I knew it was a risk to try a design with little details on a small linoleum square (8cm x 8cm), but I wanted to give it a try anyway.

My starting design idea was waaay too complicated:

So I gave up on the bees and berries and decided to try to keep the flowers.

I did a few different proofs with copper-gold paint.

And then I made a few labels as gift tags.

The tags were fine, but they didn't really look "finished" to me, so as a next step, I removed the flowers and did a two-step overlay process.

First, the gradation ink layer.

I applied blue and gold ink to a plain, uncut lino square the same size as the one I used for my monogram linocut and printed that a few times onto plain sheets of paper.

When the gradation prints were dry, I carefully aligned the inked monogram on top to create the layered effect.

I'm happier where this print is now, and I really like the texture from the two-layer process!