My Continuing Fondness For Small

For the last few days I have been making cards. These are a few of them. I am not sure why I get such satisfaction out of making them - but they are gratifying to both make & to send. This group of cards are ear-marked for a lovely person who asked me to make some cards for her. It's been, as always a pleasure to do. Making cards affords me a real opportunity to try out new techniques and hone my skills in others.

'Clarity' was made using a base of cotton that I had painted with color washes with an over lay of an image printed on silk organza. 'Dream' was made in much the same way but the base is kimono silk.

The landscape below was is a small painting using acrylics, watercolor & inks on muslin. The cats were made much the same way and with the same sort of materials.

The little piece below, made on a whim, is acrylic on lutradur. Lutradue has become a surface that I am having a great time experimenting with to a greater extent than I have in the past. It's lots of fun! I would really like to ask for your opinion. Could you take a moment and tell me which card strikes you the best?  Which would you like to receive? Thanks !

Rejoicing With Cards

First let me say that I am thoroughly frustrated with the photos of this group. It's been a week of rain so there is no 'real' light and, obviously, the mixed lighting inside was difficult to correct - at best.

These cards are really a bit of Kismet. As some of you may already have read - I am a very small, very beginning calligraphy student. A calligrapher wanna be - with little skill & an awful lot to learn. & hours & hours of practicing ahead of me. Last week I got a lovely email from a very talented, very professional, calligrapher who had occasion to look at my web site (which has been woefully untended of late) - because of a calligraphy list I have joined - as a lurker for the most part! This wonderful person said that she loved my work and wanted to buy some cards - loved my bags etc etc. I was blushing and, after looking at Julie's work on her blog, Wildman Designs, I thought that perhaps she needed to have her eyes checked! Her's is the work that is wow wow wow! Go have a look and you will see what I mean!

We settled on trade - a felted, quilted bag for a calligraphy piece - plus Julie wanted some cards - count 'em 8 of them! These four are 'Rejoice' cards - the next four will be printed on vintage kimono silks & I can send them off to her the beginning of December. With friends across the pond she asked if  I could get one card off to her now. I decided to just get the after burners going and make four cards to send now so that she would have a choice. Now let me tell you how intimidating it is to letter anything to send to a professional calligrapher! I asked Julie if she would perhaps prefer to add the lettering herself?  Like - p-l-e-a-s-e  would like to letter your cards?!! 'No",  says she, 'my family has enough of my work - I want you to do it'. Uh huh! Okay - so here goes nothing ! Remember what I said about these photos? Well the colors in all of them are actually much more vibrant - the dupioni silk really shimmers & the faces are not nearly this dark and shiny - the only one that comes even close to 'real' color is the top one. That one was one of my least favorite as I worked on it - but it has become my favorite of the bunch I think...well maybe I like the orange with purple dupioni a lot too! Maybe I should not have posted these photos at all - but it's what I have been doing for a few days. I was amazed at how time consuming one card could be. Julie picked a card from the web site that I never had anticipated anyone wanting (it had been a gift to a friend)- so I had to develop a bit of  a pattern for the card - which in the long run is a good thing to have. I have lots of fun making these cards really and could easily spend hours playing around with possibilities, colors, shapes, threads, beads...it could be endless!

I added an ATC to the package for Julie- although it is not the 'official 'swap that we agreed on. Oh! that darn highlight! Ugh! The orange-y global card on the bottom still lacks lettering - that's for the day after Thanksgiving - which I should really get started on I suppose! I should be cutting up the bread to makes cubes - so that the bread dries and can be made into stuffing. Ah! That's for tomorrow - after work and, I might add, a lovely massage in the afternoon by my favorite masseuse in the whole world.

Life is good! Full of unexpected, small, joys, moment of sheer kismet & unexpected friendships.

Peace & joy to you all !

If I don't get back here before then - have a very happy day of giving thanks!

 

New Hand Painted Cat Cards For Some Special Friends

Here a few newly hand painted cards. I used with a combination of inks: J.Herbin inks , J.Herbin Calligraphy inks, J. Herbin Pearlescent inks, Dr.Martin's India inks - and just a touch of Golden Interference Red/Gold. These will be off to new owners this morning. One a "huury back" rather than a "good bye" for a favorite doctor who is leaving and one for his nurse who will, once again, have to 'train' another new doc. The third card goes to the great, friendly people at the front desk of our Medical Center who somehoe seem to manage to always answer those blasted phones with a smile! Did I mention they get home made sugar cookies too?!

A Bevy of Lutradur Cards For C&T Publishing

"Get Off Dead Center"

First thing I need to do is post an 'errata'. Yesterday I said that C&T is a Washington Company. I was incorrect (imagine that?!). The are a Northern California based company ... and, since my good friend lives down that way and I love the area - it's almost as good as Washington! Anyway, hopefully C&T will forgive my faux pas!

Here are some new cards I made over the weekend from Lutradur. They are not quite finished yet - need to add the "card back" and borders. I had playing with Lutrdur - it's a great, versatile material to paint on and, since I had not used any for some time, it was a lot of fun to make these!

The COunty Fait begins today. It's the first year that I have not entered anything since 1992! I just spaced it. It's also a week early this year so I was all 'discombobulated'! If work does not thoroughly wipe me out today I will have to go and have alook at all of the winners! Of course I immediaely head over to the "wool shed" to see all of the textiles and quilts! Have a wonderful, creative day!

" We will remain the same until the pain

of remaining the same is greater than the pain of change"

"Dream 1"

"Dream 2 "

"Believe"

A New Chop & New Card Experiments

I think that I am developing a chop fixation. I love them. I had this one made by a carver in China that I found through EBay under the seller's name "asiatrip". It took some back and forth - and finding a suitable stone to hold the amount I wanted but it was made and I love it ! When DH saw it he thought that the "Om" sign was "30" and when I told him what it was he said that he did not think people would understand. I replied that those who needed to understand would! Hummmm - now the question is what do YOU think. Was he right?

I took a book out of the library that I am going to have to get. It is called Ultimate Cardmaking
by Sarah Beaman. I had to try one of her amazingly simple but oh! so fun cards. I added the quip about not letting anyone move your cheese because my boss at work always says that when we get a bit 'tetchy' about continual changes in forms! I plan to work on some refine ments to this card - to make it more of my own.

I also have been making some more gift tags (with ATC card stock) from the Gesso challenge. This is one that I have made raking the gesso with a comb to give it a 3D effect. A friend suggested using Golden absorbent ground as it taks color better and so I am going to have to try some of that - and soon I think !

Hope eveyone is having a happy, playful, de-light-ful Saturday !

A Few Minutes of Play Time

I took a few minutes and played with some design elements for felted cards (or perhaps textile cards) last evening. I used just a General's sketch pencil and paper - though I tried adding some dabs of watercolor pencils before I got too tired to really play with the colors effectively. I am not too fond of watercolor pencils - I can never get the colors I want from them - but that may be due to operator error and ignorance too !! I hate it when I am too darn lazy to get up and mix color to make it what I want it to be - then I KNOW I need to stop and go read and then go to sleep !

I am a "circle person" - it is most definitely the symbol that is the most meaningful to me. It symbolizes the cycles in my life - the cycles in my interests and it also symbolizes life's beginnings and it's closures. My personal circle always seem to return to where they began- often many years later - in order to complete their cycle. I began as a weaver and a spinner almost 35 years ago....and am now, once again, cycling back needing the feel of wool running through my fingers via knitting, felting and spinning. Completing one circle begins another - and I hope they continue to spin through my life for many years to come. I am even working to discover a way to combine my favorite mediums -textiles, wool and glass. Don't hold your breath - but you never know when I might find the answer I am looking for !

Special cards for Special Occasions

May is a busy month for birthdays around here - and anniversaries as well. I have, therefore, been making cards for some of these special occasions. I have been reading that some people think that card art may be passe - but I love making special cards - they are such a great way to try out new techniques and materials.

The first card above was made using Shiva Oil Sticks, rubbing plates, inks & fused glass chips that I made some time ago. The card on the right is from from one of my favorite photographs - I took it the first time I visited my enchanted island almost 20 years ago. I used Jacuard DynaFlo & Stewart Gill Alchemy paints, inks , another bit of fused glass & a beautiful kimono silk for the little frame.

I credit Virginia Spiegel & Karey Bresenhan for getting me motivated to make cards with their FiberArts for a Cause "campaign". I cannot imagine that the joy of both making and giving these special cards will ever be passe in my world ! It's just too much fun !

Yesterday my first splurge on Stewart Gill paints arrived and I am itching to get to them. These paints are awesome - and thanks to Liz at Artist Cellar they are now more available. She carries just about all of the SG paint lines - plus lots of other cool tools as well - like stencils, stamps etc. SG paints are so highly pigmented that you only need a little - and I am definitely hooked. I'll play and post some more info on them later this weekend. No - I am not affiliated -but I love these paints ! I have another order ready for next pay day !

As I have mentioned before, Blogger always seems to lighten my uploaded photos . The colors in these cards are richer and much more saturated than they appear. A friend told me that the problem is with the white balance - but I don't have a high end camera and theses photos look good on my computers - both at home and work. Thanks for the tip Sheryl - I'm going to check to see if there is something I CAN do to ensure better blog photos !