Sunday, August 19, 2007

Elvis in the studio










John Lennon said, "Before Elvis there was nothing." I adore Elvis. His music and his movies have long been an inspiration for me. I made the pilgrimage to Graceland on his birthday in 1994 (I think that was the year, I'll have to check the scrapbook for sure). It was when Lisa Marie was married to Micheal Jackson. They had this HUGE tribute concert --we saw tons of famous performers all in one place.






Music does influence my art and my life. I made a series of cards with Elvis playing cards and Dream Impressions stamps around 2003. We were heading to Vegas for the convention where I was speaking and it just seemed like the fun thing to do.




I'm fascinated by when Elvis is celebrated. This week there were several shows on about him and his movies were running because it is the anniversary of his death. My trip to Graceland for the concert was the anniversary of his birth. I like that better myself, celebrating his birthday--but since he was everywhere this week, I thought I'd deal out these cards and talk about art with playing cards.




Here's a few tips and ideas (in random order) for working with playing cards:


1. Walmart has the best selection I've seen of decorated playing cards. I've used Elvis, Coca Cola, Marilyn, and others from there.


2. Playing cards are the EXACT size of Artist's Trading Cards and can be decorated just as they are to make ATCs.


3. The surface is very slick so use a solvent ink, sand them, glue stamped images to them, or use gesso to cover areas you want to decorate.


4. Use both sides of the cards--the ones you see above use the front and back of a playing card set.


5. There's a great freedom from working with playing cards because you get 54 of them in a pack and can play and experiment. Enjoy!




Sunday, August 12, 2007

Hybrid Fun

Before we get to Hybrid Fun--just a quick update on the Website. I'll be launching a new and improved version of http://www.nachattin.com/ on September 15th. Sneak peaks will be available in the coming weeks.



Here's one of my latest hybrid scrapbook creations. I put the 12" print paper (Rouge Le Grange) right into my printer to make that title with a free download online. I used the Wizard to make a circle booklet that opens at the pull of a ribbon for journaling. The same technique is featured in a totally different layout for Spellbinder's October Education Newsletter. I love the versatility of my Wizard which was also used for the vellum letters (Indulgence font) and the white shaped accents (Paisley). The white stars are from an EK Success punch.




The journaling inside tells about this photo of my favorite musician, Bruce Springsteen. He played 5 nights in Washington DC on his "Born in the USA" tour. I was there the night before this picture was taken by a friend of mine.




The "sound advice" within the circle is that if you see no other live rock concert in this lifetime, see Bruce. He is astounding.




I just love combining digital and traditional scrapping. As I mentioned in July, the whole process is easier now with my Epson R1800 printer. (no affiliation, but I love this printer) I also have a new giant scanner for 12" pages, but alas, the surplus sale scanner needs a few repairs that we are gradually getting the parts to do....




This layout came together in under 20 minutes. I'd been meaning to do something with this photo for years--ever since I took it out of my living room in a frame when I got married in 1986.... My first husband didn't like Bruce, that should have been a sign. What was I thinking?


-grin-




Just Enjoy it...




This layout inspires two songs to circle through my mind. Totally unrelated songs in my opinion. The first song is "Buffalo Gals Won't You Come Out Tonight." That comes from the saloon girl get- up I was wearing in June of 1979...yes, that's me.


The second song is "Wild Winged Dove" by Stevie Nicks because of the line "on the edge of 17." She hadn't recorded that song in 1979, but hey, I can't control the timeline of head music.


One of my big pushes in teaching scrapbooking is "scrap the meaning and the moment." Although this layout is by no means the kind of work I think I should submit for publication or sell or teach....it is the epitome of why I scrap--the meaning and the moment. The visual impact is fun and fanciful to match the photo. The pull-out journal card (on the back in time circle top right) talks about this photo being taken as a Father's Day Gift for my Daddy, the minister. He got a kick out of it, as I knew he would. It also talks about what my 45-year-old self would say to that 17 year old self who was at Virginia Beach with eight friends celebrating graduation from high school. I teared up writing the note that very few people will ever even read, but those tears were cleansing and I'm better for them.It's about the meaning and the moment.


Once I completed this layout and my little tear session, I stuck true to my self on another issue as well: Why store scraps when you can use them? so this little cowboy card was born. I've been noticing that Bruce Willis uses cowboy references in his movies. I wonder if that is the writer or him? Anyway, I love these two:

"Yippee Ki Yay"

"It's time to Cowboy Up"

Either one would be a great message line inside this card.