Saturday, January 15, 2011

Upon being a Grandmother

I know that this blog is my journey into Card Making, but right now I'm sitting at the dining room table of my son/daughter-law in Waimea, Hawaii (the Big Island).  Since my son's career has taken him here, as a parent, and now grandparent, traveling distances is not an option, but a fact.  I loved when he lived in Seattle and Boston.  It was either a 51/2 hour airplane ride or a 5 1/2 hour car ride.  Either way, the distance was not a problem.  But, now, it is a day traveling either way, to and from, Kona, HI.  But, who cares !?! You go where your heart takes you.  

Our first visit here was for Thanksgiving 2009.  Now, this visit is to meet my new grandson Max.  I've been here two days already and Max and I are the best of friends.  I'm his Bubbie and he's my baby grandson.  He was born on December 8th, 2010 and is working on being 5 weeks old.  He's a cutie, for sure, and I get to hold him, diaper him, feed him and do all the little things that Bubbies do, and then hand him to his mother/father for the important stuff that parents do.  Truthfully, just being here and helping and giving my daughter-law Jackie some free time, is what I'm here for.  It isn't easy being a first time mother and if wasn't such a long distance to travel, I would be here often helping as much as I can.  But, for now, this visit is not for sightseeing or oouuing and aahhhing about Hawaii; I did that on my first visit.  I'm here to be with my children and do what I can to give them some help, support and love.

I must say that being a parent of one son, who now has a son, is an unusual feeling for me.  My son Eric may be 39 years old and 6'5" tall, but he is still my baby!!!  I guess I'll just have to get used to having two babies in my life.  Eric can sit on my lap anytime!!  We just have to find a big and strong enough chair to hold us. LOL  I'm blessed with a wonderful son and daughter-law.  Together they have made the amazing Max.


One more note...I made this journey without my husband Ron.  It was a difficult decision, but Ron felt that we couldn't leave our geriatric sickly cats with our pet sitter, no matter how skilled and loving she is.  We're lucky to have Karmel the sitter and Ron's cousin Richie to take care of the cats when we're away, but without one of us in the house with them full time, we know that their health will deteriorate again, just as it did when we traveled to Hawaii in November 2009.  We adore our pets who are so much a part of our lives that we surely knew that it would be a sacrifice for one of us to stay with the cats, and Ron volunteered.  


So, for now, Here's Bubbie and Max:




 L'Chaim! To Life !!  it's too short to worry about the little things.
From The Big Island of Hawaii
Lois...

Sunday, January 9, 2011

Welcome to the New Year!

In three days I will be on an airplane on the way to the Big Island of Hawaii to meet my grandson Max.  I'm traveling alone without my husband.  My two baby cats are elderly and have too many medical and emotional needs right now to leave them with a sitter.  So, Ron decided that he would take care of the cats and I should meet Max.  I'll be gone around a week or so. But, I'll have a laptop, my Blackberry and my I-Pod touch to stay connected.  I'm never alone when I have my electronic gadgets!! LOL
  Meanwhile, I haven't really produced much since my last post, but here goes:




The top card seems to be partially scanned...but you get the idea.  The pink background was embossed with a Sizzix paisley embossing folder using my Cuttlebug..  This is a non-stamped card using peel-offs and ribbon.  I think that the effect works well here. I'll add text if I give it away.

The middle card was made for my brother's birthday.  It has yet to he mailed.  I used patterned paper with ribbon around it and then attached a card with a stamped image that was colored directly to the stamp with Marvy brush markers. I had to work fast so the ink wouldn't dry before I stamped it on the paper.  The color background was sponged on directly from the ink pad to paper using a yellow and a brown combo.  I enhanced the flowers with a little glitter glue and added the three pearls to make the picture POP! 

The last card was sent to a relative for his birthday.  I adhered some patterned paper that came from a Stampington magazine.  I then adhered the cake picture, which I have shown here as an example of my experiments with color.  I enhanced the background color again with sponging on the colors from the ink pads.  I love peel-offs, so I  striped the two sides to make the card POP!

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ATCs

After I emailed to my friends that I was posting on my own blog, my friend Pattie in Los Angeles asked me about ATCs.  An ATC is a little 2 1/2 x 3 1/2 inch piece of artwork.  ATC means, Artist Trading Card. They are a very popular form of artwork among card makers and scrapbookers.   If you research them on Google you will see some fantastic multimedia miniatures that will really surprise you.   

I have dabbled in ATCs and first got involved with them after reading about them, but I really started to understand them more from taking classes with Diana Kovacs (I apologize for previously misspelling her name), a designer from Hampton Art,  www.hamptonart.com. She is local to my area and offers classes.  I've mentioned her before as someone who has influenced my growth in this art form.  So, I am going to show you a whole bunch of early ATCs that I made prior to my meeting Diana and then the work I produced after I met her. Remember, these are small and not the size of a greeting card.








The following are ATCs that were made after working with Diana:








As you can see, the style and form is very different.  This form of collage is a stretch for me, but it is so much fun!  Each card was an adventure and I thank Diana for her inspiration and encouragement.  I hope to attend the next ATC class she offers coming up soon!

So, that's it for now...I don't post often, but try to fill up a few pages when I do.
Comments are more than welcome!
  Aloha!   Lois...