Ten-Memorable Day Weekend

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Photographed

A co-worker of mine got engaged over the weekend so obviously I wanted to make something to celebrate this memorable and wonderful event. I'm still struggling with my border tools as evidenced by the lower left hand corner (you should see the one I covered up with the hearts in the top left-yikes!). Also, I wish I had better handwriting but overall I like the layout and color combinations. I tried some new techniques with the stamp ink on the hearts to varying degrees of success. Basically I tried to do a reverse stamping technique where I pressed the paper into the ink and then pressed a clean stamp on top of it to let the paper underneath come through. Both the stamp and ink type I chose however do not lend themselves to a lot of fine detail. Next time I will try it with a more matte ink and a more clearly defined stamp.

Nine-ABC's

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Photographed

I am trying to best show the image as I see it but I can't seem to get it quite right. Anyway, this is one of the coolest ideas I think I've had so far. I wish I could think of more names or words to play with this technique. So far suggested to me: Ben, aint, and biopsy. Maybe "Ben's biopsy aint Amy"? Any and all suggestions are welcome! Also, I think I finally figured out how to align my border punch tool just so long as I do one edge and don't have to worry about going around corners.







Eight-Stars and Stripes

Okay, so I guess this isn't really a card but after attending my local Memorial Day parade for the first time in the eight years I've lived here I was feeling a little patriotically inspired. No stamping, all punches and cutting. Also, I had some help last night and here is my helper with her own card:



Seven-Aloha

So where to begin with this mess? I tried using my cutting tool freehand hence the vaguely but not quite surfboard shaped part in the middle. Yikes! I do like the cut outs of the flowers though the one on the left that is hidden is hidden because I tried to add some hand coloring on it and it didn't quite have the look I wanted so... Also, I just found out I spelled the person's name wrong so I am going to redo it anyway but at least I got to try out some different techniques and see what works and what doesn't. I do like the flower in the bottom right that I curled up a little to look more life like.

Six-Simply the Best

 

So this is one of the best ones I've done so far I think for a few reasons. First of all, I'm partial to the blue and green color combination (I used those colors for my wedding-green is my favorite color and blue is my husband's). Second, I used a few different tools and techniques relatively successfully. I finally got a straight edge cutter which also came with a circle and ellipse template. Also, the tool used to cut has three different blades-straight, scalloped (used here on the plaid paper) and perforated which I'm not really sure why, it literally perforates paper like coupons or the remittance stubs you send in with your credit card payment, assuming you still use snail mail to pay any bills). Anyway, that was much easier to get a clean border (and corners!) than using the edge scissors or any of the border punches. Also, I very quickly learned from my CATastrophe and carefully pressed the bottom two lines of the stamp into the ink pad and hand colored the "you" and the outline of the flower on the stamp before pressing it onto the paper. I then hand filled in the center of the flower petals with a lighter color marker. The ellipse and the butterflies are raised to add dimension. I'm glad this came out as well as it did because it is for a very awesome person at my new job who, to say she goes above and beyond, is like saying Cookie Monster kind of digs Mrs. Fields.

Five-CAThryn

Okay, so this is kind of a cheat to get caught up. This is from the envelope of the card with all the butterflies. (I am trying to make as many of these for specific people, not just to sit around my house.) I decided to put this up so I could learn from where I went wrong here. First of all, I wanted the middle of the eyes to be yellow so I colored the black with marker and the center of the eyes with yellow marker. If I pressed it into the ink pad the center of the eyes would be black as well. The nose however would not be as it is inverted(?). The yellow did not show up as well as I was hoping so I decided to go over it with green by hand on the paper and fill in the yellow around the center as well. The pink nose was colored in on paper as well. Next time I think I will have to find something to put over the eyes to keep them from absorbing ink and press the stamp into the pad because the markers do not always work as well, Also, there is a way you need to breathe on the marker on the stamp before you stamp it down (seriously, you blow "ha, ha, ha" all over where you put the marker kind of like you're warming your hands in the winter, but you need to kind of make it moist without spitting on it) and I forgot to do that so that makes the image even more patchy. Anyway, moving on...

Four-Finding My Inspiration

 

Influences:

Four Babylonias in One

1st Day May 21,2011

Truthfully, I didn't expect my little craft project experiment to have much relevance to the 100 Days project as a whole. I should have known better! I loved the color and the layering of Fred's piece and still can't believe that it was done on an iPad. I loved the carefree nature and attitude of Sabin's philosophy toward this project. Where that second piece comes in to play in this card is through the papers used for the butterflies. I have been on a buying frenzy for the last few weeks as I've been getting into this hobby. After seeing the beauty in the materials on hand of Sabin's first piece I decided before I could go any further I needed to clear up my workspace a little and as I was sorting paper and setting aside scraps I kept finding all these little bits that really couldn't be used for much so I decided before throwing them away to punch a shape from each piece that was big enough. Also, I added a little depth with the one popped up piece inspired by the packing peanuts (?) in Sabin's piece.

Three-If Thoughts Were Flowers

 

I forgot to take the picture before writing the personal message so, sorry for the TMI. Also, I need to figure out how to photograph these better as the true colors are not coming through. This is much more pink than it appears in the photo, especially the back piece which looks brown here.

Okay, enough about that. So one of the coolest type of tool I have found is a border punch-available in many styles, but I am having a heck of a time getting it to line up properly from punch to punch and have absolutely no idea how to handle the corners. Believe it or not, this is actually one of the best aligned ones I've done so far, with the exception of the raggedy corners.

Two-Sharing the Gratitude

Yesterday I attended the birthday party for my eight year old cousin, Janine. While she was opening her presents she asked her mother to write down who gave her what for her thank you notes. I was impressed by this behavior from a (very) recently turned eight year old so I decided to go home after the party and make her some personalized thank you notes to send out.

So far one of my favorite techniques is using special markers to hand-apply the color to a rubber stamp instead of simply swiping it on an ink pad. This allows for multiple colors instead of just one. Also, in the middle is an actual sticker that I created with the help of a "sticker machine" that my friend Amy bought for me over eight years ago that I never used, but held onto, until a few weeks ago. The sticker can be used as a seal for the envelope. I just have to work on actually measuring and whatnot so my placement is a little cleaner. Rulers? I don't need no stinkin' rulers!

One: Grateful

 

I am thankful for so many things in my life and I am thankful for the support of some of my fellow 100 Dayers for being supportive of my idea of exploring my new crafty hobby rather than trying so hard to be a capital A Artist. That's not to say in three weeks (or less) I will get fed up and grab my camera or notebook again. But for now I will be simply making cards. So merci beaucoup Neha, Susan, and Susan! 

Day T Minus One

Well, here it is, time for another 100 Days! Last year saw me spew my heart and guts over the interweb like Jackson Pollack with a stomach bug, assomeone once so amazingly put it. My body of work ranged from the disturbingly personal to the cold and detached to the ordinarily necessary. I am so thankful I decided to participate not only because of the project itself but because of the people I got to know both through their work and some luckily enough in real life. Completing the project during one of the most trying times in my personal life proved not only that I was wrong about my self-mutilating belief that I could NEVER finish anything I started but that I could finish it under duress. While it was difficult to choose my seven pieces for the book wonderfully edited by the talented Carianne Garside, not because of the bounty of pieces to choose from, but the dearth of pieces I considered acceptable, I am, as a whole, extremely proud of myself and, to a lesser extent, my body of work.

This year I find myself in a very different place emotionally, creatively, and somewhat physically as I have lost a job and gained another one. As of T minus one and a half hours to go as I am writing this I sincerely have no idea what I will actually be contributing ( and I use the word lightly) to this year's project. But nonetheless, I will attempt to contribute something. So, I guess all that's left to say is: I can't wait to see the work from some of my returning favorite artists but the new ones as well, and as far as what I will be doing, stay tuned...