I hope you like what I've created for January. I'm going to post them with a note showing what order they were created in (a total of 7 pieces). I don't know if this is valuable information or not, but I found that what I did for the previous item shaped what I could (or could not) do for the rest.
First layout (Item 1/7)
This was just close to my heart. This coming weekend would have marked my father's 69th birthday. I miss him a whole lot. When I saw the "celebrate life" title I wanted to make a little something to celebrate his life, even though he has passed away. This was one of my favorite pictures of him, taken at Natural Bridges in Santa Cruz on my 25th birthday (I was just getting into photography, and developing my own black and white film back then).
Second Layout (Item 7/7)
After items 1-6, I had all of these great pieces of paper left over. I wanted to make a cover page for the book I bought to hold all of my ORMV layout pages. I wanted to reference some of the general info and rules (like what items we're allowed to use). I thought this would be a creative way to do it. Some of the layout is blurred out because it contains our contact info. However, you can see the full layout as a PDF in our joint email account (sent file). I created it all using a few basic MS fonts, just different sizes and orientations. I printed the layout on vellum and put it over a graphic I created with some of my left over pieces (and embellished with the same). What do you think?
First Card (Item 2/7)
So, I really had *no* idea what to do with the candles/stars black paper. I liked some of the candle graphics (and Anth mentioned that some of them were lined similar to cartoon drawings of chromosomes). When tightly wound DNA on chromosomes is usually depicted it looks like this:
I hand cut (without tracing anything... all freehand) - all of these itty bitty "chromosomes" out of the candles on the black paper. I made this card to "CELEBRATE LIFE" because one of my close friends (also Rachael, but with an extra "a") is pregnant and due soon. She works in the biotech industry with me and her husband is a scientist (PhD) at UCSF. I thought they would appreciate the "celebrate life" theme coupled with hand-cut chromosomes. Pretty nerdy, huh? (I secretly love it; it's my favorite this month.)
Here is the inside. Also created using basic MS fonts. I need to learn to take pictures before I use the cards next time! :-)
Second Card (3/7)
I just don't even know what I was thinking here. I didn't think about about tracing and cutting shapes at this point, but knew we could use circle cuts. For some reason trees and birds came to me. I free-hand cut everything except the circles (and the pre-made stickers). It shows. :-P
Third Card (4/7)
At this point I was just pretty damned determined to use the piggys and all of the good stuff I had left in the pack. I don't think this is all that creative though. It has taught me to wait until inspiration comes.
Fourth Card (5/7)
Another birthday card, with similar motivation to 4/7. Passable. Not my favorite in the group.
I do like how shredding the blue ribbon made cute balloon strings though.
Fifth Card (6/7)
This is all free-hand cut, except the scallop and blue circles - and of course it shows. However, for some reason, I like it anyway. I didn't know what to do with the flames from the black paper, but I really wanted to use them. S0... they became a flower, which was turned into a little card. It doesn't have any sentiment in it - so I could use it for anything really.
So, that's all for January. I am still stumped for most of the Feb. materials. I didn't really think about tracing line drawings. I may give that a try. Until next time... Happy Crafting!
With love and curly cutz,
Theresa
Okay. When Marieke gave us these kits for Christmas, I knew this was going to be fun. But seriously. I love your layout, and how you managed to evoke a completely different emotion using the same paper that Marieke and I used to express the playfulness of a child's birthday party. It is striking. I love the way you incorporated the vellum, ribbon and brads, and what a beautiful photograph!
ReplyDeleteYour cards are so creative. My favorites are the Celebrate Life chromosome (truly one-of-a-kind, your friend will love it) and the one where you cut out the tree and bird shapes by hand (awesome grass by the way - I love how you had a vision and just went with it. It was worthwhile, because the result is amazing). Great work! And don't worry about February, something tells me you won't have a problem knocking our socks off again.
Oh, and I love the cover page! What a great idea.
ReplyDeleteI have to agree with Rach, your first layout is unbelievably beautiful. I love it. I love how you incorporated vellum, it's gorgeous. It gives the layout a soft feel. I also love how you used the negative of the title as a stencil. Another brilliant usage of something in the kit I never would have thought of, but now must try. I had only included the negatives as a guide for how the letters are oriented, but both of you have shown just how creative you are in using them for other purposes. I also love the gold ink - it adds just the right classy touch of sparkle. It's subtle, yet beautiful. It was a great choice. And I'm in-love with the signature. What a great idea!!!! It's so personal and meaningful.
ReplyDeleteI love the scrapbook club page. The shadow of the "Monthly Craft Club" behind the "Our Results May Vary" is so neat. I have to play with fonts more. I am so inspired by this. I love all the different fonts in the different orientations - it looks like a collage of words - it's very cool and creative. I remember how you said titles are one of your favorite parts to a layout and now I see why - you're so good at them.
Though, I love everything, I have to say I am partial to the chromosome card. What an original idea! I love when something works like that, like it's almost kizmet - how one thing reminds you of something and leads to another thing. I love that it's related to your work and Rachael's work. I have given some of my accounting friends a onesie that reads "Tax Deduction" on it for their baby shower gifts and this reminded me of that. (Kevin, Patty's husband, is in computers and he was given a onesie that read "Diaper loading 71% complete", which was pretty cute, too.) I love playing with parent's professions when it comes to babies and this card does that in a brilliant and original way. It's just so cool with the title and the chromosomes for a baby and it just fits in so neat with her profession. It's so cool!
ReplyDeleteAnd your other cards! So artistic! I love the trees made from the colored circles - how neat is that! Actually, this whole card just speaks of artistry to me. The originality of it is awesome. I love the blue grass and the trunks made from candles. This card has the feeling of a Matisse or (and don't laugh) like a Dr. Seuss book - it's so colorful, creative and happy feeling. There is such emotion in your artwork. I just love it. I have to say I really admire both yours and Rachel's creativity. You have both inspired me to push myself next month to look harder and see more when I look at the materials. I mean, come on, the flames for petals in the flower. It's so awesome! I am very impressed.
It appears your creativity was just busting to get out. Anthony is right. You need more art in your life. You're so talented and creative.
Wait. Looking again (I can't stop myself - it's just so fun to see what you guys created), I realize that's your handwriting, not your dad's signature. I thought at first you had scanned in his signature and then printed it out on the vellum. Regardless, it's still a really cool, personal way to make the title. I love his name written out in your cursive. It looks really neat. I love the way you mixed different writing in this and the scrapbook club layout. Very cool!
ReplyDelete