Stamp to Cat????

Greetings all,

It seems like time has just flown since I posted, live, from the Women's Wellness event at EKU sponsored by the Madison County Breast Cancer Support Group and we have been going non-stop ever since. In fact, the whole family has had to chip in to be sure I was able to meet all of the requests for the month..wonderful to have such love and support!  As you can see, even the furry family members helped. In this picture, my trusty assistant and supervisor, Midnight, was on inventory duty making sure I had enough supplies for a workshop on November 1.  A HUGE thank you to The Thursday Group of Lexington, KY for inviting STC to come to their meeting and share stamping and tote bag goodness.  A special appreciation for the generous donation they made so that others could be served as well.  Mary Ann, if you are checking in, my prayers are with you...go get'em!  

On November 6 (after voting of course), I participated in a local card-making challenge.  These types of things are WAY out of my comfort zone but thought it would help to expand my creative thinking.  We had 1 hour and 30 minutes to create a card using the A MUSE Studio Snow Globe die.  Well, they didn't say HOW we had to use it :)... check out mine...

It was a wonderful experience and certainly unique for me.  Check out what the others created.  I am blessed to be surrounded by such crafting talent. 

Some great ideas and the event certainly gave me some ideas for a big workshop we have at St. Joseph Hospital in Berea, KY December 4.

My next event is Thursday, November 15 at the Madison County Extension Center where I will be a demonstrator for the PaperKutz group and sharing techniques for using alcohol based markers.  Hope you will stop by and join in the fun..."six and seated" for a prize drawing.

Have a super week!  Jeannette

Women's Wellness Day 2012

Blogging live from the STC booth.  Gave out 18 tote stamp sets to survivors already at the first break. Great crowd with lots of interest in what we do.  More soon...

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Copic and Scrapbook Design Certified

Hi everyone! Seems like it has been a while since my last post.  October is Breast Cancer Awareness month and a very busy time for Stamp to Cope! Our congratulations to all survivors and supporters...this month is a celebration of Life!!! So far, STC has conducted three workshops, participated in a community service (handed out 400 flyers) and will have a table at Women's Wellness Day on October 27th at EKU.  Clearly a special time for outreach.

Speaking of outreach, STC continues to brainstorm fundraising and community awareness options. One approach we are trying is to provide a wider range of workshops for the overall crafting audience that would be fee based (survivors could attend for free). Based on research, we found that two interest areas were growing in this area...Scrapbooking and Copic Marker use.  So, this month I participated in a Spotted Canary Instructor Certification through Scrapbook Design University and Copic Designer training at the standard and intermediate level. Word is spreading fast and I have already been approached to put together a workshop for a local crafting group on basic Copic coloring.  We are so excited about the additional fundraising and community awareness potential these new certifications may bring.

Wanted to take this blog opportunity to share a few of the Copic projects completed during training...
These pictures focused on faces and radiant light techniques

These images focused on creating texture for fur and materials.

This image bring in light placement, shading, and depth techniques.

Watch for future projects that incorporate scrapbook design and Copic coloring techniques. Thank you for your continued support of our mission. If you or your organization would be interesting in a workshop, please let us know. Enjoy the Fall weather.
Blessings,
Jeannette

Surprise Inside and In the News

Hi Bloggers!
This week I am on a Safari theme inspired  by something I saw on KET (local PBS channel). Using a line stamp (giraffe) the focal point reflects coloring and open techniques for an airy feel and by using solid stamps (elephants) the  focal point lends itself to creating scenes/backgrounds to add depth. By themselves these cards have tons of versatility by way of sentiment and by gender of the receiver.  But speaking of "tons", I wanted to add a wow factor and try a new product.. Action Wobbles.  See the surprise inside...

The Action Wobble is a plastic spiral that pops up when the card is opened and wobbles around adding some interactivity to the experience.

Interactivity is also a focus of this post as I send a huge SHOUT OUT to our own volunteer Kasondra Miller.  Please check out the web article on her Girl Scout Gold Award project and her connection to Stamp to Cope, Inc.  http://www.fcps.net/news/features/2012-13/cancer-cards  We are so proud of her!

A reminder to come out and see Kasondra and I at the Stamp to Cope table during Women's Wellness Fun Day on October 27 in the EKU Perkins building.

Have a super day! Jeannette

I Love to Color

Happy Fall Greetings Everyone!

I am really excited to share that I will be heading to Copic Certification training this weekend.  STC continues to embrace unique fundraising options and this certification will not only allow me to add new technique workshops for survivors, but will enable me to offer workshops to the public through craft stores for fundraising options. To prepare, I focused this week on coloring media in general and wanted to share the results.  Going top left to right here are the combinations...

Top left - Right -

1. Regular color pencils blended with baby oil 2. Copic Alcohol Markers 3. Memento Dye Ink used with paint brush 4. Ranger Distress Dye Inks used with paint brush

Bottom left  - Right -

1. Water color paint  2. Water color pencils 3. Water soluble graphite pencils 4 Inktense pencils

So, what do you think? Please leave a comment about your favorite look! 

After practicing, I put together this set of cards using 1. the Water Color Pencil option and 2. the Inktense Pencil option (2 and 4 on the bottom).  This time, I white embossed the image (instead of just black ink) so the color would pop. 

These cards are now proudly displayed at the Berea Arts Council Gallery for fundraising purchase. Stop by, they are only $3.00 each.

As we say during our workshops, coloring is so therapeutic! Next time I post, I will be officially Copic Certified..yeah! Then I can add two certifications to our website and blog area... Spotted Canary Scrapbook Design and Copics.  Great fundraising and workshop ideas planned for the rest of 2012 and 2013.  Thanks for your continued support! 

Jeannette

Fall Flowers

Fall Greetings Everyone!

I am already freezing and pulling out blankets..yikes! However, this is a beautiful crisp and clear time of year and I look forward to all the festivities as we head into Breast Cancer Awareness Month and Halloween! There are a few fun things to share today and a HUGE shout out to one of our donors!  I am starting out with a new perspective on my effort at creativity! In working diligently to create cards and stamped jewelry for upcoming STC events, the appearance of lots of scrap pieces caught my eye.  Throwing them out was not an option (all you crafters out there know exactly what I mean). So, since we were already planning to visit our daughter, Carly, at college for her honor award and bringing flowers, I decided to make them myself! Some are stamped and colored items I did not use on cards, others are scraps punched but to thick for mailing and the butterfly was a matter of cutting, layering, making wire antennae from stem scraps, and adding jewel stones.  Lots of fun and she seemed to love them but likely I will stick with cards :)!

 Speaking of cards, I made this for my Grandson who turned 4 this month and started pre-school. Go little man! I love this stamp from Impression Obsessions and one of my favorite stamp designers, Gary Robertson. The stamp is a piece of art in itself and the fine detail makes such a beautiful focal point. The challenge for most beginning stampers, however, is coloring so many small spots.  Actually, you really do not need to color them by just changing the base ink color and working in monotone layering. But, I wanted to make the wagon pop so I stamped the image once for the focal point and once to cut out the wagon and give it dimension by adding it overtop with pop dots. The items in the wagon were from another stamp set by and I colored and cut them out gluing them inside. A fun fall picture for a great boy!

The grand finale of this post is a HUGE shout out and THANK YOU to Rita Whetzel for donating this FABULOUS box of stamps to STC to support our mission! Rita has blessed us with love, prayers, and supplies since the very beginning!  We cannot thank you enough and sincerely appreciate all that you do for STC!

Tune in next week when I share a little coloring medium comparison! Love to all and happy Fall!
Blessings, Jeannette

Never Forget

Happy Labor Day Weekend!

Happy Labor Day weekend everyone! 

I think I have finally figured out this holiday...I labor more in honor :)  For my daughter-in-law it must have taken on a whole new meaning last year when she gave birth to my grand-daughter, Ella Elise!  Since I can't be there to help celebrate her first birthday, this card was created to share some sweet sentiments for a sweet girl.  The card uses a relatively new product called Gelato by Faber-Castell to create the color. The gelato colors come in tubes like chapstick and are water reactive. If the tube is rubbed on the stamp and then spritzed with water the colors blend together as shown here with the background stamp and 6 colors. If used to color in a stamp, a small amount is rubbed on and then smeared around with a sponge or finger as I did with the cupcake.  They reminded me of very smooth crayons or when I was little and used to draw with my mother's lipstick (no she was not happy and red left such pretty stains :0). They were pretty messy so I think I will have to play with them some more to see what other techniques I can discover.  Happy Birthday Ella.

Speaking of techniques, check out these sea creatures..sorry the photo is kind of blurry at the bottom.(my daughter is taking a photography class so maybe she can teach me how to take better pictures)  After researching some natural stamping techniques I tried to duplicate the process using rubber stamps. Starting with black paper, I used bleach to stamp the image making sure there was enough bleach to soak into the lines so it came out like a solid image. After the bleach dried and took out the pigment, I inked up the stamp again with Memento Dye markers to add color over top of the bleached area.  When that dried, I inked the stamp around the edges with a white pigment ink and stamped the final layer.  The colors and texture really added dimension and they looked very lifelike. Now all I have to do is figure out how to use them....good thing much of my family live near beaches :) Maybe I will start a new beach Christmas Card trend!

Before starting to think of Christmas Cards, however, I have a list of occasion cards that need to be made. We are thrilled that Stamp to Cope will have a booth at Women's Wellness again this year, the Girl Scouts asked that we put on a project for the local council, and we are planning to have some items in the local art gallery for a fundraising event. To get myself inspired for the mass production needed in such a short timeframe, I went to my favorite technique to make a New Home card for my nephew and his wife...Masking. This house card was made with 4 separate stamps and some post-it notes.  For each stamp a mask is created to cover so new layers can be applied without distortion. The trick is to stamp the items in the forefront first, cover them with the mask made of the same shape and stamp the next layer. Repeat this process until the scene is set and then remove all the masks.  It can get pretty slopping while working and sometimes fussy cutting the masks can be time consuming, but once the masks are gone the depth is great. We wish them all the best as they celebrate first-time home ownership. It did the trick, I have been making cards all weekend.  I am celebrating Labor Day by laboring creatively! 

Love to all,

Jeannette

TriFold Thanks

Hi all,  Hope this posts finds you enjoying the close of Summer and embracing  a new school year. Our daughter has returned to college and our son is beginning his second week in the 7th grade. Fun and exciting times for everyone!  At Stamp to Cope, we are wrapping up our Summer activities and preparing for Fall workshops and Breast Cancer Awareness events. 

As the school year begins, so do many clubs and organizations that took a break so families could go on vacation or focus on warm weather activities. Sending reminders and/or invitations to participants can be a great way to get the momentum going again. A favorite type of card is one that can be duplicated in bulk for just such an occasion.  However, designing something that is relatively easy to duplicate but still provide a WOW factor can be a challenge. So imagine my joy and surprise when a large box was delivered to my front door as I was pondering designs for a set of invitations I was asked to create. One of the participants from my stamping Learnshop in July sent a huge stack of trifold/precut card stock bases for our creative use. Thank you Maureen!!!!  This first project used distress stain rubbed directly onto the stamp for multiple colors of the flower and computer generated text for the invitation specifics. A ribbon was fastened to the back so it could be tied completely around the folded end product.  Of course, I couldn't stop there, I ended up creating about 10 different cards to put in our display at the Art Gallery.

Since masculine cards seem to be such a challenge for most of us, I wanted to share this next picture to show how I used the same card base but put a rustic spin.  

The card base was distress inked in brown and the use of sticky back canvas for the stamped clock faces added depth and texture. On the inside, I stamped the sentiment in brown ink and then put a mask over it before I stamped the click. I used Copic markers on the clock for a little pop of color. Coloring on canvas can be trick because of the texture and the bleeding of the inks. Do some testing on a scrap piece of canvas to determine what color medium you like best.

Thanks for reading and have a great week! 

Jeannette

Learnshop Success

Wow, it is August already and boy have my postings gotten away from me with all the activities and travel on my schedule. But, I am back now with plenty of exciting things to share....

During the first part of the month, my family and I took a little road trip to Charleston, SC. As many of you know, my husband is in the recovery stages of throat (head and neck) cancer so we did not want to go too far or take things too fast.  Charleston seemed to have something for all of us with Low Country Furniture for  my husband, Patriots Point for my son, and palmetto trees, salt water, and sand for me (Ft. Sumpter was an added bonus). We all came home relaxed and creatively inspired. 

 Upon our return we immediately jumped into the 2012 Berea Festival Learnshops where I conduct 3 Art of Stamping workshops (beginning, intermediate, and advanced).  These workshops currently serve as our annual fundraising event with 100% of the fees collected for my workshops being donated to Stamp to Cope.  What a great time everyone had with plenty of projects created.  The card picture above uses one of the background pieces we made with the shaving cream technique and working with stamps and inks that play well with water/water color paper.  For more photos of the workshops, check out the Berea Tourism facebook page or directly at these links for beginner and advanced. The picture coverage was great..Thanks Mike! If you were unable to join us this year, be sure to mark your calendars for the 2013 event scheduled for the second and third week of July.

I left the final workshop and headed directly to the airport for a flight to Chicago for my university's graduation ceremony. Watching our students walk across the stage is always the highlight of my teaching year. On this visit I received two surprises...1. I received an honor award and was inducted into the Delta Delta chapter of Epsilon Pi Tau for my work in instructional design and use of instructional technology. 2. I served as a faculty representative welcoming alumni, graduating honor students, and student families at Harry Carey's in Chicago, IL the night before graduation. This event gave me an opportunity to spend some time with very excited students and our gracious commencement speaker, Ben Stein.  

Now that I am back home, it is time to try and catch up...when do the children go back to school? :)

Blessings and have a super day!  Jeannette