This is phase 2 of the process of this page. I did some distressed ink backgrounds and rubber stamp letters. I have more to do coloring in the leaves and probably using some more text. "It hinders the creative work of the mind if the intellect examines too closely the ideas as they pour in." Friedrich von Schiller (1759-1805) or as Tim Holtz said in the class last weekend "Don't overthink it." 

The page is never finished

I posted this first page the other day but was not very satisfied with it visually. I went back to it yesterday and colored in the letter blocks and it became so much more appealing. It continues to reinforce two lessons that are important. The first is that any drawing that I do adds something to the page that is much more interesting than just design, or letters, or rubber stamps. The other lesson that continues to reoccur over and over is not to become discouraged with a page I have created because a design never has to be finished. If it doesn't look quite right come back to it, over and over if necessary, because it usually can be redeemed. That has definite application to my daily life. It is the story of process and journey not the destination or the finished product. I know I am a work in constant process. Sometimes the pages of my life are incredibly messy and ugly, but God is in the process of redeeming it and making it a design of beauty. He is the Creator and my days are just the pages in the process of His creation. I included the beginning of the next page and thought it would be interesting to watch the process as it evolves with color and words.
 

40 Days a second time

We (Peter and I) have embarked on a 40 day journey with the rest of Arcade Church. Jake has chosen to call this "40 Days of Community". I so enjoyed the structure of the first 40 days and being more intentional about my journaling so that I was more than happy to commit to this 40 day journey. I wanted a design template before even starting out, but I am finding it is more a process of discovery and you can't have all the questions answered in the beginning. It really does have to be a voyage of discovery. In the first few days I have learned a number of lessons. I was inspired by stampersanonymous.com for the layouts; they have some wonderful stamp art in their gallery. Today I decided I liked the idea of small little boxes in some part of the design for my prayers of the day. I want to keep finding just a few words from the Bible passage I am reading that day to highlight in my journal entry. I decided I will pick up something from nature each day from my walk/run. I will bring that back to draw the following day on my page. The lesson I have been learning from that is that I always like my pages better when I have drawn something no matter what it is. I thought it would be best to only take something from the walk that is right "at hand". I love the phrase "at hand". I was pondering the idea on my walk this morning about having a get-together-craft night in the neighborhood and just invite anyone who is interested. That way I could share some of what I have learned in the classes I have taken. That is just an idea for the first of the year. I also want to use some of my stamps and inks more often in the layout of the pages. There are always so many ideas, some of which work and others that don't and get left by the wayside.
We are reading the New Testament in this 40 days. It is more reading than I usually do in the morning so Peter and I decided we will finish in the afternoon. Already we said to each other it was really nice to come back together and read God's word later in the day. Speaking of the wayside just now I was reminded of the seed that falls by the wayside that we were just reading in Matthew. The Word "entwined" with the dailiness of life. It is very good and warms the heart.
 

Classes by Tim Holtz 2

Another project this weekend at the Stamp Art Shoppe was "Fireless Raku". The same clay used for the "clay fragments" was used for the Raku. We took the clay and pressed it into a mold. When it is removed from the mold it is baked in a little appliance called a melting pot. After baking it is then painted with "Perfect Pearls" interference colors and they come out looking like Raku pottery. The second picture looks like a typical rubber stamp image but we learned how to make our own customized ink pad to give they varied colors on the rubberstamp and be able to make multiple printings from the ink pad for that particular rubber stamp. It was very interesting but I was not completely satisfied with my color choices and I am not an avid rubber stamper. I don't know that I would use this technique. The third photo is a rubber stamp of the same Christmas image stamped in black but then going back into it with colored "distressed inks". Then it was placed in the "Memory Glass" frames amd some charms were attached. It has real potential for personalized Christmas ornaments with photos in the frame. It was a great creative weekend. I am not sure what I will do with all the ideas, but I enjoyed getting to learn some new techniques and now I get a chance to think about how to incorporate them into my own work.

 

Classes with Tim Holtz

I spent the weekend in 3 classes at the Stamp Art Shoppe in Roseville. Tim Holtz, a designer for Ranger Products, was the teacher. He was entertaining and an excellent instructor. The first picture is what he calls "fragments from clay". They come out looking like metal but are really just clay stamped with rubber stamps and painted with "Perfect Pearls". Most of the products mentioned are from Ranger. In the second class we made a small 90 page book. The signatures (groups of pages) are hand stitched together to make the book and then the book had two canvas covers on the front and back. The canvas covers were colored with "Distressed" Ink and then covered with a thin coating of beeswax. Then some collage materials were placed on top. I chose part of a Van Gogh drawing, a torn piece of my grandparents Hungarian marriage certificate (both of which I had printed on rice paper) and a piece of rice paper napkin. Rice papers work well because they are thin and become transluscent when covered with the beeswax. The canvas covers are then glued to the front and back of the book and the antiqued door handle is glued down. A few other little trinkets are added and the book is finished. I haven't yet decided what I am going to use it for. 90 pages is rather intimidating.