Happy Mother's Day

Happy Mother's Day!!!

A quick post to wish all those wonderful people who serve in the mother role and happy happy day. I have the double blessing of the best Mother and Mother-in-law in the world...yes I am partial. I wanted to do something extra special for each this year so here are the results!  I hope they know how much I love them...truly they are perfect examples of unconditional sacrifice, support, and love!

The projects include a matching card and canvas.  I used a general rubber stamp outline in a very light ink to give me guidelines on a very cool crackle background I created with acrylic paint and some school glue. Then I painted over the outlines to create the images.  The Mother sentiment was stamped onto tissue paper first and then applied to the surface with modgepodge.  The entire product was then distressed with dye ink around the ends of the canvas.  A fun project!

Chat again soon!!!  Enjoy this day to the fullest!
Luv, Jeannette

KY Give Day Tomorrow - Thank "ewe"

Greetings Bloggers!!

Tomorrow the Commonwealth of Kentucky shows its support for non-profit 501c3 organizations by hosting the KY Gives Day.  What a wonderful opportunity for Stamp to Cope, Inc. to share our mission and join with other wonderful groups trying to make the world a better place.  Please consider offering your support by....

Visit the KY Gives Day Page for Stamp to Cope, Inc.  at http://kygives.razoo.com/story/Stamp-To-Cope

Tell your friends and family about KY Gives Day through e-mail or social media.

On April 24th, make a secure, on-line donation to Stamp to Cope, Inc. and encourage friends and family to do the same. You can also schedule a donation today that will post Wednesday as part of the event.

Thanks "ewe" friends!

Jeannette"

Be Still and Count the Waves

Hello everyone! My apologies for falling so behind in my posts these last few months. Both work and STC have been keeping me quite busy.  However, I just could not go another day without sharing some exciting updates.......

1. I was invited, on behalf of STC, to participate in the "Shaped by Water" art exhibit at The Gallery on Main in Richmond, KY in support of Kentucky River water awareness. I created two mixed media canvas pieces (8 x 10) depicting my love of the ocean.  The first is called "Be Still" and interprets one of my favorite versus.   The second (below) is called "Count the Waves" created with my mother in mind. All of you who know her will definitely understand :). Both pieces used various types of paper, paints, gelatos, inks, sand paper, stamps, and heat foam. What do you think?

2. A wonderful STC cardmaking workshop was conducted March 28  in conjunction with the Berea Arts Council.  Two STC volunteers came out to help..thanks Tammy and Kasondra. STC was able to raise $64.00 from the event. Great fun.

3. STC was added to the Kentucky based Pink Link network enabling us to communicate along side other Breast Cancer awareness organizations.

Finally, A huge shout out to a wonderful couple, Donna and Joel, who will be getting married on May 6th.  These two are so special and ultra creative so I did not think a traditional wedding card would do. Red roses  symbolize love to me so I tried my hand at water coloring this lovely stamped image that reflects two becoming one.  Many blessings my loves!!!!

That's it for now.  Lots of things coming our way so be on the look out and remember.. Sign up for some creative fun during Berea Learnshops.  See you, Jeannette

Mosaic Moment

HI Everyone!!!  Wow, can you believe it has been a month since I was able to sit down and post.  I sincerely appreciate your patience and support while I was on travel for my University. One of the benefits of being on the road is the opportunity for new inspiration and reflection of creative ideas.  Nothing shouts louder in the area of creativity for me than Disney and while speaking at the SALT conference earlier this month, I had a chance to go visit the new Fantasyland.  As many of you know, Beauty and the Beast is my ABSOLUTE favorite Disney movie and the Beast is the BEST. So you can imagine how exciting it was for me to have a lunch break in "The West Wing"!!!!!  The Castle was fabulous in beauty and detail. The entrance displays a floor to ceiling mosaic that replicates the stained glass window scenes in the movie. I was in awe.  The image haunted me throughout the rest of my trips and I found myself pulling up the picture I took to be sure I did not miss any detail. This weekend when I finally had access to my crafting materials, I had to create my own.  Here is the card I made for my Mother (mailing it today) inspired by the B&B mosaic.  Definitely something different for me, but a fun way to use my Hybrid Roses stamp. 

News you can use :)...

While away, STC stayed busy planning for upcoming events so here is a quick update.  Consider joining us!!

Wednesday, March 27 from 6:30 - 8:30, Stamping workshop at the Berea Arts Council 

Registration for my stamping and alcohol marker workshops is now open. Check out the  Berea Festival of Learnshops site for more info below.

Stamping and Papercraft Beginner July 25, 2013 9:30 - 5:00

Stamping and Papercraft Intermediate July 26, 2013 9:30 - 5:00

Create with Alcohol Markers July 28, 2013 9:30 - 12:30

Well, lots to do to catch up so back to work :).  Thanks for your continued support!  It is nice to be back home! :)

Jeannette

Mixed Media Moment

Greetings bloggers!  Thanks for stopping by!

Ever been afraid to try something new and then that extra push to actually follow through comes along and you can not find any more excuses?  Well, that is my story for this post.  I have wanted to try Mixed Media Art for some time now but did not have the confidence. As many of you know, I can teach myself any number of techniques and can duplicate or even improve on ideas that I see.  However, to actually design from scratch and determine the flow, pattern, and materials on a larger scale is completely out of my comfort zone.  

But, last week, my husband, Greg, encouraged me to participate in the Berea Arts Council  Art in Nature exhibit. He had an answer for all my excuses and provided so much support that it gave me the confidence to finally put something together.  In fact, I got so carried away, I could not stop at just one as I tried different materials, layouts, and set ups. 

I used 8 x 10 canvas as my base and prepped them all with gesso for a smooth work surface. The picture above shows a vertical perspective of the seasons using stamped tissue paper, water color paper trees, and gelatos for color. The one below is a horizontal perspective and I switched out the tissue paper leaves with Flower Soft dimension.  I called them "Nature of Time."

The whole experience was a messy blast and I was quite tickled with the final results.  So, What do you think?

I hope this posts encourages you to take a step out of your comfort zone and enjoy the creative!!!  Have a beautiful week.
Jeannette

Window Wonderland

Warm greetings readers!  Where did January go?!!!!  Life with Stamp to Cope, Inc. has been bountiful this month so grab your favorite beverage and join me as I share a peak into our "Window Wonderland"....

STC began January 2013 with a wrap up of my stamp art pieces (cards and jewelry) displayed in the Berea Arts Council contributing $90 to our mission.  STC received great exposure over the holidays as a result and support contacts are already coming our way.  Thank you Gwen and Diane for your sincere love and support.

Later in the month, I received an email from the Editor of CardMaker Magazine asking if STC would like to be featured in the Summer issue under the Readers Reach Out feature....Oh Yeah!!!!  Thanks Tanya Fox

The 2013 Berea Festival Learnshop proposals were submitted and STC was approved for 3....2 on rubber stamp and paper craft art and 1 on the basics of using alcohol markers in projects.  Advertising and registration have begun so sign up and share with your friends.  Check out the first marketing piece they have completed for one of my workshops. They did a super job!  Register through the link below and I will share the others as they go live

Stamping and Papercraft Beginner - July 25, 2013 

STC submitted a proposal (currently under review) to expand our fundraising potential by offering stamp and paper crafting workshops to the general public. I will keep you posted.  As you can see we have been quite busy and excited about outreach for 2013.

So now that I have updated everyone on the business happenings, I wanted to share a story surrounding the card featured in today's post.  As my husband would say...no good deed goes unpunished :)...

My mother is simply the BEST in the whole world...she is a super person, runs multiple charity functions, loves everyone, knows everyone, writes a newspaper column, is the oldest living Girl Scout in the nation, never loses at Bridge, is always winning some type of award or being interviewed, is much loved in her community, and she is probably the number 1 fan of STC! She is truly a hard act to follow (and keep tabs on) and January 11, my mother turned 87! She has really been stressing over this particular birthday number, so I wanted to do something really special.  I should have known better :).

In my excitement to create the PERFECT card, I actually sketched out a card for the first time before starting.  I decided to go BIG, use all her favorite things, and include a picture of her grandson wearing the Christmas gifts she sent.  I spent 4 hours making this super card, got it done way early, put it in the mail on January 3 with a beautifully stamped envelope (which I don't normally do) and put on triple postage just to e sure she got it on time.  Guess what!!! I not only forgot to take a picture before I sent it, but it did not arrive! IT MISSED HER BIRTHDAY!! I called everyday and I know she thought I never really sent anything but she was happy with the phone calls.

After 3 weeks of waiting to see if it would turn up, I gave up and started from scratch.  This time I went normal size, hand cut everything again but small, and tried to remember the sketch (of course I threw it out..duh).  Again, I stamped a lovely envelope, doubled the postage, and drove it directly to the post office on January 21.  As you may be anticipating, it disappeared too!  I truly wanted to cry...all the love and thanks I wanted to send her and neither one had arrived!  I felt like I had ruined her special birthday! This time, however, I remembered to take a picture so thought I would go for "3 is the charm."  I was just getting everything out to begin when I received a call yesterday (January 30) from my mom....

BOTH cards arrived that day!!!!!  God is good!  I love you MOM!!! Happy "Belated" 87th!

Thanks everyone for letting me share!  Enjoy looking into your Window Wonderland and keep warm! Chat again soon!
love Jeannette

Just Because

Greetings and Happy New Year!  

The last months have been a busy time of card making and blogging with a focus on the holidays. While it is always fun and an anticipated expectation for creativity, for many there is a big let down once the new year begins. Most card makers want to quickly fill in the time gap and immediately move on to Valentine's Day, St. Patrick's Day, or even Easter.  

For me, however, there is an opposite impact.  During the holidays the focus seems to be on creating in bulk,  figuring out how to improve on what was made last year, or trying to compete with all the store bought cards that circulate. Sometimes, what ends up being sent was not exactly what was envisioned but needs to get done just to keep up with the pace of the festivities. I do love making holiday cards and all my heart goes into the message, but I always second guess the final product.  Now I can relax and go back to what I enjoy the most.... cards that send an uplift "just because" the recipient is in my heart.  

Have a wonderful week.

Jeannette

Winter Wonderland Anniversary

Merry Christmas everyone!!!!

As we celebrate the blessings of the season, I wanted to share a card I made for my #1 blessing...my husband!  I follow the blog of Kittie Caracciolo, and she posted a winter scene card that I found so beautiful I had to figure it out for myself. The challenge... she had all these different die cuts for the shapes and I did not.  However, one of the reasons I love stamping as an art form is the versatility. It dawned on me that I could stamp the images I wanted onto white card stock with a very light ink, cut them out, and then turn them over to get the start white impact. The card above is my version.  My beautiful and talented daughter is home from college for the Christmas break. She is an aspiring professional photographer....below is her version...yes I should have her around all the time to take my pictures...:). Maybe she will set me up with a class some day. 

Check out Kittie's version and let me know what you think?  It took about 4 hours to put it all together but for someone as special as my best friend, it was all love.

The Stamp to Cope, Inc. family wish you and yours a wonderful holiday and blessed 2013! 

Jeannette

Original Art for the Holidays!

Merry Christmas Everyone!

Many things have been happening at STC since my last post so I apologize for the gap. Before I get started, I wanted to send out love and prayers to the Sandy Hook community....there are truly no right words.

We started out the month with a very unique event.  The coordinator of the Berea Chapter of NAMI (National Alliance on Mental Illness)  contacted me with a request to prepare a workshop for their monthly meeting.  I was thrill to be able to serve this population, some of whom are breast cancer survivors. They wanted to make something with a winter theme to head into the holidays and Joshua, my son, came along to help.  I am sure glad he wanted to come because the organization advertised the event and we had 19 in attendance! Above are a few of the cards made.  The snowflake background paper was embossed with an embossing folder (Cuttlebug and Tim Holtz Sissix) and the participants could choose from a variety of snowmen stamps.  The focal technique was White Crayon Resist (one of my favorites) where the image is stamped on white cardstock, colored with a white crayon, and then the entire piece is covered in ink.  The ink will "resist" anywhere the wax from the white crayon has been laid down. A great way to have color coordination without having to have colored paper. It was wonderful to see a whole new world open up for some of the participants.

In an effort to do some fundraising for STC and the Berea Arts Council, I created two new products using stamping techniques for participation in the Original Art Gifts II . The first was an effort in making jewelry..

The picture is not so great because I am taking it through the display case but you can see there are 3 earring/necklace sets.  I used stamping embossing techniques on brass and then used inking techniques from my stamping projects and sanded off the ink on the raised portions. I then covered it in a protective glaze, added a ring for the leather chord, and taaa daaa. They are getting good reviews and I have already had to make 3 more sets. We even got some STC PR on the additional information card they posted above the display case.

The second product in the gallery is an idea I have wanted to try since I saw something similar created by Jennifer McGuire on her blog.  These unique sets of cards are created so that the owner can actually choose the sentiment based on the need.... you won't see that in Walmart.  In addition, for each Iris within the package I used a different type of coloring medium - Copic, watercolor, pencil, Inktense, ink, stain, etc. to give it a classical artist flare.

The event will continue through December 29, so stop on by or click on the like above for an Internet view.

Funny how one thing leads to another but a direct result of participation in the Original Art event was a large custom order I received from someone who saw my cards.  Just from this one individual's order, STC was able to raise $50.  The individual was so pleased, she mentioned our organization to others and STC received a check for $100 as a thank you donation for what we are doing.  Thank you!

Finally, a shout out to an original STC supporter, Shanna.  Shanna's company, A Sense of Order in Lexington, has donated 3 large boxes of crafting supplies given to her by one of her clients. Some of the items include 100 ink pads of various colors, 100 ink refills, cardstock, embellishments, and a large brown paper grocery bag (of course I can even use that as paper) FULL of stamps. We continue to be blessed!

Hug each other and send up a prayer for those in need.  Merry Christmas, Jeannette

CyberMonday?

Happy CyberMonday...kidding right?

I hope everyone had a wonderful Thanksgiving! One day just isn't enough to reflect on all the blessings that have been bestowed.  However, it seems to be that even Thanksgiving gets shorter and shorter...

I don't know about you, but today my email was flooded with "CyberMonday" notifications.  Now don't get me wrong, I love a sale just as much as others but..really?  It was bad enough when Black Friday became so popular that planning the shopping strategy was happening around the Thanksgiving table. But then, even Thanksgiving Day itself  was infected under the excuse of pre-Black Friday (I couldn't believe it). Now CyberMonday has been added to extend the craziness even further and I am just overwhelmed. What will be next... Tinsel Tuesday or Way-to-spend Wednesday?  Is shopping intensity getting worse or is it just me? Is this really what it is all suppose to be about? Just saying...

On a lighter topic, I was asked to join an ATC club.  OK, I didn't know what that was so the group was happy to get me up to speed. ATC stands for Artist Trading Cards and they are created in the size of baseball trading cards.  The group selects a theme for the month and each member creates a set of trading cards to reflect the theme.  The set has to have the same number as the group and then we all trade.  The idea is to share tips and techniques in a sample that can be kept in trading card protector sheets for future creative inspiration. Take a look at mine....

The first set of themes were Halloween, Favorite Holiday, and Winter.  Since Halloween IS my favorite holiday I had to pick my second favorite..Easter.

Then we were tasked to do a Vintage Christmas so here is mine.

A few of the techniques used included, Copic Markers on Tin foil, heat embossing, ink resist using clear embossing, and patterned paper distressed with glitter.  I look forward to seeing what the other members of the group have created. This is going to be a very cool way to share ideas and stay inspired.

Thanks for your support and let's be Thankful always!
Jeannette