It's been two months...

Yes, it seems that it has been two months since my last posting.  Since then, life has been like a run away train.  I returned home after a long week's visit with my children in Hawaii.  I was pooped!! The flights home are very difficult because from Kona to NY, there is always one 'red eye' flight.  But, I arrived tired but ready to continue my life at home.  Two weeks into my recovery from my last trip to Kona, I was on another trip to Hawaii.  Max was diagnosed with Pyloric Stenosis and his parents were in a frenzy.  I arrived the day after they returned from Honolulu with the baby after the surgery.  There are no specialists on the Big Island for medical care of that nature, so arrangements were made to meet the surgeon at a fine children's hospital in Honolulu.  All turned out quite well, but the parents needed Bubby more than the baby. LOL  So, I performed a "mitzvah" and spent another week in Hawaii. As for the Bubby, she arrived home utterly exhausted and immediately took to her bed with a nasty virus that to this day is still dealing with a very nasty lingering cough.  So, for now, few cards were made these past two months.  I have also missed two classes with Diana Kovacs due to feeling too tired to go out at night.  But, I'm getting better. 


Here are a few of the cards I made since my last card posting:

These cards were all made from my vast collection of patterned paper and embellishments.  The first card with the Asian motif has the stamped image and the three gold pearls placed to made the card POP! The last card has a flower that was cut out of the background paper and then superimposed against the stamped area.

Here are two more:

I just love the stamp of the lady on the jar.  I don't think that the card's composition is very good, but I did have fun using chalk to color the image.
The colors in the bird card are so Spring-like that I had to match the paper and the embellishments.  It just worked for me placing the bird & patterned paper against the iridescent yellow background paper.

Well, that's it for now.  Life is good...I just have to shake this awful cough.  
Lois...




   

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...

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...

Almost the end of 2010

The year 2010 was my most prolific card making year yet.  It is also the year that I learned so many new techniques.  My brain has been over loaded to the point that I sometimes don't know where to start on a new project.  So, I've decided that for 2011 I will try to figure out what is my style and what type of card art work comes naturally to me.  Just because I see other artists presenting difficult techniques, it doesn't mean it is one for me.  I'm just going to sit back and admire from afar and improve on what I do best.  I'll always give new ideas a try, but not feel so disappointed when I can't duplicate or create from that new concept.  I think there is such a thing as creative input overload. When that happens, it's time to sort and file and get organized.  So, let's see what happens in the coming months.
  Meanwhile, here are two cards I produced over the long holiday-blizzard weekend:

The design for this card is from a pad of beautiful scrapbook papers.  There was no color within the flowers or leaves.  I think I'm getting a little better filling in color with colored pencils.  
                                                                  

The card stock is black, but I enhanced it with alcohol inks and ink pad ink and a silvery color that shimmers.  The center of the card is basic.  It's the background that makes the card stand out.

My son turns 39 (the age of Jack Benny!)  at the end of December.  I thought this just about says it all about aging. LOL  This card was colored with Copic markers.  I find them a bit difficult to work with, but would love to take a class in using them to learn more about them.

I'm not sure that I'll post again this year.  I'm hoping for a better 2011 for everyone. 
Lois...

December 2010

I'm a subscriber to Sirius-XM satellite radio.  I have a radio in my house and one came with my new car.  You must think that I just love all that commercial free music. Well, that is true.  But, the only real reason I subscribe to satellite radio is to listen to Howard Stern.  When I tell most people that I am, and have been, an avid listener of HS since his NBC days, they start to say all sorts of negative things about him.  Most of the negative stuff is from people who have never really listened to his show for any amount of time.  Yes, there are some outrageous antics that go on during those broadcasts, but the good stuff is really all the other stuff that goes on:  the constant soap opera that is played out among the staff, Howard's upfront personality, and all those most absolutely great interviews that he conducts with some of the greatest performers and famous personalities in the world.  And, there have been some of the best performances done live in his studio by a wide variety of musicians and musical groups.  If you're a real HS fan, it is for his intellect, his sense of humor, his honesty, and his instinctual sense of what makes good radio.  I'm not trying to convert anyone to listen to HS, but I just wanted to say that I'm thrilled that Howard has renewed his contract for another 5 years.  This will make my long boring commute to work and back bearable for another 5 years.  Terrestrial radio surely is a bore!!
   Ok, enough pontificating!
   I've been making some holiday cards, birthday cards and I'm in the middle of making a set of blank cards for my daughter-law Jackie, who as of December 8th made me a Bubbe (grandmother).
    Here's my little man:  Max Arthur Kamakana Brager

He is named after my father, Jackie's grandfather and in Hawaiian "the gift". 
   

My kids live in Hawaii and I hope to find myself there again soon to meet my little guy face to face.  Skype is ok, but you just can't hold babies through the computer. LOL 













Cards from set for Jackie:

Here are some holiday cards:

 A couple of Birthday cards :

Well, that's it for today.  It's more than halfway through the month of December 2010 and soon to be 2011.  I'm praying for health, peace, prosperity and love for the New Year for all those I love, and more...

My November 2010 Post

I haven't posted due to a busy lifestyle and just trying to work on my techniques.  I feel obligated to post some of my work each posting.  So here goes...
  I've been busy working on my coloring skills as well as making basic cards for occasions.
   First, here are some occasion cards that I've made:

 

The top card is made from a Hero Arts stamp and it was sent to my fellow card making friend, Barbara Snyderman. The design is stamped and then heat embossed with gold.

The top card was a simple design from patterned paper embellished with a butterfly and some ribbon.  It seemed to work. I sent it as an anniversary card.
The second card is a b-day card that I'm not pleased with, but it is using an Outlines stamp.  It is one of the three cakes on the stamp. Again, attempting to color with pencils.
The third card works...emboss the background and then stamp and stick on over ribbon.  
The ne3xt card didn't quite work as well as I'd planned.  I wanted to roll over the ink pad of the graduated green colors, but the light colors didn't take as well as I'd liked.


So, there are some good ones and some not so good ones...cards that is. 


Now it is that time of year when I need to make my Chanukah cards to mail out.  

The top card is a single card that will be send to my friend Barbara.
The second card I made about 5 duplicates  and the remaining three are the variations on the basic theme in different colored cards.  All together I'll mail out around 20 cards.  Holiday cards are not my strong suit.


I'm still taking classes with Diana Kovaks.  In the next week she's offering an ATC class that I'm really looking forward to.  Her classes are great for learning and sharing with other stampers.  


I want to mention a new magazine for me that I love and subscribed to.  "Craft Stamper" is from England and can be seen at www.craftstamper.com.  I read about it in another stamp magazine and had to check it out.  It has great tutorials in there for techniques and the craftsmanship is excellent.


And, the first week in November was the New York Area Stamp Show in Smithtown, NY.  It is the only real show in the NYC - Long Island area.  My friend Barbara met me there and we had a great day chatting catching up, talking stamps and cards, and sharing a meal.  The show was great and we both spent more money than was necessary, but how could you pass up new stuff!!! right?  LOL


Well, unless I think I've forgotten something, that's it for now.
Happy Stamping everyone
Lois...