"One Grecian Urn..."

Greetings and Happy 4th of July!
I apologize for the long gap between posts, but this post will give a little more insight into my distraction.  My son is quite the little actor and landed the part of the Conductor in our town version of The Music Man. The director needed a few "towns people" and my son asked me to participate. I landed the role of Mrs. Squires and we had a blast. My favorite part was when we ladies became the Grecian urns for the town sociable and it inspired my card. The urn is stamped, shaded, and cut out to pop up at the top.  I made some flowers by putting glue onto flower wire and sprinkling it with Flower Soft shavings.  Once they dried, I glued them "inside" the urn and glued the urn back onto the oval shaped piece of card stock. For the background, I took a bland piece of card stock, letter press embossed and then took my scorepal and made the score lines to form tiles.  A sentiment was stamped, circle punched, and pop up mounted onto the tiles.  A ribbon was added to "tie" (small joke here) all the colors together.  The entire thing was mounted onto a tan card base.

When it came time for the actual performances (there were three), I was surprised how calm I was and totally forgot about the audience. (Keep in mind that I had never done anything like this before.) I did my best the first two nights but I was not actually inspired...the excitement just was not there. However, the third and final performance was completely different.  As I pondered this, the difference finally came to me and the parallels to my survival performances jumped out at me as well.  You see, while the excitement of the cast and the audience were present the first two nights, my son and I did not have any personal supporters in the audience. Unlike many of the cast, we have no family in the area and did not anticipate any of our friends being able to come with all the summer conflicts.  However, the third night, my husband was in the audience and it provided that extra support needed to succeed and motivate. What a reminder of the power our support people bring when we take on new and difficult roles. Like the final performance, I know I fought harder when my family was by my side. I know my strength to perform increased when there was someone to clap for me as I made progress and hit my marks. But, most importantly, I know how much it meant to simply know I had support in the audience...I was not performing alone.

They say, life imitates art...now I have even more proof.

Thanks to all for the standing ovations!  "One Grecian Urn, Two Grecian Urns, and a Fountain.... ;)
Blessings, Jeannette

Good Timber

Now that the official day to celebrate Fathers has passed, I wanted to share the card I made for my husband.  As many of you know, he is a very talented wood crafter so this creation was intended to honor his deep respect for trees.  I created the grain background by embossing a green piece of card stock that had a white core and then sanding off some of the color to emphasize the grain. The wood style oval trim was made by stamping a wood pattern on white card stock and then coloring with Copic markers to bring out the browns.  For the tree, I used Memento markers to color the leaves and trunk directly on the stamp using the huffing technique to reactivate the ink before stamping onto white cardstock. The sky background was done with Distress Ink and a sponge applicator.  Added a sentiment and some pearls to finish it off.

Speaking of trees, I am on a quest to obtain a Mimosa tree for my yard.  When I was a child we had a Mimosa tree and I spent many hours either in it or under it reading and dreaming.  Sometimes during treatment to distract myself,  I would think about the sweet scent and beautiful puffy pink "powder puff" flowers and relax. As I was thinking of new ways to "destress", it finally dawned on me to get a Mimosa tree  for myself. Seemed like an easy thing to do right? Wrong.  I tried all my local nurseries...nope.  In fact, people were quite rude letting me know that the tree was considered an invasive species. One even called it a scrub tree. Then I ordered and paid for 2 saplings over the Internet from a nursery in GA.  What a disaster! They took my money and 6 months later I received two sticks with roots. One never made it and the other turned out to be an Ash tree.  After that, someone suggested I visit a local lake where they were all over the place and dig up a shoot..no luck there. I even stopped by a house where one was growing to see if they would give me a sapling but no one was home. Finally, I contacted the landscaper for Berea College and he said he would see if they could get me something but indicated that I needed to wait until fall.  So keep your fingers crossed and if you have any other ideas, please post a comment so I can follow up.  Truly must be some "good timber" to be so difficult to obtain. :).


Have a great week. Jeannette

Honoring Fathers

Greeting Bloggers!

As Father's Day fast approaches, I wanted to send out a HUGE wave of love to all those men who take on the role of "Dad".  I intended to share a card I made for my husband (a GREAT father indeed), but then realized he would see this blog and the card before the big day.  Since we gave him his presents already (I am really horrible about waiting...I just get too excited), showing him his card early meant nothing to open on Sunday.  Therefore, I decided to dedicate this post to the memory of my father and the blessing of my father-in-law. 

Without getting to emotional (which is hard)--I miss my dad everyday.  When I was diagnosed with cancer he was one of the strongest supporters on my team. He filled the role of the "inspirator" and never doubted I was strong enough to fight.  As he would say...."Your a Foultz, so quit complaining and fight back." He is my hero! I thank God for giving me to such a fine man.

Another fine man worthy of praise is my father-in-law.  He is so special with the largest heart I have ever seen. He still works his farms every day and never met a stranger. When I watch him work his magic, I know exactly why my husband is such a jewel! I made this card for Dad (he does not do technology so won't see his card early) to send a little love his way. The background paper was made by using distress stains and a chevron stamp blending in the colors for a masculine feel. The car was stamped with Versa Mark embossing ink and then heat embossed in black for texture. I added the bow at the last minute to add a little something shiny. 

Thank you Father's everywhere!  Enjoy your day!   

Jeannette

May Moments and Memorials

Greetings all,  

"Just a Note" to update everyone on Stamp to Cope (STC) activities as we wrap up the month of May for 2012. These last two weeks have been full of ups and downs but we remember our blessings through both. 

On May 19th, our dear friend, Michael Lee "Mike" Hix, lost his valiant 9 year battle with cancer. The following poem, shared at his services, says it all...

God Saw he was getting tired

and a cure was not to be. 

So He put His arms around Mike

and whispered "Come with Me."

With tear-filled eyes we watched him

suffer and fade away;

although we loved him deeply,

we could not make him stay.

A golden heart stopped beating,

hard-working hands put to rest.

God broke our hearts to prove to us,

He only takes the best!

STC sends love and prayers to the Hix family and friends.

During the end of May, we also took time to celebrate Memorial Day and honor those who gave all so we can be free. 

"When You Go Home, Tell Them Of Us And Say, 
For Their Tomorrow, We Gave Our Today" - (The Kohima Epitaph)

We ended the month with our annual board meeting on May 26 here in Berea, KY. A huge thank you to all the board members for their continued trust, support, and direction! We have a super talented board and I appreciate the time and talent they volunteer. Great things being planned for the rest of 2012 in the areas of outreach and funding so stay tuned to this blog for updates.

Looking forward to the adventures of June as we prep for the July Learnshops!!!  Jeannette

Mother's Day Spotlight

Hi all!  Happy Belated Mother's Day!

Mother's Day is such a fun time for cards and when they are handmade it seems to add that much more love to the message.  As a mother myself, I have cherished (and saved) every one of the cards my children make and I smile at the crayon, scribbles, and lopsided images.  After all, where are you going to find a store bought card that has pumpkins on it in May.  Yet, by creating it themselves, my children can decorate it with all of my favorite things any time of the year.  As a survivor, the fact that I am still here to receive these precious works of art makes them masterpieces.

When it comes to Mother's Day, I am doubly blessed... I have the absolute best and most generous Mom ever and I am so spoiled :) (it helps to be the baby of the family even if I am are pushing 51).  AND I have the most wonderful Mom-in-law that any wife could ever hope to share.  The really cool part is that they are both so different and unique that I continue to learn from them both.  It also gives me an opportunity to make very individualized Mother's Day greetings inspired by their favorite things.  I hope my coloring has improved over the years :).

The first card with the fish I made for my Mom.  She lives at the ocean and just loves anything beach related. This card has tons of dimension which makes it seem as if the fish are actually floating by. I stamped the fish and seaweed, colored them with Copic markers and then cut them out.  On a small piece of card stock, I inked the blue background and stamped on the sea grass and sea horses.  By using pop dots behind the fish and sea weed when placed on the background piece, the shadow that it creates adds the depth. These pieces were then set on top of an embossed piece of cardstock that I inked before embossing to give the feeling of waves.  Everything was then mounted on yellow base cardstock and the sentiment added at the end.  She said it was my best card yet and she plans to shadow box frame it for her house...True Mother's love.

The second card I made for my Mom-in-law. She lives in the country and loves to garden and enjoy beautiful flowers.  She is also very active in her sorority whose colors are purple and yellow. For this card, I stamped the flower twice and colored them both with Copic markers. I cut out the first one completely being careful cutting around all the fine detail. The second one I only cut out random petals and leaf segments. I glued the random pieces on top of the full flower curling up the petal ends to give it texture.  I added gemstones to the center of the petals for shine and realism.  The focal flower was attached with pop dots to a swiss dot embossed piece of yellow cardstock that I antiqued around the edges and tied with matching twine. I rounded the corners and put it over craft paper card stock. She said she LOVED it and was going to show it to her Sorority sisters...high praise for sure.

Thanks to both of my Mother's for all that they do for us.  Have a great week.  Jeannette

Tea Time

Greetings bloggers!
Today the Berea Women's Club had a membership tea.  The organization has several breast cancer survivors in the group so I always appreciate when Stamp to Cope can be a part of their events. Last month they asked if I would create their invitations and I wanted to share how they came together. According to one of the attendees, the recipients really enjoyed the tea shaped cards and were intrigued by the surprise inside.

What a fun way to share with friends and everyone seemed to have a great time.  Hope everyone has a super week!  Blessings, Jeannette

So Much To Share

Wow, May 1 already! Where did the time go? So much has happened since my last post so please just smile if I begin to ramble :)....

Let's start with a few heartfelt thank yous....

A HUGE shout out to Betty T for her generous supply donation in support of our mission. STC received  a very large box filled to the brim with stamps, inks, papers, embellishments, fixatives, and projects.  These items are already being put to great use in our survivor bags.  Thank you Betty... always an Angel!

Love and thanks to all the wonderful women of Star Charities who worked so hard to support STC with a super fundraising event.  These hard working volunteers ensured that everyone had a fabulous time while supporting our worthy mission.  Star Charities presented STC with a check for $1500.00 from the event and I cried!  Check out some of these pictures I took of the event...

Finally, Thank you to my sister, Alderman Shirley Isbell for her $150.00 donation toward survivor bags for recently diagnosed survivors in her district. What a nice way to show true service to her constituents.

Now for the crafty stuff....

Happy Birthday to my grand daughter, Lila Grace "Gracie" who turned 2 on the 30th.  To help share in her celebration, I made this kitten card that I hope made her smile. The focal point was actually several separate stamps that I arranged together to form a little story of birthday sharing. I colored the images with Copic markers blending several shades to give texture to the fur of the animals. Cool blue and green were added around the outside of the images to create grounding and depth. She is "so sweet" and we hop she had a wonderful birthday!

Finally, an update....

As many of you know, my husband Greg has been battling throat cancer.  I am over joyed to share that he seems finally on the mend.  I praise God and all of you for this miracle!  AND my stomach is every so happy because this week he even felt well enough to start cooking for us again!!! Yeah!  Soon he will also be able to join us in eating his excellent cuisine.  Welcome back my love!!!!!

Well, that is it for today..but...if my luck holds, next post will be just as busy. :)  Blessings, Jeannette...

OH, PS, I almost forgot... Start thinking about signing up for my Art of Stamping Classes at Berea Festival Learnshops.  All my proceeds are donated to Stamp to Cope.  Check out our website for the registration links...  www.stamptocope.org.

Fundraiser Event Live

Live from our annual fundraiser event. A great turn out! The participants purchase a table and bring their favorite games. Additional options include a silent auction, a 50/50, and a raffle. Gift bags and door prizes donated.  Thank you all. More to come. J

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Take Note

Hello Bloggers!  

I hope this post finds everyone enjoying lots of chocolate bunny ears and marshmallow peeps :). 

It is exciting to announce that Stamp to Cope is prepping for a  breast cancer awareness opportunity coming next week. I have been invited to speak at a cancer fundraising event with an anticipated  audience of over 100 women. We are looking forward to sharing survivor stories and reaching out to the newly diagnosed.  The event planner is putting together gift bags for the attendees and asked if I would create an item that could be included.  The guidelines presented a little challenge...make sure your organization's name is on the item and align it with the items already donated by other sponsors such as pens, pencils, stickers, highlighters, etc. In keeping with the guidelines and the breast cancer theme, I ended up creating mini notepads for journalling the journey or taking note of  important information. (Not everyone has gone electronic yet ;)) The best part was the ability to recycle scraps of cardstock and use stamps in a whole new way. It was definitely out of my card making comfort zone, but lots of fun.  I am going to work on some bookmarks next...stay tuned.  Have a super week and thanks for all the support!  

Blessings, Jeannette

Happy Easter

Happy Easter!

I apologize for not posting in a while but I was focused on supporting my husband as he progressed through his last week of chemo and radiation. As the doctor said, "he is not out of the woods yet" but he has made a huge dent in the process. Now he must do some healing before further steps are taken.  God's blessings and thanks to all of you who have held us up in your thoughts and prayers.   

We didn't come up with the name "Stamp to Cope" without good reason, so as you might expect I have been stamping my heart out as a way to accept my added role of cancer support person. In an odd twist, having cancer myself certainly helped me help him. An additional benefit is that I will have quite a few new ideas and techniques to share in the coming weeks.  But for now, I am still fascinated with HoneyPop paper by InkyAntics and just did not want to pass up using my orange...seemed like pumpkins were a long way off. I traced the carrot template free hand and used a flourish stamp as the green top. 

I have also been busy reaching out with Stamp to Cope and have scheduled events for April, June, and July.  Please check out our website at www.stamptocope.org for more information. Instead of scheduling a specific event for May, we were asked to create paper products for the Berea Women's Club and their Membership Tea...a great way to get some attention for our mission.  So far I have completed the requested name tags.

Lots of fun! Much more to share so stay tuned...  Have a blessed Holy Week and Happy Easter!
Jeannette