StampScrapArtTour

Yesterday I got to combine two of my great loves—creativity and shopping! I attended the StampScrapArtTour at the Greater Philadelphia Expo Center in Oaks, PA. I went with two fellow crafters—Sue, who attends church with me, and Adrianne, an acquaintance of hers:

{Sue, me, and Adrianne}

Sue and I have attended rubber stamp shows several times before, in Reading and York, and yesterday’s show was tiny by comparison—just twelve vendors. But on the bright side, it was much less crowded and hectic, and I left knowing that I had not missed out on anything the show had to offer (though I would have enjoyed winning a door prize!).

To someone who doesn’t use rubber stamps or make cards, a rubber stamp show might sound like a weird way to spend a Saturday morning. But for someone who DOES enjoy these things, the show has a lot to offer:

*Drooling over art supplies. The booths were filled with old standbys, like card stock, rubber stamps, and ink pads, as well as things I’ve only recently considered using, like shrink paper and Copic markers:

*Watching product demonstrations. A sure-fire way to lure me into buying things I had no intention of buying is to show me all the beautiful and interesting way a product can be used. I already have a bunch of short stipple brushes, but I was lured into buying four long-handled brushes, which for all I know do the exact same thing but looked so cool when the demonstrator used them at her booth!

One man had all sorts of stencils, but no demonstrator. If someone had been there showing off how they can be used to create beautiful cards and gift tags, you can bet I would have been suckered into buying a few. But he spared me that expense!

*Looking at project samples. Most of the booths have card and project samples using their products, and it is inspiring to look at them and imagine how I might adapt them with my own supplies. There were MANY of us snapping pictures here and there of the pretty items on display:

*Chatting with like-minded crafters: Sue and I always enjoy getting together to talk about our current projects. We definitely have different styles when it comes to rubber stamps and card projects, but I think we both respect those differences. It was fun to get to know Adrianne, just getting started in her card-making, and especially dedicated to making cards to send to her new husband (of just four months!), who is away serving in the army. At one booth, Adrianne ran into a woman who had chatted with her at length at a local craft store a week or so before this event. And there are lots of quick exchanges with strangers as we “oohed” and “ahhed” over products and project samples at the different booths. There is a fun camaraderie in attending a show with others who value and enjoy the same things I do.

*Coming home with new art supplies to play with: When I get my postcards finished for Hanna’s postcard swap, I have vowed to get my sewing machine out and start exploring how I will craft with it. Now, with my new purchases, I’ve given myself further distractions! Most people seem to swear by having multiple projects going at the same time, so as I try that out for myself, I’ll be able to balance all these creative options! Here’s the final pile of “loot” from the day:

In addition to all of these benefits, I really enjoyed the “time away.” I discovered when I walked out of the show that I had NOT ONCE looked at my watch to check the time! I had no idea what time it was, and I loved the feeling of not having to worry about it. It gave me such freedom to just enjoy the day. I have to continue to include these "creative excursions" into my life, because they are so very energizing!

The Goldilocks Bookmark Project

About a week ago, I found the blog Artsyville by Aimee. She has great "doodles" that she sells on Etsy, and her posts have a lot to do with incorporating her art and creativity into her everyday life as a mom. Obviously a topic of interest to me! I found on her blog a series of what she calls "Creative Explosions" or "crafty experiments." Her cut-and-paste bookmarks immediately caught my eye.

Collage is my first love. I'm a sucker for sitting around cutting pictures and words out of magazines and other paper sources. I love rearranging images and phrases to create something new. I also, like anyone who gets involved in collage for long, have a ridiculous amount of scraps, papers, and ephemera piling up in the areas where I work. For a long time I would hoard images, fearful to use them once and never be able to use them again. I would photocopy everything, even though I was never happy with the results. Now, I've learned to let things go, because there is always plenty more to take their place!

Because of my love of collage and my stash of materials, I decided to make the collaged bookmarks that Aimee demonstrates on her site.

I used a basic white piece of 8-1/2"x11" cardstock, and just glued down all kinds of papers:

Once I cut the bookmarks out, this is what I ended up with:

I liked the look of them, but I was still terribly disappointed at first. Because of the direction I had cut the paper, the bookmarks were only about four inches long--way too small, I thought--and I had forgotten to collage the back to make them reversible! Then I decided that for anyone who sticks a business card or sticky note in her book to hold her place, these bookmarks would be more than adequate. I got over myself.

Then I set out to make another set, larger and two-sided. I didn't cut the paper in half this time, just cut it into five 8-1/2" bookmarks. Here is what I came up with:

(one side of each bookmark)

(the other side of each bookmark)

Again, I was a little disappointed. These bookmarks were way too long, and it made them bend around areas that had thicker scraps of paper.

Perhaps you understand now why I have called this post "The Goldilocks Bookmark Project." One set was too short, one set was too long. Would I manage to come up with one that was "just right"?

I set out a third time to create my bookmarks, actually making them the way Aimee had done it in the first place if I had been paying attention! This time, I used a lot more "ephemera"--tickets, clip art from art magazines made to look like vintage papers, actual vintage papers, scraps of envelopes, text from a French book, that sort of thing. I oriented my collage vertically rather than horizontally, and cut across the center, so that when I cut the individual bookmarks, they came out 5-1/2" long. Here is my final "just right" effort:

(one side of each bookmark)

(the other side of each bookmark)

And then for my grand finale, I took some "arty photos" of my work, as I've been learning from so many of the blogs I've been enjoying lately:

I had so much fun making all three sizes of bookmarks, and sorting through all kinds of bins and folders of papers and other materials. It's a great "fallback" kind of project--something to do "in between times" and, frankly, while I'm watching TV or the girls are playing. Many thanks to Aimee from Artsyville for prompting me to give these bookmarks a try!

Celebrating Creativity at the Flower Show

This past weekend, my husband and I got a babysitter for the girls, and headed to the Philadelphia Flower Show on its final day. I knew that I would see breathtaking arrangements of flowers in interesting displays around the Convention Center Hall. But I ended up seeing flowers used in much more creative ways than I had imagined. This post is a kind of "pictorial celebration" of the different kinds of creativity I saw on display at the Flower Show.

I especially loved the theme for the year, "Paris in Springtime." My husband and I took an amazing and memorable trip to Paris in the springtime in 2006. We couldn't exactly recreate the experience here, but there was plenty at the Flower Show to bring back good memories.

(A self-portrait thanks to a long-armed husband!)

I was especially fascinated by the wall of pictures made entirely of pressed plant materials. As I understand it, the artists had to use only natural plant materials, with no color added by paints or other means.

Amazing! Remember--only natural pressed plant materials!

Perhaps equally fascinating was the display of jewelry made entirely from natural plant and flower materials. Here, the artists could add color and embellish in certain ways. There is a little card above each piece that shows each material (in its natural state) used in the item.

(I didn't take a photo of the one next the this one, but it was an actual working watch!)

There was another section with purses and handbags embellished with plants and flowers; here's a sample:

Another fascinating section had little windows we could peer in to see miniature rooms, enhanced by miniature landscapes. The only drawback to this part was the incredibly long wait. We stood in line and waited...and waited...and waited...for everyone else to peer at the little rooms behind the glass. All that waiting took its toll:

(My husband forbid me to delete this photo from the camera, so I thought, 'What the heck, I'll put on my blog!')

Turns out, the exhibit was worth the wait!

(After we were finished, we wished we had held up a hand or something to give a sense of perspective to how tiny these spaces were! They were only maybe a foot and a half across. What unbelievable and realistic detail.)

We got to see creativity in action with the folks at work on their bonsai trees:

And we also got to see botanical illustrators in action:

I was excited to end the day with a visit to the marketplace, where I found this lovely space by Jill Schwartz, an artist and jewelry-maker I've been reading about in magazines for YEARS:

I splurged and bought a memento of the day:

As many photos as I included in this post, there were many more I had to hold myself back from including. What a picturesque experience to attend a flower show! I have no talents or interests related to gardening and plants and flowers, and yet was interested to see all the varied examples of creative expressions at the show.