SSS Card Kit Giveaway/Vicky Papaioannou

Vicky Papaioannou is one of my favorite YouTube artists. She is very talented and her videos are beautifully produced and are always informative. Her latest video can be seen here:

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=oxP3FcPBYWQ

and she is having a giveaway on her blog:

http://www.clips-n-cuts.com/2015/09/3-cards-and-giveaway

You have a chance to win the September 2015 Simon Says Card Kit of the Month.

I know you'll enjoy Vicky's YT channel and her blog, too.

Some Greeting Cards

I love to make special cards for people I love. I often make birthday and Valentines Day and Christmas cards for close family members and I forget to take photos. Sometimes if I'm going to mail things out, I'll remember to snap a pic. I don't always get to process it right away and sometimes I end up with a not-so-good photo, but at least I know what I did. When I don't take a photo and I see my work in someone's home, I often am drawn to look at it. Usually I don't even recognize it right away. OK, here are some cards:

This is the card I made for my beloved brother's birthday last year. I also made him a motivational sign for his writing area. Those are typewriters in the background. So much fun to make.

This is a bad photo, but the card was quite beautiful. I used embossing folders, spray inks, brads, Sizzix dies and who knows what else for this card for my wonderful daughter-in-law, Becca.

This was a card for my friend, Cathy. Same layout, just different color combos. The label was a velvety paper. Those aren't brads, they're pearls. I really like this embossing folder, too.

I made a card a LONG time ago when a niece was graduating from college. This is back before I sold my Cricut and got a Silhouette Cameo that I haven't even used that much, alas:

Catching Up On Blogging

So sporadic...oh, well.

I am motivated to post some pics of things I've done over the last several years. I've gotten out of the habit. When I began substitute teaching quite a few years back, I thought I'd have loads more time to do artistic things. Stuff happens. I'll try to do multiple posts in the next day or two to chronicle SOME of what I've been up to--I don't always take pictures of everything I make.

I'll start with some ATC's I made for a YouTube swap hosted by Kelly Donovan. I think she still hosts a monthly swap. I get pretty carried away when I'm going to release my work into the world. I remember spending a lot of time on these. 

Sometimes I keep adding touches at the end and then have very little time to photograph the finished product. Then when I go to look at the photo, it is bad enough that even making adjustments in Photoshop can't save it. Love the ATC's; hate the photograph. These were fun to make, though!!!!

I loved making the ATC holders with my envelope punch board. Also loved decorating the envelopes with long-lost stamps that I love. I buy many of my stamps in thrift stores, in FB groups or from a place in Portland called SCRAP. About a year ago a very generous person donated a HUGE collection of arty stamps from the 80's. The metal clip stamp on the two envelopes came from that haul. It's a Ken Brown stamp.

 Here are some larger pictures of the individual ATC's:

Thanks for looking.....

Hugs,
Judy

Fauxdori Finish Explanation

I haven't used Blogger in a long time and forgot how fussy it is. I added the pics of the Fauxdori on the post that follows this one and it wouldn't let me add text before the pics. Rather than delete and start over, I decided that I'd just do another post to explain the pics:

Several months ago I became intrigued with the Fauxdori (a fake Midori, which is the name of the Japanese company that makes Midori journals in many sizes). I printed the wonderful calendar inserts sized perfectly by Brit, Ray Blake, to fit the Fauxdori Traveler's Journal size. Blake, it turns out, is something of a legend and very generously offers instructions, tips, ideas, the aforementioned templates in many sizes on his blog:
mylifeallinoneplace.com

He also has wonderful, easy-to-follow instructional videos on YouTube. I loved this project because you're upcycling in addition to creating from scratch. I started with the insert covers which are made from file folders and which I decorated with inks, stamps and stencils. I printed a set of calendar inserts and late one night spilled water all over them and thank goodness I hadn't trimmed them yet. I worked with metric measurements--really for the first time--on this project, and fell in love with the simplicity. I knew I had some leather stashed somewhere and found some beautiful deerskin, which I mistakenly deemed too floppy for a cover. I decided to find something stiffer in a thrift store and within a day had found (for a mere $2.99) the amazing cover that adapted perfectly to my needs. I am thrilled with the results and will be adding another elastic band in the spine so that I can fit in a couple more inserts: one blank for sketching and one with lined paper for taking notes. On one or both of those I will cut the back cover narrow enough that I can add a pen loop that will not protrude when the journal is closed.

Fauxdori Finish

ArtJoyStuff ATC Swaps

For the last couple of months, I have joined swaps on Kimberly Laws' blog:
  
Kimberly Laws' Blog ArtJoyStuff 

Her swaps are open to all levels and the ATC's I've received have been really cute. It's been fun to be in these swaps because I've enjoyed the themes and because the swaps are challenging without being too demanding. The theme of the April swap was April in Paris. Here are some of the ATC's I made. By the way, an ATC measures 2.5" X 3.5"--basically the size of a baseball card or other trading cards--and can have either portrait or landscape orientation.

Here are some ATC's I did for the April In Paris Swap:

I've had the photo of the 1920's lady for at least 10 years. The tiny tag is made from some vintage wallpaper I found at the bins. The tiny vintage pink rosebud with the silk petals is also from the bins. The bird in the nest letter is from the Graphics Fairy.

I made the pink flower a couple of years ago. The label is a die cut that I crinkled and aged. The clown is one of the free downloads from Graphics Fairy.

The bird lady picture is from Graphics Fairy. I embossed the edges in gold. The Paris sign is a diecut that I embossed in white. The flower trim (from the bins, of course) was bright gold originally. I dulled it down a bit with some inks.

 

 

Fairies In A Jar

Is your little one still afraid of the dark, Fairies In A Jar might just solve that problem.

(I couldn't pin this from FB, so I imported the content to my blog. The original posting came from:

www.facebook.com/photo.php?fbid=10150609825792451&set=a.377294287450.157465.243999862450&type=1&theater)

Fairies In A Jar 

DIRECTIONS: 

1. Cut a glow stick and shake the contents into a jar. 

2. Add diamond glitter 

3. Seal the top with a lid. 

4. Shake

.

TYPE ON A PATH/PHOTOSHOP

My computer has been wonky lately, so I was trying to dump big files (audio and video) to maybe de-wonkify it. I'm noticing some improvement already, but the biggest gift is that while I was pruning podcasts from iTunes, I looked at an episode of Photoshop User TV and I learned something really cool: how to type on a path. I use Photoshop quite a bit for photos, but I work with the most basic tools. I love the cool things that other people do in Photoshop with graphics, but I don't spend a lot of time just playing around or even watching the great videocasts I've got stored away. Anyway, I'm jazzed because I think this will be a useful thing. I would recommend subscribing to this show through iTunes if you're interested.

And just for fun, I thought I'd throw in another corner of my kitchen.

HOME FROM WORK

We had guests this weekend that I've been getting ready for all month, really. Why? Because the guest room defaults as a treasure storage room for all my finds. It was a hodge podge of assorted gems: rolls of vintage wallpaper, a cool outdoor lamp that looks like a column of sculptured marble vines, awesome ephemera torn from encyclopedias, dictionaries and magazines, vintage and contemporary fabric, vintage clothing and stacks and stacks of books. What do I do with all that stuff? Well, I sell on Etsy:
http://www.etsy.com/shop/ColoresCorona

I sell to local resale stores Village Merchants, Red Light, etc.

What doesn't sell in those venues goes into huge garage sales. I'm having one this weekend:
4826 NE 15th (Alberta)
Portland, OR

I'm a collector-packrat-artiste. I love to arrange quirky beauty into vignettes and tableaux. They make me happy as I go about my everyday routine. It drives the love of my life mad because I cover every available surface, but I am obsessed.

I'm home from work today because I've had a stomach bug since Friday night. I had to lay low while our guests were here. Today I feel better, just not great yet (looking forward to that). Because I've been so busy cleaning and organizing, I've been able to only dream about being creative. I still have some wrist pain, so actually making something is a stretch, but I took some pictures of my tableaux.

Inspired by Yoko: Book Recommendations

I was inspired by Yoko Ono to list books that I love. I always start with these because they completely changed my schema of the mind-body connection. In other words they blew my mind in a good way. This is the material that excites and impassions my spirit. I loved Yoko's list:

http://imaginepeace.com/archives/3365

and I've read many of the books that she recommends. It was the brain books that caught my attention and she had Louise Hay on her list also. She is such a gift to our world. Her website is wonderful.

"Biology of Transcendence: A Blueprint of the Human Spirit" Joseph Chilton Pearce;
"Waking The Tiger" Peter Levine;
"Spiritual Initiation and the Breakthrough of Consciousness: The Bond of Power" Joseph Chilton Pearce;
"Evolution's End" Joseph Chilton Pearce;
"Trauma Through a Child's Eyes" Peter Levine;
"Traumaproofing Your Child" Peter Levine

Chilton Pearce is one of the great communicators of our time, I believe. He harnesses huge blocks of thought from numerous disciplines, distills and enhances it and makes it not only comprehensible, but a joy to read. My only caution: his conclusions are not always optimistic even though he illustrates the great power of the human spirit.

Levine I call a bodhisattva. He refused to accept the notion that trauma permanently cripples us and invented Somatic Experiencing, a modern form of soul retrieval.

OBSESSED WITH FLOWERS

I went to my friend, Glenda's, house after my last blog post and discovered that she had a large array of flower punches. Serendipitously, I had just purchased a partial roll of some vintage wallpaper that featured pink roses and gray accents. She went off to work and let me play in her scrapping area and I punched a lot of flower shapes. When I got them home I mixed up more glimmery paint using puffy fabric paint, Pearl Ex, Diamond Glaze, acrylic paint and gum arabic and painted a lot of the punched flowers. I also painted some pages from a cook book in French and cut circles for some larger flowers from that paper. I had a lot of fun working in a range of pinks and lavenders. I used some of the same glittery Stickles-like stuff on a number of the flowers and since I had just cleaned out my pen drawer and had a Signo on my work table, I decided to add some white. I also had a gold gel pen and used that on some of the flowers.

We learned that my father-in-law's wonderful careperson, Cindy, was in a serious car accident with her family so I made her a card using one of the flowers. Cindy is a really warm and gifted woman who has worked with Herb's family for a long time. She's one of the Visiting Angels and I got to meet her when Herb's fabulous mom was in hospice. Cindy was there when Herb's cousins and sisters and I sang Christmas carols to Pat as she made her transition to the other world. Here's hoping for a full and fast recovery to Cindy, her husband and their daughter.

Twitter Is Fun

Hey, I'm clumsy as all get out right now. I've had a flare up of some tendon problems and I'm back in a splint (self-prescribed), so typing is a bear. BTW if you have wrist or thumb problems, Jo-Ann's sells these awesome crafting wraps and braces that are really wonderful. I think they're about 10 bucks w/a coupon. They're green, so less homely than the blue velcro and fake leather splint I'm sporting right now.

I have been working almost every day, walking almost every day for 45 min followed by 15 min of weight resistance (small weights). I feel pretty good. I think the weights might be flaring me up, plus I've been on the computer a LOT more, so go figure.

I've been watching all the Prima flower and DIY glimmer mist tutorials on You Tube and I dove in yesterday and just did it all. 3 colors of glimmer mist (pink, brown and blue). If you follow me on Twitter, you'll see any video I've favorited or any that I've subscribed to. All the flower and GM links are there. I don't have much time to type right now, because I have to get out and walk before dark, but I'll link to the videos later. Besides the cool flowers, I ended up with background papers, too, because I misted the color onto the flowers as they rested on 3X5's or a notepad I keep by my worktable.

Twitter Account: twitter.com/judyfrida

Oh, quick triumph story. I sub rarely at a local male prison school. I had a group that was giving me grief and playing a lot of games (they usually want to mess with your head if they don't know you). They had an assignment, but it seemed when I quizzed them, that they knew the material they were supposed to be studying. Bored and frustrated, they began acting out. Nothing major, they just weren't on any kind of task. Okay, I said, those who want to study, grab a book and dig in. The rest of you I want over here, because I'm going to give a lesson on brain and nervous system function. (I studied Somatic Experiencing for a couple of years, have taught these concepts in this school before and have had wonderful outcomes.) Lots of griping followed, but within about 10 minutes all these guys were engaged, many asking questions, commenting and expanding on what I was saying. Amazing buy-in and wonderful info for guys who, like most of us, have some dysregulation of their nervous systems.

It's Been Years

Two-and-a-half years since I blogged!!! I just opened my first Twitter account and I've run across links to great blogs, so I'm reinspired. I also didn't have a laptop until a year ago, so here I am blogging while I watch "This Is It". I will want to watch this again and again--the creative process is inspiring to watch. I'm very thankful that my arms and wrists and forearms and shoulders are in a more healthful state than in the past year. I've journeyed through long-term chronic pain episodes and learned so much. I am so blessed to have been led to somatic experiencing which has helped me make friends with my nervous system and to resolve so much. YAY!!!!!

So, in all this time away I've been making and making. I've gotten more into sewing and I've made more dolls, which are labor intensive. I made two very cool polymer clay primitive folk art dolls and one flat painted doll (which I never dressed or quite finished wigging) from a pattern from Cloth Paper Scissors. I also did a line of Frida Kahlo flags inspired originally by a friend's idea to make our own prayer flags. We did that project and out of that came this idea to use Frida images. I finally surrendered to my obsession with Frida Kahlo and stopped feeling sheepish for using her image or her creations in a huge portion of my artwork. I am about to launch a new Etsy shop: FridaKahloStore.etsy.com. I've just done a group of ATC's, a Frida pillow and some other Frida-related artwork to list in the store. I'm also going to be selling Frida-ish vintage clothing/costumes. I think it's going to be really fun.

I'll dig around and find some pictures to post. They will probably be of the dolls and a few of the flags and maybe some other things I have floating around.

This Michael Jackson music is so inspiring. The film is really entertaining. Oh, I also got a Flip and plan to make some technique videos, which might not come together until the school year is over.

P.S. A long time ago I blogged about an artist's website I visited which inspired me to use spray paint and stencils. I could never find her blog again and recently found her through someone else's post on Inkjet Transfers or some other Yahoo group I read. Her blog is called "Dispatch from LA" and I was thrilled to see that she is also a teacher. Here's the link, which I will also add to my blog roll if I can remember how to do it.