Love Letters

Is it Friday already?

I can hardly believe it's alrdeady Friday night... and I never would've imagined the Wings would be playing game 7, down two goals to 0 in the third period, at home to boot!!!  I need to calm down...

Here is my current Friendship Friday postcard, thanks to Marie, our host at Vintage Postcards...

Note the colors, Red White & Black - does it make any of you think of the Detroit Red Wings?  It should! :D  This card was made with black cardstock, painted and stamped tyvek, handmade paper scraps, a punched heart from watercolor paper, a punched square with scribbled writing, and a red ticket to some event somewhere... I can't remember where I got the red paper at the very top... it's came from a piece of cardstock, approximately 8"x10", with  cut out circles... what you can see is just a torn scrap of that piece of cardstock... I used a rubber stamp and red ink to do the swirly in the upper right hand corner and the 1959 down on the lower right.  There are gold speckles scattered randomly across the piece... it's Schmincke rich gold gouache, in its dry state, sprinkled around, while the acrylic medium was still wet.  

Friendship Friday Postcard

Here is today's Friendship Friday postcard I made for Marie's weekly Postcard project... 

I decided to up the color factor a bit, after last Friday's dark postcard, so I chose my favorite color and went to town... there's a bit of an EKG tracing of mine in there, a square of wrapping paper, some gold foil from a Ghiardelli chocolate bar, and even some transparent tissue paper with swirls... mixed media collage is just SO much fun... it's a great way to use up paper scraps that are too pretty to throw out, and include some meaningful things, too.  The word consequences came from a very old book (it was already falling apart, honest!)... I like the mystery of it... consequences. Perhaps there's a connection between those flames next to the word?  Certainly not intentional, but interesting at any rate!

Now, go make something!

Flourishes in the mail...

An envelope arrived at my house yesterday, not just any envelope, but perhaps the most beautiful envelope I have ever received in my entire life... it was sent to me by a calligrapher named Heather Victoria Held, and if you've never seen her work, you have now...

Here's an up close view of the flourishes at the top:

This was all done impromptu by a master penman (penwoman), and if she isn't a "certified" master yet, it doesn't matter to me... she certainly is in my book! (Heather may be a Master Penman, I just am not certain, so forgive me Heather, if you read this!)

In person, there are metallic inks in the drawings and it is truly spectacular.  

Thank you, Heather, I will treasure this envelope!  

Postcard Friendship Fridays part deux...

Here is this week's Friday postcard, done for a weekly project hosted by Marie at Vintage Postcards... (click on the image to see it in a larger format, please... it looks much better up close and personal!)...

And even though my postcard isn't vintage, these lovely folks have graciously welcomed me into the fold as a lover of postcard art... very cool.

(This is version No. 1, see version No. 2 below)

Perhaps a bit dark for this beautiful time of year, and it's not intentional, it's just the color palette I am most often drawn to, just not usually with so much black.  

The postcard started out white, and I did some hastily drawn letters that later I didn't like... so I tried to put a layer of pastels over the letters, which turned out okay... but being inexperienced with pastels, I put a layer of acrylic gel over it, to protect the pastels, and turned it into a smeared mess... so the next logical thing to do is to cover the muck with black gesso, right?!?  

OK, well, it's all I could come up with... so here's the final image... there's torn paper from a french book, torn paper I've done some calligraphy practice on, torn tissue paper, a tyvek square, and a paper heart glued onto the card... in the black gesso is some beautiful gold ink, which does not show up very well on this scan. 

 Anyway, good Friday greetings to you all... and now... :D

 GO MAKE SOMETHING!!!

Addendum to original post:

After a reader told me very bluntly, that this postcard looked like someone rubbed coal all over it, I had to agree, sort of... it was pretty dark to start with, and I wasn't especially happy with it myself... 

so, here is Friendship Friday postcard part deux.deux...

It's still quite dark, but I think it's a bit more interesting, and I am happier with it... can you spot the differences? :D

Paper Salad everywhere!!!

Today's newest and brightest idea of mine is to present you with my very own, unique "Paper Salad"... I'm offering a smattering of my paper scraps and pieces of calligraphy practice, all things I'd use myself, and do use, all the time! Lots of the paper is painted tyvek and it's beautiful... too beautiful to ever throw out!  When I teach classes I always bring my tyvek leftovers for my students to go through, to take as a sort of "give away" gift.  It makes me feel good that they appreciate how pretty these papers really are...

   There used to be an awesome paper store in Royal Oak, named Sheets... they carried incredible handmade paper, imported precious papers, and unusual cardstock, etc.  They did the same thing with their leftovers, and called it something like "Scrap Salad".  I LOVED it, because that way I could have small pieces of very expensive papers to use in my collage.  I couldn't have begun to afford an entire sheet of those specialty papers, nor would I have wanted to rip it up to use in collage!  

It's kind of difficult to really appreciate some of the papers... the metallic paints don't necessarily photograph all that well. But there is a nice variety of painted tyvek, calligraphy snippets, beautiful german written in an 1893 journal (see in photo below, on the left side of center), punched leaves and hearts from my painted papers, a few old tickets or cards or old book pages... and yes, scraps of some of beautiful handmade papers I've purchased over the years.

So here's my question... would anyone be interested in a side of "Paper Salad"?  I'd like to charge $10.00 per container, and will ship for free for the entire month of April (continental US only!).  I will happily put together custom orders, by color or colors... or you can just order a random "Paper Salad", and be surprised!  I didn't take the time to count how many pieces of paper is in the container, but I promise you'll love it.  If you don't, you know how to reach me.  

I don't have a Paypal account, and don't want one (long story, but I didn't do anything wrong... really!). If you'd like to order a salad, email me for my address, send me a check or money order, and I'll get your salad out asap, so that it arrives just as fresh as possible! 

And if you think this is a nutty idea, I'd like to hear from you, too... I know how much I like things like this, but I'm only one person.  I'd love to hear your thoughts! I will be giving away one Paper Salad to a random commenter, so talk to me!

So, please order something healthy for your studio, & now, go make something!

Thank you, Marion!

How cool is this?!? I am the lucky recipient of this fabulous card and envelope from Marion, who lives in Munster, Germany... what a treat to find this in my mailbox..thank you so much, Marion!!! I am really thrilled, thank you, thank you, thank you!!! It was definitely worth the wait!

I'm getting a bit nervous about getting everything done in time to leave Friday morning for "Conference"... I've only known for about five or six months that I was going to this conference, but do you think I'm even remotely ready to go?!? And do you think I planned for this last minute madness by taking any extra time off from work?!? I know, I really didn't have to ask that question... I'm an artist! I'm mostly right brained... I try really hard to only be logical at work, where they pay me to be left brained!!! I digress... back to getting ready... seriously, why on earth would I do anything in advance, that I could put off until the last minute?!? I mean, really... there's a five or six year old little girl "driving my bus" most of the time... as Mariah Carey said, "I'm basically twelve. You can't possibly expect a child to get ready on time, can you?!?"... you got that right, girlfriend!!! (giggle, giggle... tee hee hee!)

So, I'll do my best to post from the 2008 International Calligraphy Conference, if I can find the time. I have no idea what to expect as far as time to myself, so be patient with me if I don't post until I come home, the weekend of the 26th, okay?

Now go make something, and have a great day!!!

More mail art to go!

I didn't do such a great job cropping that card and envelope, sorry about that! It's a painted tyvek envelope and the front of the card is painted watercolor paper, with some stamping and writing on it. I hope my German pen pal Marion likes it! It will go in the mail tomorrow.

Another poor job of cropping in Photoshop... not sure what's wrong with me today, but this is a card I made for Lina, in Australia. Lina sent me a couple of Moo cards of hers, and I'm returning the favor. How fun to make new friends around the world, using a medium so many said would isolate us and turn us into hermits... addicted to the computer screen, incapable of relationships in the truest sense! Phooey on them, I say!

Hope you are all doing well...
I attended a dynamite calligraphy workshop this past weekend with an incredible artist and teacher, named Steven Skaggs, from Louisville, KY. Once I've had a little time to play at the computer, I'll post some work from the class. Definitely a life changing experience... and how cool to be able to come away from a workshop and say that, right?!?
Take care and have a good night, K.

Mail Art for a friend...

This is a card I made for a friend and sent out a few weeks ago. I'm kind of annoyed at myself for not scanning the back of the envelope, because that turned out pretty cool, if I may say so myself! I love the blues and greens, and if you look closely, there are letters in texture among the colors... it was done by laying down a layer of gesso on the Arches text wove paper, and then adding in ink and moving it around, before making letters in the still wet gesso, using a large, flat nib.

That same friend, Kim, at Queen of Arts blog site, has sent me some wonderful mail art that I wanted to share with you. And I apologize for taking so long to post all of this. I got sick on the Wednesday before Memorial Day weekend, and am just now feeling well enough to make art/scan art/post anything! It's just an upper respiratory viral type infection, but rapidly became much more when my asthma kicked in, and I'm blaming my husband for the entire mess (he was "deathly ill" with the same thing the week before me). I haven't worked since May 21st... tomorrow will be my first day back, and while I'm sure it seems pretty suspect that I ended up with all that time off around the holiday, trust me, it's been no picnic!!! Really... honestly... I have proof... my daughter's sick now... the house is a mess... I have prescriptions to treat this on my kitchen counter... I'm still wheezing... locusts!!! (Blues Brother's reference... sorry, couldn't help myself!).

Thank you, Kim for the gorgeous artwork you made and sent to me... it was a real treat to get your lovely work and sentiments in my post box!

This is a card Kim had printed through Shutterfly... how cool, right?!? This is an original Kim must've had printed, too, and then glued it to her own cardstock. Very clever and very nicely done! And this is the beautiful envelope I found in my post box, just waiting to spill all the goodies inside! Thank you, Kim! We will definitely have to do this again, and soon! And qui, Rendez-vous a Montreal, peut-etre!!! (I'm pretty sure I messed that up as a response, but it looks pretty darned convincing, right?!?)

More terrific Mail Art!

This bright and cheerful, happily received mail art was sent to me by Tina from Maryland... Thanks so much, Tina! I really, really needed that... your timing was perfect and I love the "Be Still" message... it's quite apropos to my life right now, so I appreciate your sensitivity. Don't you just love it when someone listens and really hears you?!? I need to get busy and send Ms. Tina a little something back!

Mail Art from Patty O'Rourke...

How fun is this?!? Thank you, Patty, for the awesome mail art... you have no idea how much I appreciate receiving something handmade, artful, and fun in the mail! And if you go look at Patty's site Paporartist, and scroll down to Patty's April 9 post, you'll see the mail art I sent to Patty. The groovy black and white paper behind Patty's creation above, is from Paperchase, found at Borders... is it too much? Who cares... I like it!!!
PS: Finally, someone turned off the snow, and we've had glorious Spring weather for the past three days! Thank you, thank you, thank you!!! Next post: Tales of the first bike ride of Spring, stay tuned!