Art is Work

One of the quotes me from the book Imagine by Jonah Lehrer that stuck with me is "Art is Work" which Milton Glaser has hanging in his studio.  I've been working at coming up with 15 or more different red and green charms to use on some Christmas-themed jewelry.  Below are some shrink film charms and the different attempts I had to make with the same rubber stamp.  First I used the stamp on the white opaque film in two different shapes (on the left), but they looked too small.  Then I used the translucent rough-n-ready film and colored the back with colored pencils (in the middle).  I liked it, but I wanted to add the words "Merry Christmas" on it somewhere.  In the next version, I stamped the words "merry, merry, merry Christmas" around all four sides of the stamp and colored the back with a red pencil.  I liked the design, but the red background made the words difficult to read.  Finally, I made the last version with only a border colored red so the words are visible.  Success at last!

 Below are some of the additional charms I've come up with.  Most of these did not require quite as many attempts before I got it right, but there is always some trial and error.  Now that I've got most of that worked out, the bracelets should come together pretty quickly.  I'll have time to get them photographed before the holiday rush...  and hopefully make some sales!