The Joy of Making

This card was inspired by a discussion on one of the groups I belong to. So many very talented and creative people have been made to feel second rate and that their work is somehow inferior by unkind comments or by the arbitrary use of labels. One of the group's members signs his name as Owen, Maker of Small Things. When asked about his signature line, he explained that it came out a discussion he had with a friend after a recognized person in his art world told him that he should not consider himself an artist, that he was an illustrator. "But a friend of mine in Wichita, KS gave me a hug, a smile, and some words of wisdom:"Hon, you're a Maker. You make things. It's other people that make them Art." Owen went on to say "She's a Maker, too. She has almost no money at all, so she makes beautiful things out of nearly nothing. Paper, glue, paint and Love. Twigs, autumn leaves, wire and dried flowers from her garden. Cast-offs no one else wants, she turns into beautiful things. She sends me drawings and brightens my world. She makes me proud to be a Maker.
Bottom line: I'm a Maker. I have a driving need to believe, to create, to do. I'll try anything. Who knows where it will lead?"

Owen Wolf - Maker of Small Things
(quotes used with permission from Owen Wolf)

I take great joy in making stuff. I can lose myself for hours during the process. For me, it may be more important than the finished product. That others enjoy what I create is an enormous blessing. I am proud to say that I am a Maker.

Card Details: The main image is from the Ooh Baby plate from The Stampsmith. It is stamped with Memories black on glossy cardstock and coloured with waterbased markers applied with a paint brush. The spin art background is made with acrylic paints , cut out with a Spellbinders die and edged with a Krylon gold pen. The mesh background stamp is from Stampington and was stamped on the base card using Versamark , the dots are SU and were stamped with green versafine. The white vinyl Joy sticker was made on my KNK electronic diecutter -font is PassionsConflictROB

Dragonfly pendant

This layered art clay silver pendant was made using molds made from buttons. The buttons are reproductions of antique ones and have marvelous details. I used Ranger Mold n Pour, a 2 part silcone mold material, to make the molds. This was my first time using my new kiln and after the almost instant gratification of torch firing, I found that I had to exercise some patience, waiting for the complete firing time. But I am pleased with the way this turned out. The pendant was antiqued using liver of sulphur. I still have difficulty in getting good photos of the silver, I will have to keep working at it.

Supplies used- Slow dry Art Clay Silver, liver of sulphur, Ranger Mold n Pour, buttons

Another spring card

This spring card features one of the Flapper images from Estelle, the Stampsmith. She is stamped with Memories black on glossy cardstock, and coloured with chalks and watercolour markers used as paint. The flourish from Inque Boutique was stamped onto the background paper with grey Memento ink. The green panel was embossed with a cuttlebug folder. Distress inks were used to edge the card and to make the embossing pop. A pink ribbon and brad finish the card. I love the soft effect the greens and pinks give this card.

Supplies used - flapper stamp the Stampsmith, flourish by Inque Boutique, Memories black ink, Memento ink london fog, waterbased markers, chalks, ribbon, brad, glossy cardstock, various SU cardstocks, cuttlebug folder

Happy Spring!

Spring has finally arrived here after a couple of false starts. This image always speaks to me of early spring when the fruit trees start to bloom. She is from the Le Jardin plate at Oxford Impressions and all the background stamps are from the French Script plate. She is stamped in Memories black on glossy cardstock, and coloured using water based markers as paint and chalks. The background was done with various colours of Ranger distress ink and London Fog Memento ink on a matte coated cardstock.

Supplies used- all stamps Oxford Impressions, Ranger distress inks, Memento ink, matte coated cardstock from Paper Cut, various other cardstocks from SU, water based markers, chalks, pearl embellishments

New cards

Suzanne at Oxford Impressions has a new plate of script and background images called French Script. I paired these images with some from one of my favourite Oxford Impressions plates called China dolls. In this one, I used the acrylic paint resist technique that Tim Holtz has on his site. I used a gold acrylic paint dabber for the resist and various distress inks to complete the background. The girl is stamped with Memories black on glossy cardstock and coloured with water based markers applied with a paint brush and with chalks.



This image uses distress inks for the background on matte coated card stock and the background image from Oxford Impressions is stamped with Memento Cocoa. The girl is stamped with Memories black on glossy and coloured with markers used as paint and chalk.


Supplies used: stamps from Oxford Impressions, Ranger distress inks and paint dabber, glossy card stock, matte coated cardstock, memories black ink, Memento cocao ink, various water based markers, chalk, ribbon, brads.