my kids and I can NOT tear ourselves away from the 'Photobooth' application. We just don't care about anything else. Well, maybe desert.
This is how they found me when they came home.
That's when I couldn't get rid of them.
Then it was finally way past their bedtime and they had to go and I got to play in peace.
I'm editing photos now. I'm going as fast as I can.
I am teaching my first PMC Class at "Beadissimo" this Saturday. If you know of any one who is interested, please pass this information on to them.
the link: Beadissimo
The gorey details:
PMC Pendants ( for all levels of experience)
Using a simple variety of tools, students will create three easy to manage projects out of PMC. Learn to carve molds from polymer clay, and use them to make unique pendants that can be worn as a necklace or bracelet. Also using rubber stamps, students will gain an understanding of how to combine patterns for a pleasing composition. We will make small complementary charms and learn useful finishing techniques. Firing techniques, surface treatment and patinas will be covered.
Saturday, May 17, 2008
Class Time: 10:00 am to 5:00 pm
Fee: $95 + $15 kit fee=$110
PMC cost is separate
I taught this class at Artfest and it was so much fun. Maybe because it was my first time and the adrenaline was coursing through my body but hey, I am really excited about PMC!
Have a great weekend and see you there!
I have returned, recovered from my jet lag and finished the laundry. I'm back to my usual tricks of staying up late, fantasizing about making things and trying to pay attention to the mundane details of my real life.
My camera took over 700 pictures of the things I actually saw on my trip to Europe with my husband who was a real champ taking me around, wine-ing and dining me in some very special places. He tried to keep up with me and when he couldn't he let me keep on walking until I was satisfied and good and tired.
My new computer comes in few days and I have to wait until then to post any photos because I am afraid that if I upload the first memory card it will knock out this crippled thing I am banging on right now.
I got so many great comments wishing me a good time that I am sure it had a huge impact on my trip. Thanks! I did have a wonderful time! And we only had one two short arguments which isn't so bad for two people who have been married for 22+ years and spent 24 hours together for 17 days. (You try it.)
In Amsterdam we saw the VanGogh Museum and it was spectacular to see all those paintings! They let us take photos! Just you wait!
Then in Paris we saw St. Chapelle and the Picasso Museum. What a contrast! More photos! When my husband's energy flagged one day I walked from the Arc de Triomphe to the Louvre and across the river Seine to the other bank and up again back to the hotel on the Avenue Marceau. I don't know how far that was but it was far. My blister got a blister that day.
We rode the metro very easily; it was the buying of tickets that was hard. So many choices and this interesting interactive ticket purchasing machine with a rolling cylinder shaped thing that scrolled through all the choices in french. It was a good thing we weren't in a hurry.
One of my favorite neighborhoods is "the Marais" and it is a stop on the metro. There are shops and shops of everything you could think of: pastries, fruits and vegetables, cheese, a stationary store, and book storeS! Nearby is the Place des Vosges which is a beautiful fenced in park with gates and all these people just go there and hang out. Happily, with a band playing in an adjoining street that was lined with fantastic shops (full of clothes and handmade things like jewelry and fabrics and books) all the way around the park and probably down most of the streets in the charming neighborhood, we just sat and watched people walking, reading, laying on the grass, all ages, the sun was shining and I took pictures of the light between the trees, oh and some birds up close. If I ever go back to Paris I am going back there and staying in some small hotel off of one of those streets. There are places in there I am waiting to discover someday.
On the day before we left my husband and I went to this favorite neighborhood of ours and got some lunch and pastries in a shop and then sat on a bench on a wide street and ate our food under the trees. He promised me that later that night after dinner we could walk to the Eiffel Tower and I could take my pictures - moving pictures. Ha! And we did. I can hardly wait to show you those pictures! Oh gosh I am getting carried away and with no pictures today. Well, I can see it in my mind and it is glorious!
so please forgive me if my post is short. We arrived yesterday afternoon and explored the Arc de Triomphe. Wow, is it huge! Then last night we had an amazing dinner at a place off the beaten path called Jacques Cagna, named after the chef. Dinner began at 9pm. Time is relative right? Because we are just doing things and other than what our two watches tell us there is no way to tell. My body is a little sore from all the walking, but I am not suffering.
Tonight we are eating at a bistro that has a view of the Tour Eiffel. I have ALWAYS wanted to go up into the tower and I hope today or tonight we will. Wee!
Oh, today is Labor Day in France so most places are closed, especially the museums. We are going to go sit on one of those open topped double decker buses again and spend a couple of hours being driven around Paris. Doesn't that sound fun? It does to me.
Caterina in Paris!
typing on a little Dell computer so no USB port for my camera and I can't upload any pictures here but will have many when I get back.
I was fixated on statues and ornaments in London and have pictures of the Tudor Rose. It has been a symbol in my mind for about a year and I got to see the real thing. Go google it if you are curious.
I saw Kelly Harcus and we went together with her book arts group to see some handmade book exhibits at the Victoria and Albert Museum. There were more statues, marble, and a whole room of plaster casts that were made during a time when the English were making them of old ancient things like Trajan's Column (another google expedition).
We went to the town of Cambridge one day to see my friend Deborah and her partner Steve and she took us around to see the colleges in the old part of the city. One of the places I liked the best was the chapel in King's College. Wow! I did manage to get some pictures and will post them after May 5th when I get back.
We (my husband and I) started off by taking a 2 and 1/2 hour bus ride all over London and we learned alot. Then we trekked over to Harrod's and had lunch. Later we had middle eastern food at a place I went to 25 years ago called Fakhreldine that is still one fancy restaurant. We saw Chinatown, Piccadilly Circus, Westminster Abbey and many other sights one after the other.
Did you know that if lions are at the base of a statue of some guy it means he died in battle? How about this one. If you see a statue of a dragon it means you are entering the old "City of London" and that is different than the city of Westminster and they are right next to each other. The "Tower of London" isn't a tower at all. Every taxi driver in London has to buy and get accepted to have a license to work around London and they get one because they are an expert and know where everything is. Also, you can buy an day long underground ticket for 5 pounds 30 and then you can ride all day.
Things cost ALOT here! It is almost unreal. I got a pair of earrings for 89 pounds. That's $223 american and they were brass and crystal!!!! I really wanted them and I am going to try to forget what I paid for them. What?
So now we are in Amsterdam after a half hour flight and some extra waiting around. I almost slept through the whole thing because no matter what anyone tells you jet lag doesn't really go away. You keep waking up at the same time every day and it's when you wake up at home. And I still haven't gotten the time change down so every time I ask my husband what time it is at home I am wrong. So I decided to keep my watch on that time and he changed his to this time zone. That way we have them both covered.
The place we stayed in London was right in the middle of things and we could find our way back by the landmarks: Buckingham Palace, Green Park, Prince Albert's Gate (in a can?) Piccadilly Circus, The National Gallery, Trafalgar Square.
Then I gave all my extra pounds, I had 80, to my husband and we changed them to euros and now here we are sipping champagne (I am a bit tipsy) in the nicest bed and breakfast place called "Fusion Suites" in Amsterdam. Do I know where I 'really' am? No! But as soon as I finish writing this we are going to go and find out. Until next time!
signed Catherine Witherell who is travelling in Europe. xo
I had to wash my car when I got back. I love going to the carwash. And I was sitting in there and the water and the suds started up and I saw these patterns in the water. Now before you say you think I have totally lost my marbles, look at what I saw. These photos are in the order I saw them.
Each one is different. The water is beautiful to me. Maybe I was tired, coming down from being excited and full of adrenalin from Artfest and all the driving to and from but I did really enjoy my soothing time in the water and suds.
I got a couple of pictures emailed to me from my students.
Brenda Kessler’s bird.
She says it makes her happy to wear it. Yay! I've done my job.
You know what has been really fun for me about seeing my first students’ work is that I had an idea and then other people wanted to make it and here are all the pictures of them. I am so tickled by that. The other part that is fun is having a project that is complete when you walk out the door of the classroom. Thank you to everyone who took my classes. I got to experience my medium in a whole new way. I got to see all these different birds, from the personalities that formed them. Bravo, I am clapping for all of you!
Here’s another wonderful picture of me with old and new friends.
Mary Kirkou-Cameron, me, Stephainie Rubiano, Judy Wise, Vicki Lum, Lisa Bias (on the stairs) and Dori Melton (our Artfest virgin).
After I got home my daughter and I had a date to go out for afternoon tea at a pretty place called “Buttercream” on San Pablo Avenue in Albany, California. Isn’t she lovely in all her 14 1/2 year glory?
We had so much fun. First tea with quiche, 5 small pastries that we shared, lemonade and I had a cappuccino. Yum! Then they brought us this little teaser that they were trying out to see if they would add it to their menu in the future.
They were delicate little 1 inch lemon cakes dusted with powdered sugar. What, only 2? We both voted YES! (she did roll her eyes at her crazy mom for taking a picture, so I had to keep it down to a minimum, I embarrass her so)
Then we went to all these cute little shops on Solano Avenue. Of course, a toy store because she is only 14. But our favorite store was ”The Bone Room” where they have real skeletons of animals, insects, people. Yes, human skulls and teeth of all kinds. The guy at the counter, I think he was the owner, said I could take a picture of two of their framed items, if they were fro my use only. Here they are:
A striking irridescent butterfly
and some cool beetles.
On to something different now.
I was struggling with trying to put the snap on the leather of this bracelet I made. I figured it out though and I think it turned out pretty cute.
I made a carved mold from polymer, then rolled out the PMC over it to make this impression and after it was fired, tumbled, patinaed and polished I attached it to the leather with tiny eyelets. The leather wraps around twice. I attached a snap with an interesting thing that looks like a crop-o-dial. I didn’t think to take a picture of it. I will post it sometime when I make something with it again, but in any case it is a leather punch and I got it online at Tandy Leather. I think I am going to give this to a teenager.
I’m showing you all these things now because Saturday morning I’m leaving on a trip to Europe with my husband. We are leaving our kids in my sister’s care and going for two and a half weeks.
So, I’ll be in London first for 5 days, then Amsterdam for 5 days and finally in Paris for the last 5 days. My husband made reservations in really nice hotels in each city. I am so lucky! And we are going to walk, walk, walk. I even mentioned the Paris flea market to him. He’s got it all printed out on 3 pages like a calendar with the important things written in and also big spaces where we can go wherever we please.
Laurie Mika says I have to go to the British Library and here and I am so going there to see some illuminated manuscripts, the Magna Carta, the original Alice in Wonderland. I wonder if they let you take pictures of them.
We are going to walk and eat, walk and eat.
Then we’ll sleep some and start all over again in the morning. He says he is going to do Bikram Yoga in all three countries and in Paris he is going to take a class in english and also in french. Notice I said ‘he’. That’s because I am going to walk and eat and shop while he is doing yoga. Also I am going to meet up with Kelly Harcus and we are going to have tea, talk, walk or shop or even all four.
In each of the three hotels there is internet access and two hotels have a computer in the room. That is so great because I am addicted to the internet and maybe I can post a little hello to you all from there. I’ll take my camera cable. Maybe I can even get some photos in there. I’m so excited!
Oh, do you want to know why we are going? Sure you do. Because we both turn 50 this year and also in a few months it will be our 22 year wedding anniversary. Of course the value of the dollar has gone down, but we don’t need much. Airline tickets, check, hotel, check, a little spending money, check, internet access, check, camera, check, new journal to paste all the little bits and pieces I am going to collect into, check and my boon companion who has been learning a little french just in case. I never thought I would ever get to Europe with him. He has always hated to travel long distances and flying makes him tense, but he is so excited. I wonder what happened.
Anyway, here are the last two things I have to show you, because I can.
When my son was little he liked the state quarters and someone gave him this book to save them in. Hmmm, maybe it was me. (something inside me says that is all bad grammar, but this is America and we can do it like that - creative license, yeah that’s it) I have saved every quarter and I just got the last one for 2007 - Utah. Look!
Only 1 more year left! It feels like an accomplishment even now and it’s not even finished yet. Well, I’m just like that now, I enjoy the lead up to finishing of anything. Then I enjoy it when it is finished, and again after it’s finished I remember how I did it and enjoy thinking about it and how glad I am it’s done!
And look at this cool, cool bird.
I did! I won another ebay auction from cart before the horse. Are you impressed? It’s just fantastic! Such personality! Now I have 3 birds!
This is my year! So now I am going to go shake my camera at the Tour Eiffel!
See you when I see you!
And all is well. So I will get right to the point.
The “PMC Pendant Project” class was my first class ever. It went really well. There were kits and handout booklets and I brought rubber stamps. My students worked hard and everyone used up all their clay and made pendants that turned out to be so beautiful that I marveled at the fact that I never did that when I first learned how to use PMC. Most people got about 7 or 8 nice sized pieces or pendants out of the 25 gram package of silver clay. Here are pictures from some of them. I got these photos at “Show and Tell” The lighting wasn’t so great but I don’t really think that matters so much because you really can tell how wonderful they are.
Penelope Harris
Lisa Bias
I think this one is Lisa's favorite.
Minnie Helvey
She only dipped them in the liver of sulfur patina solution for a few seconds and then removed them quickly and they look like rose gold and also like they are old. Very pretty!
And check this out. First Minnie made the pendants, and then she took Nina's class on Saturday and when it was all assembled, voila!
Can we call it a collaboration? I think we can! Yay Minnie! (I want it!)
If anyone in my class has any pictures of their pendants, please email them to me and I will post them here.
Then there was the “Jointed Bird Pendant” class, my second class ever! The most difficult part of this class was finishing on time, which didn’t happen. We were drilling some little holes and riveting our wings and legs on and that took some time. But here are some of the final assembled birds that I took pictures of at “Show and Tell”. They are fantastic!
Deb Denton
Roxanne Reynolds
Julie Collinge
Lisa Bias
Whose is this? If you know please tell me. It was in the middle of the table with no card.
And is this your piece?
Vendor Night was exciting, thrilling and hectic. 2 1/2 hours of moving bodies and noise. Here are my helpers! Dori and Brenda. They kept me company and gave me moral support. Aren’t they cute?
My table, as much as I could fit in a picture and still make out what was on it.
I think I brought enough... It was more than enough really and I will try to get started on putting some of it in my shop asap.
I drove up to Port Townsend with my friends Dori and Vicki. We had a blast and I will qualify that with “no arguments, whining or the tone”. You know “the tone”. Someone is bothered but wants to keep it a secret, or rather won’t keep it a secret and they have that “tone” in their voice. My friends all like each other. I bet they are emailing or calling each other right now. Hey, I didn’t do “the tone” either, and it was a pretty long drive. We spent the night in Redding, California and Olympia, Washington on the way up.
Here is a picture of a great place to eat in Eugene, Oregon, the High Street Cafe.
My husband and I lived there for a year when we were about 33 and ate there often. I found it! It was just as good as I remember.
And here is a really trippy photo of a huge mural on the side of a building across the street.
It’s two stories high!
Cut to Fort Worden (you know why? because I didn't take any more pictures of the drive) early in the morning. Gorgeous! I love this place.
near the beach
On Saturday I got to take Theo Ellsworth’s class. Here are parts of what I drew.
I really enjoyed that day and hung around with Mary who was my buddy that day and lived upstairs in the house I was staying. I wish I had a picture of her AND her PMC pendants from Thursday because she was so pretty and funny, and her pendants were beautiful. If I get a picture from her, I’ll post it.
On the way back Dori, Vicki and I stayed at a comfortable bed & breakfast place in Ashland, Oregon called the “Albion Inn”. The beds were so comfortable that after I woke up I just lay there while Dori took a shower trying to figure out how I could go back there and sleep there again. For breakfast we had the best biscuits I’ve ever had, strawberry raspberry smoothies, jam and lemon curd, spinach potato corn quiche and coffee that I still remember because it tasted so good I can still remember what it tasted like. That almost never happens.
happy travellers
Then I thought of how I could get back there. Take everyone to the Shakespeare Festival, since my kids are into it. We could get adjoining rooms. They could have the Lucy & Ricky beds and my husband and I could sleep in the queen bed in the adjoining room! I got a brochure and here is the link for you all in case you are ever in Ashland, Oregon. www.albion-inn.com
And if anyone wants a set of the rubber stamps I was selling or anything else from my vendor table or wanted to pay with a credit card but I wasn’t able to take credit cards, email me, I still have some left. Stamps $21 by snail mail.
I’m so happy I got to do this, teaching at Artfest. It has been a very exciting experience. I really enjoyed my students and they were so nice to me. They payed attention and succeeded at their projects. That was what I dreamed about. And, on the way home I got some new ideas I’m going to propose to Teesha and see what she says.
P.S. NOW I can get my new computer!!!!!! Thanks everyone!
Oh, but wait, before I forget, check out this video (20 minutes long). It is amazing and very moving. It is definitely a fresh perspective.
more later...
I thought you would like to see what I did with my AWESOME "Fretz" hammers.
This is a 48 inch chain I made with thick silver argentium wire. I shaped and fused each link and then used one of my fancy hammers on it. I textured each link individually and boy was there a lot of noise. I had to do it all during the daytime of course, stopping last night around 9:30 for my kid's bedtime and continuing today until I felt it was finished. There isn't a clasp on this because it is big enough to wear once or even wrapped around your neck again.
Yeah, up close and texturey!
Does it make you want to hammer something Kelly? uh, in the future?
This post is dedicated to Kelly Snelling who had surgery today. Sending loving thoughts and wishes for getting back to your usual old feisty self soon. xxoo
* THE END *
Here are my class booklets:
and my "SPECIAL EDITION" rubber stamps!
These beauties were designed for me by Marie Otero especially for my classes at "ARTFEST!". She is a talented digital and mixed media artist I happened to meet through her etsy shop a few months ago. I was looking for cool stamps to use with PMC and she was out there offering some of her designs. So I bought some. Well, we have become happy long distance (she lives in New York) friends and figured out these designs for my class and vendor table at Artfest. Each stamp is exactly the right size for a charm or pendant. They are a mix of textures and symbols and ideas I like to convey in my work, although these are so new that I haven't gotten a chance to use them yet. They literally came in the door yesterday. Me and my classes, we are going to have so much fun!!!!! And collaborating on these stamps is too wonderful for the words I have set down here. Thank you Marie, I am so pleased.
And I want to thank every person who wished me a happy birthday and wrote me a little story and made my day so very special. I like to write back to everyone when I get comments, but right now I am working pretty much non-stop trying to get everything done before I leave. I am rarely in bed before 1 am as it is. But now I am down in my studio first thing in the morning and I check my emails around lunchtime and come up for air at dinner time. Then I go back after dinner too. I call it total immersion.
LATER...
First, I found a brochure at my local mall. Great places to find patterns. Then I scanned it into my computer. You can also take a digital photo and use that. It is O.K. to do this. You aren't going to be selling it and you are only going to be using it for yourself. And for us, this is just an example.
I have an imac, so I use apple software and iphoto. I use Photoshop 7 and Photoshop Elements. You can also use Photoshop on a PC. Just for the purposes of our topic and many other digital applications, I have to say that you don't really need the full Photoshop program and you don't really need to keep upgrading it. I have been using Photoshop Elements 2.0 over my regular Photoshop 7 for over 3 years now. I keep finding interesting and new things I didn't know almost every time I work with it. The current version that is out is Photoshop Elements 4 which costs about $80 on Amazon. On April 1st Photoshop Elements 6 comes out and it will be about $10 more. Since I plan on getting a new computer, I am going to get that new version and my reason is, that as computers get more advanced, sooner or later the older software version you own will become very clunky and possibly not work anymore with the newest computer. That is what happened to my imac. I upgraded it to the last operating system called Tiger and my Photoshop 7 stopped working. I don't know why. The computer won't tell me.
Next I double clicked on it and it came up as a preview on my desktop and I cropped it.
I also erased the piece of that G and the cut off flower element at the top. They weren't adding to my composition at all.
Now, since this will be a stamp, I want to move the word "play and some of the branch" over to make room for text, so I select it with the lasso tool on the left.
Click on the lasso and carefully trace around the part you want to move until you close the line around it.
When you stop, the line will be flashing.
See the dotted line around my piece? It's not flashing, because I took a snapshot of my desktop image, you are not looking at Photoshop Elements directly.
By the way, to take a snapshot of your desktop, click on the shift key, the apple command key and the 3 in 1,2,3 order holding each down together and you will get a PNG (a snapshot of your whole desktop on any apple computer).
O.K. back to my topic. Now once you have selected the part to move, click on the top right symbol on that grid on the left, the little cross. You can move your part over as much as you want.
See how I moved it? Good, now I have some room. You may need to fill in some white space with the background color.
When making artstamps, I want to put a few pieces of info on them. First I like to give it some value even though it is fake. The value can be any number that means something to you. I used to use 39c for 39 cents for most of my stamps because 3/9 is my birthday. I've used 4/1 for Artfest stamps because it usually lands in April. 4 cents is good for those too. 2 cents is funny! You can do $1.00. That is fresh. Just remember to play and have a sense of humor.
Click on the capital T symbol on the grid for adding text and remember to adjust the size and font style. IMPORTANT-- every time you add type you create a new layer in your document. So be aware what layer you are on. You can find the layer drop down menu on the right side of the screen near the layer styles menu 2 photos down from here.
I'm going to use 5 cents for this one and type out the whole word cents. Remember, choose a font that is pleasing and complements the elements you already have. Make sure the color stands out. Black is always good for a light stamp, for a dark stamp, white or yellow. Keep contrast in mind and also that you are going to shrink this image down like a shrinky dink and your details have to show up, better yet they need to "pop"!
I used a drop shadow here because I wanted it to look a little like the word PLAY which has it's own drop shadow look. Then I will fill in the shadow to fit the 5 with the pencil tool.
Below is where you find the drop shadow drop down menu, over to the right near the layers menu under layer styles. I'm going to add the words "faux post" and you can too. Do it the same way I added the 5 cents. You can add whatever text you want. Keep in mind the size and don't have more than 2 different fonts on a tiny little thing like a stamp. It won't look good.
After you have added all the text and you've played around and moved it exactly where you want it you need to flatten your image. It makes all the layers into one and cuts down the size of your file.
Next I take a good look at my image. I accent parts I want to stand out. I erase parts that are messy and fix edges and move little dots. I want it to look perfect.
I adjust the image size, resolution and give it a border space.
Here are my reasons.
1. I like to have an image that is about 4 inches. If it is smaller, I add about an inch and make the resolution greater.
2. Resolution is pixels per inch. The more pixels per inch, the more detail.
3. I add a white border because in iphoto, when I make a contact sheet that fills the whole sheet with stamps, iphoto tries to save paper and so it squeezes the stamps together.
This cuts down on the space between the stamps and often I can't cut them properly and I don't have enough paper for a proper stamp edge. The next four pics are the steps to adjust your image size, and canvas size (canvas has to be about .3 bigger all around the image).
O.K. O.K. I did a few things that I didn't show you but I think you can figure it out. In this first picture are the true dimensions of my image.
In the second picture I am using the image drop down menu to choose to adjust (resize) the canvas size.
In the third and fourth pictures you see the before and after dimensions when I add the .3 to make the white border.
For the coloring of the play box I used the little dropper tool to sample the colors on the right of the screen in Photoshop and then once I did that I used the paint bucket to pour the color in.
Here is my final image.
It has a white border.
I adjusted the color of the background a little more yellow and I colored in the play box darker orange.
Oh, and I tried lots of colors to see which one I like the best. I like all of these:
When I am done making stamps, I always save my little stamp documents as jpg's. I do it because I can easily upload examples to my blog and also the files stay small enough that they don't take a long time to load in iphoto.
If you made many stamps and want them all on one sheet, select them all like in this picture and print them at once.
On a mac computer, I select my picture/pictures from the desktop and drag and drop them into the opened iphoto application. In a few seconds all my items have copied. To make a contact sheet of one stamp design I select one of my stamps and choose file print. There will be a drop down menu that lets me choose contact sheet. In the contact sheet category you can also choose 2 across, 3, 4, 5, 6, and 7 across. I usually choose 3, 4, or 5. Those are the best sizes for stamps. 3 across are pretty big about 1 3/4 inches across. 5 across are more the size of regular postage stamps. Be careful because you don't want to lose all your details on something so small. Make a low quality printout first.
Here is what the contact sheet choice looks like:
When you have decided exactly what size you want, put a sheet of sticker paper in the printer.
Here are my 2 absolute favorite label sheets for artstamps.
Inkjet High Gloss Self-Adhesive Photo Paper at Texascraft.com
These labels are full sheets and are thick, glossy and wonderful. They are my all time favorite. 10 sheets for $11.70 plus shipping. I usually get the large 100 sheet box because I am serious about my addiction to artstamps and stickers and labels and making things that stick with photos on them. 100 sheets are $78.50. You know 10 sheets are never enough. My next favorite place is PlanetLabel with their White Photo Gloss 8 1/2 x 11 Rectangle. These sheets are thinner, and yet just as glossy. They make beautiful photo labels too. $42 for a box of 100 sheets. More economical, but they only come in this size. You can't only get 10 sheets. Check out all the things that both companies have to offer. These two are the BEST in my opinion. Here are the scissors!
Get a pair. Of course, cut the stamps yourself. Look at a real stamp and then cut them like that, pretty close to the edge of the picture.
USE AS NEEDED FOR INSPIRATION...
My laptop is on it's last legs.
See the packing tape on the sides. That is all that is keeping it from laying flat open. It has done so much! I'm crossing my fingers it lasts until the 31st of March, when I get in the car with my friends Dori and Vicki and head on up the road to Port Townsend. After that I don't care so much. Well, I love my computer but I'm not THAT crazy. I am going to get a new one after I get back with what I make teaching and being a vendor. No, I'm not poor. I just want to turn what I've done with my own hands into something I really want for myself and then feel the thrill of accomplishment. I love that feeling.
I have been feeling that thrill over the last few weeks, of pulling together all my plans and projects for this big deal of teaching 2 PMC classes at Artfest. I love going there. I always get so excited. I feel very lucky that I have had this special influence in my life for the past 5 years. I was so shy the first time I went. I am not shy anymore.
I was tagged by Julie Molina to name 7 weird things about myself. Hmmmm... Do I dare? I DO!
O.K. I just checked and she said random. Random is o.k. but I think I'd rather go for weird.
1. I feel really good and carefree if my house is pretty tidy and things are put away. If things are all over the place I get tense and mean and start ordering people to put away their stuff.
2. I don't think I like being a bystander to "the teen years".
3. I can sit there (wherever) and people can be talking about all kinds of things and if I am not that interested I can just switch it all off and go inside my head to what I would rather be doing.
4. I have a walk-in closet 2/3rds full of clothes (I let my husband keep his things in the other 1/3rd) and I pretty much wear the same 5 or 6 outfits most of the time. Of course, if I get to go out to a party or fancy dinner, I do wear a party dress.
5. Now that I am "old" (ha! just kidding!) I like to be alone more than ever.
6. In the 60's I was too young to experiment so I did it in the 80's.
7. I am so good with scissors it's not even funny. In fact when my daughter was 7 or 8 she would tell her friends how good I was at cutting things. Seriously, I can cut a circle without drawing it first. I can cut your hair into a style from a picture. Do you know where this is going? Nowhere, but it IS weird.
Let's change the subject shall we?
The kids were done with their homework so I pulled out these because I had about 10 minutes before dinner was ready. We each got to pose these small manikins and then we had to give it a title.
This is the one that started it all.
"Aaaaaaah!" (get it? he's falling)
"Hey you dropped this!"
"Fred Astaire"
"C3PO"
"Oh, I haven't seen you in ages!"
"NO, I WON'T LEAVE YOU!"
rabbit ears
circus acrobats finale
(I don't know but I like it)
"Abbey Road" (yeah, it would be better if there were 4 but...)
This week was the deadline to send in some pieces for the PMC Conference Exhibit at Perdue University in Indiana. The PMC Conference is in July and there will be a big exhibit there starting in May for the public and the university and then it continues on through August 1st. I was invited to send some of my pieces because my work was included in the first "PMC Annual" publication. This is what I sent:
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