Frozen Beach Weekend/Giveaway Winners!

I spent this Valentine's weekend at a family retreat with my church in Harvey Cedars, New Jersey.  It's been a COLD weekend to spend at the beach, I'll tell you that.  Despite temperatures well below freezing and a wind that led me to dream of tornadoes last night, some of our youth were crazy enough to take a Polar Bear Plunge. 

With the bayside waters frozen to ice, I'm not even sure how they made it into the water! 


Look at those icicles under the pier!

The weekend color palette outside was basically limited to shades of grey and brown, but inside our retreat center, we enjoyed colorful days of food, fellowship, worship and song, teaching and learning, Bananagrams and CatchPhrase, intergenerational playtime and conversation...our annual retreat never disappoints!

********************************************

Now that I am home, I've taken a moment to put all of the names from the commenters on my previous post on slips of paper in order to draw a winner for the first and second prizes.  The winner of Prize Pack #1 is Heather, which is lovely since she mentioned that her daughter would be able to make use of the un-opened packs of sticker letters.  And the winner of Prize Pack #2 is no stranger to winning giveaways on this blog; I'm pretty sure I've drawn Tina's name for at least one giveaway in the past!  So the selection of opened adhesive letters will be heading her way shortly. 

Thank you to those of you who entered the giveaway.  I hope to have some more Craft Closet Clean-Outs and other goodies in the future!

Craft Closet Clean-Out: Alphabet Sticker Giveaway

I LOVE alphabets.

Alphabet stickers.  Alphabet stamps.  Alphabet stencils.

But I have never been able to get alphabet stickers to STAY where I put them.  I have used them on scrapbook pages and planner pages, and without fail, the letters make their way onto other pages, or the arm of the sofa, or the bottom of my sock.

That does not mean, however, that OTHER people don't find them perfectly useful.  So, I have decided to clean out my stash of alphabet stickers, and give them a better home with someone who can truly make use of them without the frustration that I invariably experience.

If you would like to be the person to give my alphabet stickers a new home, please leave a comment on this post.  No hoops to jump through; just make sure I have your email address so I can find out your postal address for shipping.  If you'd like to include a comment about how you like to use your alphabet stickers, I would be interested to hear. 

There are TWO PRIZE-PACK OPTIONS....two chances to win!

PRIZE #1

The first prize will include the following:

2 packages of purple "Creative Letters: Dot" from Making Memories

2 packages of pink "Creative Letters: Dot" from Making Memories

1 package of blueberry "Alphabet Stickers:  Block" from Colorbok Memory Craft

2 packages of "Sticko Mini Brush Letters" from EK Success

2 packages of black "Mini Letter Fun Stickers" from FMI

1 package of "Gumbo--Color Set 1" from Remarks

1 package of white "Alphabet Stickers: Block" from Colorbok Memory Craft

1 package of "blueberry casual" alphabet stickers from Colorbok Memory Craft

 

These 12 packages have not been opened or used in any way.

 

Prize #2

The second prize will include the following:

An assortment of letters from 15 different packages that have been used to varying degrees. 

Two packages only have one or two stickers missing; others, as you can see, have a number of stickers missing, but many more still available for use. 

********************************************************

Please comment by February 14 if you would like to have one of these prize packs, and I'll let everyone know who I will be sending them to on February 15. My plan is to draw names from a hat, so to speak, and send the first prize pack to the first name I draw, and the second prize pack to the second name I draw.

Good luck, Alphabet Lovers!

Bookmarklets (& a Giveaway!)

At the beginning of the month, I ran across a project printout from Stamphenge that I've been holding onto for years.  Jean's project for bookmarklets caught my eye because I seldom read a book without pen and paper in hand.  I jot down quotations, ideas, web sites, and other information that I don't want to forget once I put down the book or return it to the library.  Bookmarklets are the perfect solution for a reader like me!

Part booklet-part bookmark, bookmarklets are little books where you can jot notes as you read, and then slip into your book to hold your place when you put it down.

Jean gives great directions to carry you through the process.  I thought I'd share some photos from my bookmarklet-creating session:

I used regular computer paper to keep my bookmarklet slim.  (Watercolor paper, for example, would make it much bulkier.)  One sheet of computer paper can be cut into four strips that are 2 inches by 11 inches, with just a little strip leftover.

Using a cutting mat and a razor-type knife freed me from having to use a ruler and a pencil for measuring. 

Then I stacked the four strips and folded them over to make a booklet that measures 2 inches by 5-1/2 inches.  (I used the bone folder to make the crease crisper.)

Next, I chose all the different papers I wanted to use as covers for my bookmarkets.

Those papers then had to be cut into 2 inch x 11 inch strips, and folded over top of the folded white paper booklets.

If I had a long-arm stapler, I could have just stapled on the fold...that would have been an easy way to hold the papers together!  But since I don't have that kind of a stapler, I did a few different kinds of bindings.

One method is to punch a hole in the middle-top of the booklet, and thread fibers or ribbons through. (That's what I did for the top two examples above.)  I also did a pamphlet stitch with bookbinding floss, tying it off with a bow on the outside (bottom left above), and tying it off on the inside and cutting off any excess floss (bottom right above, the "cleanest" look). 

Now I have a place to write down all my notes as I read:

AND, I have a bookmark to keep my spot in between reading sessions:

They are fairly simple to create, so once I got started, I ended up with 20 bookmarklets.

GIVEAWAY:
If you would like to receive one my bookmarklets, leave a comment and I will send you one!  Here's the catch:  You MUST include in your comment a book recommendation for me in order to receive a bookmarklet.  What is a good/ fun/ interesting/ creative/ inspiring read for 2014?

Also, if I don't have your address, you will have to email it to me at aleakaskey@yahoo.com if you want me to send you a bookmarklet.  I will send one to everyone I hear from before January 25, 2014!

Happy reading!

Giveaway Winner Announcement!

Many thanks to all who entered my recent giveaway!  I selected the winner the old-fashioned way, as usual:  I wrote each name on a slip of paper, threw them all into a bowl, and reached my hand in for one without looking. 

And the winner is....

Textile Recycler!

She will be receiving the prize pack of CREATE Mixed Media Art Retreat items, including PAGES magazine, a molding mat, and a collage pack.

Please email me with your snail mail address Textile Recycler (aleakaskey@yahoo.com), and enjoy your goodies!

Tiny Tarnished Tomes with Kari McKnight Holbrook (and a Giveaway!)

Saturday evening at the CREATE Mixed Media Art Retreat in Somerset, New Jersey, brought me to the workshop, "Tiny Tarnished Tomes," with Kari McKnight Holbrook, known on her blog as The Backporch Artessa.

Kari McKnight-Holbrook

First, we had an opportunity to make our own molds for polymer clay, using a product called Knead-a Mold.  Then, the majority of our time was spent in creating the front and back covers for our tiny books, using countertop samples from the hardware store (think:  little rectangles of formica) and Sculpey polymer clay.  Kari provided us with molds and stamps to make impressions and designs with our clay.

The front of my finished "tiny tarnished tome."

The back of my finished "tiny tarnished tome."

We gave our covers an aged effect by using metal coatings in our choice of bronze, copper, or iron.  (I chose the copper finish.)  We then spritzed on a product to create the patina-ed look.  The brand we used was called Sculpt Nouveau.

Once our covers were bound and in place, we had only a bit of workshop time left to sew our pages into place.  I was new to the bookbinding process, and would have liked a little more time to learn what I was doing, and find out some more options for adding buttons and beads to decorate my spine.  Kari graciously stayed late with us, so that we were all able to complete our projects.

Kari gave us a couple of priceless tips regarding bookbinding supplies.  She uses hockey tape from a sporting goods store as a binding tape; you can imagine how durable it must be considering its intended purpose.  And she uses floss threaders (like you use when flossing your teeth!) with her thread and beads when she is binding her books.  Brilliant!

This workshop exposed me to some interesting new products, and showed me a new use for polymer clay.  I thought it was very cool to use it in the creation of a book cover.

As a further bonus, Kari offered a drawing for door prizes!  And I won!  I came away with some of her own polymer artist stamps, which are based on drawings from her sketchbook.  They can be used easily as traditional rubber stamps, but are also constructed with polymer clay and encaustics in mind.

My door prize!

                                              *******************************
Because I registered for three workshops at the retreat, I received an official CREATE tote bag, filled with several fabulous and artful goodies.  There were two bottles of high flow acrylics from Golden, an amazing PITT artist pen big brush, a bottle of acrylic glaze from the Silks line of LuminArte, a pair of multi-purpose titanium scissors from Fiskars, a molding mat by ColorBox, a collage pack put together by Art Camp For Women, and a copy of PAGES magazine by Cloth Paper Scissors.  I felt like I was at the Academy Awards, getting my goodie bag!

On Sunday morning, as I munched on my croissant, I saw a group of women standing over a nearby table, and my antennae went up.  When I walked over, I saw that there were goodie bag extras available for people to take for free!  I thought of you, my wonderful readers, and knew that I wanted to offer you a giveaway opportunity.

Giveaway loot!

If you would like to win a copy of PAGES magazine, a molding mat for use especially with polymer clay, and a collage pack from Art Camp for Women, please leave a comment on this post.  In order to be entered into the drawing, please tell me what kind of class you would most like to take if you were attending an art retreat next week.  Would it be a sketch class, watercolor, art journaling, bookbinding, jewelry-making, oil painting, acrylics, photography, fiber arts?  Something else?  I'd love to know what you are most interested in exploring right now in your creative life.

Please leave your comment by July 31, 2013, and I will publish the winner on August 1, 2013.  Good luck!

*******************************

If you did not see my first post about the CREATE Mixed-Media Art Retreat, click here to read about my drawing and watercolor workshop with Jane LaFazio!

And come back soon for my final post, telling you all about the Friday night Artists' Faire, and my Basic Bookbinding for Beginners class with Seth Apter!

More Mail Art & a Giveaway Winner!

 

I've been busy playing with all of my new ephemera from the Allentown Paper Show, and have created some more postcards for my mail art friends.

The ephemera from the State Hospital in Utica, New York--mainly receipts--make fantastic postcard backgrounds.  On several of the cards, I added decorative tapes, as well as the matchbox stickers I bought recently at the Omoi Zakka Shop here in Philadelphia.

The tan and red decorative tapes you see on these cards came from the zakka shop, as well--I love them!

And, look--there's a lire glued right onto the postcard above!  I've started using the vintage currency from the auction.

I also used many of the old airmail envelopes from the paper show as background elements for the postcards.  My Cavallini postal-themed rubber stamps and my hand-carved stamps made appearances, too!

And the red labels are Martha Steward brand with Avery, which I purchased at Staples.  They're pretty awesome!

All of these wonderful collage elements came together in these postcards, and it gave me great pleasure to create them.  I have a feeling that many more postcards with a similar "feel" are waiting in the creative wings!

******************************************************

And now, without further ado, I will announce the winner of my Paper Loot Giveaway!  I determined the winner the old-fashioned way:  I wrote every entrant's name on a slip of paper, and then drew one from a bowl.  I know for sure that this particular person was meant to be the winner because I drew her name from the bowl, then realized that one person's name had fallen out before the drawing.  So I put the slips of paper back in, swished them around thoroughly with my hand, and drew again.  And it was the same person!  So congratulations to Tina/ZooGardener36.  I drew your name twice, so I guess you were really meant to have all of this fun paper loot!

Many thanks to the over-30 people who entered this, my biggest giveaway to date.  It was very fun for me to see how many people share my love for paper ephemera.

                          ******************************************************

I am taking a brief week-long blogging break to spend Internet-free time with my family.  I will be back next week!  I hope you will re-join me then.

I'm a Winner, You're a Winner

I'm a winner, because I have gotten some fabulous mail in the new year, and you're a winner if you won my International Blog Event Giveaway!

*****************************************

First, the mailbox loot:

My mother described a super-neat window effect she created in her art journal, and when I told her I couldn't wait to see it in person, she created a window-effect journal page just for me!

She created a tribute to my very own art-making space, Studio 791!  There is an image of a sewing machine at the top, and she included photos of my decorative tape collection and my art table (looking MUCH neater than it currently does!)  The other window sections include photos my daughters in the craft room rocker, and a cat that looks quite a bit like my own sleepy kitty, Stella.  How fun is that?!

Second, I unexpectedly and happily won a prize from Jennie of Every Day Should Be a Red Letter Day.  You may know her as the author of Good Mail Day, which to me is the definitive current-day guide to creating and enjoying mail art.  She called me one of her top 5 "Comment Kids," leaving lots of blog comments for her in 2012.  What a nice surprise!

She sent me a package that included a super-cool handmade journal, lots of tags and envelopes, a mail-themed zipper pouch, and some postcards.  What a treat!

And then, just yesterday, I found a duct-taped plastic box in my mailbox.  What could it be?

A multi-colored selection of flowers from Mary, always sending such fun and interesting mail!

Bayla had an absolute ball creating a flower collage on an artist panel.  She kept asking me to take more pictures of her, and asked, "Do I show up as an artist?"  Absolutely, little one!

*****************************************

 

And now, for the moment you have all been waiting for:  the winner of the International Blogging Event Giveaway on Drawing Near!

I did things the old-fashioned way, writing everyone's name on slips of paper and drawing one from a bowl.

The winner of the selection of handmade heart embellishments is...Tanya of Bead and Needle!

Many thanks to everyone who visited during the blogging event, and left comments on the giveaway post.  I am still very slowly making my way through Vicki's list of participants, and I look forward to continuing to meet new bloggers with similar interests.

*****************************************

 

Enjoy your weekend, and send a little happy mail!

International Blogging Event!

I am participating in my first ever International Blogging Event, being hosted by Vicki of 2 Bags Full.  Her goal is to introduce people to new blogs, while helping them to grow their own blog audience.  (You can find links to all of the participants' blogs here.)

So, for those of you visiting me for the first time because of this fun event, allow me to introduce myself and show photos from previous posts to help you get to know me: 

My name is Andria, and I have been blogging in earnest since January 2011.  (I had two "false starts" prior to that, because I kept re-starting every time I had a baby...not a good time to try to maintain a blog!)

A recent Valentine's Day collage

The blog has evolved primarily into an art and crafts blog, with a record of various projects, swaps, and classes I've done.  I couldn't share my life in a blog, though, without frequently referencing my two daughters, ages 3 and 5.  Many of their art and crafting escapades are recorded here, as well. 

Katy (5), Bayla (3), and I indulging in some edible Christmas crafting this past year.

I have developed some wonderful online friendships with bloggers around the world, many of which have resulted in swapping mail art and other projects.  My mailbox has been a much more interesting place as a result of my blogging adventures!

Altered Rolodex card

You can read about my interest in doing swaps by clicking on the "Swaps" tab at the top of my blog.  I welcome new swap partners who enjoy ATCs, altered Rolodex cards, postcards, mail art, bookmarks, paper and supply swaps...pretty much anything anyone can dream up!

Sketchbook peek

I try to have giveaways on my blog a couple of times a year, just to keep things fun!  And as of my birthday...the BIG 4-0!...in April, I am planning to have an Etsy Shop called Studio 791 up and running, giving you an opportunity to purchase my art and crafted items. 

Yard sale treasures

I invite new and old readers alike to browse around my blog, looking at previous posts to check out the kinds of projects I enjoy doing.  You can also take a look at the list of blog labels in the margin to get a sense of what kinds of topics you will read about here. 

One of my first hand-carved rubber stamps

Please leave me a comment to let me know that you have come by, and I look forward to visiting your blog in return!

**********************************************

GIVEAWAY!

Vicki has encouraged the Grow Your Blog participants to host a giveaway as part of the event.  To that end, I will be offering a selection of handmade Valentine embellishments, similar to the ones you can read about in this post.  I will package up 8 varied handmade hearts for you to use on your Valentine's Day cards, packages, scrapbook and journal pages.  Everyone who leaves a comment on today's post has a chance to win, and the winner will be selected on February 1.  Be sure I know your email address as part of your comment, so that I can notify you!  Good luck!