Merry Christmas!

Watching the Christmas tree lights and drinking 

a sweet Mexican oatmeal and chocolate atole, 

to me, it is the perfect morning for this holidays.

if you want to try making some atole, here is one recipe,
I just added chocolate to mine, yum!

What can be grater than love and consciousness?

Love for the world, for life, for all beings.
Consciousness= to expand.

Knowing about real love, is knowing the truth about your self,

about who you are and it means that you are awake, 

and you also know that there is a reason for you to be here, 

in this world, now.

All that drifts from there can only be good, to live a happy life, 

growing more but with a grater purpose, with confidence 

and peace, with the knowledge that everything you do is well 

done and that the world around you is at peace because you 

are at peace, yes, that is our power, we can embed

the world with our peace and make it harmonious,

 it is a choice but for that we have to do it consciously,

 one has to learn to be like that before giving it,

 it is not possible to give something you haven´t gained.

There will always be things to overcome, those things are part
of our process, without them, it would be harder to learn and
 grow, gain, so we most thank for those things too, 

consciousness always wins for you learn form every 

experience, you just have to be willing to catch the lesson.

This journal page is to say thanks to the universe for all those
beautiful things in my life, a gratitude letter to life, as each light is
hanged on the tree, there are many things one can be grateful for!

I felt like using watercolors for this season, it´s been a long
time I haven´t and  love them so much!

My band and I created this Christmas song last year,
I want to share it again with you in this post, I hope you enjoy!

"Angels of the light"  

I also carved some Christmas stamps, this

time I went for lines and keeping the negatives 

as part of the design, this is much easier

 than removing it!

Remember there is a full carving

 tutorial  for you to try wit friends and or family!

May you and your loved ones
be blessed and happy,

healthy and prosperous,

thank you for sharing

this incredibly special 
journey called life with me.

Merry Christmas! 

Stamp carving tutorial

If you like DIY projects as I do and having tools custom made for your 

creative duties, you will love making your own stamps, they are so 

addictive and it's a great way to have your own mark added easily into 

canvas or art journals, cards, scrapbook, etc.  I have a large collection and 

I haven't get bored of making new ones yet and I've learned a few tricks 

along the way and I am feeling generous so I am sharing with you this time

 how to make yours.

Over the years I have reassured that drawing is the best skill an artist can

 develop, it's applied in many areas and forms and it's the root to every creation, 

at least, it is for me.

For this design, I found a silver heart over Pinterest and copied it, free hand 

drew it until I was happy, you could also make a trace with a pencil and a vellum

 paper, the continue to transfer it to the carving block, this time I use a speedy 

ball carving block and tool, you should find them very easily over Amazon or in a

 good art store.

I transferred my drawing to the vellum and now I am transferring it to the carving block, use a tape so it doesn't move out of place, transfer with a spoon or a bone folder, make sure all lines are transferred by taking peeks.

Once the design is transferred we'll cover the does and dont´s on using the carving tool.  

You should use a small tip, the smallest for a better detail finish.

Don't use is as if it were diving, except for specific needs, mostly, you should go horizontally, following the block, you should be able to see both ends of the metal tip, only the tips is under, see photos bellow.

This should never be done!

Or this, were you can't see both sides of the tool, see how you can see a little baggie being lifted in the front of the tip?  That will brake.  Make some tests, practice in a side so you can learn the ways of the carving block and tool.

You should go around the entire design as if you were drawing it again, just be aware that you won't be able to erase anything so you should be very precise all the way from the beginning till the end of the carving, go one way, focus your view in were it starts, then were you will be finishing.

You may use a larger carving tool for cleaning the outer parts of the design, just be careful not to go over the previous carved line. Always go towards outside the design.

You should have something like this when finishing cleaning the design!

Now use your cutter to remove the unused parts, notice the direction of the knife, it goes inclined and outwards.

This bellow is the wrong way! Inwards will weaken your base!

Make sure it goes out or at least horizontally, leaving a firm base under your

 stamp so it won't brake later.

You should end up with something like this...

Now you can finish carving your design, also keep being creative using the spaces

in blank, think how you could add more lines with your carving tool.

Now give it a test by using some water based ink, the spots that aren't perfect will show so you can clean them up easier by being able to see them, then stamp it to see how it prints and if it needs some final touches or little pieces to clean up and that's it, enjoy your stamp!  Usually I keep them flat and some I mount on a heavy piece of wood, they last longer that way. 

Enjoy carving and thank you for sharing this tutorial with your friends and family! 

Sometimes commenting on the posts won't work so I ask you to please write me to monicatlink@hotmail.com if you need assistance or simply saying hi, thanks! ✨

The struggles of working alone...

What makes us keep going?

Is it hope, is it endurance, 

is it strength, spirit?

I believe it´s a little of each 

along with a deep sown reminder 

of what you love about 

life and what you would´t 

stop doing no matter what.

Each of us has a different story but 

I am sure none of us had it easy, I also

believe this is a secret key for evolution.

Evolution is to overcome were we are,
we start at a new point when we are
born, to overcome what´s already
there, and spirit is building up

and it doesn´t have an end or else

we would have already reach it.

We, self made artists struggle in silence

pain is sometimes hard to bare,

circumstances are adding to each a different

flavor but we love to keep going, for

our spirit wants to grow, it is part of our nature,

inevitably we keep going, strength is build up

this way, even if some days appear dark,

we keep going, some days are also
bright and warm as a soft sunlight!

Here is a fabulous documentary about Da Vinci´s life,
it was inspiring to me, maybe you will like it too...




He didn´t have it easy at all, his time and circumstances were
tough, maybe we have it better somehow...
Also, he didn´t have the distractions we have today, like
tv, the movies, clothing, etc., and perhaps
a decision to focus and devotion to study and discover.

Another key to the lonely searcher as you will learn in the video
is to experiment, Da vinci says, how else are you going to
discover how things work if you don´t try different things?
He did created many new things right?
 Now apply it to your own work...
Change, vary, dare...
At the beginning it may seam awkward and that
you are doing things wrong but consider that
all that humanity has discovered was first veiled.
Even the art master techniques were once nothing.

Being lost in your work or in your life is not wrong,

you may have a great opportunity in your

hands to go for something entirely new,

I feel this way a lot and for a while it´s very

painful but I also try and find a way out, this is my

spirit swimming up to catch a breath and see the 

light so I can keep swimming.

This is another video that inspired me, watch it when you want

but watch it, it also teaches us that research is a lonely path,

we may not be so drastic as they but we should consider the 

elements they used to attain their goals.

I have this painting next to were my computer is,

is tiny, something close to 6" x 8", it is a collage and paint

work, it´s old and the wings are wrong, they are not

angel wings, maybe bat wings, I love my mistake, it 

shows me how naive I was, how I saw things back then,

perhaps I´ve grown and developed my visual skills, 

Pablo Picasso said that painting is like having a diary,

yes, we are keeping a record of time and the knowledge 

we are developing, it´s wonderful to see the child becoming

a young adult, perhaps if we continue, we can see the

adult, maybe senior artist...

The wonders that await are endless in possibilities, just

keep going towards were you dream.

If we have survived up until here, this means 

we are tough and that we can do more! 

Persistence

Nothing in this world can take the place of persistence. Talent will not: nothing is more common than unsuccessful men with talent. Genius will not; unrewarded genius is almost a proverb. Education will not: the world is full of educated derelicts. Persistence and determination alone are omnipotent.

Calvin Coolidge

Carving stamps is a fun activity, I just love having more and more

of them, this week I made this couple of sheeps which I love!  

I`ve started an inspirational wall about hand carved stamps over my 

pinterest,  I share it now so you can be inspired too, find it here!

I know technology can be overwhelming for some and having too 

many places on the web gets difficult to manage but this

 inspirational walls are fabulous, it`s very helpful for me to have

 them all in one place like this one!  I love pinterest! They keep 

evolving and the changes of their site are always helpful and not

at all changing the way you use it, like other places were you have

to learn how to use it all over again after their changes!!

This bellow are my new Love bags, I`ve painted the fabrics and made

them all from scratch, it`s a lot of work and I am still learning how

to make them but I`ts wonderful to see them come to life!

Every idea that comes to our minds has to be studied, treated and 

practiced a lot before we can start to fly with them but I know for sure 

that it is something we are able to do if we are persistent... 

I believe I can fly! 

 like a butterfly

reach the sky

in my heart

transformation,

to a better self

to a better state,

to reach the matter 

of happiness.

This bellow ain`t mine, I grabbed it from facebook, 

I know it`s powerful so I wanted to share with you!

And talking about persistence, here is what I`ve been up to in my art school,

a drawing that took me something about 9 to 11 hours of work, thankfully,

Robin was inspiring!  Well, it`s no perfect but I think I did a good job!

This girl has the perfect face, studying the proportions of the face,

me and my teacher discovered this face has no flaws!  Can you imagine 

walking around with no flaws on your face?  That`s amazing!