KY Gives and Stamp two ways

Happy St. Patrick's Day Bloggers!!

I could not pass up such a fun card making holiday without posting a little "bit o' luck" for St. Patrick's Day! However, since I seem to be hitting the blog only once a month lately (I do hope to be post more soon), I wanted to share some Easter joy too! Doing them together gave me a way to share how one background stamp and the same pattern sketch can produce very different looks... The secret...just change the color focus.

To create the background on both cards, I used a variety of gellato colors on a "plaid" stamp by Hero Arts. When sprayed with water, the gellato color melts to give a watercolor look (very popular).  I then found a matching ribbon and selected theme appropriate images for the focal points.  For the Easter card the egg colors were created with distress markers put right over the rubber stamp and then moistened before stamping. The colors were a perfect match for the plaid. For the St. Patty's Day card, I used waxed colored pencils to project depth and threw in some orange for my protestant roots :).  Hope you find your Irish today!

BIG NEWS!!!!  April 9th!!!  

Before I sign off, I wanted to share some exciting news for Stamp To Cope, Inc. for 2014.  We have been asked, once again, to participate in the 2014 Kentucky Gives Day schedule for April 9th!!.  This is a chance for KY Non-Profits to fundraise for 24 hours.  Please click on this link to learn more and support our mission!!!  Remember, April 9th click on the link and show the love!

Thank you for stopping by and have a wonderful day!

Jeannette

Warm My Heart

Hello Bloggers!

Yes, it has been a while since I posted, but be assured that Stamp to Cope has been moving forward in our mission for 2014!  While January is now behind us, we took that time to secure the following events on the calendar and planning has begun...

Fundraising Presentation event - April

Berea Festival Learnshops - July

2nd Annual Survivor pARTy - October

Table at Women's Wellness Day - November

We are also working on community and individual outreach with stamping workshops and tote bag give-aways for our Survivors. Please be sure to spread the word if you area aware of an organization that would benefit from a workshop.

Now that it is February, thoughts turn to Valentine's Day in the card making world. With the unseasonably cold and snowy weather here in Berea, though, I have been to cold to be inspired with the usual cupids, doilies, and dominance of red.  So, I decided to take a different approach to share my Valentine wishes. Every morning my darling husband makes coffee for me and it so warms my heart and body.  His kindness inspired me to try and share the same warm in spirit.  For the card I made my mother, I added an an image of the little girl since I am her youngest. 

Happy Valentine's everyone!  Stay warm and safe.  Now I need to go listen to the Thompson Twins version of "Hold Me Now" ...Warm my heart. 

Blessings,

Jeannette

Resolution Journal

Happy 2014 Everyone!!!

Hope everyone had a joyous holiday and thanks for returning to the STC blog for another year!

As we enter the new year, many people create resolutions...I, usually, am not one of them. My perspective, especially as it relates to Survivorship, is "resolve to be the best you can everyday"! Therefore, for me, deciding that at the beginning of a year to embrace enhancements instead of embracing growth everyday, somehow, makes me feel ungrateful for this second chance.

However, over the Christmas break, while in my ultra creative mode, I came across several vlogs, encouraging Art Journalling.  I decided to give it a try and was pleasantly surprised with the impact it had on my perspective and creative flow. It was a great way to test out techniques, make a mess, and expand my comfort zone. I was quite hooked. So, imagine my own surprise when I ..yes I.. made a resolution to keep an Art Journal for 2014.

A journal is usually quite a personal and private thing. But when my fellow survivor, mentor, and friend, Judy posted her beautiful art piece on Facebook today, I was inspired to share my creations.

 I look forward to this creative challenge throughout the year and hope you will consider trying an Art Journal option for yourself!

Blessings for a CREATIVE new year!!!
Jeannette

Merry Marriage Christmas!

Happy Christmas Eve Everyone!!!!!

I am done all my shopping, I have caught up on email (at least for the next 5 minutes), and I am finally accepting that Christmas is here...literally!  Before I head out to Church this evening, I wanted to give a shout out to my wonderful and loving support partner...my husband Greg!  Our 14th anniversary was on Sunday and it was fun to create a card and matching paper that brings together several elements of Christmas and a marriage celebration.

I could not "wrap" up the year for Stamp to Cope, without sharing my appreciation to Greg, my family, and my friends for standing by my side as we serve others.  THANK YOU ALL!!!

Merry Christmas and a blessed 2014!!!
love
Jeannette

The Color of Thankful!

Happy Greetings Bloggers!

Originally, this post was going to be a picture of a Thanksgiving card I made and some updates on what we have been doing here at Stamp to Cope.  However, when I sat down to type, I realized I was still riding on the excitement of being at Disney World for the Sloan C conference last week (thanks everyone who came out for my presentation!)! Instead of focusing on how I made my card and how it ties in with the holiday, I found myself flipping through my pictures, unfolding my Magic Kingdom Guide Map, staring at my extensive Disney Pin collection, and daydreaming about past trips with family and friends.   So many of my thankful memories coincide with trips to Disney World....

As a young girl, my first airplane ride and actually spending time as a whole family since my dad worked long hours.
As a young teen (16), going alone with my older sister (18) and finding out how cool she really was...we felt so grown up..(note to Cookie...remember Slimy Limy's)
As a young women, going to the grand opening of Epcot and discovering a behind the scenes world like no other.
As a first time mom, watching the magic and awe through my daughter's eyes.
As a wife, enjoying the romance of riding the rides with my soul-mate...I love you Greg!
As a second time mom, realizing on the Disney Transportation that my son has a gift for making people smile.
As a Cancer survivor, getting a "Disney Wish" granted that my husband and children would be rewarded for providing such wonderful support.
As an artist, amazed at the creativity in everything Disney.
As a career women, so blessed to be able to share experience and skills with others in such a glorious venue.

Like the picture of a Cinderella's Castle above (thank you my loving daughter Carly for merging it together for me), my thankfulness is FULL of color!

Love to all and a Blessed Thanksgiving!
Jeannette

Harvest Herd

Happy Fall Y'all!

Not sure what it is like in your area, but Berea is finally feeling, to me, like Fall!  Leaves just changed color and then quickly disappeared after a weekend of rain.  Seems like if I had blinked I would have missed it...happens in quite a few areas of life I suspect :).  It did remind me that Thanksgiving is right around the corner and more festive holiday events are coming my way...truly a card makers time of year for bulk! Now all I need to do is make time to actually create with time to send.

However, before I get lost in the pull of the Season, I wanted to play around with dimensional technique. I am so lucky to belong to a card making group called PaperKutz and mentioned my interest.  These wonderful ladies meet once a month and share tips, techniques, and the latest trends in the paper crafting world. Look what we worked on at a recent meeting! It is fabulous to know Stamp to Cope has so many talented women supporting what we do.

So, from my herd to yours, have a super week and enjoy the Fall while it lasts!
Blessings,
Jeannette
 

Pumpkin pARTy

Greetings and Festive Fall Hellos!!!!

Wow, what a busy and fulfilling Breast Cancer Awareness Month for me and the whole group at Stamp to Cope.  October 3 recognized my 10 year anniversary of my diagnosis....I am so grateful and blessed! Clearly something to celebrate and within a perfect month :). Thanks all of my loving supporters.

From that celebratory event, we went on to prepare for our first Survivors pARTy. I prepped for 100 participants creating at 3 stations. Yes, I know, dreaming big :) Station 1 covered basic card making, station 2 covered wax pencil techniques, and station 3 covered water based markers.  Gifts were provided at each station along with hands-on assistance from wonderfully talented volunteers.  A huge shout out to Anita, Kassondra, and Tammy for helping with the stations.  We also had the all important food/snack area "manned" by my fabulous husband Greg.  Our daughter, Carly, came home from college to take pictures of the event.

For our first offering of this type, we were thrilled by the results. We met our goal of contacting with at least 20 people, we created beautiful projects and memories, and we had a fabulous time!

From the pARTy event, directly into preparing card give-away sacks for local care giving facilities has kept us all busy.  Stamp to Cope received over 2000 hand made cards from survivors, support partners, and caring crafters around the world as part of our Reach Out Readers initiative with Card Maker Magazine. To close out our Breast Cancer Awareness month, we put together bags of these blank, seasonal, and occasion cards to be distributed this week to help share a warm greeting with those needing a special uplifting message.

Even though the end of October means the official end of Breast Cancer Awareness Month, it does not end for Stamp to Cope.  We are participating in the Women's Wellness Day on November 2 so stay tuned for an update on this wonderful event!  Thanks for stopping by and have a wonderful Halloween!
Blessings, Jeannette

October 1 is soooo IMPORTANT!

Happy October 1 everybody!!!!!

This day is so super important in my world!!!  Why you ask?  Maybe you think it is an anniversary date of some kind....no.  Maybe you are thinking it is some significant milestone date I have set for myself....no.  Maybe some special event is happening today that I forgot to blog about...no.  It is so important because today, October 1, is the day my husband brings up my Halloween Clothes from storage!!!!!!

Do not be deceived...this tub is HUGE!  For those of you who do not know me as well, beginning October 1, I wear something Halloween related everyday until my birthday.  It all started when my sister Cookie (Shirley) purchased a very pretty Halloween sweater for me for my birthday. (I think I was about 19) However, that same year my mother also purchase a very pretty Halloween sweater for me for my birthday.  Well, as much as I love my sister, Moms trump sisters every time, so I wore the sweater from my Mom on the day. But that made me realize I have so much cool Halloween clothing that I can't get it all in on one day. Why am I limited to only the anniversary of my birth to celebrate my life?...I am not!  Every year since that moment of discovery, I begin my birthday preparations through my Halloween clothing display on October 1 so I can enjoy them all. In truth, sometimes I have to double up or I won't get everything warn before the month is over!  So keep an eye out for my wild display which started TODAY  :)!

Another great thing about October 1 is that it is the start of Breast Cancer Awareness Month!!!! Yay! This is a special time for all survivors and partners all over the world. Stamp to Cope, Inc. has several things planned to show support during the month and we encourage all of you to participate in some way.  A new thing we are going to try this year is something we are calling Survivors pARTy! The funds raised from our Power2Give matching gift event earlier in the year is the basis for our ability to reach out in this wonderfully creative manner.  Thanks to all who contributed.  Below is the information I have been circulating and I hope you will share the news with others....

October 19, 2013 – Saturday

1:00 – 4:00 – open house style

Berea Arts Council

116 N Main Street

Berea KY 40403

 STC is throwing a pARTy for Breast Cancer Survivors! Join us for an open house event at the Berea Arts Council on October 19, 2013 from 1 – 4pm.  The celebration will focus on the power of arts and crafts in the survivorship journey.  Join us for give-aways, snacks, projects, and color techniques. Hope to see you there! 

Coloring with pencils will be one of the technique stations we will be sharing with survivors during the pARTy.  To get prepared, I have been practicing up on my skills. Using these beautiful digital stamps created by Dina Kowal of dkDesign Studios, I have been practicing my contours, dimension, and shading using both wax and oil pencils. It is so relaxing and quite addicting.  

As you can see, now that I have my clothes, my colored pencils, and our pARTy plans started, October is off to a GREAT start!  I look forward to some super events to share with all of you!  

Blessings,
Jeannette

Gelli Swirl

Hello All!

Surprised to see me finally post?! Thanks for staying connected and waiting so patiently :).  As with many of you, my life has been very busy and quite hectic these last few weeks... not complaining. but it has impacted how often I post lately. However, I did not want another day to go by without being creative and sharing this latest project with you. Before I get to the project, a reminder that Breast Cancer Awareness Month is just around the corner and you can be assured I have been focusing on our BIG event.  Mark the date of October 19 at the Berea Arts Council for the Stamp to Cope Survivors Celebration.  Thanks to everyone who participated in our Power2Give matching funds event, we will be able to put on a first class event... it is going to be great crafty fun with project stations, snacks, giveaways, and technique tables.  Stay tuned for more details as we get closer to the date.

Now, on to the project....

I wanted to share my continued fascination with the monoprinting technique. Using the Gelli Plate, I created this swirly background full of depth and color. Loving the mess and randomness...how does this work you ask? 

First, I inked up the gelli plate with acrylic paint spread around with a brayer. Then put a stencil on top and texturized around it with one of those shower fluffs (have no idea of the name but they usually come with bath sets at Christmas)

Once textured, I put a piece of white card stock on top of the whole things and used my hands to rub on the back of the paper to get the paint to lift from the plate to the paper. Once the paper is lifted, it has the print of the stencil.  BUT another really cool part is that the stencil is now full of paint on the underside so I turned it over and rubbed another piece of white card stock to get the opposite pattern.

Pretty cool isn't it..

  Word of warning...it is so addictive.

Thanks for reading and stay tuned for more exciting news from Stamp to Cope!  Have a great week.

Jeannette

Flying By to Say Hi

Greetings Bloggers!

Just a quick post to share a gift collection I created for a friend who loves music and birds.  The blue jay and magnolia blossom were colored using markers inspired by all those back-to-school supplies. The music notes were created by embossing a brown piece of cardstock that had a blue core.  Once the notes were embossed, I used sand paper to bring out the blue...messy but fun.  The jewelry set pieces are of Italian brass that has been embossed with a bird motif.  I painted on a patina in a variety of blue tones and then sanded down to reveal the embossed images once dry.  A clear protective glaze was added last to keep from tarnishing.  I hope she enjoys them.

A few STC updates....

Thanks again to everyone for a very successful Learnshop fundraising event. I am thrilled to report that we have been asked to participate (for the first time) in the winter learnshop continuation called 12 Days of Christmas.  I will share more as we get closer to the event.

One of my mixed-media canvas pieces was accepted for the Artisan Center exhibit CAPTURING THE ART OF SPORT.  This juried exhibit will run from August 31 - February 22 and gives STC another venue for fundraising and sharing our mission.

We started the planning for the October 19th Breast Cancer Awareness event supported by our Power2Give campaign contributors.  Lots of enthusiasm and excitement already.

The Madison County Breast Cancer Support Group invited us to woman an STC booth at the Women's Wellness event scheduled for November.

As you can see, we are headed for a busy time of out reach!  Hope you will join us!

Blessings,

Jeannette