Contest on Spotted Canary

Contest on Spotted Canary

It's up! You'll want to learn all about the new Spotted Canary Contest. You could win naming rights for a character in Book #3 of the Kiki Lowenstein Scrap-N-Craft Mystery Series.

Go to...http://tinyurl.com/lyru9n

And while you're there, check out what a super site this is for crafters. You'll find everything you need to put FUN back into your hobby world. Here's the site: http://www.spottedcanary.com

Why visit a craft site?

This isn't just any craft site. Most of them have a LOT of promotional information for their products and very little information with projects. However, Spotted Canary is a unique design, reflecting a different philosophy. It's goal is to be a world of information, of like-hearts gathering, for crafters. Yes, there are ways to find products, but that's not the PRIMARY goals.

In the months ahead, we'll be doing more and more activities with Spotted Canary, such as posting on their blog and adding articles. Additionally, they've agreed to help us in supplying prizes, and supplies for the many public appearances we make to promote Kiki Lowenstein.

So get involved now and watch us both grow!

The Wisdom of Mary Engelbreit: How to Live a Creative Life

All of us in the creative world have role models and heroines. One of mine has long been Mary Engelbreit. Last Thursday, thanks to the nice folks at For Keeps Sake Scrapbooking Superstore, I had the chance to finally meet the woman whose career I've followed with admiration.

I didn't think to take notes...which is unusual for me. I was too stunned, to tell you the truth. I figured she would be distant from all of us. She's a superstar. I didn't expect her to be approachable. But she was.

Mary made a short presentation and took questions. I'll try to share what I remember:

* She started by saying that if you choose to make a living of your creativity that you need to give up control. Her point was that there will be ups and downs, high-points and disappointments.

* She owes so much of her start to the support of her parents. As a child, she came home from an older friend's house where she saw her first art studio and announced to her mother, "I need my own studio." So her mother turned a closet into Mary's work area. "It was about 120 degrees in there," says Mary with a laugh. (Anyone who's lived through a summer in St. Louis can understand exactly what that must have felt like.)

* Which led to her advice, "Surround yourself with supportive people." And if the people around you aren't supportive? What if you have a boyfriend, best friend, whoever and that person can't share your vision? She said, "Get rid of them." (And let me say that this was the only time in her presentation where Mary seemed cut-and-dried. She said this with such utter authority that you knew she was speaking both from her heart and from experience.)

* I asked her how she handled career set backs. She said, "You can be upset about them. For about a week. That's it. Then...I always think, 'Okay, now I can do something else with that time.' You can't get bitter."

* I can tell you that she's a lifelong learner with a total lack of pretension about her skills. She mentioned at one point that she's unable to do illustrations that are representative art. (In other words, she can't draw one of her people and make that person look like someone living.) When she learned that you can use the blending tool of a Copic pen to lift color, she immediately asked Nancy (who teaches Copic marker use at For Keeps Sake) to come to her studio and give her a lesson! "I didn't know that," she marveled about the pens. "Hmmm."

* She draws for five or six hours a day. Once in a while, she doesn't want to work on her art. But, when that happens, she says, "Deadlines are great for inspiring creativity." After she gets started, she "gets into the drawing." She starts with pencil sketches and works to get them just right. ("I wish I could just do pencil sketches," she says with a sigh. But she knows her audience loves her sense of color.) After the pencil drawing is perfect, she goes over it with ink. Then she lays down color with markers. Finally she goes over the markers with colored pencils.

* I asked her if she ever made a mistake with the colors she chooses or whatever. "In the beginning," she says with a half-smile of remembrance, "there was a lot of throwing and stomping around. Now...I see the finished product in my mind. Besides, things can always be fixed with computer." (But she quickly admits she knows nothing about computers. She does have someone who works with her who is an expert.)

I've asked if I can come take Mary and her assistant Beth to lunch. Stay tuned!

You know, I wore ME colors to the event and a special pin that I thought she'd like. By golly, she honed right in on the pin....did my heart do a flutter-kick or what?

PS Does she scrapbook? She hesitated. She looked at us. We looked at her. Finally she said, "Uh, no. But I sure own a lot of scrapbook paper! And I know I should!"

Easter Album Part II

Want a template for this big egg and the hand-colored bunny? Email me at savetales@aol.com and put BUNNY in the subject line. I'll also throw in the pattern for the muslin bunny show on other panels!


FIRST INSIDE PANEL

Somehow I picked up a water glass coaster of chipboard from a Westin hotel where I stayed--and it was shaped like a BIG egg. You can get a hand-drawn template of your own by emailing me at SaveTales@aol.com and putting BUNNY in the Subject Line. I cut two pieces of paper using the egg as a template. I punched a 2" diameter hole in one of the papers. Behind it I layered a piece of clear plastic (acetate, I presume) from packaging. Then I prepared my "scene" on the other piece of egg-shaped paper. I layered this bunny embellishment and punched out leaves, etc. Finally, I assembled the whole shootin' match.

Tip: You can use the foam area between the Pop-Dots. Just cut it to size, as I did here to lift the egg shape with the clear window higher than the "scene."

Tip: I found the flowers behind the egg in the parking lot of Michaels. I always watch the ground as I walk in and out of that store. It's amazing how many pieces of silk arrangements drop to the parking lot. So, I'm being thrifty, green and I'm helping keep the world free of trash!

SECOND INSIDE PANEL

I put a strip of mesh across the bottom of the panel, then I added the running bunny art that I hand-colored. (You can get a copy by emailing me at SaveTales @aol.com) I added a piece of contrasting patterned paper, a cut-out of a design on a piece of patterned paper, and the "Cute" button.

Tip: Sometimes paper will have shading on the edges. If you cut it into a smaller piece, there will be shading on two sides, but not on your new cuts. So...you can distress the edges by sanding them lightly or use chalk or ink to color all four edges. Never let the way your supplies come dictate how you use them. You're the artist here.

THIRD INSIDE PANEL

This is sooooooo green. Not only did I use a piece of green paper, but...that silver embellishment on the lower right? It's the lid off a frozen juice can. Inside is the 2" circle I punched from the egg on the FIRST INSIDE PANEL. The outside rim is a scalloped circular punch. The images inside are a rubber stamp of a basket of flowers ( Stampin' Up) that I hand-colored, and a punch of a bunny which I raised with Pop-Dots. I filled the depressed circle inside with glitter glue.

Tip: Layer the glitter glue inside. First squirt in a ring of glue. Let it dry. Add another layer. This gives better thickness and coverage than one pass.

The "button" is Martha Steward punch of a button. (There are so many times when you don't have JUST the right button, and this punch--though pricey!--allows you to create a customized button that's perfect.) I layered the faux button over two flowers I punched out.

FOURTH OUTSIDE PANEL

First I trimmed a piece of laser-cut paper. Remember, this paper will need special attention from you--you have to be sure to dab a little glue under the pieces so they don't stick out and get torn off. I added a big die cut of a bunny. The Easter Eggs embellishment I made with the clip art from Microsoft Word. To the eggs and to the bunny's eye I added blue glitter glue. The backdrop for the embellishment is that circular scalloped-edge punch.

Tip: Very carefully dot glitter glue onto the scallops. But first, squirt out a little glue to get out any bubbles. Keep a toothpick close at hand and a cotton-tip swab so you can "correct" any dots that are mis-shapened.

FINAL NOTES

Tying ribbons to the circular rings helps stabilize the whole project when it's standing up. You could use tie all the panels together with ribbons, but this seemed more sturdy. Be careful that you don't locate your holes (which you must punch--forgot to tell you that!) too close to the edges or too far from the edges of your panels. If they are too close, they could pull loose. If they are too far, the rings won't fit.

ENJOY! Happy Easter! If you see someone wandering the parking lot of your neighborhood craft store, tell her "Hi." It's probably me!

PS Don't forget to click on the FOLLOW icon to the right. Otherwise you won't know when I post a new project.