Glitter on the Scanning Bed

Well, not for the first time, I am sure, but these cards sure do have glitter on 'em!

Splitcoast Stampers' newsletter led me to this site: http://inkspiredtreasures.com/cards/stamping-411-folded-christmas-tree/

where I found the cutest folded tree, and this year's Christmas card.

I made them in two colourways: Baja Breeze and Riding Hood Red. The dp is Bella Road Wintertime Flurry and Red Swirls. The rest is all from Stampin' Up.

So, thanks, Ink Inspired! You sure did inspire me!

A Banner! Finally!

I knew I needed a banner for this blog, but just never seemed to find time to make it. Enter the craft sale at Allen Reuter Centre -- I needed signs for my cards. And the banner was born!

BTW, I sold 7 cards. The general consensus is that I need to display the cards better. (You mean having them in a plastic basket isn't appealing?) So, I am now turning various ideas over in my head. Stay tuned to see what I come up with!

Have a Seat

I bought this stamp set from my friend, Jamilla, some time ago, but every time I picked it up, I put it down again. I just couldn't think of what to do with it! I have been known to do this -- buy a set because I like the stamps themselves, but have no idea how to use them! Was this another one of those sets?

Finally, I was able to produce a card I liked! The base is Very Vanilla, with a layer of DP (don't know where it came from), a strip of Crumb Cake on a strip of Cherry Cobbler, and a narrow strip of red glitter (thanks, Christine, for reminding me of the Burnished Velvet technique).

Preparing for the Sale

I am participating in a craft show and sale next Saturday. I will have some of my framed ATCs from my show in May with my sister. I don't have many, though -- I'm down to 5, remarkably, so I thought I'd fill up my space with some cards. Here is one I have just made. I kept the bling off so that it could read as masculine or feminine.

The second card uses the same stamp -- love this bird! It is from Stampin' Up and the set is called Friends 24/7. One of

my best purchases, I use it a lot.

How Life Gets in the Way

Well, a group of us started the new year by planning a regular card exchange. We did exchange a few, but then summer happened, and then back to school, and now we're all too busy making our Christmas cards to keep it up. So, here is the "all occasion" card I made for the swap. It's ready to go, in case we start the exchange again. I hope we do, because seeing all the wonderful cards people produce is invigorating!

Always Artichoke base, an unknown purple, and Whisper White are the cardstocks. The Stamp sets are Vintage Vogue and La Jardin Botanique. Always ARtichoke grosgrain ribbon, and black gems from Michael's. The images were stamped with Black ink, and coloured with coloured pencils.

Christmas and Relay for Life

We are doing Relay for Life this year at Huron, and given Louise's situation, I feel especially drawn to participating this year. Each team member needs to raise $100 and to get started, I am offering Christmas cards for sale. I have shamelessly stolen the ideas for the cards from Jamilla Ivits and from lindahur on Splitcoast Stampers.

And, I am happy to say, I have already sold 4 of each!

I will also be selling my cards at the Allen Rueter Centre Christmas Sale on November 13, in Cambridge, ON. Stop by -- there will also be quilts, knitting, crochet, jewelry, and other hand-made goods.

Shoebox Swap Mix Up

I had a professor at Teachers' College who started off his lecture on Special Education by not showing up -- the next day, he claimed he had a Temporal Displacement Disability (always in the wrong place at the wrong time). I can relate, only mine has more to do with overlap. I forget that there's something happening (say, Commencement) and commit to do a Shoebox Swap for Regionals.

Well, Freud would have a comment, I am sure, about what I WANT to do conflicting with what I HAVE to do. Me -- I blame my bad memory.

So here is the card I was going to do for the Shoebox Swap!

The base is Very Vanilla, with a Chocolate Chip panel. Each of the small Very Vanilla panels was stamped with Certainly Celery, and the edges were sponged with the same. The salutation was stamped with Chocolate Chip and mounted on Certainly Celery. A ribbon of Certainly Celery wraps the middle. The stamps are Charming and Whimsical Words.

Red Rose

This card uses a long-time favourite: Fifth Avenue Floral by Stampin' Up. My friend Christine kindly lent me her set. I stamped and embossed 3 roses. I fussy-cut all three, with each one getting a little smaller than the previous. I built up the rose again, using pop dots. A punched branch, some designer paper and -- another thankyou card for my Card Challenge!

Exchanging my Art

Years ago, when I sang in a few choirs and took singing lessons, I decided I was "too shy" to perform. My instructor said, "Why did you join this choir if not to share your music with anyone?"

I think of that when I feel "too shy" to share my art with others. Creating art is a type of performance, just as singing is. I can make my art, just for me, and be happy doing it. But then I get lazy and stop producing. After all, the only person waiting to see it is me! However, if I make a promise to someone to give them an ATC or a twinchie, then I have to follow through.

I participate in exchanges because I think it is good for me. It forces me to create and produce.

My participate mostly in two forums for exchanges: Splitcoast Stampers and Quietfire Designs. Both yield good quality art, especially the PAT (Pick a Theme) exchanges. But frankly, I don't care about what I GET: it is what I GIVE that I care about.

Here's a card that I created this summer for exchanging. This card was used twice: I submitted it to Quietfire Designs for the Die Cuts: Inside/Outside challenge, and for the "Make Mine Vintage" exchange on Splitcoast Stampers.

The cage is a Tim Holtz die cut from SU Sage Shadow, swiped with Basic Black (looks like Black with verdigris, doesn't it?). The bird is an SU punch, edged with SU Creamy Caramel craft ink, and punched from an old copy of Jane Eyre. The flower garland comes from SU's Friends 24/7 stamp set, which I coloured with chalks. The sentiment is from Quietfire Designs (she does all the calligraphy for her stamps herself). The background is rubbed with Creamy Caramel and Soft Suede (both from SU), sprayed with water, and then stamped with SU's Itty Bitty Backgrounds and Soft Suede ink.

The Card Challenge - Part II

Some of my cards which I made to donate to the Cancer treatment center.

The Card Challenge

I have been accompanying my dear friend/sister to her cancer treatments. The hospital is so kind and thoughtful! Volunteers drop off knitted, crocheted and sewn hats, and the hospital helpers hand them out to every patient. Louise has an extensive wardrobe of them now.

Well, I sew and knit, but what I really like to do is make cards. So, for her last visit, I made 4 cards of 10 styles of Thank you cards. The volunteers seemed very pleased with them, and so, I am preparing another 40 cards for this visit. It's a great way to use up my stash and justify buying more! I have named it (very imaginatively) "The Card Challenge".

I urge you to do something similar for the health centre in your community. It is shocking to see how many people receive treatment in a day. Then times that by 5 day, then 52 weeks -- and that is just one community! And only adults -- there is a separate hospital for children with cancer. Staggering. Anything you can do to ease the life of these people is time well spent.

The New Studio - addition

I recently acquired a Scor-it tool, and a new paper cutter. But I had to use them on the floor or a chair or the spare bed because I had no proper place. So, I have rearranged some of my shelf contents, and now have 3 work surfaces: one shelf has the trimmer and the Scor-it. The centre table is a drafting table that I stamp on, and the 3rd shelf holds my Big Shot.

And now that my work moves so smoothly, I am able to create this card for my friend Louise's birthday!

The New Studio

Over a period of a very fast week, I: emptied my oldest son's bedroom, primed, painted, painted again, painted trim, painted that again, moved in my shelves full of "stuff", set up a bed, and cleaned up the room I used to be in. Whew! But you know, it was just the thing to do. I had been feeling blocked artistically. Doing something that is not art, but still serving my art freed me up. That, and cleaning up my junk, because I got inspired all over again.

So, when stuck, redecorate?

Top three photos: My old space, with my crowded desk. No matter how much I clean up, I seem to only ever have 6" worth of space for work!
Last two photos: The room was a deep tropical turquoise. I wanted robin's egg blue. The colour I chose wasn't quite right, so I added some black acrylic paint to grunge it up. Good, but now too green. So, some phthalo blue jumped in the mix. I am happy with the result, but will never be able to do touch ups! The trim is a creamy caramel.
I'm still using my old Ikea Ivar shelving. Holds a ton o' stuff, is inexpensive, and can be packed up if necessary.

Day Three

It took some playing, and reacquainting myself with Flickr, but I have created a slide show. Ans somehow, a second slideshow of someone else's photos! Wish they were mine -- they are lovely -- but they aren't! Ignore them for now!

Day Two

So, there are still lots of things to find out about this blogging business. How to get a list of my favourite websites (so you can enjoy them, too), and how to get a slide show of my ATCs running ... So when I am not making art, I can tweak my blog!

I want to tell you about the ATC that is featured on my blog. It is called, "War Bride", and I created it for an exchange that I joined through Splitcoast Stampers. I created using one of my favourite techniques. I wanted a vintage look, and I wanted the background to look as if it were a piece of old, blackened metal. First, I stamped all over the cardstock with a large fleur-de-lis stamp in a mid grey. Then, I rubbed an ink pad on my cutting mat, spritzed it with water, and wiped the stamped surface in the ink. The ink bubbles up, and when the paper hits it, it leaves a watercolour effect. I did that with black, turquoise and rust inks. When it dried, I rubbed the same colours of ink into the surface with sponge daubers. I distressed the edge with rust ink. I overstamped the paper with the sentiment, "Dream with your eyes wide open" (from Quietfire Designs).

The World War I nurse is my grandmother, Amy Whittaker, who left her family and emigrated to Canada to be with my grandfather, Dr. J. P.S Cathcart. She had been his nurse in hospital after he was wounded. I composed a marriage announcement, such as might be posted in her local newspaper, and joined them all together with a bit of antique lace and a t-pin.

What courage it took to turn your back on your comfortable, familiar life and create a new life in a new country with someone you don't know very well. I admire her spirit and her sense of adventure.

The Beginning

This is my first blog; my first post; my first time sharing my thoughts with all and sundry. I am growing and experiencing and celebrating my artistic side. I will share what I have created, and if appropriate, how I created it with you, my readers. I hope you enjoy the journey with me!