Sketching Tigers for the 2022 Useful Calendar

Quick sketches with a brush pen help me
loosen up and get a feel for drawing
tigers without overthinking it.

Ever since the LoLa art crawl ended (Sep. 18–19), I have mainly been focused on finishing my 2022 Useful Calendar. It's the Year of the Tiger — beginning Feb. 1, 2022 — and so that is the animal that I will feature on this calendar. Tigers and cats, that is, because I did a whole year of dog illustrations a few years back for the year of the dog, so it only seems right for the upcoming calendar to be all about the cats.

A lot of the work I do in preparation for making my calendar is research, which I commence in the spring and pick away at through the summer — updating all the floating holidays from various faith traditions, and the US holidays that land on a weekend, and new holidays, like Juneteenth in the US, which I've always included, but now that it's an official US holiday, the Monday rule applies, and so the federal observance will be on June 20 next year, because June 19 is a Sunday. 

For many religions, the ones I didn't grow up observing — Baha'i, Buddhism, Hindu, Islam, Judaism, Orthodox Christian — I feel that I need to check a few different sources, because any one source could be wrong. So it actually takes a bit of time, even though I only include the major holidays of these religions; there are many I leave out because only followers of those religions need to know, and they're not counting on me to tell them. But the impetus behind the Useful Calendar is to help people be considerate of one another's cultural and religious traditions when planning events that might affect them.

It's the same reason I always include the date of the Super Bowl — not for football fans, but for the rest of us, who may need to plan around it. 

My sketchbook page is in the middle of the two sources I was
copying and studying, including one with text I can't translate!

But the part I always leave for last are the illustrations. I have been collecting images of tigers and cats on a Pinterest board, and doing light research about these magnificent animals, and a wee bit of sketching, and examining studies of tiger anatomy and interesting facts about them, and really appreciating all the artists on Deviant Art who share their studies, instruction, and photographs on any subject you could want to draw!

But here it is early October and I don't have one finished illustration yet! So it's time to shift from sketching mode to get-serious mode. That includes finding images that photographers give permission to use, such as this German photographer (featured below) who goes by the business name Fotostyle Schindler and asks only that people credit him and provide a link to his Facebook page.

For the next few weeks, tigers and cats are going to be the focus of my attention, at least when I'm at home in my studio. I may even pay a visit to the Minnesota Zoo to see a real live tiger.

The Calendar Cards Get a New Sleeve

When I first made the Useful Calendar (more on that here) into a set of cards, from its original format on a single sheet of letter size cardstock, I fashioned a sleeve to hold them by adapting a template designed for artist trading cards (ATCs). The calendar cards at that time were ATC-size (2.5" x 3.5").

Because it was a flat sleeve with the seam on the side, and I was putting 16 cards in them, I made it a little bigger and gave it some reinforcement by laminating the whole thing with packing tape. It was rather fussy and time-consuming to make each one that way, but it made a very durable, long-lasting sleeve that could be refilled each year for several years.

Then I made the cards slightly larger to make better use of the paper I printed them on. Instead of trading card size (2.5" x 3.5"), I made them 1/8-letter size (2.75" x 4.25"). Now I don't need to trim anything away, I just cut the printed cardstock into 8 cards.

But these no longer fit the old sleeves, so I adapted the sleeve I was using to accommodate the new size. I made a pattern out of stiff plastic upcycled from a pocket folder, so I could just trace around it.

That worked fine for a few years, mostly because I don't do a high volume of business, especially of the pocket version of the calendar (I sell more of the ones with a wood stand aka a desk calendar). But then I had an inquiry last January from a person who wanted to buy a large quantity for their employees, with the sleeves, and I couldn't accommodate them. They settled for 15 of them and let me know at that time that they would like a much larger quantity for Year of the Ox (2021).

So I started looking for a ready-made sleeve that I could use, but could not find anything the right size. Then tinkered with creating a better design that would still be durable while also being easier to make. I noticed that the card sleeves I found online had the seam in the center of the back instead of at the side. I thought that looked nice and would be stronger because there isn't the stress that a seam on the side has to contend with. 

I also realized that I needed to accommodate the thickness of the 16 cards in a more precise way than just making the sleeve a bit bigger. I used a technique similar to the draping method of designing clothing (I used to be a seamstress/tailor), wrapping scrap paper around a rectangle of corrugated cardboard representing a stack of cards, creasing it at each edge, front and back. From this I took measurements and notes.

I then tested some paper samples I had, making a miniature prototype because my samples were so small. I carried the test sleeve in my wallet for several weeks, taking it out and handling it and putting it back to test its durability. It became apparent that the new design would hold up very well.

I made a new template in InDesign so that I could print them with my own artwork on the front (and brand them with my shop name on the back). Then tested the printed one on some nice gray cardstock I already had in letter size (it's set up to print 2 on a letter-size sheet), by handling it a lot and rubbing the printed side with my fingers. As I had feared, the toner started to rub off and look worn, so I coated it, and the others I had made so far, with Gel Medium, a clear acrylic that can be used as a sealant. Because the sleeves were already assembled when I brushed it on, they resisted warping from the moisture in the medium, and it dried pretty quickly. It results in a sheen on one side of the sleeves, and visible brush strokes, but I think of that as just the handmade touch.

Now I need to get in touch with that customer from last January to see if she still wants the Year of the Ox calendars! Even if she doesn't, I appreciate that her inquiry prompted me to design a better card sleeve.

Packing some unstructured play into a little tin

Our grandson, who's almost 3, visits on Friday afternoons. When he arrives, he usually heads straight for the den, where we have an assortment of toys and random items, including wooden blocks and animal figures; puzzles and cards; books we saved from our children's early years; a couple of long cardboard tubes; balls; cups; measuring pitchers and other kitchen utensils; and assorted containers. 

Some secondhand items that will go into tins of "stuff" for kids.

Surely you remember playing with some mix of toys and nontoys when you were small—inventing  games and stories, conducting experiments, and generally playing in unscripted ways. I remember playing with my mother's extra buttons among her sewing notions, as well as other objects that weren't really toys. 

Early childhood professionals stress the importance of such unstructured or open-ended play in developing children's skills in creative problem solving and original thinking. Carrie Shriver, an early childhood education specialist at Michigan State University, says, "Play, and in particular creative play, has been identified as a key component of building children’s resilience, ability to focus, and the ability to act intentionally, even when the outcome is unknown. These skills translate into competence and capability in adults." 

She describes "open-ended materials" as those things that do not have a predetermined use (the way a licensed character is connected to its role in a movie, say). "A block can be a car, phone, doll’s chair, ice-cream bar or any number of other things in play," she says. (Read the full article here.)  

The little desk where I assemble the tins of stuff.

I think I must have been feeling some nostalgia for this type of play when I decided to make and sell little collections of random "stuff" for kids, in a mint tin (which always include a few buttons). I first got the idea when I would be selling at craft shows, and I had a dice game I invented for school-age kids to practice math skills. I noticed that children who were too young to do the math wanted to play with the dice.

After adding these tins to my inventory, I noticed that preschool-age kids were attracted to them, while slightly older children tended to look at them quizzically and say things like, "What are you supposed to do with this?"

That change in attitude with age seems to fit Shriver's explanation that the first five years are critical in laying the foundation for creative skills later in life. "From birth through age 5, children’s brains are literally forming the complex web of synapses that last throughout their lives," she says. I can't help but wonder if those kids who don't "get" the little boxes of random stuff have already had their capacity for inventing their own form of play driven out of them. 

Michael Patte, professor of education at Bloomsburg University, describes what he calls unstructured play as "a set of activities that children dream up on their own without adult intervention." He's concerned that too many children are over-scheduled, and that open-ended play is not happening enough these days. 

Magnets I made with buttons, postage stamps, and my illustrations.

I no longer sell at craft shows, but I still enjoy assembling my odd collections of very small open-ended materials into tins, which I cover with digital collages of my illustrations printed on a label. I suppose I'm really indulging in my own type of creative play when I collect items for the boxes, and make others (magnets, bottlecap tokens), fit them into a tin, and arrange them for photographing, before offering them for sale in my Etsy shop.

Are you ever too old to enjoy a little open-ended play? I sure don't think so.

The joys of open-ended play

When our son and daughter entered their teens, it appeared they had outgrown their Legos, so we donated them. Not long after, our son showed an interest in playing with the little plastic bricks again and I regretted having gotten rid of them, so we decided to get him a box of new ones for Christmas.

We went to the Lego store at Mall of America, which was something of an ordeal for me because I hate shopping malls. Still, we figured that was the place to find the best selection of Legos and to get a nice large assortment. What we found instead were a lot of "kits" designed to make only certain things, but not one (NOT ONE!) box of just plain Legos for making anything he wanted.

I was disappointed — I had just endured the biggest shopping mall in the country only to come away empty-handed.

I didn't know there was a term for what I was looking for, and what Legos used to be: open-ended toys, like wooden blocks, generic dolls, and all the random stuff that kids naturally gravitate to — rocks and sticks and other low-tech things like Mom's button box.

Open-ended, or unstructured play is when children invent their own storylines and rules, set their own goals, create their own structures and characters. It's the opposite of licensed character dolls from movies and shows, or kits for assembling a specific thing.

And it's so necessary for the health and well-being of children, some doctors are "prescribing" unstructured playtime, which is kind of an ironic concept, isn't it?

The American Academy of Pediatrics even released a report in August stressing the importance of open-ended play to develop flexible brains that can engage in creative problem solving and inventiveness to become well-rounded, successful adults.

"Play is learning" is a quote from Joseph Chilton Pearce

So if you're looking for a good excuse to avoid the mall and to not hunt down the hottest "it" toy for your child, there you have it. How about a good set of handmade wooden blocks from an independent crafter on Etsy?

You can even search the phrase open ended toys on Etsy and get some really inspired results.

Or visit an independent shop that sells consignment items from local crafters. That can be a fun exploration for you as well as have the potential to yield something unique that really engages your child.

Or just get out your button box and let your child rummage through it.

It's the sort of thing I had in mind when I started putting together little collections of random stuff in little tin boxes to sell in my Etsy shop, some of which illustrate this essay.

Happy playtime!

Enjoy, Then Repurpose: Why I Make Journals from Beer Boxes

There's something about packaging design that often makes me want to find another purpose for small cardboard boxes, especially certain craft beers and sodas and tea.

It started when the city wouldn't collect the boxes from six-packs of beer for recycling, because the box board is reinforced in such a way as to make recycling difficult. I hated adding those boxes to the waste stream; especially when some of them are works of art, besides. And if they're reinforced, wouldn't that make them especially well-suited to reusing in some way?

So I started using them as covers for small journals and notebooks. Often, I cut a tag from another part of the same box.

 A selection of the recycled journals available from my Etsy shop, Arty Didact

My bookbinding knowledge and skills are limited. I really only know a couple of types of stitches: the three-hole pamphlet stitch and the chain or coptic stitch. But these, as it happens, are well-suited to my purpose.

The pamphlet stitch is simple and sturdy, is sewn through the binding (hence useful for a folded book cover), and can be begun and finished from the outside or inside, allowing you to decide where you want the "tail" to end up. Starting from the inside gives you a fairly smooth spine and hides the ends of the cording amongst the pages.

Handstitched notebook from Brooklyn Lager box, with bead and cat charm, from Arty Didact (me) on Etsy.

But starting from the outside gives you a tail on which you can string beads or other ornaments.

Notebook made from Tazo tea box, with collaged cover and original lino cut print

You can also adapt the tail to provide a closure for the book by leaving part of it long, then wrapping it around a kind of button (cut from more packaging, in this case), like an old-fashioned envelope with a string closure.

Notebook made from a B.T. McElrath Chocolate box, with collage on cover.

The coptic, or chain stitch, allows for sewing several signatures to a cover without needing the cover to wrap around the spine, which means I can cut two different pieces for the covers without needing to fold them or cover them.

Journal made from Lost Trout beer box,  with coptic stitch binding

Of course I'm not the only one who likes to repurpose box board and other such materials to make journals and notebooks, there's a whole host of them on Etsy.

Here's one using vintage postcards and an actual button for the string closure:

Postcard minijournal from Macedoine on Etsy

Here are some beer box notebooks using a stitch I don't know (yet!):

From Repaper on Etsy

Clearly I'm not the only (or the first) to think of repurposing boxes in this way.

And I do use them myself, as well. I find the covers hold up well even after being tossed into the bottom of my tote time and again. The box board really is quite sturdy.