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

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