Welcome to DSA: Creative Projects and Inspiration for the Sensitive Soul! I wanted to share a recipe card favor I did a few months ago for a birthday party. You can also buy these cards at my Etsy shop.
I'd never made lino before, but loved the whimsical, organic feeling of hand-carved stamps and wanted to try it for myself. The beauty of carving a lino is that it can be any color, it can be printed on anything you can imagine, and you'll always have a one-of-a-kind design by you!
It actually didn't take me long to scrounge up a printing block set by Speedball and some linoleum sheets, all of which happened to be in the stash of art supplies my husband and I have been hoarding over the years. Then I researched the whole process. I recommend visiting www.instructables.com for terrific instructions. You can substitute a few things and still get by. For instance, any surface that's smooth can be used to roll your paint, not just glass. I love the look of all the carving marks:
Next, to add to the organic feeling and to support my tree theme, I printed my linocut on wood veneer sheets, which I got from a craft store. On the back I printed a recipe for the cupcakes served at the party so the guests could make their own.
Now I use my recipe card as a bookmark, and I love my linocut so much, I display it on my bookshelf!
