Thanks, Take Ten!

Every now and then, I send some of my creations off to my favorite magazines for publication consideration. Sometimes they keep submissions until they have the right publication or "fit" for the submissions, and that must have been the case with these. I think I created these cards more than a year ago, and re-purposed a dollar-store box to contain them. So it was a pleasant surprise to see my cards in Stampington's Take Ten Winter 2011 issue (pgs 88-91).

It's always an honor to be included in their publications as the the quality of their publications and photography are unmatched.

Thanks again, Take Ten & Stampington!!

Another peak at a monoprint...

turned greeting card...
Another sample of the type of printmaking that Marilyn and I will be teaching on Oct. 17. See details on the sidebar at the right to sign up.

In addition to the Elastack printing plate that you will get to keep, you'll make dozens of prints on an assortment of paper substrates. We'll also be providing handouts that include printmaking tips.

The beginning is half of every action.

That was in a fortune cookie I had this week, and I think it's pretty accurate. So just begin. And the momentum will propel the next steps.

Speaking of which, I made 30 "have a dream" cards. If beginning is half of every action, I should be well on my way. So why does mailing them always seem like such a chore?

Have a dream...

I used to love to make and send Christmas cards. For years, decades even, I would plan my cards well in advance of the holidays, with plenty of time to make fifty or more for friends and relatives. I enjoyed the process, and it never felt like an obligation.

In recent years, however, the holidays seem one moment to be ages away, and then BAM!!!, they're over, and with them, so are all of my good intentions to make cards, cook, bake, and find little ways to say thanks and show appreciation for my friends and relatives.

But I've discovered that I love the first weeks of a new year - ALL THAT PROMISE!!- 365 new days to do more and better than before. And of course, to drop the ball way before it drops in Times Square (but that's no doubt a future post). With the holidays behind me, all of a sudden I have time again.

So I started last night. I didn't even know what I was starting. I had bought a few discontinued fabric swatch books in the fall, and the colors and textures have been calling to me. So I began cutting. Hearts. I know. More hearts. But I love them. And they're not done with me yet. And the obvious choice with all these hearts would be to send Valentines, but I'm thinking that I may take inspiration from Martin Luther King, and send Have a Dream cards.

Just a little reminder to listen to your heart.