Tales from Studio Mailbox

Stamping Rose Petals

Just in case you don't feel like sewing your rose petals, you could glue them down and just stamp over them instead. 

I was suprised how well the petals took the ink and how the stamped image somehow brought out the veins inside the petals. 

The longevity of this one REALLY interests me... I wonder what this will look like over time.  Wouldn't it be cool to have a time-lapse video of this changing and disintegrating over the course of a year?  I'd contact National Geographic but somehow I doubt they'll find this riveting.  I actually almost bore myself with my wierd thoughts.  Have you fallen asleep yet?  If not, go glue down some flower petals and let's compare notes in a year OK?

Sewing Rose Petals

Maybe it's because my uncle who was a gardner just died.  Maybe it's because I have a bathtub full of rose petals.  Maybe it's my strange new obsession to sew through stuff.

In any case, I've discovered that if you want to sew rose petals to paper it's better to wait a day after glueing them down before you start sewing. 

I used a standard glue stick to hold the petals in place but when I tried to immediately sew on them (like I would paper-to-paper), the velvety petals just disintigrated beneath my machine's presser foot.  I tried different presser foots (or is it presser feet?) as well as different rose petals in assorted sizes and thicknesses.

Some strange part of me actually likes the mushed out smashy abstract petals.  But when you look at the ones on the turquoise card there is no comparison. If you want your petals to remain intact, it's best to wait for the glue (and petal) to dry at least a day before sewing.

What I'm wondering now is how these cards will look in a year.  Crumbly, brittle and faded I'm guessing.  I'm also wondering if they will stay pink if I mount the card in an album away from light.  Or will they mold and destroy other artwork in the album?  Let's investigate...somebody remind me to revisit this in a year!

Frinchies

Having ordered various punches, all claiming to be "approximately" one inch square, I have discovered a fun way to frame your inchies, thus creating a new phenomenon: the Frinchie!!

 In order to create these you need two different square-hole punches.  One needs to be exactly one-inch square and the other needs to be a few millimeters smaller.

Begin by taking a strip of scrap card stock and punching a couple of holes with the smaller punch.  (Make sure these are at least an inch-and-a-half- apart.  You need extra room around the small hole to punch the exact one-inch square).

  Next take your one-inch punch and eyeball it over your already-punched smaller square.  I do this by flipping the punch tool over so I am working with it upside down.  It takes a couple tries before you start getting "frames" that are even on all four sides.  Don't give up!

 Now that you've got some frames, you can start adhering them to your inchies.  In reality, since there is so little space to work with in a one-inch square, you need to create an inchie with framing in mind - placing your words and images more centrally in the square to avoid losing the artwork under the "frame."

Here, I have used two different "smaller" punches to make these frames.  If you look close, you see the ones on the left are thicker frames than the ones on the right.

Please leave me some comments and links if you decide to make Frinchies of your own.  I would love to see what you come up with, framing your one-inch masterpieces!

Not in the Mood

Different than being uninspired, simply not in the mood.  Maybe it's because my Uncle died unexpectedly last week.  Maybe it's because I'm sad.  Maybe I just need a break.  Maybe it's because everybody who's driving me nuts should take a ride on this bus.

May Daily Creative Actions

As far as producing a daily tangible "thing" as I did in the begining of the year, May was when I reached the breaking point.  I knew I was headed for trouble already in April when I functioned for only half of the month.  At that point I decided to accept it and declare that May was going to be about "Blogging and Business."

I sat down with my creative planner/calendar and made some lists.  Then I went back and prioritized those lists and tackled the top goals.  Although I didn't get even close to getting everything done, I did get started and everybody knows that sometimes you simply have to start somewhere.

Out with the old, in with the new!  The big accomplishments I made were designing a new blog banner as well as spending a half a day in the Mac store in attempts to really start understanding the new fangled machine I own. This resulted in learning how to make a .pdf with my laptop and figuring out how to upload it to a blog post for my readers to download.  It was ugly but it functioned. 

In a month with several birthdays and a baptism, my biggest disappointment was that I still haven't been able to design my own business cards.  Somehow despite always making everyone elses',  I continue to scratch out my website/name and phone number on napkins and junkmail. 

The problem that keeps resurfacing is that there simply isn't enough time for everything I want to do.  Sometimes I think about quitting the blog which would free at least 30% of my creative time.  (Probably even more if you consider all my photography and photo editing).  Yet this blog gives me such a sense of accomplishment. 

Last summer during a Reiki treatment, the woman I had never met before gave me a very clear message regarding "Kunst and Kommunication" (Art and Communication).  She said that whatever it is I am doing, even if it doesn't make sense it is the right thing.  She said I needed to keep going.  Then she had me draw a card out of a stack and roughly translated, it talked about art, creativity, reaching out, networking, documenting, producing, not giving up.  It was such a strong and clear message that despite the huge time and organizational commitment, I'm just going to keep plugging along.

June daily actions are back to art cards.  It feels good to get back into the swing of things...

Rose Petal Overload

It must've been the universe conspiring with nature when I got the twisty sticks out of the tub.  Since it won't stop raining and storming around here, the rose bushes took such a beating I was forced to brutally dead head them.  During this procedure I filled an entire bucket full of petals from the battered flowers.  I wish I knew someone who was getting married so I could toss them in their path as they leave their ceremony.

The tiny buds of the broken branches really broke my heart.  I have no idea how or if these things will dry... but can't help but feel I need to try since the tub was empty anyway.  I went online to find any tips and I actually read things like, "lay them out to air dry them."  Well, then.

Rose petals turn such ugly colors as they dry, they're not nearly as fragrant and useful as lavendar so I really have no idea why I put in this effort.  Let me know if you have any brilliant suggestions for my latest harvest.
 

Queen of Green ATC

Not this Queen in Green, but instead an ATC for my girlfriend who's spinach lasagna is seriously good! 

Although I don't want to make a habit of posting every personal handmade present, I really want more of the lasagna and therefore decided this particular card is quite newsworthy and brings an important message to the world.

Does anyone else want to spell the word "lasagna" this way; l-a-s-a-g-a-n-a?  I nearly stamped it wrong but then decided to look it up.  But now that I'm sitting here I wonder why I simply don't coin the new word "lasagana" and formulate it's meaning and definition myself.

The Germans use the plural, "Lasagne" which unlike that whole Miracel Whip thing, actually makes a lot of sense. 

You say lasagna, they say Lasagne, I say lasagana.

Twisty Sticks in the Tub

 Having admitted to filling my tub full of lavendar last fall, I've avoided telling you that until yesterday the studio's tub has been the resting place for two wild branches full of smaller twisty arms. 

Not only did the hubby help get these suspended from the ceiling, he hung two mirrors giving me way more light in the non-window half of the room.  He didn't stop there...he also installed another magnetic strip for tools and a slanty holder thingy for pens and pencils.  What a huge difference it makes getting old jars and cans off the table that formerly held my writing and drawing utensils. 

If I'd just get down here with some cleaning supplies, I might be tempted to post some updated pics of my surroundings...

Sew Through Stuff

I'm becoming braver and braver with the sewing machine, and I think you should too. I've been wildly making concentric squares, puncturing photos and just yesterday going through sequins when the glue was still wet beneath them ** gulp.**  It's amazing what a machine can take!! 

(Of course you should remove the presser foot at the end and clean off any gunked-up gluey residue, but other than that - go for it). 

Having previously sewn through plastic, I'm begining to wonder how thick you dare try.  I'll have to find my wrap-around safety glasses before broken needles start flying...

This was a postcard for Kelli who we need to keep sending postal love!

African Festival

Over this past long weekend, Wuerzburg hosted another African festival.  It's always fun and interesting for me to see how one culture interacts with another.  What I loved most was that the vendors were relatively unconcerned about the children who couldn't resist pounding on their very expensive instruments!  In a world where everything is untouchable and forbidden to small people, it's so nice as a parent to have the opportunity to allow  your child to interact. 

"Musss-ee!"" my son's cry for music as he bounces at the knees to the pulsing rhythms around him.
A happy beautiful man with instruments arranged before his tent was attempting to engage people in a drumming session.  I convince my small one to sit with me while we investigate his drums.  Recognizing that I was speaking English, the man immediately switches away from German to a chant with a British lilt,

"Come home mummy...
Come home dahh-dee
1-2-3
1-2-3..."

German children joined us, straddling the drums and earnestly following the right-left-both hand pattern of the rhyme.  It ended with a hearty, "Ja mon!"  Clearly all the permission my child needed to bravely begin his own songs...

The visually creative aspect were the amazing displays of handmade wares for sale.  So many unusual things made from recycled materials such as birds out of plastic bags and angels from recycled cans of insecticide.  This is up-cycling at it's finest!

Of course I bought an angel for here at Studio Mailbox, as a reminder to myself to keep going with materials that I already have and to use things in new ways.