Reaching Out

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There are few things that are as meaningful to a recipient as a beautifully handcrafted card that is totally unexpected. It tells them that they are special in the eyes of the crafter. This week I have reached out to several people who are special to me and who were not expecting cards. One was for a friend who will soon be leaving for China to teach for a year. Another was for a friend who helped me decorate for the farewell party for my soon-to-depart friend. A third card was for my teenage daughter who is away at her first job in a summer camp. I am particularly taken with a set of stamps by Inkadinkado called Asian Influence and used the same main image in all three cards.

I also took the opportunity to wish my brother in Seattle a happy birthday by making him a card, something I haven't done before. I find it difficult to make cards for men. You just can't use the same themes and colors as you would for women. In addition, I sent a special Thank You to my daughter and son-in-law in North Carolina who were kind enough to host my other two children and me on different dates, meaning that they had company in their home for about three weeks in a row but not all at the same time. I decided to use an image of a cat that I had never used before and color it black like their own cat. Their cat is a hunter who sometimes brings home dead birds, lizards, etc., so I added a little bird looking down upon the cat from the safety of a high branch.

I've been working like a possessed person deep cleaning my kitchen and bathroom. All told I have spent about a week scrubbing, scouring, bleaching and steaming grout, tiles and appliances. It's tedious, laborious and tiring as hell. Now that I think of it, how did I find the time to make all these cards?



Ballo ergo sum
- Gitana, the Creative Diva

Running in Place

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Things have not slowed down for me since my last post nearly a month ago. In fact it feels as if some things have speeded up. One thing that has been affected by all my activity has been my crafting, or lack thereof as the case may be. I managed to squeeze in a couple of cards yesterday. One is for my daughter who is away for a month working as an assistant camp counselor in the summer camp she attended during her childhood. It's her first job and her first extended stay away from home where she isn't with family. The other is a thank you card for her friend, Clarissa, who was kind enough to let my daughter use her cell phone to send me text messages while my daughter's phone was out of commission.

Before this current flurry of activity began, I had created a couple of cards for Asian card swaps but could not post them until after the swap closing dates. Now that those dates have passed I have included them here.

Much of my time has been spent in the garden weeding, planting and photographing. It is hard, dirty work and I love it but it has a draining effect on me. The pro: I sleep like a rock. The con: I'm too tired to sit at my workshop table and create. It can't be helped. I must work the garden while the sun shines. When I can carve a little creative time for myself, I'll be sure to post it here. Until then, take a look at my garden blog to see what's been keeping me so busy.

Ballo ergo sum
- Gitana, the Creative Diva

Crazy Busy

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I have been so busy that I haven't had time to post any of the things I've created recently. Two of the cards I've created are for swap contests so I can't post them until the voting has been completed.

I'm currently working on something I've never done before... a baby book/photo album. I'm not really into scrapbooking as I prefer cards but I wanted to make something special for the mother-to-be that she can hand down to her soon-to-be-born son so I decided to extend myself. It's more difficult than I would have thought but the more pages I do, the more I like it although I definitely prefer cards and ATC's. I'll post some of those pages in the future. In the meantime, here's a beautiful rainbow that I photographed from my front steps right after a sunshower.

Ballo ergo sum
- Gitana, the Creative Diva

Learning My ATC's

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Sometimes it's the littlest things that make me happy. I recently purchased some watercolor sprays and some clear acrylic stamps with Asian motifs. With my new toys in hand I proceeded to play and decided to make a few ATC's. In case you're unfamiliar with the term, ATC means Artist Trading Card. They are miniature works of art measuring 3-1/2 inches by 2-1/2 inches, the same as baseball trading cards. As the name suggests, they are traded among artists and others as a quick way to disseminate a sample of their art and to network. I love them because they are small, requiring me to work simply and allowing me to work relatively quickly. They also allow me to experiment with new techniques without investing a lot of time and material. If my experiment works, then I have learned something new and have a little work of art in the bargain. If my experiment fails, I may not end up with art but I have nevertheless learned something in the process.

The cards featured here are good examples of this. The background for each was created by spraying various blue and green shades of liquid watercolors onto watercolor paper. I should mention here that watercolor paper is specifically designed for liquid applications. Other types of paper can ripple and curl when wet. I spritzed with a little water then oversprayed with Tulip Sparkle Spray fabric glitter. The glitter is ultra-fine and very subtle. I learned a few things in this process: 1) if you don't dry out the paper between the various liquid sprays you run the risk of having the colors run together and get muddled. (If this is the effect you want, it's not a problem); 2) What appears to be a splotchy mess when wet can turn out to be a beautifully interesting background when dry; 3) I should have sprayed a large sheet of watercolor paper and then cut it down into ATC's. It would have saved time and materials.

In the first card I experimented with two techniques: bleaching and color lifting. After the background dried (with a little help from my heat tool) I stamped the lovely geisha in black pigment ink and embossed with black EP. The leaves and the kanji symbol were stamped in dark green dye ink. I used an Aqua-Flo waterbrush filled with bleach and painted inside the geisha image. All the color disappeared, leaving a nice clean canvas for my coloring which I accomplished with Prismacolor watercolor pencils. I laid down the colors, lightest color first, then blended them together with another Aqua-Flo brush filled with water to create the ombre effect of the kimono. After she was completely colored and dry, I went over the image with a Versamark pen and embossed with clear EP. For the kanji symbol, I lifted the color out by brushing within the image with water then immediately blotting the color while still wet. Each time you do this the color becomes a little lighter, allowing you to control the amount of color you wish to lift out. After I lightened it to my satisfaction I added some green and yellow shading with watercolor pencils. I also added dark blue shading to the diagonal corners of the ATC. I slowly dragged a dark blue Prismacolor marker around the edges, allowing the nib to contact the paper long enough for the color to bleed slightly creating a subtle border.

The second ATC was a learning experience of another kind. After stamping the bamboo stalks in dark blue dye ink, I stamped the fan in gold pigment ink and embossed with gold EP. I intended to bleach out the color from the bird cutouts in the body of the fan. Turns out the ink I used to stamp the bamboo would not bleach out. Of course it wouldn't...it was dye, not watercolor. I didn't think about that. Now I had to find some way to cover up the distracting bamboo stalks that were peeking through the fan. I used gel pens in various shades of blues, greens and aquas and colored in the cutouts, not really expecting a satisfactory result and resigned to chalking this up as a failed experiment. I was happily surprised to find the next day that the gel ink dried opaque so the bamboo no longer showed through the fan. This is one of the those pieces that had to grow on me before I took a shine to it. What I learned from this exercise was patience and faith: the patience to allow the art to mature in its own good time, and faith in my own abilities as an artist to work through an apparent obstacle.

Art offers more than just beauty. It offers life lessons too.


Ballo ergo sum
- Gitana, the Creative Diva

Full Circle: Lovely as a Tree

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The card featured here was the prototype for a birthday card for my daughter's friend, someone whom she describes as a "tree lover" so she wanted the focal image of the card to be that of a tree. She had seen and liked several tree sketches I had done with oil pastels on the paper I use to protect my worktable. I had been testing several different packs of pastels to determine their viability so I just used the paper that was in front of me. They were only "throw-away" sketches to me (see below) but she liked them enough to "commission" me to draw a tree for her friend's card.

I created the tree on white vellum using Prismacolor fine line markers for the trunk and branches and Sakura Cray-Pas for the leaves, blending the leaf colors with a small wad of paper toweling barely dampened with mineral spirits. I was going to leave it at that but the tree seemed to beg for more surroundings. I started by simply filling in the foreground with regular Prismacolor markers to create the grass, adding details with the fine point markers. Before I knew it, I had created this entire country scene complete with barbed wire fencing and tiny little wildflowers. I added background details with colored pencils and used oil pastels on the back side of the vellum to create a soft sky and clouds. Drawing on the back side softens the effect of the color and also prevents smearing of or blending with the leaves of the tree. (Click on the pictures to see a larger image.)

When I was done I realized that I had combined many of the traditional materials and techniques I had been taught as an art student years ago with the materials and techniques I have recently learned as a papercrafter. It was a very gratifying experience and I was quite pleased with the outcome. Not so, apparently, for my daughter. She loved the scene but said it was not what she wanted for her friend. She wanted the rough draft tree she had seen on my workshop table. So be it. I recreated the rough tree on another card. She put the finishing touches on it and gave it to her friend at school. She reported that he loved his tree card. Although I was initially disappointed that my scene was not to my daughter's liking, it actually turned out to be to my advantage. Now I get to keep the card that was so gratifying to make and draw further inspiration from it.

My present avocation is bringing me right back around to my past training. This grounds me, makes me feel more secure. Life, when it works, truly is a circle.

Ballo ergo sum
- Gitana, the Creative Diva

Shimmering Dragonflies Tutorial

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This card began as simply playing around with some new stamps and liquid watercolors and ended up as a deliberate attempt to reach out to a daughter struggling with the rigors of raising a rambunctious and challenging boy. You can read the background story here.

Materials:

- Dragonfly stamp: Stamp Zia,
- Stamp Zia Color Wash Jewels liquid watercolor sprays (assorted colors)
- Black Staz-On ink,
- Watercolor paper
- AquaFlo pen filled with bleach (or a small paintbrush and a small dish of bleach)
- Dark green cardstock (for mat)
- Watercolor pencils and gel pens
- Versamark embossing pen and clear embossing powder
- Base cardstock: Astrobrights Glisten pearlescent cardstock in Re-entry Red.
- Peel and stick flowers: Petaloo Fun Flowers collection
- Copper dragonfly brads
- Epoxy sentiment: Sticko Bookworks by EK Success
- Narrow sheer white ribbon layered onto slightly wider gold ribbon,
- White vellum
- Rotary cutter or fancy edge scissors
- Tape runner and/or spray adhesive
- Gold paint pen

The background was created by randomly spraying Color Wash Jewels over a large sheet of watercolor paper. Colors used were Blue Topaz (blue), Ruby (red), Emerald (Green), Citron (yellow), and Tanzanite (purple). The background was then cut down into smaller pieces suitable for background use, in this case 5" by 3.75". The edge was gilded and the background was randomly dotted with the gold paint pen.

Dragonflies were stamped onto the background with black Staz-On ink. The inside of the stamped area was then brushed with bleach to remove the color. Watercolor pencils were used to color the image as desired.

After coloring, entire image was gone over with a Versamark embossing pen and embossed with clear EP. This really makes the colors pop. When EP cooled, this process was repeated to produce a smooth, satiny finish over the image.

Cut a piece of vellum slightly longer than the width of the background and approximately three times the width of the ribbons using a rotary cutter with a fancy edge blade (I used Fiskars Victorian blade) or a scissor with a decorative edge. I did not use any specific measurements here--just judged by eye. Gild the edges with the gold paint pen.

Cut the layered ribbons to the same length as the vellum and adhere them across the center. Adhere the vellum/ribbon layer close to the bottom edge of the card as in the photo. I used spray adhesive because it is invisible under the vellum and will hold well on the watercolor paper. I have noticed that sometimes it is more difficult to get things to stick on a watercolored background.

Trim the ends of the vellum/ribbon layer flush with the edge of the background layer and mount it in the center of a piece of dark green cardstock that was cut 1/4 inch larger all around than the background layer.

Arrange the flowers as desired, choosing colors that accent those used in the dragonfly stamp. Add an epoxy greeting and a couple of dragonfly brads and your cardfront is complete.

Cut pearlescent red cardstock to 8.5" by 5.5" and fold in half to create a 5.5" by 4.25" (A2 size)card base. Center the cardfront onto the card base and you're done.

**Dragonfly Symbology
The dragonfly lets us see past the illusion, letting light in so that we can see what we need to see to make our lives better. When we've tricked ourselves into believing that the limitations of physical existence prevent us from changing and growing, dragonfly medicine teaches us to pierce our self-created illusions. The dragonfly reminds us to let our colors shine by using the light within.
** taken from The Earth Angel Connection

Ballo ergo sum
- Gitana, the Creative Diva

Mother's Day

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No matter how much in advance I attempt to make my cards, I always seem to find myself rushing at the last minute. Lack of time management skills, I'd like to say, but the truth is that I get carried away doing things for fun and not paying attention to that which needs attending. Such was the case with my Mother's Day cards. I found myself in a mad rush to complete my cards and get them into the mail before the post office closed so that they would be delivered the day before Mother's Day and not the day after. When I work in that manner, I really don't have too much time to think about clever compositions or unique layouts. I tend to concentrate on the person for whom the card is intended and attempt to create something that is meaningful for them. Sometimes I have something to work with, such as a favorite color, favorite flower or motif. Sometimes, however, I either have no information to work with or I have too much which, although it may seem like a good problem to have, sometimes is worse than having nothing. The three cards featured here are each an example of these various scenarios.

For my mother-in-law, I asked my husband to tell me what his mother's favorite color(s) and/or flower was. He gave me that blank stare that men produce when they haven't got a clue but don't want to admit it. After browbeating him into extracting said information from his sister I was told that his mother liked white roses and the color burgundy. With these parameters I went to work and the first card above is the finished product. Because my mother-in-law is Spanish-speaking I made the greeting on the face of the card in her native language.

For my sister in-law's card I had no information whatsoever but I knew better than to call and ask my brother for any. No doubt I would have gotten the telephonic version of the blank stare followed by an eloquent line of BS. I decided to forego that route and create a card featuring an intricate butterfly painted in interference watercolors that glimmer and change colors as you tilt it to the light.

The last of these cards was the most difficult for me to create. It was for my daughter. One would think that I would know enough about my daughter to make this an easy task but the opposite was true. Of course I know my daughter but I wanted to say something special and personal to her for Mother's Day, something that was just between us. This dilemma bedeviled me for days until it came to me in the wee hours of the morning when I was bleary-eyed and drained from creating my sister-in-law's card. My daughter's name, Ava, means bird-like , something that is not common knowledge even among my family members, so I resolved to create a card with a variety of bird and bird-related images. You can see the results above. Although the layout is what I would consider a bit on the blah side given some of my other work, I was more concerned with the message I wished to convey.

It wasn't until I had completed these cards (as well as cards for my mother and sister) that I realized there was a common thread running through most of them...the aspect of flight. My daughter's card features birds while the cards for my mother, mother-in-law and sister-in-law all feature butterflies (also known as a symbol of transformation). I suppose this similarity of motifs is indicative of my inner desire to transform and take flight. Whatever the reason, my Mother's Day card madness is over for this year. Now to survive the Mother's Day weekend.


Ballo ergo sum
- Gitana, the Creative Diva

A New Look

I've decided to freshen up my blog's look with a new template so if things look different to you, you're not mistaken. Let me know if you like (or don't like) the change. Stay tuned for more creativity in the future. Thanks.


Ballo ergo sum
- Gitana, the Creative Diva

Bold Contrast, Geometric Lines and a Dash of Asian Flavor

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As I mentioned in my last post, I have been making Asian-influenced cards for Mother's Day and I promised to give the details on how I created the card on this page. Here's the scoop:

Materials:
1. White A2 sized card (4.25" by 5.5" folded);
2. 1 sheet glossy black cardstock;
3. 1 pc Asian motif patterned paper measuring 4.25" x 5.5";
4. 1 pc gold paper measuring 3.5" x 4.75";
5. 1 pc Asian motif patterned paper measuring at least 4" x 5" (for one oval);
6. 1 pc white cardstock measuring at least 4" x 5" (for one oval);
7. 1 set EvoTemplates Ovals;
8. Stamp images of your choice. I used an iris stamp and a butterfly stamp;
9. VersaMark embossing pen;
10. Clear embossing powder;
11. Heat gun;
12. Pale dye ink to coordinate with your paper (I used Whisper Designer Ink in Tulip Yellow);
13. Ruler and a sharp craft knife;
14. Markers or your choice of coloring medium;
15. Clear spray sealer (I used Krylon Clear Finish);
16. Adhesive of your choice (I use 3M 77 spray adhesive but a strong double stick tape or quality glue stick should do the trick.)

The following items are optional:
- Two dragonfly brads or embellishments of your choice;
- Versamark ink pad
- Aztec Gold PearlEx pigment powder
- Repositionable tape

Directions:
1. Place the 4.25" x 5.5" of patterned paper on the face of the white card. Glue in place, trim if necessary and set aside for now.

2. Cut a 3.75" x 5" piece of glossy black cardstock. Set aside.

3. Cut a 3.5" x 4.75" piece of gold paper. Set aside.

4. Using the fifth largest oval (from smallest to largest) in the EvoTemplates set, cut out two from black glossy CS, one from white CS and one from the patterned paper. (FYI - this oval measures 3.5" x 4.5").

5. Measure and cut three inches from the end of the two black ovals and the one patterned oval. Remove and discard the smaller ends.

6. Measure and cut 2.5 inches from the end of the white CS oval. Remove and discard the smaller ends.

7. Stamp your images on the cut white oval and color in your choice of medium. (I used Prismacolor permanent markers because they will not bleed in the next step.)

8. Go over your stamped image with a Versamark embossing pen. (If you used a coloring medium that is not permanent and colorfast, spray first with clear sealer and allow to dry before using the Versamark pen.) Emboss using clear embossing powder and the heat gun. I find this really makes the colors pop.

9. Lightly sponge over the exposed white cardstock with the pale dye ink, being careful not to cover the white completely. You just want a hint of color.

10. Optional Step: Lightly sponge on Versamark ink over the yellow ink then very lightly dust with gold PearlEx powder to give it a faint shimmer.

11. Using a clean paper towel or rag, carefully wipe off the embossed areas to remove any excess ink and/or PearlEx. Spray with clear sealer.

12. Now to assemble the concentric oval sandwich. Things can get a little tricky here. First align the flat edges of the stamped white cardstock and one of the black ovals. The black should extend about a half inch beyond the white. Glue them together.

13. Align these two pieces with the edge of the cut piece of gold paper but do not glue down. (Optional Step: Use a small piece of repositionable tape at the flat edge to hold them in place while you arrange the other two pieces.)

14. Slide the other two pieces underneath the first two and arrange as in the photo being sure to alternate the papers to create the contrasting effect. They should all extend out from each other approximately a half inch. You can fiddle with this a bit if you prefer.

15. When you've got these last pieces placed where you want them, hold them in place and remove the black and white layer. Make a pencil mark along the flat edge of the patterned layer. Remove it and do the same with the last black layer. Now that you have marked their positions, you can adhere them into place in the proper order, starting with the black oval on the right and working your way back to the left. Turn it over and check to see that the ovals lie within the edges of the gold paper. If not, carefully trim the edges.

16. Center this "sandwich" on top of the previously cut 3.75" x 5" piece of glossy black cardstock and glue.

17. Optional Step: If you want to add embellishments, this is the time. I added two copper dragonfly brads, angling them for visual interest. By adding them at this point, the prongs do not show in the finished piece.

18. Center and glue the assembled pieces on the card with the patterned front that you set aside at the very beginning.

That's it. You're done. Step back and admire your creation.

Some ideas:
- Although I prefer the bold contrast that black offers, this design would work well with a coordinated palette of colors for a subtler contrast.

- If you substitute glossy white cardstock for matte cardstock, after you have completed embossing your image you can ink or brayer the background in the style of Michelle Zindorf. Check out her blog if you're not familiar with the work of this fabulous artist.

- I don't use Nestabilities dies so I'm unfamiliar with the sizes available but I imagine that those could be used to cut the ovals (either simple edge or scalloped). The size of the base rectangles may have to be adjusted to fit those ovals.

- With some further adjustments, this design could be used to create a "booklet" type card with each oval opening as an individual page. Just imagine flipping each oval and revealing a line of Haiku on each page

Did you like this project? Then show me what you've got. Email me at gypsiwoman55@yahoo.com with your creation and your work could be featured on my blog.

Thanks for stopping by. Hope to see you again soon.

Ballo ergo sum,
- Gitana, the Creative Diva

Asian Influence

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I have always had an affinity for Asian cultures, especially Asian decorative motifs. I recently joined the Oriental Stamp Arts Yahoo group (OSA) and have been inspired by the beautiful artwork created by its members. This week I have begun working on Mother's Day cards with a decidedly Asian flavor.

The first card began with a self-imposed challenge to use a Cuttlebug® die to create something other than for what it was intended . Using the 4-pointed blossom from Cuttlebug's 2x6 Flower die #37-1508 (indicated with a red arrow in the illustration at left), I cut several flowers from a green-gold iridescent vellum, then used the inner cut-outs as leaves for the stylized tree. (I'll save the flower petals for another project.) I also punched small blossoms from the CB 2-step Paisley die in gold foil, then drew in a slender trunk and branches for the tree. An elegant Asian woman was stamped under the tree and colored with water color pencils. The card appeared to lack something so I began to draw in some details by hand and didn't stop until I had created an entire background scene. Two hand fans were stamped on the inside front of the card, also colored with water color pencils. The edge was colored with a marker, deliberately dragging it to give a ragged appearance. This card is a departure from my usual style in that it has very few layers (only two -- leaves and blossoms) and is predominantly hand drawn.

The second card is a variation of a prize winning ATC design I created for a vendor challenge some time ago. I'll give the details of its construction in the next posting.

Thanks for stopping by. I'd love to hear what you think of this post. Please feel free to leave a comment. Thanks.


Ballo ergo sum
- Gitana, the Creative Diva

(Cuttlebug is a registered trademark of Provo Craft and Novelty, Inc. All rights reserved.)