Summer Crafts Bonanza Begins!

Summer always conjures up all sorts of wonderful images and activities. Foremost is the linking of summer with relaxation. I find it a wonderful time to experiment with my craft supplies. And yes, it's also nice to get a headstart on anything I plan to make for the holidays.

One of my favorite ways to relax is to color. Yes, I love everything about coloring, the visuals, the motion of my hand on the paper, the tools, the end result, and the happy mistakes along the way. Pencil is my preferred method, because it gives me the most control. I like to sit with my husband and son in the evenings and indulge my love of coloring while we all watch TV.

I also enjoy stamping. A few weeks ago at the Great American Scrapbook Convention, I met up with a dear pal, Judith Kleinschmidt and her daughter Heather Kleinschmidt-Visser. Judith always inspires me. She's so talented, and so giving of her talent. I love watching her whip out samples for people! Check out her website for all sorts of ideas.

One of the best innovations in stamping, and one that Judith does with great ease, is the technique of masking. You put a "mask" over an area you've already stamped, so that it's obscured. Then you can put one stamped image on top of another.

Here's how that worked for me with the "falling stars" piece above.

1. I stamped the bucket stamp (just the bucket) on my art paper. I was careful enough to give myself room to add the tree. (That meant I had to leave about five inches of white paper above the bucket.)

2. Now I created my mask. I stamped the bucket again, this time on a sticky note. Be careful that you actually stamp on the portion of the note with the adhesive on the backside. I carefully cut out the new, second bucket.

3. I stuck the new bucket (on the sticky note) over the bucket I had stamped on my nice white paper.

4. I stamped the tree on top of the sticky note bucket, being careful to let the bottom of the tree stamp extend onto my sticky note bucket. After this step, peel off your mask.

5. I added the stars. (This was a cheap, clear stamp of a star that I bought somewhere for $2.)

6. I colored my image. One of the best tips I've ever gotten for coloring is to "marry" your colors. So my bucket might look green to you, but I've added every other pencil color to it. There are shades of red (from the handle), blue (from the background), purple (from around the stars), and gold (from the stars) mixed in the coloring of the bucket.

7. I added the "happy everything" stamped logo. I put a piece of foam tape underneath to cause it to "pop" off the page.

Now I can put my colored scene on a holiday card or reproduce it for my personal holiday letters. By the way, the bucket and tree were both created by Judith. Over the years, I've collected a lot of her stamps. They all go together, which makes them a great investment for a crafter.

It's 90 degrees outside today, but I feel pretty cool working on my holiday cards!

Perfectly Imperfect--Handmade Cards

I had something a little bit bizarre happen to me a couple of weeks ago. I sent someone a card from my stash. It happened to be handmade, but not by me. In fact, it wasn't quite my style, but I couldn't bring myself to toss it because it had a certain "cute" appeal. But as often happens, I was down to the wire and a card needed to go out, so presto! The not-so-elegant-but-clearly-handmade card was signed, sealed and delivered with a heartfelt message inside.

A few days went by. I opened my email and found a message from the recipient of my "not-quite-perfect" card.

Wow.

She raved on and on about "how did you find the time to send me a handmade card"? Hey, I didn't want to spoil it for her, so I didn't say, "Uh, I didn't make it."

Instead, I started thinking. I thought about why that card mattered to her. Clearly, she didn't care that it wasn't perfect. She cared that I had put some time and thought into creating a one-of-a-kind artifact just for her.

I remembered a time when a public relations agency I worked with sent me a cute hand-drawn note congratulating me on my pregnancy. Yes, that was nearly 21 years old, so the gesture stuck with me. In fact, I could almost tell you about every handmade card I've ever received. They are very, very difficult for me to toss away. Even if I don't like the artwork, there's such a personality to each of them, so much love in all of them, that I find myself wanting to hang on to them.

So today I was in a bit of a rush. We're having one of those family weekends where nothing is going quite right. And I needed a card to send my aunt, whose birthday is St. Patrick's Day. I could rush to the store and buy one. But in the same amount of time, I dug into my stash and created the one-of-a-kind card above, telling her how lucky we are that she's part of our family.

It ain't perfect. Or...maybe it is!

PS To all our friends in the UK, Happy Mothering Day!

PPS I just put "A Crop to Die For," the dinner mystery play featuring Kiki Lowenstein up at www.YouPublish.com/joannaslan If you are looking for a fun special event, this is it!

Handmade and Totally Imperfect--Or Not

I had something a little bit bizarre happen to me a couple of weeks ago. I sent someone a card from my stash. It happened to be handmade, but not by me. In fact, it wasn't quite my style, but I couldn't bring myself to toss it because it had a certain "cute" appeal. But as often happens, I was down to the wire and a card needed to go out, so presto! The not-so-elegant-but-clearly-handmade card was signed, sealed and delivered with a heartfelt message inside.

A few days went by. I opened my email and found a message from the recipient of my "not-quite-perfect" card.

Wow.

She raved on and on about "how did you find the time to send me a handmade card"? Hey, I didn't want to spoil it for her, so I didn't say, "Uh, I didn't make it."

Instead, I started thinking. I thought about why that card mattered to her. Clearly, she didn't care that it wasn't perfect. She cared that I had put some time and thought into creating a one-of-a-kind artifact just for her.

I remembered a time when a public relations agency I worked with sent me a cute hand-drawn note congratulating me on my pregnancy. Yes, that was nearly 21 years old, so the gesture stuck with me. In fact, I could almost tell you about every handmade card I've ever received. They are very, very difficult for me to toss away. Even if I don't like the artwork, there's such a personality to each of them, so much love in all of them, that I find myself wanting to hang on to them.

So today I was in a bit of a rush. We're having one of those family weekends where nothing is going quite right. And I needed a card to send my aunt, whose birthday is St. Patrick's Day. I could rush to the store and buy one. But in the same amount of time, I dug into my stash and created the one-of-a-kind card above, telling her how lucky we are that she's part of our family.

It ain't perfect. Or...maybe it is!

PS To all our friends in the UK, Happy Mothering Day!

Being Creative on the Cheap

Last month I bought a handful of "special" holiday cards to accompany gift cards for my family members. When the cashier rang these cards up, I nearly fell over. I'd spent nearly $20 on greeting cards. Umph. I'm far too cheap for that. I vowed, "Never again!"

So last week I was in Target. (That's TAR-GZEY in case you're sounding it out.) I found a package of 50 blank, brightly colored cards with matching envelopes for $14 and change. Now I can easily make cards, but I hate making envelopes. This packet was right up my alley.

To make the whole shooting match even thriftier, I decided to challenge myself. I decided I would only use materials from my "extra" stash box. (At least, I'd start with my extras and then add to them, as I needed more loot.) See, I keep a cheap plastic container on my scrapbooking table, and when I make an extra embellishment or cut too many letters or whatever, I toss the extra in my stash box.

Over the course of an hour, I was able to create 8 fun greeting cards using my new blank cards and my "extras." Even more fun, because I'd challenged myself to start with the old homeless pieces, I had to really be creative. I had to look at all the old stuff with new eyes.

The cards don't have sayings on the outside of most of them, but that's fantastic. I can customize them for whatever occasion comes up!

And not only do I now have a fun new set of cards, but I also cleared away some of my old odds and ends.

What do you think? How about challenging yourself? Use up your leftover materials and stretch your creative muscle.

Happy Holidays!

1. For last minute homemade gift ideas, go to http://joannaslan.blogspot.com/2008/12/happy-handmade-holidays.html

You'll see how to make a personalized stationery set, an easy crocheted scarf, a memory jar, holiday cards, the I-Pod purses, and a cool notepad.

2. I'm posting this early--and I won't be checking in until late on Monday because our family is volunteering at a local food bank.

3. I love holiday newsletters! It's so fun to catch up. So, here's a slightly abbreviated version of what my family sent out this year:

The 2008 Slant on the Slans!

Michael graduated from high school this fall. We took him and his girlfriend Emily on a two-week vacation in late August at Kiawah Island before dropping him off college. He’s loving it! He’s doing very, very well in his engineering studies, and we’re so pleased that at least one of us isn’t freezing this winter. When he’s not in class, Mike has been jammin’ on his guitar at area hot-spots with his residence hall advisor, Miles.

David’s business continues to hum along, although the plunging economy has caused a few sputters! Steinway Piano Gallery still does very well, thanks in part to the fabulous group of people we have working with us. At night, David plays online poker, and he’s learning to deal with short stacks. (These are not pancakes. Trust me.)

Joanna’s new mystery Paper, Scissors, Death debuted in September and quickly sold out of the initial print run. The reviews are fabulous. She keeps getting asked if it’s a true story, so the answer is, “My husband was alive when I left the house.” You can see that book and the second one in the series (Cut, Crop & Die) at Amazon.com

Our dogs are fine. Vicky ignores all of us, as royalty is wont to do. Rafferty keeps peeing on the holiday lights on the lawn and shorting them out. Great entertainment, that.

We’re spending several days this holiday season volunteering at a local food bank. How blessed we are that we are able to give rather than be on the receiving end. No matter how bleak the economy looks, we have so much to be thankful for. (Yes, Virginia, sentences do, on occasion, end with prepositions.)

May you all have a happy, healthy and blessed holiday--and may we all enjoy renewed prosperity.

Love, Joanna