Found a fun thing!

If you are like me, every morning you are deluged by emails from people and companies whose products you have either browsed or purchased.  I have a filter program which allows me to quickly unsubscribe if I want, but there are some I'm addicted to looking at!  And I'm always interested in what new products are being presented.

I couldn't resist clicking on the link to see what on earth a "stamper's secret weapon" might be.  I'm not much of a stamper, but curiosity is something I was born with.  Lo and behold, I found a product that is -- I'm sure by accident -- perfect for parchment craft!  It is shown to the right of this post... and I found it at Amazon.

This pad is soft on one side (can be used for embossing) and has a surface on the back side that can be used for perforating.  Now, please understand that this is NOT the professional grade product that I sell from PCA in my ParchmentCraftUSA.com store... but it is something you can toss into your bag or your car to have handy for emergency parching while you're waiting for someone, or keep in your bedroom for late night parching practice if you are a beginner as I certainly am.  And if it gets beat up with this new use, you haven't broken the bank!

Of course it is a perfect surface for stamping (what it was designed for) but since my mind is always on parchment craft lately, it was a "eureka" moment for me.  I'm going to try to get this product into my store, but if you want one for now, please click on the Amazon link at the right... and of course, I'll get a tiny commission.  It's lightweight and easy to handle, and is even a good surface for the adult coloring that everyone seems to be doing these days,

Get one and try it!

Preserving memories my way

My grandmother only knew how to make one kind of cake.

When I was very small, she kept me while my mother worked as a substitute teacher.  It was World War II and all the male teachers had been drafted.  These were long days for a three-year-old and I'm sure I was a burden for my grandmother as she went about her daily chores.  This house was in the country, so there was a garden to tend and eggs to gather. I would churn butter for her in a wooden churn that was nearly as tall as I was, and crawl under the house for her to help find eggs the chickens had laid.   But once in awhile she would make a cake.

My grandmother's cake was a yellow cake, with flour, baking powder I guess, one egg, and sugar. Her frosting was always a thin, crusty mixture of sugar and water, maybe an egg white, with pineapple chunks mixed in.  It was a very, very sweet cake.  But when she mixed the batter, she'd ask me to help stir in the mixing bowl, which was a large green crock.

My mother ended up with many of my grandmother's dishes, and when she herself went into a nursing home a few years before her death, I asked her if I could have that green crock.  It was far back in the cabinet in her kitchen, and although it had been occasionally used to make cornbread and such, it was not going to be used anymore. She said yes, so I took it to my home in Houston.

Somehow after it came into my possession, it got broken.  Sixty-five years of use, at least, and in my house it got broken!  I was heartsick.

I saved a piece of it, which amounted to half the bowl, vowing to do something with it one day.  I tried making a painting of it, but that wasn't really preserving it and I was terrified that the piece I had left would get broken or lost.  I hung onto it.

Now, years later, I have come up with the solution, and I am happy to share it here.

I mounted it on an 11x14 wooden frame, by pouring plaster of Paris around the base. I added some modeling paste on top of that, and when that dried, I added a leveling product to fill in cracks.  I thought of making it into a planter (and I still might) but for now, I cut a piece of styrofoam to fit inside for artificial flowers.

I was going to buy flowers from Michael's, then I remembered, hey, I can make them!   I wanted large ones.  I looked on YouTube for ideas, but the only large flowers anyone was talking about were HUGE flowers -- not what I meant by large.  I finally scanned one of my flowers from one of my favorite punches, enlarged it to the size I wanted and cut it on my Force in two colors of yellow.  In my studio I still had stamens and stems from flower making several years ago  (that's why I keep everything within reach!) and gradually remembered how I did it.  I avoided using the glue gun, and tried other ways of putting them together but I think it's going to take the glue gun after all because they don't stand up exactly the way I want.  And I may add some greenery.

The last thing to decide was how to finish the frame.  I decided I wanted the entire focus to be on the crock itself, so I painted the frame and the plaster background the same creamy color,  similar to buff titanium.  The flowers, in yellow, are just perfect for this project.

The wood frame, with the heavy crock and even heavier plaster, will be difficult to hang and a plain old picture hanger was not going to work so I settled on large eye-hooks and a chain for hanging.  I was going to add a wooden support across the bottom but I don't think it needs it. If this comes apart someday after I'm dead and gone, I hope my granddaughters will value this enough to fix it.  It wouldn't be difficult.

This is my way of paying tribute to the memories I have of people who are now gone.  I have something beautiful to see every day.  In the last photo, and behind the crock in the frame, is a milking stool my granddad used during those same years.  I sanded that and painted it pink.  It now holds live ivy which adds even more to my studio.

I don't like visiting cemeteries.  I much prefer to surround myself with pleasant reminders of simpler times.

I love it!

But the flowers need more work.

How to successfully punch shapes from thin tissue... without going nuts

I found a a beautiful paper napkin at the dollar store that I absolutely love, and I have collaged it onto just about every empty box I can find!  I even put it on one of those manikin heads you can find for wigs.

I decided I wanted to top one of the containers with a flower made from one of my favorite punches. This is very thin tissue indeed, particularly after having removed the inner white lining from the napkin.

I slid it into the punch, and this is what I got:

 Not only did it not punch properly, I had a dickens of a time getting it out of the punch.   So disappointed I was!

I refused to give up, and to make this flower to position it where I want I was going to need more than one of these shapes.  Then I thought, why not just "fool" the punch, and lay the tissue on top of a piece of cardstock?  Not adhered to it, because I want only the tissue for this particular project.  And it worked! Here was the result.. and it gave me, of course, extra flower shapes from the cardstock for a future use.

Simple solution, right?

I love my EK punches, but they are getting a bit cranky.  I had to use some WD40 on them this week because the springs were not too springy anymore.

SO happy at having found this solution!

Happy long weekend.

Craft packs are now available as part of the studio clearance!

Studio clearance going on.  Really!


 It's been fun coordinating all these things and making extra die cuts to supplement, as well as cutting out pop-up bases for step cards or whatever anyone would care to use them for.  However, the biggest problem I can see (these are heavy-duty boxes, about 9x12x2) is the shipping cost.  eBay really encourages free shipping but I don't quite know how to price them reasonably and offer shipping too.  I'll figure it out.

The browns and all their accompaniments are my favorites.

Because I have the parchment craft supplies site, and now the studio clearance, I have been trying to tie it all together so that once I have all this put up, I'll have time to PLAY!  I want to get back to painting, and collaging, and have some female heads in foam that I found at JoAnn's that I am anxious to play with.

I also have created some 5x7 bullet journals to include with the craft packs, just for the last six months of the year to introduce people to the idea of bullet journals.  I love using mine, and I really do need a way to look at the month as a whole when remembering all the commitments I have -- including what day my mini-Aussie gets her heartworm meds.  Anyway, I am taking more photos of the craft packs later today.  That is, after I finish hassling with the eBay store inputs.

Do you also set up self-imposed deadlines?  I'm really bad about that!  Balance -- time to play -- is essential.

No wall space? Build one!

I think I'm finally happy with my studio arrangement!

Sure, I've organized, re-organized, boxed up, donated or thrown away bunches in the past several years.  But one thing I realized: if it's not attractive to me, I can't accomplish anything in here.

I've been making lots of paper houses and working on a design that I can share.  That means lots and lots of trial cuts and changes, so that also means I have dozens of little houses.  And I want to SEE them, so I set up some displays just for me.  Not only do I like to look at what I've made, I get inspiration for more projects.  I found little people on eBay and of course, the houses have to fit the people, right?

But for my own satisfaction, I had to divide the studio into specific task areas. By that I mean separate the papercrafting area from the painting space.  To do that required a wall.  When this studio was built I never thought much about the need for wall space for displaying things, because I filled up the walls with shelves.  And I never thought about leaving space for a do-nothing area.  (Once in awhile I do need to turn my brain off and rest.)

I found some fence boards in the garage, left over from our new fence last year necessitated by a windstorm.  It occurred to me that I could use them to frame a pegboard wall, attach it to my workbench with a 2x2, and I even added a hinge to the wall so I could "open" it if I needed to expand one or more of the areas.   This pegboard wall is just for the latest thing I made, or painted, or collaged, until it finds its ultimate home.  Sometimes things need to "sit" awhile before I decide whether I'm going to add to it.  And sometimes I need to sit too!

The plastic you can see is hanging over from the painting area.  (I have learned to cover as much as possible when I'm slinging paint around.) I learned from Bob Burridge to use 4ply plastic and I use it for everything.

I also built a three-panel divider and covered it with burlap, and I pin more inspiration there.  So when I come into the tiny studio, I am met with reminders of why I do all this and not just stunned by the chaos!

In the first photos above, you see that I had to find places for my scroll saw as well as my cutters, which meant then I needed a work table smaller than I've used before.  For now it's a card table but that will probably change.  My original 30x72 table just wasn't working anymore.

There is just no way, with all the years of creating things and accumulating tools and materials, that I can have one of those little neat craft areas one finds on Pinterest!  That might work for someone just starting out, or someone who does only one type of activity.  In my case, I run a parchment craft supplies business, create greeting cards, and construct die cuts for papercraft packs soon to be offered on my site.  Which is why I've been behind on blogging.

I'll try and do better!

Organizing a la Tiffany Spaulding

Some time back I bought some of those giant page protector-type pages that are divided for craft supplies, but I could not justify paying -- at that time $90 -- for the binder they fit in.  I placed them in a regular 3-ring binder that certainly wasn't deep enough to hold the pages but it gave me a place to start.  You can see how messy that was.

Then I ran across her organization "classes" on YouTube and became inspired to make a binder from chipboard.  I covered it with Contac paper and suspended three dowels in the sides, with little screw eyes to hold them in place.  I can easily add things this way.  Her particular binder has about 7 3-ring binder things (no clue what to call them.) glued in the back and if I ever find such things I may change my construction.  But for now, this is much neater.

At this point I had not figured out how to keep the dowels from slipping out, or how to also make them easy to remove.

I didn't have any wingnuts, but I finally decided to use the screw eyes.  They are easy to remove.

Further,Tiffany Spaulding's classes had even more ideas and I ended up not only sorting things by color, but taking inventory -- and classifying -- the entire contents of my studio.  Let me enthusiastically recommend her organization classes.  I think I have indicated before that I live with my daughter and her family, and they probably have not spent an hour in my studio in the past six years, so they have no clue what is out there or where to find anything.  Well, now they do!  I listed every item, from embellishments to power tools in a key format, which shows not only what there is but where it is.

Tiffany's idea to number boxes, much like a library system, means I no longer have to have things in view in order to remember they exist!

The embellishments I use most often I have placed in drawer organizers under a fiberglass-topped work station, and photographed them for myself actually.  I have spent far too much valuable time looking for things and now that is over!

See how helpful?  I have tiny charms that can be used in mixed media as well as in the little window cards I like to make.  And all those sequins for shaker cards...

She also suggested something that makes perfect sense: why not just keep 5 or 6 pages of each color of paper within reach and store the remaining stock (catalogued of course) for replenishing later.  I am also creating some craft packs to be donated to nursing homes or schools.  I have enough materials to start my own distribution center.

This has been very helpful to me, since I jump from making greeting cards to now, making little paper houses and furniture.  And finally I am beginning to work on the several albums I must finish, which include many old pictures from my mother's collection as well as my own.  I have some collage projects that are waiting to be completed and I really would like to get back to painting.

My studio is now efficiently arranged with work tables for specific tasks.  I have an area for painting, for gluing, for constructing and for "thinking."




AND I just received the new cutter, the KNK Force, which is an amazing piece of equipment that cuts not only paper but plastic and thin wood.  I'm still learning what it can do.  (If you buy one through my link, I'll get a commission of course, but in any case, go look at it!)  It is brand new and the software is in beta form but is being worked on to the point that everything should be complete by the end of the year, I hope. For now, it will perform the basic functions of cutting, engraving and embossing. There is a Facebook group made up of all of us who just received our machines and are finding out what it can do.  There is some amazing creativity on display.

Back to work!  I am working with tiny people (commonly used in model train set-ups) to populate my tiny houses.  I will have to modify some of them with clay and paint to get the kind of positions I need them to have, and that will be fun!

So little time, so much to play with!

So much to play with, so little time.... random thoughts

As I re-re-organize after completing a major project, I always find things I forgot I had.

Not as messy as it looks!

I found a big stock of white tissue paper that I've probably had for a long time, and decided to cover all those little boxes I saved from Christmas.  Each time someone got a small technology gift or something else with a clever box, I grabbed it and so this week was the time to either cover them, paint them, or toss them.

I decided to spray paint the tissue paper until it was soggy, then let it dry overnight.  I cut or ripped it up into pieces and using ModPodge, covered all the little boxes I could find.  For now, I just have them stacked around the studio (space is still at a premium) until I decide to use them as containers.

Even with labels, I have trouble finding things that are not in clear containers, so I'm not sure yet how I will use them.  Some will hold finished greeting cards, some will be shipped off with craft packs I am making up, and some will stay around just for decoration.



While I was on my ModPodging projects, I covered a cheap wood frame that I had bought years ago for a future project, so that I could display the photo of my little doggies, both of whom passed away from old age within the last several years.  They were my studio companions for a long time and just recently I decided to get another little friend and adopted a Mini-Aussie rescue, a 7-year-old female named Lady.  She is what is called a "velcro-dog" so she stays with me every minute.  I need that.  It gives me someone to talk to besides myself as I work.

Lady, my Mini-Aussie

Four Free Parchment Craft Patterns for Beginners

At ParchmentCraftUSA.com I have uploaded a pdf of a few simple designs for beginners (like me.)

Since I discovered this craft last spring, I started the web store with minimal inventory, and I think the beginner kits are the very best thing going.  I've just ordered more, because I really would like to see more US parchers (which is what we are called in the UK.)  Most of the templates are sized a bit differently than we American cardmakers use, but you can easily make your own envelopes to fit.
Or, as I have done, adapt the size to A2.

I carry only PCA materials, and can order anything to add to someone's order or to my inventory if it becomes a popular item.  I'm not looking to stock a warehouse, just enough to get us all supplied with the necessities.

This beginner kit teaches you how to use templates, as well as parchment

 and the basic small embossing tool.  

Like other mixed media enthusiasts, I already had a few embossing tools for metal or clay, and I find those work too.  (You have to start with something!)  But as I follow the parchment artists from around the world, I am amazed at what they can do with the proper tools.  So, I do have a few shaped perforating tools and different sizes of the embossing tools as well.

Please tell all the papercrafters and cardmakers you know in the US to join me in learning this new craft.  It is really gorgeous.  Visit what I have at ParchmentCraftUSA.com and let me know what you think.

So after Christmas cards, what shall I make?

As I have said before, I am fascinated with little houses.  Little houses to live in, little houses made of clay, of wood, and this week I'm making them of paper.  These are only about 3"x3".

Last night I made three little houses of parchment.  That's even more fun, because the doors, facings, shutters and other decorations can be embossed while the little house is still flat.  I figured that out when I made one of chipboard, and then later was gluing on doors and shutters... it takes a pair of tweezers and steady hands.  So the next ones get all that before the folding and the gluing! (Sometimes I'm slow at figuring out things.)

I have lots of templates for little houses, but I found one on Pinterest that I really, really like.  I have cut several from cardstock and chipboard on my Pazzles, and embossed by hand three of them last night from parchment.  As I work, I think of new things to add to each.  The paper houses are difficult to keep "square" so I do that with another piece of paper sized to the floor, glued from the top before the roof is added.  Before I cut more, I am going to add the floor to the original piece.

The cardstock houses have Duralar clear plastic windows, and I designed the shutters and rooftop with Corel Draw.  Obviously the chipboard houses are the most sturdy, and then I paint them and add glitter (or not).  One has snow (white embossing powder) and one has "grass" (Flower Soft.)  It would be easy to add a battery-powered tea light inside.  I am thinking of spray painting one with the mirror spray paint I bought for no reason.

I got a catalog from Nasco and among all the pages of paper products, I saw patterns that include roofing, bricks, etc.  The only problem is the patterns are on glossy paper.  Glossy isn't my thing.
Then I remembered I can do the same thing in CorelDraw, and design what I want for the house as I go.  I'm not doing this in mass quantity!  But Nasco is a great place to get nearly everything for crafting, and they sell in quantity for classrooms.

I saw some things in that catalog that I nearly ordered -- but I stopped myself!  First, I need to finish finding proper places for the thousands of dollars of "stuff" I have already!

How to keep your craft room neat

The first way, of course, is not to do anything in there after you've straightened up!

For some reason, after a project, in which I am totally focused and adding things I forgot I had each time I open another drawer, I turn around and see that it looks like a tornado has hit!  I don't know how that happens, but there always seems to be a day at least of cleanup!

I just finished making dozens of Christmas cards (all different) and saving pictures of things I found on the Internet along the way with more ideas for future projects, and this week is the week of cleanup.  Which means reorganizing.  Which leads to finding things I forgot I had, ergo more ideas for more things to make.  I am determined to use up and/or give away everything I've accumulated during the years, but since I keep getting more stuff, it's like one step forward, two steps back!

Last week I saw the most astounding craft table online. (See photograph) So I've been busy trying to create just that situation with a large piece of plexiglass I have on hand.  It has come to the point in my life that if something is not in a clear box or other see-through container, I will forget about it. Everything is labeled, even the drawers.  This comes from excess possessions, I am sure.

I laid the piece of plexiglass atop a rolling cart I bought some time back.  It has metal shelves, and holds plastic drawers on each level.  On top of the drawers I put some drawer organizers which allow for little stuff that I can now see through the table top.  The only thing is the plexiglass is much wider than the cart and I am going to have to stabilize the ends with something.  As soon as I find my yardstick, I'll figure out what length and then go back to Home Depot for 2x4s or something like that, I think if I create a u-shaped support for each end, that will work.  There's nothing I can do to expand the space I have, so I keep finding new ways to store things where they are easy to get to and visible at the same time.  Visible is very important to me these days.

One thing your craft room has to have is a large trash can.  Some things I used to save -- like bits of leftover cardstock (maybe could be used for trim one day?) I have come to be able to just let it go; there is only so much time in the day and the days fly by.  We have a recycle pickup every other week and paper is definitely a recycle item.

Often I find wasted space in my craft area.  There are things I don't want to discard (like all my clay tools) but don't plan to use them anytime soon.  These are items that can be removed from view and even moved someplace else, like the garage.  But let me recommend you create an inventory of sorts, so you can (1) remember they exist and (2) where you put them.  And be careful that just thinking about that doesn't start you off on a new rabbit trail.... like "hey, I think I'll do clay stuff today."  You don't get anywhere like that!

I have a huge box of jewelry supplies -- beads, findings, pendants, and bezels.  Last week I needed a chain for a project I was working on, and dug the huge container out from under my bed.  Then I got all fired up about jewelry, but I tamped that down quickly because for one thing, I hardly ever wear jewelry, and too, I have dozens of pretty bracelets that I have made that I don't know what to do with. But I am now thinking of taking the jewelry supplies out to the studio and putting them instead into a see-through drawer in case I need something.

A few years ago a new mother began saving all her baby food bottles for me, and I was happy to get them because they are great for mixing acrylic paint and saving it while working on a particular project.  This year I dug them out again, cleaned them up, and they will be little vessels for hand scrubs my daughter makes!  They're easy to label, and wrap with a bow and square of paper or cloth.
See?  There was a reason to keep those.  But little by little, things are getting used and moved on out.

The next idea bubbling up from somewhere is to put together "craft packs" which include an assortment of materials at a low price.  I see some on various websites that cater to scrapbookers, but what I have in mind is more a mixed media melange.  Customers would only need their own scissors and glue to make use of them.  Stay tuned.

10 ways to know if you are a craft/mixed media junkie

There are some addictions we just have to acknowledge, and decide whether or not there is a real downside.  Here are some ways to know whether you are addicted to the habit of crafting:

• 1.  You see a bottle or jar someone is getting ready to throw away and your heart beats a little faster.
• 2.  A package comes in the mail; inside is corrugated cardboard or tissue and you grab it to save for someday.
• 3.  You see a new paint additive in the hardware store and you immediately think of ways to use it.
• 4.  The neighbors put something on the lawn for the weekly heavy pick-up and you really want to go examine it before the truck comes.  Sometimes you do, and you bring it inside.
• 5.  You go to Scrapbook.com regularly to see what new products there are this week, even if you don't order anything.  Mostly you realize you already have that.
• 6.  When you go to Amazon just to order something simple, like coffee or a book, you end up clicking on all the recommended items that relate to making stuff.
• 7.  Your craft room is full of things you cannot use in a lifetime.  You obsess over organization.
• 8.  You spend entirely too much time on Pinterest in the DIY sections, and hours on YouTube watching tutorials.
• 9.  You want to order every new die cutting machine that comes on the market.
• 10. You pore over every craft store mailer just in case there's something they have at 40% off this week that you don't have yet.

And there are lots more signs, like when shopping you drift over to the craft supplies area just because.

Well, these things certainly apply to me, and to a few of my acquaintances.  I think that's one of the reasons there are so many exchanges and swaps online for cards and handmade gifts.  And the groups!  There are so many exciting things to learn from other people.

But here is the downside:

There is only so much time in a day, not to mention a lifetime.  In my case, I figure I have maybe a decade left, and assuming I can still create things during the remainder of my years, I still won't be able to use everything I have accumulated in the many ways I can imagine.  I have been working on de-stashing for several years now, yet it seems that each new fascination or project requires maybe one more product... so for that reason, I have lots and lots of supplies, every type of adhesive that exists on the planet (except silicone glue.  What is that anyway?  I keep meaning to do a search on Amazon and get some.) and every type of paper made.  I have even learned to make paper, so I have the screen and supplies for that too.


And painting substrates: I have canvases, cardboard, mat board, board-board, and watercolor paper. I have fabric paint of all types.

Oh, and speaking of fabric, last year I learned to hook rugs, so I have those supplies, and then I saw a video about rag rugs so I am building a frame for that.  I'm done making quilts.

I have supplies for making art journals, scrapbooks, binding machines, brads and I LOVE making little books.  I have clay and clay molds.  I have the oven for that.  I have woodworking supplies and carving knives.  And I'm not even talking yet about the Dremels.

Recently I discovered parchment craft, so I set up an online store for that since I found supplies hard to get in the USA. That's taking time (and another addiction) too.

I have never had much success with Etsy, but I am about to start making little craft packs, and various die cut shapes and putting them up for sale somewhere.  I recently sent a lot of my hand-made greeting cards to a nursing home I know about, so the staff can give residents birthday cards when they need one.  I like that idea.  An acquaintance of mine is doing paper crafting on a volunteer basis in another senior center, so I sent a big pack of "stuff" to her,  I don't mind sharing because my stock of that sort of thing is boundless.  On my "to-do" list this week is to contact local activity directors of nursing homes to see if they could use things like this.

There are so many things I want to make.  Each time I go into the studio I see something I have been planning to do, but since I'm in the middle of whatever I'm doing right now, of course I can't get to it. I have photo albums and scrapbooks of my own that need finishing.  I recently found some sketches I did of my granddaughters when they were babies and I thought saving those all together in one scrapbook would be a great idea.  I went to a used bookstore and found a big hard-back childrens' book and gessoed it to use for that purpose.  I started it.  It remains unfinished.

So to me, this is the downside.  I see other people quite happy to relax once in awhile, to just read or watch TV and sometimes I envy them,  But my addiction compels me to keep trying to finish all these fun projects.  I think my fantasy is that if I keep at it, I will finally use up all of my supplies and then I can relax and do nothing.

By the way, I just ordered a new super-duper does-everything cutter! I can't wait til it gets here!  Just think,.. then I can make stencils, more wood ornaments and frames, templates, engrave more materials....

Now I have to go find that silicone glue.

How to keep your pens from drying out

You know how those white gel pens dry out so fast, right?  And how when you have a favorite ballpoint pen and the cap gets lost, the pen dries out sooner than you'd like?

Well!  I just found a second use for the great tool caps I sell on ParchmentCraftUSA.com!  Last night I was working with a white pen, tracing a design, and misplaced the cap.  I realized then and there, that my extra tool caps could serve more than one purpose. 

Just thought I'd pass that along!

Parchment Craft USA

Two simple parchment designs for a beginner

 This card is from Linda Williams book on beginning parchment craft.  I mounted it on a light blue cardstock after coloring the back with Prismacolor pencils.

This card is from a PCA Christmas template and I painted the back with red Pan Pastel.  Pan Pastels blend nicely on parchment, but this time I used only the one color.  Then I decorated my tree with gemstones.  I plan to do future trees with additional colors, and some rhinestones.  You could certainly use pearls too.  Also, in parchment craft, you can get really creative with additional background patterns, cutouts etc.  I didn't want to detract from the tree itself on this one, since I tend to be rather simple!

I'm making many others this week, which I will post as they are complete.  One thing to remember when learning this craft is not to hesitate to throw away your mistakes!  It's why you need to have plenty of parchment on hand.  Get it here in the US from me -- it's why I carry it.

It's October -- and we're shipping!

My recent networking since the birth of Parchment Craft USA has connected me with some tutors (unfortunately not near by) so I'm basically still on my own, learning this craft!  But at least now I have the inventory for other beginners.  So come by the site and see what you need to get going on this addictive zen-type craft!

My own creations are definitely those of a newbie.  Don't be critical.  I'm getting there!

I much prefer white work.  Adding backgrounds is next.

Yes, it's time for Christmas art.  These two were framed with die-cut pieces left over from scrapbooking.

This one is my favorite.  The paper is actually kraft color with gold spots... but here the scanner shows you only one.

This one was colored with oil pastels.  Not sure I like it.  I prefer Prismacolor pencils.

Parchment Craft USA is up -- shipping after October 1st!

Finally found the solution to getting parchment craft products in the US!

I started carrying them myself.  So if you are interested in learning all about parchment craft, which is quite popular in other parts of the world but not so much yet in the US -- go check out the site for not only products to be shipped throughout the continental US actually from the US, but tips and tricks and other resources.

There are also some shortcuts in embossing parchment background patterns with the Make the Cut software that I love so much.  But I do enjoy the quiet meditative process of handwork and I am learning.  Self-taught of course, because there are no tutors anyplace around here.

By the way, I never found the gesso, but I did find my car keys. They were underneath some files for my art journal.  No clue how that happened.

With a spirit so willing...

I lost a gallon of gesso somehow.

It seems impossible, but I don't see it anywhere.

Yesterday I lost the C plate to my Cuttlebug, and while I was using it.  Still haven't found it.

Several months ago I lost my complete set of keys -- car, house -- and it was quite costly to replace that key and remote for the car.  I found the keys last week.  They were in a box under my bed where I had several folders of things saved for my art journals.

No idea how the keys got in there really, although I can surmise.  And I still need the gesso and the C plate.  I'm optimistic that at least one of them will reappear.

I wrote recently that this getting old process is wearing thin, and this is the sort of thing I'm talking about.  I still have lots of projects I want to complete while I'm still able, and I feel as though I will be able for a while yet.

I found a large square children's book at a used bookstore last week to make an art journal.  The book doesn't have many pages, it's about 12x12 and is perfect for what I want to do.  Thus, the need for
gesso to begin preparing the pages.

When this sort of thing happens, my creative urges get overrun with frustration and a feeling really close to anger which can quickly move into depression.  Then I start questioning what the heck am I trying to do here?  Do I really need to make this particular journal now?  Of course not!  But the anger comes from feeling that things are a little more out of control now.  To be using something and have it disappear, well, that happens more and more lately.  I have a lot of things going on right now, none of which would seem essential to anyone else.

My focus the past several months (has it been that long?) has been learning parchment craft, which is so relaxing and meditative.  In the evening with something on television or an audio book for company, I trace and emboss until it's time for lights out.  It feels like I've only been doing this for a month at the most, however, this is September and I see some files I downloaded in May on the topic.
This is what I mean about feeling out of control.  The time is whipping by and I am trying my best to keep up.

(During the past month too, I had a bout with a computer crypto virus which wiped out all my photographs and clip art, and believe me, there was a lot.  I got the virus off my computer, thanks to the Geek Squad at Best Buy, and thanks to Carbonite, most of the files were restored.  After that I upgraded that computer to Windows 7 from Vista, and this studio computer from 7 to Windows 10. Now I find that they are both old enough to be slowed down by these newer operating systems, and of course Best Buy would like to sell me a new desktop computer.  But really, what do I need a computer for?  Just think about it!)

I have a smart phone.  I have a tablet.  Both of those things can blog, or read Facebook funny quotes, and check Twitter to see whether a tornado is coming our way.  I can't do graphic arts or use my cutters on those things but the computers I have still work (as I am currently demonstrating.)  But because I am retired (translation: too old for anyone to hire) the desperate need for a whiz-bang computer is really just not here.  As I daily remind myself.

You see, when people say "the spirit is willing but the flesh is weak," it's not always about sex.  It sometimes applies to people like me with an inborn entrepreneurial bent, and we are absolutely driven to create, or produce, or do whatever it is we can do.

Keeping busy is a good thing, at least it is for me.  But now I have to deal with all the things that go with it because of the change in my circumstances, putting it kindly.

I really do wish I could find that gesso.

Have you tried embossing on parchment?

I only began seriously trying to make greeting cards earlier this year.  I have a mailing list for the extras, as it seems there are many groups operating to mail cards to various people, whether they are residents of nursing homes or hospitals, some even to people actively serving in the military.  I find that I make a new card for specific friends of mine rather than drawing from the stack of premade cards I have done.

Lately I have tried my hand at embossing on Pergamano parchment.  This stuff is not cheap!  I can do a few patterns at a time, and am experimenting with mounting them but haven't yet mastered the art of making one as beautiful as those found on Pinterest, but I am always certain I'll get there.

I have purchased the proper tools, one at a time, and already have misplaced one that I really use a lot.. but I am certain it is someplace in my bedcovers, since that's where I do most of this as I watch tv at night.  Lots to do, so little time!

Do you have favorite things to find uses for?

There must be some things that fascinate you.   I can't be the only one.   There are several that I absolutely love.
 
1.  I love magnets, magnetic clips, magnetic strips, little magnets to put into greeting cards or little boxes, magnets to use to keep things handy.
2.  Dowels are another thing for me, particularly small ones, an inch or smaller.  There are so many things to make with them.  They can even be cut small and used to mix paint.  But I use them when I build little houses, holders for hanging things,  (attach them to hooks) , help polymer clay dolls stand up, make frames... all day I can think of new uses.
3.  Wood of any kind.  It is almost impossible for me to let go of any piece of wood.  I find scraps handy for making shims, make-shift shelves between two storage containers, little planks to support those flimsy wire shelves, and I use pieces of masonite not only as substrates for painting but as bookends or sturdy dividers between 12x12 cardstock packs or even canvases.   And then when it's down to nearly splinters, it can serve as kindling in the fireplace.  Sawdust is even good in the garden.  (I obviously love trees.)
4.  Glass bottles and jars.  Baby food jars, wine bottles, mayonnaise containers when they used to be glass.  Paint them or not, they are things I love to see in my studio, just being around.  Obviously they are handy for uses in painting and to wash brushes, but you can make little terrariums,  root plants in them, grow a sweet potato vine, store things, fill them with buttons, baubles and beads!

Actually,  containers of any kind.  For a long time I saved them all but I had to temper that.   There's only so many one person can ever get around to using, not to mention finding space for.

5. Pens, pencils and markers of all kinds.  Notebooks.  Legal pads.  No explanation necessary there.

What are some of yours?

Finding new ways to use old stash

People like me who work with all kinds of mixed media tend to be hoarders, and since I am in what my friend Mary calls my "twilight years" I decided this year to begin seriously de-stashing and it's amazing how much more efficiently the items I do work with can be stored.

When I moved here five years ago, things just got tossed into storage bins here and there, with no real thought to saving space.  I have kept (and accumulated more) things since then, and the chaos has contributed to my already stressful existence.  I am feeling really good now about the changes I made in the studio and the choices I am making about what to keep.

Do I really need a hundred baby food jars for paint?  Why not just a half dozen?  And those coffee cans for washing brushes, why not just one or two?  It's hard to let go of things I "might want to make something with some day," but now I'm either using them for sure, or tossing them.  Or sharing them with other artists.

In the process, I have found things I forgot about and am having fun creating a bit differently.  I'm finally enjoying monoprinting.  I'm making greeting cards, and prepping card fronts from these results.

Change is good.  Aging, not so much.  I'm slow, I'm getting a third as much done as I plan, but ideas still abound and I'm having a good time.

I will try to confine my comments about the complications of aging in my other blog, Klothospin.

Valentine's projects at a snail's pace.

I have received several dozen emails from various sources with links to Valentine's projects, and downloaded a few.  And I decided I would make my granddaughters' valentines for school this year.  One needed 22, the older one needed 25.

This used to be simple.  It took me TWO WEEKS.

This is starting to not be funny anymore.  There are so many projects I have in mind, and I have to remember that I probably cannot get to all of them in the time frame I normally would.  Adjusting to aging is very, very difficult for me.