Daily Courage

There is a saying that “Cancer Sucks.”  It does. With the advancements in treating the disease, it seems I know more people who have prevailed and after treatment and have been able to resume their lives. But, lately that isn’t true. I have attended the funeral of two friends under the age of 50 in the past several months. Both women died of breast cancer. Both of them left daughters the same age as my own daughter, Sarah. 

    My mother died of ovarian cancer in 1996. She looked into the mirror of mortality everyday for seven years. I learned a great deal in those years. I saw how much it meant to her when others would visit, call, write or send a thoughtful gift. Rather than holding back from fear of what to say, it was the people who reached out that made a difference. It’s not easy to know what to do. What matters is that you do something.

   Some people turn to the kitchen and cook to show they care.  I tend to avert the kitchen and head to my craft studio.

  My cousin was recently diagnosed with melanoma. I’ve been struggling with a way to reach out and show support. Yesterday, I pulled out the things that give me comfort: vintage trims and embellishments, handmade papers, button, paper dyes, and a book of favorite quotes that I keep in my office. Not quite sure where I was going to end up, I started on a minibook filled with quotes I thought would be of comfort during his treatment. Aromas flowed from the kitchen where my daughter was baking for friends who had been in a terrible car accident. Once the cupcakes were in the oven, she came to find me. “See Mom, this is what we do. You craft and I bake. It makes us feel better, and like we are doing something and to show we care.” She’s right, it does. 

What do you do to show you care? We could all use some good ideas…

Okay, I am trying for heaven’s sake. I know its not like bombs are going off around us literally, but it feels enough like a war zone for my taste. 

The RL4C offices are a lovely spot, but there is an isolation issue seeing as I am permanently in the Employee of the Month parking spot because the rest of the team is scattered about cyberspace. Which means there are no water cooler or coffee room interactions to perk me up about all the negative news these days. (Note to self: Do NOT open the blast from Publisher’s Weekly first thing in the morning.)  

When I first saw this reproduction of the famous war  poster that graced London during the Blitz, I thought it was cute and quaint. Now I think the King and Queen at the time were brilliant. I get it, I get it. Keep Calm and Carry On.

Let’s all try to pull together and do just that. We creative types have a tendency to be overly sensitive and drink things in. We are often easily influenced by environments. It’s clearly in our best interest to heed the advise of the poster of another time in history.

BTW: I found this on Etsy. There are a couple of artists selling them. Be nice and run a search for all the others if you’re shopping.

Being a fan of The Artist’s Way by Julia Cameron, I try to take myself on an Artist’s Date from time to time. Because I enjoy scouting for the work of new artists and crafters, I have convinced myself that shopping counts. Not far from my office is delightful Old Towne Orange (CA). The area looks like its out of a small town movie. Actually, it is. The Tom Hanks movie That Thing You Do along with many others. The plaza and intersecting streets are home to many wonderful shops and antique stores. Recently, I discovered Heavenly Hostess, a gem of a store that sells among many wonderful things fabulous aprons and tea towels. THere is an array of gifts, bath products, entertaining accessories, and my favorite–books. 

The best part of meandering the shop was coming upon a display with two of our books: Crowns & Tiaras and Paper Mache Treasures with Teena Flanner. Oh happy day! It was a surprise that made the Artist’s Date just perfect. Heavenly Hostess has been added to my list of favorites.

Paper Cutting is an art form that has many interpretations in cultures all over the world. The art of paper cutting is enjoying a Renaissance from which is coming amazing work created using only paper and scissors.  We have been enjoying the work of a variety of extremely talented paper artists who will be featured  in an upcoming book. Here is a preview of a delightful centerpiece depicting the Mad Hatter’s Tea Party.

We’ll let you know when to look for the book. You’ll enjoy the easy-to-follow instructions and love creating your own paper art.

A few years back, before I had heard of Etsy, Charlotte Lyons sent me an email telling me that she had a shop there. I set out to find out what it was all about and haven’t turned to look back. Omiigosh, it’s creative heaven right here on earth. You know what I saw on there today? Prom fashions. Can’t wait to tell my daughter that I have found the answer for not showing up to see another girl in the same dress. Back to Charlotte. I have been a big fan of hers since I first met her when I was with Romantic Homes magazine. She had authored two books at that point, and I loved them both. This little canvas of hers called my name. The grammar is bad, which makes the editor in me cringe. But the sentiment is expressed so sweetly in her signature decoupage. It became my very first Etsy purchase. And the message is as true today as the day it arrived by mail!

Every once in awhile a lovely package arrives in our offices and you can tell right away that it is coming from a very special person with an amazing creative gift. Like the day right after we had moved the offices, and the phones weren’t working, and chaos reigned as well as heightened blood pressure. But when the UPS truck delivered an unexpected box from Teena Flanner we were brought back to why we love what we do. Teena had loving packed some of her fabulous paper mache originals along with carefully chosen photos of her studio. By chance would we be interested in a possible book. Would we!? And that is how Paper Mache Treasures by Teena Flanner came to be.

A few weeks ago, the most beautiful large envelope came in the mail. (I still love the real mail) And a carefully hand lettered folder held a  lovely letter  from artist Dee Foust. Dee creates delightful seasonal decor that is carried as a line through puts you in the mood for spring.

Can’t wait to see where this may go. In the meantime, you can find Dee’s work at Bayberry Cove.

We are delighted to share with you that the advance copies of several new books have arrived. If you love quilting and enjoy working in other mediums too, you are going to love Creative Paper Quilts by Terri Stegmiller. It’s filled with wonderful projects that include embroidery, applique, and other techniques. Contributing artists include: Sue Bleiweiss, Zana Clark, Cathy Collier, Colleen Kong-Savage, and Carol White. Here are the links to the author and contributing authors: http://stegart.blogspot.com, www.suebleisweiss.com, www.stampzia.com, www.phantomcrimes.etsy.com, www.kongsavage.com, www.artbycarolwhite.com

We also have a wonderful new book. Hand-Appliqued Quilts by quilter Tonye Belinda Phillips. Tonye lives in Camp Sherman, Oregon and is part of the wonderful staff at The Stitchin Post that produces The Sisters Outdoor Quilt Show. Tonye has developed a lovely style of hand applique that she carefully explains and presents in delightful, cheerful quilt projects. 

With school back in session one thing is for sure, Halloween decor is going to begin appearing  in stores, prompting us to get into the mood for what has become one of the largest holidays of the year. Some of the most fanciful characters and spirits you’ll see come from Bethany Lowe Designs. Here in our neighborhood of creative authors, we are very excited that Bethany’s new book filled with many ideas and designs has debuted. Bethany Lowe’s Folk Art Halloween is a must-have for any Halloween decorating afficionado.

A couple of weeks ago, I was at The Bead and Design Show in Pasadena, CA, and came upon a delightful booth that sold jewelry made from Halloween ephemera. I immediately thought of the Bethany and her daughter Erin Glennon Lowe. I had a great time choosing a pendant for each of them. This morning, I decided it was time to get them wrapped and into the mail. Using some of the ideas featured in Make It in Minutes: Mini-Boxes, I enjoyed embellishing and recycling some small tins with fall colored ribbon and papers to put the gifts in. I don’t spend enough time in my craft room, and it felt wonderful to start the day there. I wallow in the colorful handmade papers, ribbons, and trims and enjoy thoughts of gathering each treasure. Today, I used gold braid from a trip to Delhi with April Cornell, doodads from The Art Bar, and ribbons from Tinsel Trading - all favorites!

Once each tin was ready, I decided the pendants would be a much nicer gift with a silver chain. I pulled out my jewelry-making stash and found two nice snake chains and added one to each.

It was a fun way to start the day. Playing amid a stash that is tumbling out of drawers and cupboards just waiting to be part of special project. Today, I lived by the motto, Create Everyday! 

Many of the creative souls I know are great fans of The Artist’s Way by Julia Cameron and so am I. One of the suggestions the author makes is that in order to inspire ourselves we need to make a regular Artist’s Date. She tells us it doesn’t matter where we go, we need to take the time to do something curious and give ourselves little creative breaks. Susan Rios is one of the creative faithful. You know Susan from her beautiful paintings of wonderfully romantic places and children, and from her many books with Harvest House. By the way, that is her work on the banner of the Crlog. Remember, this is a CReativebLOG (Crlog)

Partners in Play by Susan Rios

Harbour Roses by Susan Rios

We have talked for two years about going on an Artist Date together. Yesterday was the day! I drove from the OC to her home and off we went to the Getty Museum. Perfect place for an Artist Date, don’t you think? We had lunch in the wonderful restaurant, and splurged by having a Blood Orange Margarita. It was as good as it looks! And, it almost made it worth the 4 1/2 hour drive home. I hit the SigAlert jackpot coming home on the 405 freeway. Cheers!!

After lunch we wandered into a fabulous exhibit of Illuminated Manuscripts. These works were done from the 1100’s to the late 1500’s. Unbelievable. If you are even the tiniest bit of a paperholic, you will love seeing the wonderful manuscripts. Here is a peek:

We marveled at how the scribes and artists could have done such intricate gold leaf. There is no doubt it is the real deal because it is still shining after all these years. Knowing Susan, she’ll have it figured out. She did some very unique and wonderful things with texture and dimension in her book Designer Scrapbooks with Susan Rios.

An all around wonderful day!! None of us think we have the time. Maybe we don’t have the time NOT to take a little break to be inspired.

Toodles!

The Craft and Hobby Association had its annual convivium week before last in Anaheim. While the show floor was a bit quiet, there was plenty of creativity snapping in the air. Many of our beloved authors were there, and it was a joy to see them in person. Cathy Risling and I had lunch with Sandra Evertson, whose ingenuity is endless. She was spending time demonstrating a new line of rubber stamps she designed for Stampington. She uses ink blots as her inspiration. Sandra’s book Fanciful Paper Projects continues to be very popular. She lent her creative genius to Crowns & Tiaras. Here is a peek at one of her tiaras:

We met with Kerri Judd and Danyel Montecinos, authors of Crowns & Tiaras too. They are going to be at Remnants of the Past in April selling their original creations. Transforming vintage anaglypta (wallpaper) into fabulous crowns is one of Danyel’s trademarks.

We saw Sandi Genovese who has a new book coming up teaching readers how to make her fabulous pop-up and moving cards. Sandi’s cards have been a huge hit on QVC, and were in Staples this past holiday season. She has designs for all occasions, and they are simply fabulous. This is a quick point-and-shoot shot of the inside of one of the holiday cards.

Jamie Fingal, author of Embellished Mini-Quilts joined us at the show too. Jamie’s book received a very nice review in the Library Journal this week. It recommended that her book be an addition to every library’s collection!

Congratulations, Jamie!!