We all have a secret set of “go to” actions that we know we can pull out to solve concerns. Whether the concerns are how to quiet a screaming child, how to get that rust stain off a steel sink, or, as in my case, how to create paper art—your upbringing and education often has an answer.

If you’ve attended my classes and workshops you’ve already heard many of these tips, and they are by no means the “rule” or the only way to great art. These are guides, tips, and perhaps reminders of how to get things done. After all, as I’m also fond of saying, “It ain’t rocket science here.”

For 2009 I’m creating a series of articles and tutorials called Works Every Time. These are the answers to frequently asked questions from old and new artists alike. You’ll find simple tips and techniques to try to keep you creating without stress or self-criticism.

Please keep emailing me and making comments. That’s how we all get better. I know many of you have said that you’d rather write me then comment on the blog, but it helps everyone when your comments are public.

And now, without further ado, I present the first article in the WORKS series called Color First Stamp Second. http://www.nachattin.com/articledtpcollagers.html Discover the joy of using large collage style stamps quickly and easily by using a direct to paper background technique. This technique appealed to me early on because I quickly tired of stamping and coloring in the images. Coloring is fun and relaxing and I won’t ever completely stop, but it can also be time consuming and tedious.

So pull out your collage stamps both large and small and have some fun trying or revisiting this technique today.

Wishing you an artful and abundant New Year!

We all have a secret set of “go to” actions that we know we can pull out to solve concerns. Whether the concerns are how to quiet a screaming child, how to get that rust stain off a steel sink, or, as in my case, how to create paper art—your upbringing and education often has an answer.

If you’ve attended my classes and workshops you’ve already heard many of these tips, and they are by no means the “rule” or the only way to great art. These are guides, tips, and perhaps reminders of how to get things done. After all, as I’m also fond of saying, “It ain’t rocket science here.”

For 2009 I’m creating a series of articles and tutorials called Works Every Time. These are the answers to frequently asked questions from old and new artists alike. You’ll find simple tips and techniques to try to keep you creating without stress or self-criticism.

Please keep emailing me and making comments. That’s how we all get better. I know many of you have said that you’d rather write me then comment on the blog, but it helps everyone when your comments are public.

And now, without further ado, I present the first article in the WORKS series called Color First Stamp Second. http://www.nachattin.com/articledtpcollagers.html Discover the joy of using large collage style stamps quickly and easily by using a direct to paper background technique. This technique appealed to me early on because I quickly tired of stamping and coloring in the images. Coloring is fun and relaxing and I won’t ever completely stop, but it can also be time consuming and tedious.

So pull out your collage stamps both large and small and have some fun trying or revisiting this technique today.

Wishing you an artful and abundant New Year!

Getting Everything Done

About those holiday cards
The time has come to admit holiday card defeat. We really wanted to send a card this year with a wedding photo on it. I created two designs plus package tags (as shown-click to enlarge) and up until about 10 minutes ago I believed they would happen.

In the spirit of positive thinking, I won’t call it defeat any longer. I got it out in that first paragraph for dramatic purposes, and now, I’m calling it a tactical retreat to fortify the troops. There’s always a New Year Card or even a Valentine’s Day card. All these options are a few mouse clicks away.

Photo Greeting Cards for all Seasons
I’m no stranger to alternate holiday cards. Everyone else is just as caught up as we are and getting cards every day…the “afterwards” ones often seem more thoughtful and give more time for reflection too.

I updated the photo greeting card feature page on my web site to include the digital holiday cards and other ideas. http://www.nachattin.com/articlephotocards.html Check it out if you are considering the alternate holiday card yourself…smile.

Time to be kind
Now is the Time to focus on what we have done and over come this month.. Now is the Time to relish in the wonder of the season. Now is the Time to share the love with others and with ourselves.

One of the most important lesions I took from The Artist’s Way by Julia Cameron is that being kind to myself makes me strong. Being strong makes me a better wife, friend, family member, teacher, artist, and everything else. Trying to do everything you want to do isn’t always the best course of action. Today I will do fewer things, do them better, and nurture the kindness.

10 minute post

Finally, I have become a member of Facebook...I feel so hip. Now if I could just figure the darn thing out...but there is always time. Did my research and realized Facebook is the 7th most visited site today. It used to be exclusively for students, then students and certain companies, and now, apparently, they let anyone in....smirk

I updated the web site gallery this week http://www.nachattin.com/Gallerymain.html with some black and white invitation ideas.

Also revised my career counseling page http://www.nachattin.com/career.html after receiving some inquiries on these services this week.

Finally, three more cards from the simply stamping session are posted for viewing.

I'm off to Sir Henry's company dinner for the holidays and then a fun weekend of moving assistance, cropping, and wrapping gifts to mail. HUGS!

Simply Stamping

Browsing my mind
I’ve been a bit out of focus all week. There are all these things I want to work on, and I don’t seem to get any of them done…While browsing a thrift store Friday with my friend Jill I picked up a 2001 Stamping book called GREAT Rubber Stamping by Judy Ritchie and Jamie Kilmartin. I confess to adoring and hoarding arts and crafts books—I appreciate them all, even if I don’t want to do the techniques.

I’ve only flipped through the first few pages of the book, but it reminded me of a great concept--:simply stamping. Lately I feel like every thing I make has to have dozens of textures, layers, and techniques. I’m frozen looking at all my supplies and tools.

Conclusions
My “new” book led me to some important conclusions:
Set priorities—in my case the priority was thank you notes to family for a great holiday visit.
As I say in my classes, “it’s not rocket science.” A simple card with a simple image is still lovely to give and receive.
Creativity heals the soul and art de-clutters the mind.

I grabbed a few images and a couple word stamps off my giant wall of wood mounted stamps that I hadn’t visited lately because my unmounted stamps are closer. I sat down determined to use only products within my reach which is still a substantial amount of stuff.

In just over an hour, I created these four cards using some tried and true techniques and products. Even though I was working with simple stamping in mind, my style is not clean and simple. Therefore, my cards still have that collage look I tend to favor. Click to enlarge all images.

The How-to
The base paper for all stamped images is photo paper. I keep scraps of it from trimming photos for my scrapbooks. On the Sea Faire card I used a Memories™ multi-color ink pad in summer shades. I matted in turquoise and put a turquoise ribbon behind it all before securing to a dark purple card base.

The other three stamped images were created by making an inked background on the photo paper. I just swiped the ink pads directly on the paper using Tim Holtz Distress Ink™ in Concord Grape and Linen. Next the Tim Holtz™ stamps were layered onto the background using rich black ink from Ranger™. All three cards also use strips of scraps for design elements and there is copper metallic thread wrapped around one strip.

Edges everywhere are inked either liberally or scantily depending upon my mood for a nice finishing touch. I like using dark cardstock for card bases in fall and winter to add to the design. Inside writing can be done with a gel pen or just glue a piece of cardstock inside.

Satisfaction
Now I have the thank you notes I wanted plus I have a renewed sense of wonder for my art. Turns out you can go back to basics or renewal in a lot of things. Now if I could just recall basic house cleaning….

Home again, Home again

Thanksgiving was abundant and busy for us as we traveled to Virginia. Our action packed trip was made in Henry's car, affectionately known as Bruinhilda because she can be a bit witchy at times. Recap: 1200 miles, 25 relatives, countless hugs, extravagant feasts of the traditional and shell fish variety, and ridiculously cold weather for this Florida flamingo... We are grateful for a safe and happy journey.

Kaleidoscope Your Layouts

Thanks to digital manipulation we can create scads of gifts and projects from layouts already assembled in our scrapbooks and photos we have on our computers. The samples above show a layout from my scrapbook inserted into the Kaleidoscope Kreator 2.0 and transformed into a completely different layout.

The generous folks at KK gave me a copy of this software when I was active as a designer in the industry. They now have a new version scheduled for release in January. http://www.kaleidoscopecollections.com/ The software was fun and easy to use. They usually use just photos in their samples but I loved the look of doing an entire layout. Plus I feel like I get more bang for the effort since I can keep one and give the other away.

Other gift ideas

My friend Paula sent me a link today for Scrapbook.com. I have no affiliation with this site but I immediately loved a couple cool things there. First they have a fun Christmas contest/promotion going with prizes and great deals. http://www.scrapbook.com/blog/view/133083.html

There's also a great blog entry about making holiday gifts from scrapbook supplies. I really love their photos and the instructions make it seem doable. http://www.scrapbook.com/blog/view/130843.html

Hopefully we'll clean and decorate our place this week. We had every intention of starting before Thanksgiving, but just couldn't put that in motion. Our neighbors up the street have already done scads of outdoor lights, blow up figures, and other festive regalia--we just can't get going that early. Perhaps we'll leave ours up until Valentine's day....smile.