Kraafters Kaard Exchange

I had a great time last night making kaards with some Kraafters over in the Kraafters Kommunity on Google Plus

We were to make a kaard, then send an unfinished version of it to each participating Kraafter.  Once we had all received our Kaards, we would schedule a HangOut in Google Plus. We all got together last night, kraafting to complete each kaard.

We even had a mystery kaard, supplied by Nanette. She sent us all the material for her kaard, with instructions not to open until the scheduled HangOut. Her's was the only one we had no direction for completion. It was up to us to use all the components and create a kaard, hopefully similar to hers. The Kraafter who came closest to Nanette's original kaard won a prize!!! I didn't win .. LOL

These are the kaards we made last night:

The idea/plan was for all to have a few kaards made for sending to family/friends. But I can't part with them, they are mine to keep. Each is so unique, just like the Kraafter who made it, so I will be keeping these as a remembrance of a fun night and a keepsake of an original piece of heART from each.

WOIW Week 5

BOOK

In Kraafters Kommunity on Google Plus,  the 5th Word Of Inspiration is BOOK.

My interpetation celebrates the printed WORDS of BOOKS, from the first scribed scrolls to the Gutenberg Press, to typewriters and today's computers.

I was fortunate to work for Arizona Highways Magazine as a programmer and computer operator. The Magazine had an old Gutenberg Press along with all the printer drawers filled with wooden typeface, in a little room next to the computer room, we called "The Museum". We also had the original printing press and composing table the Magazine was printed on. When The Magazine expanded, this wonderful equipment was donated to the Phoenix Museum of History. They in turn donated the Composing Table and Press to ASU's Walter Cronkite School Of Journalism



I loved those presses. Not only were they beautiful to look at, but those tiny pieces of wooden typeface were magnificent pieces of art. When I needed de-stressing time, I would wander into this room and just take in the visual of these presses and their smells... the wood was intoxicating. I would handle those typefaces and daydream about their usage. We also had something on the press bed ready to print, as we often did demos of the Gutenberg Press. Wonderful times!!!



So with my personal history lesson here, I feel Blessed to have been apart of that history. I still recall those days, and those presses as I work on my journals, or mixed media or cards... that special "something" that influences my choices in my crafting.

Here is a digital piece I did for BOOK. I used an old manual typewriter along with a printer's box filled with wooden typeface, a printer ticker tape and a printer seal. I chose a typewriter as focus, because of all the manuscripts, books, and papers that have been produced/written thru the years.  All those WORDS carefully laid down on paper for others to read, learn from, wander into imaginary places/lands, to give us hope, allow us to dream, or simply pass a Summer day reading for the pure pleasure of reading... and because I still have two manual ones and one very old electric...

Thank you for stopping by and reading my blog.

Organic Stamps

Over in Kraafters Kommunity on Google Plus, Heather does a weekly show on kraafting.  Last week's show was all about Stamp Kaarving (yes, all those Ks and double As are intentional, part of being a Kraafters in Kraafters Kommunity).

Tina Van Eick and Sandra Artfully Made were guests on the show. They are Master Kaarvers, to say the least!!! We got to watch them kaarve stamps while they offered tips and tricks. Tina showed a few stamps she made from cuttings from her yard -- a clover and a daisy. They were so beautiful, organic and just captured those little flowers perfectly. So I thought I would do the same.

I love bougainvillea, their colors are so vibrant and the little flower is made of three petals stuck together into a dimensional triangle before they open up. I think I spent more time studying the bougainvillea for the right clipping than I did actually kaarving the stamp!!!

So, here is the stamp and the printed image. I use Distress Ink Pads in Mowed Lawn for the leaves, and Picked Raspberry for the Flowers. I stamped onto a watercolor background I had made many moons ago. I didn't want a plain white background, I wanted something that looked like "outside"...

Thanks for stopping by...

Face Sketching

Over in Kraafters Kommunity on Google Plus, alot of the Kraafters have been posting face sketches. It all stared very innocently by this rendition of a challenge from Sandra of Artfully Made 4 You. She said all you needed to do to draw a face was... "draw an oval, make a "T" down the middle, add some eyes, a nose and maybe a mouth"

So this is what a drew, following those directions. I do think I nailed it!!!

This lead to many others posting their drawings. Then +Zsuzsa Karoly-Smith posted a video about face drawing from Kathy Arbour. Wow, what a great video and tutorial about faces. Kathy explains the proportions of the face which was fascinating. She then went into painting with the proper highlighting techniques. I like my pencil drawing, and wanted to share it here...

If you are interested in drawing faces, check out Kathy's video... here

GIFT

October 22nd's WOIW is GIFT

Words of Inspiration Wednesday #WOIW in the Kraafters Kommunity on Google Plus.

I had so many thoughts flying thru my grey matter about this word and so many visuals in my mind's eye for how I would depict this word. It has so many meaning -- you receive a gift, your gifted, you have gifts, you gifted another, etc.

Then it hit me -- everything about our universe is a GIFT. The gift of life, the gift of sight, the gift of smell, touch, hearing. Every living being is a gift, every living organism is a gift. Every thought we have, every emotion we feel is a gift. Every choice we make, every decision made is a gift. Everything that exists makes us who we are -- we are all different, yet we are all made of the same thing.

Atoms -- they make everything we can touch, see, hear, smell, feel, taste. They connect us all together, and that's an incredible GIFT

Time Flies...

Over on Google Plus in Kraafters Kommunity. Heather has a weekly challenge called Words Of Inspiration Wednesday where she gives us a word and we are to create what ever we want that showcases that word. Week 1 was PAIN, week 2 was HOPE and this week is TIME. This is my entry...

Back in High School many, many moons ago, my Senior English Teach, Mr Rhodes, tasked us with an essay about TIME. He stipulated we were limited to 50 words or less. I freaked out -- how can you develop a theme and a conclusion in 50 words or less!!??

As I anguished over this, a little verse started playing in my head... I kept changing it until I got it down to what I thought was perfect. It stated a concept, I developed it, and there arose a conclusion ... all in NINE words!!! I was so excited to hand in my paper.

I remember the look on his face when he saw such few words on my paper, it was like a cringed surprise. But then he took the time to read it, and this smile crept over his face and he nodded to me. I knew I had A'd it before he even graded it, but what I did not know was he used it in every one of his classes as an example...

Time Flies,

Say Not So...

Time Stays,

We Go...

I could go into a big lengthy discourse here, explaining why I chose these words and their interpretation, but I think they speak for themselves, allowing each their own thoughts and ideas about the concepts of time -- the noun, the verb, and adjective

Stamp Carving

Oh My Goodness!!! I have discovered a new love, all thanks to the wonderfully talented Kraafters over in Kraafters Kommunity on Google Plus.  There are several who carve their own STAMPS!!! And they are masters at it, just simply stunning works of heART!!! One of the Kraafters, Miss Tina Van Eick has sent me some of her carved stamps stamped onto paper for me to use as guides to carve my own stamps.

Now, I am certainly NOT the expert she is, so I have modified one of the stamp guides she sent me because I just knew I could not carve the details she did. But I like it as I did it, because it worked for me.

This is her carved stamp image used on her card she sent me. (The stamp in this picture is the one I carved). Notice all the cute little irregular, almost ameba shaped "circles" on her card image and the plain white paper image she sent... there is no way I could do that, so I oped for just plain, ordinary circles, as you can see on the stamp I carved here...
Enlarge the picture and you can see all the intricate little squiggles around Tina's circles on the card she made and the stamped image,  and how mine are just circles on the stamp itself. Isn't her card GORGEOUS!!!

 

I stamped my image on off-white linen textured shinny paper with embossing ink, then sprinkled Champaign Embossing Powder and heat embossed. I then added several different colors of Sticklers to the the image to add sparkle to the ornament. Her image can be used for a multitude of items, not just an ornament. It could also be a necklace, or stamped several times it could be a ballroom skirt. It could even be an imaginary world in outer space!!!

Here's my card: I love how the flash caught the shininess of the textured paper and the sparkle of the Stickles!!!

And a close up of the ornament. I made a hanging hook from brass 22 gauge wire and "hung" it from the bough. I left it unattached for the movement of an actual ornament -- it swings and sways as you move the card...

I just want to give a big THANK YOU to Tina for sharing here little goodie with me. I love, LOVE it!! Hop over to the Kraafters Kommunity and check out some of her stamps... look in the Card Making Category and also Art Supplies. You can click on any of the highlighted words in this Blog, they are direct links to the kommunity and categories