Sistahs, I wanted to thank you for embracing the “RAW” bella.. LOL from last post. We are all the same aren’t we? so why hide it.. cuz strangers will see me without mascara on? nahh.. who cares.. we love eachother no mattah what!
I know I have promised more vlogs in the past.. but now I really mean it. I am going to be doing this more often.. can’t promise when.. but will surprise you. I was quite proud of myself that I was able to actually do it but now my issue is, that I have to teach myself how to edit. hmph.
Ok so now down to the subject at hand. I will never forget when I started this business, my mother said to me “making cards?? you’re gonna build a business around people making cards? people THROW CARDS OUT!!”.. I was angry at her I must say, but in the end, she is unfortunately right… Most people who don’t appreciate this craft (like my mother.. not to say she doesn’t appreciate it.. but she doesn’t share the passion in THIS craft.. but in many others she does).. will look at the card, read the contents, and throw it out. Or they may put it on a fridge with a magnet.. right?
I tried to explain stamping to my mother as best as I could 7 long years ago when I first started.. and what I said to her was that stamping is a “magical experience”.. she looked at me like I was cracked. but I explained to her that those of us who don’t feel like “artists”, or those of us who can’t draw and have the opportunity to choose an image that we love, adore, and want to hug (lol) and then stamp it in black and you see that crisp image for the first time (or the kajillionth) time, for a moment.. just a fleeting moment feel like WE actually created that perfect little image… then as we colour, embellish, glue, stick, emboss, crackle, shpritz, glitterize (is that a word?).. this magical moment continues to grow as we slowly make this image as much our own as we can. That, my sistahs, is the magic of stamping. And that is why every day, I thank my artists for making these creations come to life for all of us allowing us to experience this magic as long as we can.
Having said all of that.. I have an ideaR. Our little creations are OUR masterpieces.. no one else’s. We LOVE the journey in creating them and that’s why we are passionate about this hobby. I consider ALL of our cards as ART. So why not have the recipient treat it as art. Once you accept that you ARE an artist, you will convey the message to all around you (ya I know, Im a big talker.. but I’m working on it).. So this is my idea. I need some feedback though.
What if we put removable tape under our final layer of our card. (ok I know you’re gonna say it’s going to fall apart.. but I actually don’t think it will).. and what if we create a stamp for the back of the card (or we handwrite it) and say
I made this especially for you and you can remove and frame if you so wish… or something like that.. give the recipient an idea of what to do with the actual card… since it IS art, why not TREAT IT AS ART? I think the wording still needs to be worked on for the back of the card but you get the drift (really what does THAT mean).. getting the drift)..LOL
you know sometimes you will get a card or a kids card with an attachment of a bracelet or ring or something they can remove and use? that’s the idea. I want people to appreciate our hard work..LOL. And I am sure that 99% of our recipients LOVE what they receive.. but I do think we should give them ideas of what to do with them.. people like my mom for instance.
OHHH this is long.. honestly, either I don’t say a PEEP or I have verbal diarrhea (sp?). LOL
Ok so having said that, I found a new substrate that I am LOVING working on. They are CANVAS SHEETS (which come in a pad) and we will be getting them soon in Bellaland but they are available at craft stores, art supply stores..etc. They are primed (with gesso) and READY to take a beating! LOL.. you can use any medium on them, stamp on them, sew on them.. die cut with them to make your own tags or embellishments.. they are really amazing.
So not only did I find a new substrate I like to work on, but I found the PERFECT SIZE to work on… 4*4. I have shown two canvases done in that size in THIS POST. I cut my sheets up in 4*4 and I am loving it. The fact is that the size is ADORABLE and it’s not intimidating! You can stamp on it, collage on it, you can try your hand at sketching the focal point.. you can use new papers, or vintage papers (another SICK obsession at the mo).. and it’s fun! It’s just enough room to try new techniques in any medium.. I can GUARANTEE that you will have so much fun with these. After you are done, you SIGN IT cuz you’re an ARTIST.. and you mount it on a card (with repositionable tape) and put a message on the back that the receiver can frame it!…. you can also mount it on an actual gallery canvas, you can nail it to it.. you can put it in your journal.. It’s YOUR art.. you can do what you want with it..
Ok so here are my little pieces of art.. now most of them are not complete but I just want to show you a little som’n som’n to make you start making your own 🙂
here’s a little collection of them..
Here I used our SOLID FUNKY DANDELION.. ahh.. the magic of stamping! they are amazing for focal points, no? (this is not complete yet)- this may looked ‘warped” from the way I took the photo but it’s a perfect little square.. LOL
here I used random vintage ephemera and somehow, the story came together.. the map, the statement about far away.. then I stamped the word far, and then the bike.. (think I wanna go far away? LOL.. it’ll pass. it’s the whole turning 40 thing..LOL). .here I used our I WANT TO RIDE MY BICYCLE stamp
here I used our SHADY LEAF stamp.. and I sewed around it.. I left a little spot on the left.. I kinda liked it that way.. This little QUINCHIE (quad inchie.. get it?) has a KAJILLION layers.. white paint, distress ink.. it was fun! I also used our NUMBER 8 TICKET BACKGROUND but you can’t really see it.. I swear it’s there though!
Here’s my TO THE MOON collage where I hand sketched the moon and stars (lol.. as if it isn’t clear).. I realized that the ephemera I glued on was a letter to an astronomer.. so I made it all make sense to me..and told my story in there.. QUITE BOLDLY ( i was looking for my smaller letters and couldn’t find them)
she also is a little lopsided in the photo LOL but she is a perfect Quinchie too! She is hand sketched by me. and hand painted
So that’s the scoop. All the above can be mounted on cards, canvases, journals.. they are little works of art.
I would love to hear your feedback regarding the removable tape.. trying to tell people that you are an artist, that you did work hard on the piece of art that they received from you and the stamp to tell them they can frame it 🙂
Create
be happy
consider yourself an artist and others around you will too.
I promise
Mwah
Em
I think you have a wonderful idea but……. if the recipient dosen’t like art they still won’t frame it so you have to be choosey who you send too.
I remember when I had a brilliant idea of using the removable tape runner so you could pull the letter out of the card and reuse the card. I sent one like this to my aunt, thinking she would have a nice card to send to someone else and she sent it back to me unused. Wrote her letter on another piece of paper. LOL
Your little works of art look so great already, can’t wait to see the ones you add to you. You can mail one to me anytime and I would frame it.
I love the idea as well although I must confess that very often before creating/giving a card what usually goes through my mind is “are they card worthy” which most times determines whether I actually spend the time to create something truly special or whether I just send a card to extend my best wishes knowing full well it will probably end up in the recycling bin the following week. Having said this for those that are “card worthy” adhering “pieces of me” with repositionable tape with a note suggesting that it can be framed is a terrific idea and having my little “masterpieces” on canvas even better!
i too decide who gets handmade cards from me and who doesn’t and i often give away sets of cards as little gifts to my girlfriends. i think they like them and appreciate them…but not everyone gets the handmade ones.
Some people might get the point with your idea on the baack or at least it will cause them to pause and realize hey she actually MADE this for me. i should hang on to it. Others still won’t care. But if it makes US feel good about drawing attn to what we do then i say GO FOR IT!!! BTW I LOVE it when you have verbal diarrhea.
I had experimented with the concept of a removable inner page that you would write your original message on that you would give to the recipient. They in turn would take that page out and then could reuse the card and pass onto someone else. I would have to explain this concept in person since I hadn’t developed an explanatory label for it yet. Since most of my cards are given to my family, they understand that I’m a recycling/upcycling fanatic.
The other concept that I tried was to make a portion of the card as a detachable bookmark. You use a perforating tool to section off the detachable part of the card. I didn’t make too many of them because I realize it was just as easy for me to make a separate bookmark that co-ordinated.
All these were previous attempts to encourage people not to throw out my card creations. Realistically now, I give ‘disposable cards’ for certain occasions and ‘masterpieces’ to carddworthy people. If its something that I love, I will just keep it and maybe incorporate it into my art journal. Bottomline: its the process not the product. As we engage more in a digital world ie e-cards, its really the process that is meaningful for us artists.
In justification of my rubber stamps collection, I tell people that it is a ready-made version of printmaking. Especially since I never got past the beginner’s drawing class.
A few thoughts. First off, we had a handmade Christmas card circulating around the extended family for a few years. It had a removable liner so each year it got a new message. That was kinda cool. Second thing, my philosophy about things you give away in general is that once it’s been given, it’s up to the person to decide what to do with it. As much as I would love people to keep my cards forever, I don’t want them to feel a burden for that person. I want them to enjoy it and know that I care, but after that, if they only keep the memory, that’s fine with me. This leads to my third point (and hoarding issue), that philosophy makes it hard to give away my favourite cards!
My take on this is that I agree with a few girls above. Very few people get my cards if I am the one giving it away. It is only to people who appreciate my time. I give cards to my niece, but I don’t to the other nieces and nephews on Jim’s side. My niece has always been taught to respect art, no matter what it is. Can’t say the same for the other side of the family…I worked so hard on a piece for my MIL, three frames that connected and could hold photos of each set of grandkids. My time, money and thought went into a project that lay on top of a tv, face up, no photos ever put inside and covered in dust. Harsh, but they got .99 cards from then on. What made me more angry is that my SIL and husband asked me to make this gift and it was treated like something that didn’t matter. So, yes, only people I know enjoy my stuff get a handmade card. All my friends at work tell me they keep them, and I am happy they do…and a bit shocked! lol Jim stopped asking me to make cards for his mom a LONG time ago. My mom, she saves them all, and any I will give to her that are extra and then she mails to back to ME. Then, I give them back to her again. Plus…my friends at work who get my hand made cards…they keep them on display and I have to look at the every day…like take them HOME. hehe
I make all of my cards for all of my friends, family, my hubs troops, and for the spouses of my hubs deployed troops. I have been fortunate enough to have all my friends and my hubs troops tell me they have kept every single card that I have made them, that they really cherish them. Most of them have a special box they put them in, some have framed them and added them to their decor, like their babies nursery=) I was really touched when one of my friends told me she got a Smash book for all the cards I made her, really touched my heart. Probably the one that hurt me was from my MIL, told me my cards were lil’ works of art so what she does is keeps the card fronts and tosses the rest…so all I wrote and had to say she cut off that and threw it away. So, I’m no longer going to be making “cards” for her…I will be making card fronts=)
Non-artist people do not get us at all. When I was married to my first non-artist, non-supportive husband he came home just as the my girls and I had finished painting ceramic pieces for his sisters and mother and his comment was “Aren’t you also going to buy them something decent?”. Luckily we ignored him and the gifts were appreciated and loved but it did dent my heart a bit. Second husband is also not artistic but encourages me and supports me in all my artistic endeavours – will even help me pick out fabric for quilts and will go to scrapbooking stores with me.
I have had many, many people tell me that they get many comments back from people they sent my cards too that tell them they are going to frame them! That helps heal the dent in the heart. I’ve also had people tell me they have bought some of my cards that they cannot bear to part with and just pull them out and look at them and put them away again. And I suppose some people just look at them for a day or so and toss them in the garbage – but they do that with $6.00 cards people buy for them too.
So, personally, I don’t care what people do with my cards. Up to them. I consider what I do as art therapy and quite honestly, I do it for me.
I made a card and couldn’t bear to give it away because I loved it so much, so I mounted it on a box and it’s on display in my dining room. So yes, our cards are ART! 🙂
You can see it here- http://mycreativemuse.wordpress.com/2011/09/11/one-unfinished-project-now-finished/