Makeup Jennifer loves 365 Cards

Hi!

Just wanted to let you know that The Stamping Boutique is sponsoring 365 Cards challenges this week.

Today they are doing a sketch challenge. You can check it out here.

Happy Crafting.
M.E.

Paper Flower Tutorial

Hi!

Wanted to share my tutorial that I did this week for PCP.

Paper Flowers Tutorial

Happy Crafting.
M.E.

Have fun storming the castle - The Stamping Boutique blog hop

Hi!

Welcome to The Stamping Boutique blog hop.

We are introducing Tracey's new Medieval Collection.

To provide a little more motivation I'm sharing these 2 videos with you today.



My post was a little late today. Sorry, I've had some health issues. I'm still
waiting on the results for a skin biopsy that my Dr. did.

If you would like to join the blog hop it starts here.

This is my card. And why I'm going with the storming the castle motif.

Materials Used:

Stamps: The Stamping Boutique Prince Gael

Paper: CM Bountiful Designer Paper pack

Ink: Sharpies, Copic E00 Skin White, Bic Mark-it Blue Skies Blue, Honey Brown, Oceanview Blue, Moonstone Yellow, Yellow Blaze, Key Lime, Stone Grey, Cloud Nine Grey, Lemon Bliss, Uniball Gel Impact pen Silver

Happy Crafting.
M.E.

MLK Day

It's MLK day and I figured I'd share a few quotes from him.

Almost always, the creative dedicated minority has made the world better. (Martin Luther King, Jr.)

The art of acceptance is the art of making someone who has just done you a small favor wish that he might have done you a greater one. (Martin Luther King, Jr.)

Artists' Homemade Christmas Cards

A new exhibition of seasonal greetings from artists such as Alexander Calder and Philip Guston celebrates the handmade holiday card

• By Abby Callard
• Smithsonian magazine, December 2009

Read more: http://www.smithsonianmag.com/arts-culture/Artists-Homemade-Christmas-Cards.html?utm_source=webtoc200912-December&utm_medium=referrals&utm_campaign=SmithMag&utm_content=cards##ixzz0cPo2xCSG

Americans last year sent more than two billion Christmas cards, and a great many bore a familiar sentiment printed in an overseas factory and boxed for mass consumption. The more than 100 holiday cards in a new exhibition at the Smithsonian's Reynolds Center for American Art and Portraiture, each one designed by an artist for personal use, represent a fresher approach to a tradition that is for many of us, let's admit it, something of a chore. Most of the exhibition cards celebrate Christmas, while several acknowledge Hanukkah and the New Year. They were selected from the Archives of American Art's collection of artists' ephemera, which also includes journals, sales receipts and snapshots.

The thick brushstrokes and cartoon-like blazing fireplace in Philip Guston's 1970s Christmas card are unmistakably his, reminiscent of his darkly primitive renderings of hooded Ku Klux Klan members. "Right away you see that style, but it's happy," Mary Savig, one of the exhibition curators, says of the Guston image.

In 1929, Alexander Calder, best known for his wondrous mobiles, took time out from Cirque Calder, the wire-sculpture circus he showed in Paris and New York City, to create a playful linocut New Year's card, perhaps the exhibition's most ribald season's greeting.

A 1989 card by Pablo Cano, a Miami-based Cuban-American artist known for his marionettes, depicts a dove in a swirl of blue. "This would sell well," says Savig, who, as it happens, worked for a greeting-card company in Minnesota during high school. "Doves always sell well."

But the cards in this exhibition weren't about making money. They were for friends, family and maybe a gallery owner or two. Not meant for public viewing, they give us an intimate, unguarded view of artists doing what we count on artists to do: break through the canned sentiments and commercial clutter of their time to make a personal statement.

Check out the awesome cards here.

This exhibit is so inspiring to know that not only do us crafters/stampers make our own homemade cards(or at least aspire to) but that actual artists who have art hanging in galleries do too.

Hopefully today I'll be able to craft a card or two. For now, I'm busy organizing my craft room and doing a load of laundry.

Happy Crafting.
M.E.

From TAC - While Supplies Last!

www.theangelcompany.net

Remember you can always contact me at cr8iveme_at_gmail.com if you are interested
in this special.

Happy Crafting.
M.E.

TAC's Giga Grab Bag

www.theangelcompany.net

Feel free to contact me at cr8iveme_at_gmail.com if you are interested in this
special.

Happy Crafting.
M.E.

Stamp Spree!

www.theangelcompany.net

Remember you can always contact me at cr8iveme_at_gmail.com

Happy Crafting.
M.E.

Did you know ...

that January is National Hobby Month.

Rubber Stamping Blog

By Kate Pullen, About.com Guide to Rubber Stamping

National Hobby Month!

Monday January 5, 2009

January is National Hobby Month, so this is a great excuse to try your hand at something different! If you are new to arts and crafts, or perhaps have thought of yourself as not being particularly creative, then why not give rubber stamping a go? One of the things that I really enjoy about rubber stamping as a craft is that while at one end of the scale many experienced rubber stamp artists produce wonderful and detailed work, at the other end complete beginners can produce great results with the absolute minimum of supplies or skills. I love the fact that people who have never had the opportunity to be creative before can quickly make their own handmade greeting cards or add their own personal touch to a whole variety of items.

If you are still not sure, take a look at Rubber Stamping for Complete Beginners for more information. If you would like any help and advice to get started then you are welcome to drop into the Rubber Stamping forum and pick the brains of our friendly stamping community.

Rubber stamping is a good introduction to other crafts too. Many stampers learn more about other arts and crafts such as painting and drawing or use stamping within other crafts like scrapbooking, jewelry making, pottery and cross stitch. There are many other exciting hobbies to have a go at - take a look through the About.com Hobbies Channel for more ideas.


If you are new to stamping or scrapbooking and would be interested in learning more about it feel free to email me at cr8iveme_at_gmail.com, I offer classes in my home or would be happy to do a One-on-One in your home. I will also send materials and instructions if you are not in my area.

Happy Crafting.
M.E.

New Year's Resolution 2010

HaPpY NeW YeAr!!!!

Sorry, I know it's already day 2 into the New Year and this is the first chance
I've posted anything personally.

And that's what brings me to my New Year's Resolution.

I hope that with your encouragement I'll actually be able to accomplish these goals.

So let me begin.

Resolution #1 is for me.
To start to get to feeling better and exercise more. (I have my Wii Fit to help
with that, just need the motivation.)

Resolution #2 is for the blog.
I'd like to have regular postings. (This may mean that I get everything ready
ahead of time. I do promise that if I do this I will make sure that all the
pictures that go with the post are up. I've noticed on some other blogs that the
pics don't always come up because they've posted way too far in advance and
wound up removing some of the pics on their computers to save space. So they
don't show up on the posts.)

Resolution #3 is for my business.
I'd like to start scheduling monthly crops/classes in my home.(Which is fine by
dh, except that I need to keep my house cleaner ahead of time. Currently there
are 2 couches in my living room, the 1 I'm sitting on now then behind that is my
coffee table and behind that is 2nd couch.)

Resolution #4 is a way to bring in more revenue.
I think I'm going to look into opening an Etsy shop and posting the cards I
make onto there for SALE. (Since I love to create, this shouldn't be a problem.
It's just the pricing part that I'm worried about since Etsy takes a cut of the
profit before I see it. And I'd like to be sure I'm making my fair share.)

Resolution #5 is the reason for all the other resolutions.
I'd like to try and have a baby this year. And I need less stress in my life, to be
more healthy, and to be able to quit my job. My dh makes enough money for
me to be able to stay at home except that if I did that now I wouldn't be able to
do the things I love like create. Currently, I get an allowance to help provide for
my supplies and materials for my projects. And if I were to quit my job, now,
we wouldn't have enough for me to continue to get my allowance. Which would
mean no crafting. Which would make me very sad. :(

If you have any suggestions or comments please feel free to email me at
cr8iveme_at_gmail.com

Happy Crafting.
M.E.