linocut wrapping paper

I decided to try making my own wrapping paper this year. I have plenty of Wondercut linoleum, so I got out my cutters and gave it a go! Below are the results:



I will do a lot of things differently next year, such as:
-Make larger "stamps" so that I can get more printed with each inking.
-Wrap gifts first, then print. Since my stamps were small and not totally covering every part of my craft paper, on some gifts I've wound up having very little printing in prominent places, ack!
-Reink EVERY print. I thought I'd save time and energy by using each stamp twice before re-inking. I also thought the faded, rustic look would be desirable... in the end, I think it looks too.. country? and not crisp enough for my taste.
-Maybe use ink instead of paint? I used paint because I have tons of it and it's cheaper than ink, but sometimes maybe you get what you pay for?

Treetop Love Factories

Dear blog, I finished my newest linocut yesterday. I finally broke down and bought some big sheets of linoleum and new cutting tools. I got a set of 4 Namisei Moku Hanga To cutters, and I am incredibly happy with them. I bought Blick's Wondercut linoleum, and it cuts like a dream.

I got the idea for this woodcut from a National Geographic article about Redwood trees that are so huge that other trees grow on their limbs and get big enough to produce cones. I had this image in my mind of little villages or factories all on tree limbs, and maybe the tree limbs were so large that the villages and/or factories weren't even aware that they weren't on the ground. But, obviously the trees in the linocut are leaning more towards birches than redwoods.