few hours and then hid the boxes away in another room so that he wouldn't find them until the big reveal.

RESULTS
Marcus was intrigued by his new kitchen. He touched all of the handles and knobs, took out the plates, cups and utensils and put them back in their places and also found new places for them to sit. He opened and closed the doors. He even made swishing noises while washing the dishes and his hands in the sink. He 'drank' from cups and 'ate' from the bowls.

UNEXPECTED
He pretended that the freezer door of the fridge was a microwave. "Beep, beep, beep...".

This was such a fun project to put together. I got to channel my inner-kid and couldn't help but create a space that I wouldn't mind cooking in too.

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it's here! letterpress holiday card workshops

I'm so excited to announce the opening of Snap + Tumble's first letterpress holiday card workshop! For those of you who like to get a jump on the season, these workshops will be held in November which leaves plenty of time to write and post your handmade greetings. There will be a selection of seven festive designs to choose from and to print with on the Mini Showcard Proof press. Participants will take home 15 letterpress printed cards to send and share with friends and loved ones. Also included, will be two vintage stamp packs by Send More Mail. These sweet stamps are holiday themed and are enough to send two standard sized letters within Canada. Visit the Snap + Tumble website for more information, dates and registration details!

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I was recently introduced to a UK band called  Daughter and have pretty much fallen in love with their cover of Get Lucky by Daft Punk. The songs on their debut album are atmospheric, sad and beautiful. It inspired me to put a brush and watercolour ink to some lovely St. Armand paper and add handset type to it. I love moments like these when I'm moved to create something but not knowing exactly what it is that I want to make. It's times like that when you turn to the tools that you love to use so much for work and commissioned pieces that you often forget that they're also there for play time.

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numbers book: the numbers!

I've finally added numbers to the numbers board book! Hooray! I can't wait to see this all come together. Next will be the numbers in words. I'm also trying to decided how or if to include colour. So far, I've printed the entire book in black ink. Not very colourful for a kid's/toddler's book, right? Though, something has to be said for the simple black and white contrast. 

We'll see what I end up doing with regards to colour or not!

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numbers book progress

Slowly making some progress with the numbers coaster book. For those of you who don't know what this is, it's a project I started last year! It's a small board book I intend to give to Marcus when it's completed. It goes through numbers 1-10 and is accompanied by pictures and is all hand-printed with my tabletop press. I'm printing a few extra copies, so it's taking me some time. But the good news is, is that I've finished printing all of the images. Now, it's onto the numbers!

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simple cookies

The other day I bought a packet of Snackimals for Marcus as a change from his rice cracker snacks. It was his first foray into cookie-land and he liked it very much. I almost bought him some more but decided it would be easier, less expensive and healthier for him if I just made something similar myself. This isn't to say that the ingredients in Snackimals is terrible, quite the opposite. I'm finding it a pleasure to bake and cook for the babe whenever I can and figured that making cookies couldn't be too difficult.  I came across this recipe and didn't hesitate to start on it right away. Simple and with just a few ingredients. Yes, they are supposed to be animal cookies but I didn't have any cutters so I used an olive oil bottle cap to make the circles. M was none the wiser :) The cookies turned out great, not too crumbly and a little bit soft because of the yogurt ingredient. I did make a few substitutions to the recipe - I used organic unsweetened coconut, steel cut oats (instead of plain oats), brown rice flour (instead of whole wheat flour) and lemon yogurt (instead of plain yogurt) and added a touch of cinnamon. The recipe yielded approximately 40 cookies (1.5" in diameter). These are super snacks for on-the-go!

*Oh, and I didn't have a rolling pin so I just used a stainless steel water bottle, filled it with cold water and wrapped it in saran wrap before rolling the dough out. My kitchen lacks in some basic baking tools. I think I may need to change that!

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