Catherine Moore

The Beekeeper's Tea

Tip your cup with your pinkies up.  You are invited to attend The BeeKeeper's Tea coming in early January 2012.

 

 
"How doth the little busy bee Improve each shining hour,

And gather honey all the day From every opening flower."

Isaac Watts

 

France Travelogue: Chapter III

Bonjour Madame:  Journaling the Journey

Bonjour Madame!

I decided to call my Paris workshop Bonjour Madame because I wanted to emphasize language and communication. Overall my experience has been that French people speak considerably more English than we speak French, but it hardly takes any time at all to learn a few French pleasantries, such as bonjour (good day), pardon (pardon me), s'il vous plait (please), merci (thank you), and au revoir (goodbye).  To that end, I included in everyone's workshop kit a set of French phrase stamps to use in their journals, as well as a set of an old type face to add a few phrases of their own.  I also chose the title Bonjour Madame because it has a sense of whimsy about it! 

During my two-week stay in France, I found French people to be quiet and reserved, as well as approachable, friendly and welcoming.  After returning home I found myself almost saying bonjour at the grocer or when meeting with friends, as I did in Paris where every encounter was completed with merci au revoir. 

A Color Story

My plan for this visual journal was to create a color story.  My journal is divided into four color chapters.  I always create chapters in my journals so that I do not feel compelled to work front to back.  And, I like to use anything but white paper, which immediately eliminates that glaring blank white canvas.  Everyone was asked to chose a color scheme and arrive with paper for four signatures in their chosen color palette, as a jumping off point.  Along the way, my color chapters evolved to be more about juxtapositioning colors. 

Because Paris has been a recurring theme that I have played off of in illustrating Character Constructions, it seemed fitting to give figures center stage in this workshop.  I designed a kit that contained all the collage elements needed to develop characters large and small.  As an illlustrator of art stamps, I carried over that methodology, and supplied my workshop participants with the tools they needed for personal expression. I gave everyone a kit that contained enough material for 20 or more journal pages and dozens of characters.  This worked out well as it gave everyone the ability to work at their own pace and to continue to journal their stories later back in their own studios.  And, to give our Bonjour Madame mascot something to cover her sweet little head, I also designed a series of six hats and demonstrated some of my embellishment techniques working with paper, string and ribbon.

In addition to characters, I developed some other illustrations for journaling, such as a chiffonier with lots of little drawers that could actually hold things.  In Paris, we visited boutiques where materials were stored in old cabinets and drawers, and I thought it would be fun to mirror that on the pages of our journals.

(This page contains the chiffonier I designed, as well as the fish that I found at Tombées du Camion, and some items that were in the shared pile such as the little clown that I altered to allow him to ride the fish.  The houses in the background were also in the shared pile. The women on bicycles are from the Mannequin Cafe collection.)

And, because we were living "like Parisiennes" in our Paris apartments, I also designed a couple of different apartment illustrations for use in our journals. I crafted the workshop similar to the way I design a stamp collection, with imagery to illustrate our personal stories. 

(One of two apartment illustrations I designed. Our apartment was on 13 Rue Beaunier.)

In addition to the collage materials in the kit, I asked everyone to bring some collage material from home, along with some to share.  I found some serendipitous imagery in that shared pile, as well as in the petit reins (little treasures) discovered on our daily outings.   

Last year Barbara Smith and I went to the flea in Mt. Dora, Florida, where she introduced me to the Polaroid pogo printer.  You just plug your camera into it and chose the photos to print, and viola it prints these tiny little photo stickers.  This was so much fun of course I had to have one and brought it along so that we could incorporate photos from our daily explorations into our journals.    

This page contains Merry-Go-Round paper that I discovered in Michaels and included in the kits, as well as one of those little Pogo photos of the Metro (bottom right).  On the left, is a Polaroid transfer of a merry-go-round, my contribution to the shared collage material. I printed a whole series of transfers using vintage Paris slides. Merry-Go-Rounds were a common feature in Paris parks and other public places.

Black and white images like these formed my first impressions of Paris as a young woman, which carried over into illustrations for the Mannequin Cafe collection. Both of which had a place in my Paris visual journal.

(A sweet gift from a friend that arrived on the eve of my journey. The note says take me with you, so I did!)

(The La Mere Catherine graphic was actually copied from a plaque, a gift from a fellow traveller that is now a part of my story.)

 

I printed information about the fashion exhibition at Versailles onto this dressform.  Another inventive way to add texts to a visual journal.




I am always looking for inventive ways to incorporate texts onto my visual journal pages.  Here I found an old Underwood typewriter graphic and a free Underwood font online!

As I write this, I am still working on my pages.  I am very particular about the materials I choose. Everything you have seen used so far is meaningful in some way to my story.  I have incorporated a lot of materials that were given to me by friends who supported my dream to lead a workshop in Paris.  

Thanks for stopping by!   

France Travelogue: Chapter II La Côte d'Azur

After my Bonjour Madame workshop & retreat in Paris, Dale and I flew to the south of France.  I literally chose our destination by zooming in on the location with Google maps. Dale and I were married outdoors on the seashore and more often than not find ourselves gravitating back to coastal waters, and that is how we found ourselves on la Côte d'Azur."  Incroyable, Sensationnel, Magnifique!

We arrived early on a Monday morning craving a little rest and relaxation, but as our room was a few hours from being ready, we immediately found ourselves wandering. We wandered down the Promenade des Anglais in the direction of vieux ville (old town).  We had no itinerary whatsoever, just a wish list. On that wish list was a visit to the flower market in vieux ville along the Cours Saleya.  As it turns out, however, Monday is flea market day, the only day when there is not a flower market.  Unlike the dark back street where the Marche aux Puces de Porte de Vanves is held in Paris each weekend, the Course Saleya, is a capacious pedestrian avenue positioned amid ochre buildings illuminated by the Provencal sun, lined with beautiful boutiques, cafes and galleries. The booths artfully presented, the sellers friendly and the prices fair. After a couple of hours of exploring the market, we were hungry and found ourselves seated outdoors in front of Restaurant La Cambuse.  The menu was a reminder that we were not in Paris anymore, and I selected a seafood risotto that was delicious and brimming with prawns, crayfish, mussels and tentacles.  One of the really wonderful things about eating in a cozy cafe setting, is that you meet the nicest people and we had the pleasure of dining alfresco with a lovely Australian couple.  In fact, we met quite a few Australians in Nice.  The Australian economy is booming, their dollar strong, and viola there were many vacationers from down under in Nice! 

Restaurant La Cambuse in the Cours Saleya

We found it so easy to get around in NIce.  For a single Euro you can take the bus to all the neighboring cities along la Côte d'Azure, Monaco, Saint-Jean-Cap-Ferrat, Ville-Franche-Sur-Mer, Beaulieu-sur-Mer.  So, on day two we decided to explore the medieval hilltop village of Èze.  Èze is situated on a cliff 1,401 feet above the Mediterranean sea, and is surely one of the most beautiful places we have ever visited. We wandered the serpentine cobbled passage through the village all the way to the top, and found ourselves in the clouds at the Restaurant Chateau Eza. Chateau Eza was once the winter getaway of the Swedish royal family from 1923 until 1953; today it's a hotel. We had lunch on the terrace perched on a cliff overlooking the Riviera and azure sea below, literally among the clouds.  And the meal was equally breathtaking in every way, and I cannot recall ever having had better service.  For dessert we tried a local specialty, a Provencal dessert that incorporated strawberries, figs, rosemary and olive oil, and it was luscious. I will apologize in advance for overuse of the word luscious, it's unavoidable. 

Lunch in the clouds at Chateau Eza

Dale's salad at Chateau Eza with edible flowers

My pumpkin soup and flower garnish

We also dedicated an entire day to visiting a few of the many museums in Nice. Admission to all but one, Musee Chagall, is free.  We caught the 22 bus just a half block from our hotel which took us directly to both to the Musee Chagall, and later to the Musee Matissee and the Archaeological museum which are on the same site. At the Chagall museum we saw the painting Les Maries de la Tour Eiffel (Marriage at the Eiffel Tower), which a few years ago inspired a painting I did to commemorate our 25th wedding anniversary.  Lovers and weddings were frequent subjects of Chagall, and I am an ardent fan of this bright Chagall color palette. We didn't see so many paintings at the Matisse museum but there were a number of collages and a series of ten or so whimsical mermaid sketches. The archeological museum is actually on the site of the ruins of the ancient city of Cemenelum and just behind the Musee Matisse. 

Les Maries de la Tour Eiffel, by Marc Chagall

As I was arranging these photos it struck me as odd to juxtapose these images of carrousels, ruins and museums in this quaint neighborhood setting.  I suppose this is one of the reasons that we enjoy visiting Europe, the layers upon layers of history that are a part of everyday life. This park was full of neighborhood people with their children enjoying the day.  

My favorite of the many quaint carrousels we saw throughout our visit to France. This one is circa 1900. The rose colored building in the background is the Musee Matisse.

Musee Matisse, all of the architectural details were trompe-l'œil. The patina was real, however, and quite beautiful.

One in a series of whimsical mermaid drawings by Matisse.

Ruins of the ancient city of Cemenelum.

View of Matisse Museum in the background of ancient ruins of Cemenelum.

Dale could have spent the entire day wandering the ruins of this ancient city, but we did eventually travel on to the MAMAC, the modern art museum.

"Foire aux Puces" 1984 by Daniel Spoerri

At MAMAC we discovered a retrospective of the work of Niki de Saint-Phalle, a self taught painter and sculptor, who used unconventional objects in her work.  Early in her artistic life she was not entirely appreciated nor respected, but that would not have been the case today.  There was also this fabulous assemblage by Daniel Spoerri entitled Foire aux puces (1984) which captured the magic of the flea market in objects that I particularly like.  Another favorite sculptural piece was Vestito Blu (2005) by Italian artist Enrcia Borchi, a blue dress elegantly sculpted from recycled plastic water bottles.

Vestito Blu (2005) by Enrica Borghi

Dale on the roof of the MAMAC, a great spot for getting photos of Nice!  I took this photo from inside the museum.

View from the roof of the MAMAC.

Exterior view of MAMAC.

We enjoyed one glorious sunny morning after another, so we decided a picnic was in order and walked over to the marche on Cours Saleya to see the flower show and to gather fresh foods for a feast.  We selected salami, pate, chevre, Roquefort, olives, cherry tomatoes, bread, palmiers and strawberries. Then we caught the 82 bus and were on our way to Cap-Ferrat. There we spent the first couple of hours touring the Ephrussi de Rothschild Villa and Gardens. This rose colored seaside villa was built by Baroness Béatrice de Rothschild in 1905 and was constructed in the style of a Venetian Palazzo. We were enchanted by the villa and its nine perfectly manicured gardens. The gardens were conceived in the form of a ship, designed to be viewed from the loggia, with the sea visible on all sides. Rockers have been strategically placed on the loggia so that you can sit and enjoy the effect of floating upon the sea.  We shared an all too brief glimpse into the private world and whimsy of the wealthy baroness. I want to know more, but could find no biographical reading material on the baroness.

Entrance to Villa.

View of French Garden.

Inside the villa, looking through to loggia.

I fell in love with this wood carved figure on the loggia.

After our tour of the villa, we walked in the direction of the village to find our picnic spot. Unfortunately we took a wrong turn and ended up in a residential area.  It would have taken us hours and hours to find our way into town from there, had it not been for the kindness of a stranger who discovered us wandering through her neighborhood and offered a ride into the village.  She dropped us off right in front of L'epicurien wine shop. You just have to marvel at serendipity sometimes because this outing could have gone seriously wrong.  We discovered another amiable local at L'epicurien.  DJ helped us select a bottle of wine for our picnic and we enjoyed the wine along with our picnic in DJ's dockside cabana.  Cap Ferrat is well known for the many celebrities who have homes there, such as members of U2, Tina Turner and others.  DJ said that he had met all the members of U2 and described them as "gentle."  We found DJ to also be a gentle soul. After a relaxed picnic among the yachts of Cap-Ferrat, we said our farewells to DJ and off we went to find the 82 bus back to Nice.

Picnic on Cap-Ferrat

On the way to our hotel that evening, we stopped along Rue Massena, a pedestrian avenue that we traversed during our daily outings, for a simple dinner at La Pizza Cresci.  We had the most heavenly, beautifully presented meals throughout our journey, and the pizza that emerged from the oven at La Pizza was no exception, due in large part, I think, to the cheeses.  A simple green salad, freshly baked pizza and a bottle of Orvieto Classico, were all that we needed to embrace a little joie de vivre!  And, once again, we had the good fortune to be seated next to a friendly couple, from Northern Ireland.  They told us that Northern Irelanders are known for being friendly, and they were indeed very nice and we passed the time pleasantly with them over pizza.

The next day we decided to visit the Le Château (or "the castle" as it was commonly referred to).  The castle is actually a high rock bluff overlooking old town and the Mediterranean. The castle that was once there was blown up in 1706, but it is a dazzling plateau from which to view la Côte d'Azur, and the adjoining parc du château was peaceful.  Here we found lots of locals enjoying the parc, reading, relaxing, and picnicking in the beautiful Provencal sunshine. We could also see people swimming below in the crystal clear azure sea. There was a spectacular cascade (waterfall) in the park and more ruins to explore.  We wandered and relaxed and spent a pleasant few hours here.  

la Côte d'Azur with old town on the right

 

The cascade at the parc du château 

mosaic on a wall in the parc du château near ruins

Architectural detail on building near ruins. 

Our location in Nice was perfect.  We were a mere two short blocks from the Promenade des Anglais and the pebbly Nice seashore, and central to everything else.  There was an abundance of little markets and restaurants. I had my first moules et pomme frites at Brasserie Le Jockey right on Meyerbeer a block from our hotel, as well as my first marmite de poissons en bouillabaisse. It was a simple earthy little brasserie. The service was friendly and the food was decent, and they seemed to get a kick out of me sampling the local specialties while Dale watched.  We had everything we needed to get our day off to a good start, cafe creme and pan au chocolat, and luscious Nutella croissants that were worth every buttery morsel! Our neighborhood boulangerie was the Artisan Boulangerie Dalpozzo, named after the street it resides on. Each morning Dale would make his rounds, first to the bakery, then off to LouLou on Meyerbeer to get our cafe cremes from the twin brother owners.  The friendliness of everyone in our neighborhood made us instantly feel at home and welcome.  By the end of the week, we were starting to feel a little homesick but we were sad when we had to say our goodbyes.  

Villa Massena is a beautiful neoclassical Italianate villa built in 1898 that we visited on the Promenade des Anglais just a short walk from our hotel. It once belonged to the Massena family. André Masséna was a French military commander during the Revolutionary and Napoleonic Wars.

 Place Massena, an expansive square that we fell in love with.

Those figures at the tops of the posts were lit at night.

Merci au revoir!  We I hope you have enjoyed a little slice of Nice vicariously through our eyes.

Fall 2011: France Travelogue, Chapter I.

Bonjour Madame, workshop & retreat

Monday, September 26, 2011, we arrive in Paris!

On the evening of our arrival in Paris, there were two moments that would set the tone for our week in Paris.  The first of which occurred as we enjoyed aperitifs in our apartment.  To honor this very special occasion, my husband Dale had prepared a toast, in French no less. "A cet instant, et les moments à venir!" (To this moment and moments yet to come!) And, there were many many wonderful moments to follow.

Dressed to the nines and ready for our night on the town!

Thanks Steve for sharing all those great photos you took!

 

CITY OF LIGHT

Paris has a myriad of nicknames, but she is most famous as "La Ville-Lumière" or the city of light.  And, as such, it seemed only fitting that we spend our first evening in Paris drifting dreamily upon the Seine river illuminated by her sparkling iconic monuments. As we glided serenely, a violinist strolled amongst our tables and a solicitous staff served course after delicious course, the the first of many feasts we were to luxuriate in over the week.  But alas, after several hours, our cruise ship on the Bateaux Mouche made it's final tour of the Seine and glided back to the docks at the Port de la Conference.  On shore, our taxis awaited and whisked us away on a daring race back to the apartments in the Petite Montrouge neighborhood where we would live our lives as Parisiennes over the ensuing week.  This wild ride was momentous in that our week in Paris would be anything but tame.  Let the adventure begin!

 

W-A-N-D-E-R-ing

The following day, as with the days that followed, we encountered cool mornings, warm sunny afternoons, and not a drop of rain. Un grande merci Paris!  We took the first of many daily rides from our neighborhood metro, line 4, Porte d'Orleans, to destinations throughout the city. On this particular day, it was the Abbesses station, one of the few remaining Hector Guimard art deco-style entries, and as we can attest to, one of the deepest in Paris at 36 meters (118 feet).

We explored two neighborhoods in the 18e, Les Abbesses quarter and Montmartre's Place du Tertre. Just outside the metro we arrived at Place des Abbesses, the neighborhood's nucleus.  There we discovered one of the many quaint merry-go-rounds of Paris. Worlds away from the maddening crowd, we strolled the winding cobbled streets and ultimately found our way to Tombees du Camion, literally translated means "fallen off the truck."  This pocket-sized shop was artfully styled and stocked with vintage ephemeral treasures. The clerk was delightful and we travelled on with petit reins for our visual journals (more on that later). Place du Tertre, by contrast to the authentic charm of les Abbesses, is a tourist mecca but none the less a lively area and worth a visit, though immediately after the brisk uphill jaunt I am not sure everyone would have agreed. 

 

After a morning of wandering and exploring, our reservation at Moulin de la Galette awaited us.  The Moulin de la Galette was the subject and title of several paintings by Van Gogh and Pissaro, but we were there because of the excellent reviews including one by Rick Steves.  Once again, we were not disappointed, the food and service earned high marks and we had a long relaxed déjeuner in true Paris form.

After our first day of exploring, we journeyed back to our apartments to incorporate new found materials into our Paris journals, a visual retelling of our journeys.  

Lana and Catherine during an artmaking session.

On Wednesday, we turned up the volume considerably trekking to the bustling 1e and 2e, into the thrumming heart of the city, to arrive at the highly anticipated Ultramod mercerie and haberdashery. Ultramod first opened its doors in 1890 and once inside this quaint boutique with its floor to ceiling wood drawers, and boxes filled with thousands of buttons and notions, there was a feeling that we had alighted in a place where time stood still.  In this oasis of quietude and calm, we spent a good bit of time exploring as others like us have done for more than 120 years.  We travelled on with passamenterie, ribbons and other tresors tucked into our bags.  Once on our way, and just as we were about to enter into the Passage Choiseul, we looked back to find Lana, who had entered a vintage clothing shop, with her face and arm thrust through the open door waving a spectacular patterned skirt. This is but one of many priceless memories of our adventure and one worthy of memorializing (I just wish I had caught it on film!).

 

Steve and Lana just outside Ultramod

Incidentally, the Passage Choiseul is a pedestrian corridor comparable to an indoor shopping mall. After navigating the passage, we exited into the chaos of the city, zig zagging through a maze of hectic avenues and narrow but heavily trafficked corridors en route to Aux Crus de Bourgogne off of the trendy market street Rue Montorgueil, where we had reservations for lunch.  

Aux Crux de Bourgogne was a rare find.  I confess to being an information junkie and dove headlong into locating the best restaurants in the neighborhoods we were to visit.  However, when it came to reviews it was at times confusing due to the many conflicting impressions. In this instance, however, the reviews were unequivocally excellent in terms of food and service.  While there is no specific "Parisian" cuisine per se, Paris offers the best of regional French cooking as well as influences from the blended cultures of the people of the city.  The fare offered at Aux Crux de Bourgogne orginates, as the name implies, from the Burgundy region. The specialty of the house is of course bouef bourgogne, but our group of ten ordered a multitude of other dishes, all of them outstanding.  

After the harried walk through the city, we once again found ourselves in a quiet haven. The setting, a private dining room on the second floor had been made ready for our party with a starched white tablecloth, white china, and glistening glassware. Though we may have prompted an initial head scratch from our waiter, he was an amiable man and worked hard to meet all of our needs, including some vegetarian requests, and the food was luscious. This is where I had my first citron pressé introduced to our group by Lana.  Lana ordered one and, intrigued, several of us followed suit.  Order this drink anywhere in France and you will be served a glass with ice and the fresh squeezed juice of one or more lemons, along with a bottle of cool water, and sugar.  Basically, the ingredients of fresh lemonade, but served with so much more flare.  I found it very refreshing and a great palette cleanser with which to begin a meal.

After lunch we visited Stohrer on Rue Montrogueil.  One of the venerable patisserie's of Paris. Nicolas Stohrer was the royal patissier to Louis XV and when he left the court in 1730 he took his recipes with him and established this patisserie. Two revered house recipes are Stohrer's puits d'amour and baba au rhum. There was also an article posted out front lauding the eclairs, so quite naturally I had to sample all these delicacies!  

Next stop was Le Droguerie, France's largest chain of craft boutiques.  But, Le Droguerie is quite unlike anything you would find here in the US.  It was yet another small scale boutique stocked floor to ceiling with old fashioned wood drawers, and shelves filled with jars and jars of buttons, beads and other trims. I wish I knew more about the history, as the shop we visited in Paris had an old world feel to it. Here we found elements well suited to embellishing our developing Bonjour Madame characters. This shop reminded me of Tinsel Trading in NYC in both style and offerings, except for the tiny Eiffel Tour charms which I was delighted to discover there.  I had been wondering about the name of this boutique, Le Droguerie, literally translated, the drug store, until I discovered that droguerie could also be translated as bead, but either way you translate it, it spells obsession! 

After a visit to Le Drogerie, it was back to the apartment to rest and attend to our evolving journals.  We had the remainder of the day and the first half of the following day to completely immerse ourselves!

Chateau Versailles

Entry to Gardens behind Chateau

Fountains

Grand Trianon

The French Garden

While we spent the first half of the day in the apartment, the remainder of our time was dedicated to attend the fashion show, or should I say exhibit, at Chateau Versailles, Le XVIII au gout du Jour, The 18th Century Back in Fashion, exploring the Grand Trianon (where the exhibit was held), the Petit Trianon and the private domain of Marie Antoinette.  I have posted my two favorite fashions from the exhibit but if you would like to see more, French Vogue has posted photos from the show on their web site.

by Vivienne Westwood

by Alexander McQueen

 This fashion exhibit exemplified the fascination that I myself and others hold on 18th century fashion, and especially the Louis XVIth period, fashion a la Marie Antoinette.  The extravagance, the exquisitely embellished and accessorized ensembles, and the voluminous hairstyles have captivated the fashionista in me since the Marie Antoinette movie.  For this exhibit haute couture designers adapted a modern reading on 18th century fashion, some of the silhouettes were almost literal while others deconstructed and expanded on them.  It was breathtaking to say the least to be there and close enough to appreciate the details.  There was one pink confection, "Vive la Cocotte" by Vivienne Westwood, that was spellbinding. The workmanship was exquisite and the fabrics and embellishments were so delicate and beautiful I could have spent the day admiring them, but I was not the only one enchanted. This was the last week of the exhibit and there was a monumental turnout though I wish that I had passed through the exhibit at least one more time.  I just could not get enough.  

A few years ago I organized an artist collaborative, La Theatre Troupe. It was the same year that I introduced the Queen of Tarts collection, an homage to Marie Antoinette.  It was such a pleasure to have the opportunity to have a member of that group along with me on this adventure. Sara Hanlon, accompanied by her multi-talented daughter Kimberly.  And, to meet another member of le troupe, Pat Rogerson, the following day at Musee D'Orsay, I was over the moon!  And how apropos to have the opportunity to spend the day in Marie Antoinette's private realm and to visit the La Petit Theatre de la Rein with the Hanlons. This mother and daughter seemed more like sisters, and obviously shared a special bond. Very best luck to you two ladies in your new roles as business partners! 

Postcard depicting Marie Antoinette's private theatre

The threate as we found it

Marie Antoinette's theatre is a jewel box.  I visited it first with my husband who seemed just as excited as I was to be there.  And it would have been so easy to miss this treasure, had it not been for all the expert direction I had been given by Pat Rogerson. I wonder just how many people do miss it.  You need to approach through the French garden, and in a nondescript building on the right, viola, you will find the entrance to this delicate ornate chamber, though actually entering is prohibited.  You will find a cool quiet corridor where you can stand and meditate, however.  After our visit to the theatre, we walked a meandering path on the periphery of the gardens to arrive at the petit hameau and the vast many buildings that were part of Marie's fantastical world.  A place where she went to play shepardess and imagine a simpler life.  It was truly beautiful and I am so grateful for the time we were able to spend there together.  

 

We later walked back into town and had a delicious dinner at Golden Bengal Restaurant Indien, that was spotted by Sara earlier in the day along the main route from the train station.  The menu was a bit of a challenge, with so many exotic offerings and all of them described in French.  However, the Hanlons are connoisseurs of Indian cuisine and offered helful suggestions.  I also adopted a routine when ordering from French menus, that is to focus on the price fix menu, which was usually a lesser expensive combination of options than the a la carte menu and affords the opportunity to experiment.  All of those experiments worked out well as they did on this evening from the kufi to the coffee! 

While we visited Marie Antoinette's private domain, the other members of the group returned to the antiques shop we had discovered earlier on our walk from the Versaille Chantiers train station to the chateau.  You can find it on the left side of the street on the main route through town on your way to Chateau Versailles.  One of the things I remember best about it, is the radiant light coming through the class ceiling. There were some exceptional pieces of furniture to be had, including an old shop cabinet, s well as inexpensive paintings and lots and lots of books, and at quite good prices.  This was yet another one of those moments where we might have been time travelling, as this antiques shop was pricing things much lower than expected on highly sought after items, including an ancient 20x15" ledger book for less than 30 Euro!

 

Musee d'Orsay

On Friday we visited the Musee d'Orsay.  It was an another sparkling day in the city of light, and we were able to enjoy it sans the heat and noise. The light that illuminates this space is but one of the many reasons that d'Orsay is my favorite museum in Paris. We spent a couple of hours perusing the art galleries before rendezvousing with friends Pat Rogerson, Susan Wilken, Sharon Bruner, and the other members of their group who were also visiting Paris.  We dined at the beautiful Restaurant de Musee d'Orsay, one of the grand Belle Epoque salons of the former hotel that adjoined the train station that is now the Musee d'Orsay. It lived up to its reputation in every way.  Architecturally stunning in every detail, perfect service and delicious food.  We had a long Parisian style lunch, chatted amiably, and took a few photos before parting.  A perfect meeting place.  Thank you ladies for taking time to meet with us. We will always have Paris!

Sennelier

Not far from the Musee d'Orsay is Sennelier, and how could we not take a just a little more time to visit this iconic purveyor of art materials on the Quai Voltaire founded in 1867?  Along the way, we discovered street artist Zamir Mati.  At first I thought he was selling photocopies, which is something we see quite a lot here in the US.  He explained that they were all original paintings rendered in watercolor and ink. On his ipad, Zamir shared with us the full range of projects he has been involved with from children's book illustration and postage stamp illustration, to an extensive collection of paintings and drawings.  He showed us his web site but unfortunately it is not up and running at the time I am journaling.  I hope all is well.  Our chance encounter with this gentle man and talented artist, was yet another of the special moments we shared in Paris. 

 

Marche aux Puces de Porte de Vanves

Finally, Saturday arrived and we took the tram just a couple of stops to the Marche aux Puces de Porte de Vanves.  Flea markets are pretty much hit and miss whether you find yourself at your local flea or at the puces in Paris.  And, it takes a patient practiced eye.  In Paris, you might also be a tiny bit intimidated, as I was at first. Items were not marked, obligating one to request prices and some of the replies seemed very high by US standards.  So, it might have been a miss day for me had I not encountered a booth that was so beautifully conceived.  Baskets held an assortment of ephemeral paper items such as tags, papers and labels, as well as Victorian scraps, all priced and affordable. There were also some handcrafted items, vintage rubber stamps, small tins and boxes.  We parted with words we heard throughout our visit, merci au revoir. From there I discovered a woman with a large collection of French Victorian scraps. The illustrators and scraps were new to me, and whimsical and alluring in a typically French style. Her prices were as would be expected and she was a sweetheart.  She was enthusiastically trying to tell me something in French that was beyond my personal lexicon, but her warmth and friendliness were unmistakable. I went home with a dear collection.  My last stop was at the end of a long row of sellers, where I discovered a woman offering vintage initial ribbon and my own personal initials, something I will treasure.  In my studio back home I have a large old fashioned ribbon cabinet.  I love ribbon, and have painstakingly arranged my collection by color. And, over the years have collected a lot of this vintage white initial ribbon with it's red trim bearing others initials, so it feelt magical to finally find just one box with my personal initials in a beautiful flourished font!  

Salad Nicoise at our neighborhood cafe after the flea

Au Revoir! 

Catherine sharing her journal.

Lana sharing her journal!

Sara (above) and Kimberly (below) sharing their journals!

Teresa sharing her journal!

Saturday evening we sat and shared our journals, the work we did, the small treasures that we collected and included, and their histories.  In the kitchen Chef Phillipe prepared our evening meal, the final meal this group of bon vivants would share together, with a lot of help from my husband Dale. We had so many courses it is difficult to remember them all, though I do remember that it started with champagne and an amuse-bouche, and from there we moved to the dining room where our first course was a luscious green salad, accompanied by a wine personally selected by Phillipe to compliment the flavour notes of the salad. I had requested champignons (mushrooms) be included in our menu as it was mushroom season and they would be fresh and delicious (and they were)!  We were served roti de veau aux champignons and gratin dauphinois for our main course, accompanied by organically grown fresh carrots and two types of green beans, and more carefully selected wines. The main course was followed by a cheese course of no less than five cheeses, and Phillipe described the cheeses and which wines to pair with them.  The cheese course was followed by dessert, a tarte tatin (an upside down apple tart)!  This was a bountiful feast, expertly prepared, who could ask for more?

Chef Phillipe is a lovely man and a fantastic chef, but he could not have carried this off without the help of my husband Dale.  Dale was to have been seated at the table the entire evening enjoying the meal along with all us, but he saw the need and rose to the occasion as he did throughout the week.  I love you Dale!  Thank you for all you did to make this week comfortable for our guests. And, I know that Phillipe will be eternally grateful for all you did! 

 

In the morning after our guests travelled safely on to their next destination, Dale and I spent a relaxed day together. We metro-ed over to the Eiffel Tower, where we discovered a quaint little cafe on a narrow corridor removed from the pandemonium that surround this iconic monument.  We languished over our meal for a good long time and celebrated the moments we shared over the past week and the many more that would follow in the French Riviera the following week.  And, we toasted the magical city that is Paris and her quiet and reserved people who generously took time from their daily lives to lend a hand in friendship to this lively group at many points in our journey.  Merci au revoir! 

 

Stay tuned for views of my art journal, and part deux of our France Travelogue: La Côte d'Azur"

Paris Dreams

As I sit here at my desk, I am already thousands of miles away.  I am dreaming of Paris, where I will soon be travelling with a group of artists and friends. We have a lovely week planned for ourselves. A week to embrace la joie de vivre. A week to wander, to explore and also to create. We will will not be taking the typical visitors path. We will live in left bank apartments in a quiet residential neighborhood and each night as we slumber scents from the local boulangerie will waft through our bedroom windows. For breakfast each morning we will slather warm baguettes with butter and honey, and sip cafe au lait.  Our daily wanderings will begin on the Metro and on the avenues where our lives will intersect with the people of Paris. We will peruse the market streets in search of ingredients for our evening meals, and enjoy lunches at local cafes where we will feast on luscious cheeses, pates, crepes and other sumptuous regional dishes. And for dessert we may even nibble on a macaron or two from a patisserie.  At the end of our daily explorations we will voyage back to our Paris pied-e-terre to relax, reflect and journal the journey. That's an essential element, I think, to capture la joie de vivre.  Joie de vivre is all about embracing and savouring all the moments of our lives and adopting a less harried pace. It's something we might aspire to do more of, especially at home. 

So now that the plotting and planning has been done, all that is left is to do is slow down, be in the moment, and open our hearts to Paris.  

Au revoir for now.  I promise to tell you all about Paris when I return.  Until then you can read more about our plans on the Bonjour Madame site.  

Colorado Springs Travelogue: Summer 2011

 
 

Happy Summer everyone!  I am so happy to be back, back from the dark place that I found myself in earlier this year after pushing too hard.  Dark, because being tired has a way of dimming everything that usually brightens my life. A dear old friend once sent me a card reminding me that I was not a human doing, but a human being. Sometimes we need to remind ourselves to slow down and savour the moments. Like many of you, my spirit thrives on the beauty and peace of the natural world and too much time indoors, at my desk or even in my studio, will eventually take its toll.  Thank goodness it's summer and life's pace slows to allow opportunities to get outdoors and enjoy. I wish I could learn to do this during all four seasons.

Dale had a conference in Colorado Springs a few weeks ago and invited me along.  While he stayed busy with meetings most of the time, we managed to work in a few outings including a trail ride in Pike National Forest. Every time we visit Colorado Springs I find myself doing things that are way outside my comfort zone. The truck ride up to the stables on the old Stage Coach road was the most breathtaking and vertigo-inducing part of the day. The trail ride itself was actually pretty tame, but there were times when the trail narrowed and my horse and I found ourselves perched thousands of feet above the ground below. When assigned our horses for the ride, they brought this large old boy named Thor for my husband, and I was sure glad that one was not for me. Then out sacheted Ladybug, and now wouldn't you think that a horse named Ladybug would be mild mannered, but she was not having a good day and seemed to be spooked by just about every little thing, including Thor who was behind us. She would put her ears down and buck if Thor got a little too close for her comfort, or she would try to run me off trail everytime she saw an unfamiliar rock. It made for an interesting ride. 

I grew up in south Florida, at the tip of the pennisula in one of the last cities on the mainland at barely six feet above sea level, and driving up a small hill can get my heart racing.  So the day my husband arranged a visit to see the Seven Falls, I knew I was in trouble when everyone in our group was wearing shorts and hiking boots, and I had on capri pants and ballet flats, with a leather bag slung over one shoulder. When the guide asked me if I could walk a half mile to the falls, it sounded like a challenge to me and there was no way I was backing down. I led the group on a brisk half-mile walk uphill to the entrance of the falls.  Why on earth she was concerned about anyone walking that half mile of parking lot I have no idea, because the several hundred steps that we needed to climb straight up the side of the mountain alongside the falls, would seem to have been the "stumbling point."  We all stopped and looked at one another and laughed at this.  We could see the falls just fine from below but we had several hours on our hands and trails to hike above the falls.  So I put one little ballet flat in front of the other and up I climbed.

Colorado Springs is beautiful, to put it simply, and the climate was a good 10 degrees cooler with absolutely no humidity.  It was heavenly and a much needed reprieve from the heat here in HOTlanta!  

This particular conference that my husband attends takes place at the Broadmoor in Colorado Springs every few years so this was our fourth visit. (The Women's US Open golf tournament is taking place there right now and there have been some great views of this beautiful locale on television over the last two weeks.) I have had the opportunity to do a lot of exploring in the past, I have been to most of the local sites, museums and shops and this time I decided to simply stay on site as much as possible and explore the tennis and other offerings. There are four one-hour tennis clinics every morning of the week.  I started my days with two hours of tennis, and had the pleasure of meeting other guests from all over the world as well as some locals. The pros are top notch and I came home with lots of notes and things to work on. You may recall, when our youngest son went off to Georgia Tech three years ago, my husband and I were really depressed, our home felt so lifeless.  But we rediscovered our love for tennis and we play every evening for a couple of hours. We have made quite a few new friends, and it is great to get outdoors, and it keeps us active and fit!

And even though we were in the mountains and not on the beach where I thought I really wanted to be, there were a few mermaid sitings!  One evening we enjoyed a casual dinner poolside while mermaids and other whimsical creatures entertained us:

And speaking of mermaids, there were some other mermaids on the grounds. This beautiful statute was positioned in the garden just outside the entry to the pool.

Of course, I have been more alert to mermaids this year since I introduced my She Sells Seashells collection in January, and even made a point to see the new Pirates of the Carribean movie, On Stranger Tides, a few weeks ago just to get a look at the mermaids.  They were a bit vampirish but this fourth sequel was actually a lot better than I thought it would be. On the recommendation of a CC devotee, I also recently watched Republic of Love, where there was an undercurrent of mermaid mythology.  And best of all, a few days after we arrived back home from Colorado Springs, three little mermaids from Florida paid us a visit.  That would be our darling nieces Alexa, Ashely and Hannah.  We spent hours of time in my studio happily stamping, coloring and glittering mermaids.  My studio is still luminescent from all the glitter.

Here we are playing mermaids in the pool before our glittering studio session!

Sorry these are a little fuzzy, but they are the only ones I have and I had to include them.  We had so much fun!

Happy Summer everyone. Wishing you all a little mermaid magic to brighten your days.  

Bonjour Mesdames!

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

I cannot believe it is June already.   For the last month or so I have been enjoying some down time. I accomplished a lot last year, developed a new collection of stamps (She Sells Sea Shells), a new line of dies (Studio Assistants), developed a new class for my workshop at Assemblage Studio last fall, wrote an article for Somerset Studio, and developed a workshop, Bonjour Madame, that I am teaching in Paris this fall. Oh, and the Paris workshop necessitated the development of a whole new web site.  And, those are just the highlights. Is it any wonder that I was a little tired come spring? Then my computer retired unexpectedly and needed to be replaced, and I decided it was time to make the switch from PC to Mac, and that necessitated updating all my outdated software. S-t-r-e-s-s-f-u-l!  I guess you could say I hit a rough patch.  But, never under estimate the value of good old fashioned sleep and little down time, and viola . . . happy summer everyone!  I feel like my old self again.  My husband and I have a nice trip to Colorado Springs planned for later this summer, and then we are off to Paris in the fall.  With the fog of exhaustion lifted, life is looking pretty good again.

With the Paris workshop just a few months away, it is getting pretty much my full attention right now and I am starting to build up a bit of excitement!!  I just discovered this fantastic video on YouTube of a Bateaux Mouches night cruise on the Seine, which is how we are spending our first night in Paris. I wanted us to spend our first night having a relaxed dinner somewhere with a great view, and it doesn't get any better than this! There are ten in our group, which is the perfect size (I think).  It's a lovely group of artisans and friends. Living and journaling in the intimate setting of a Paris apartment, I feel very fortunate to have such a nice group to share it with. Merci beaucoup for sharing in and supporting the dream of a Paris workshop. I am also looking forward to meeting another group of artisans while in Paris, actually a spin off from the Bonjour Madame waiting list, will be joining us one afternoon for art and lunch at the Musee D'Orsay for lunch one afternoon.  

For those of you who could not join me in Paris, I wanted to share this find.  Actually, I didn't find it but received from a friend the gift of Art Girl's Guide to Paris, a lovely little self-published tome with lots of useful tips, inspiration and photos by Carmi Cimicata. She also has a blog with loads of photos from her visits to Paris.

Well that's it for now.  It feels good to be back at it and feeling inspired to post to my blog.  

 

Fashionista Mermaids

Spring Greetings everyone!

 

For those of you looking for art workshops utilizing your Character Constructions stamps, you won't want to miss Laura Haviland's fabulous Fashionista Mermaid class at the Mixed Minded event in Kitchener, Ontario the last week of May.  Be sure to drop by Laura's Blog,

 http://www.creativewhispers7.blogspot.com/

for further details and some great photos of the her Fashionista Mermaid!  I will be donating some gifts from my She Sells Seashells collection to class participants!  

If you have any questions, you can reach Laura at:  littlesparklesblue@yahoo.ca  

   

Cirque du Swan by Nancy Gene Armstrong

She Sells Seashells by the Seashore

 

After a bustling year and holiday season, I am so happy to finally sit at my desk and reflect on 2010 and make plans for 2011.   Last year at this time, I introduced Mannequin Cafe, a collection that took form as I dreamed of a Paris workshop, followed up with Studio Assistant custom dies in the fall, and had some very fine adventures in between, including a treasure hunt at the puces of Mt. Dora with Barbara Smith.  My life thus far has been quite an adventure and I am supremely fortunate and grateful to all of you for your continued friendship and support.

This year I borrowed a sweet title from a tongue twister I loved as a child, She Sells Seashells by the Seashore, which also happens to be the name of one of my favorite shell shops on Sanibel Island.  I grew up along the Florida shore in a coastal community and it has influenced my life in countless ways.  As children, my sisters and I were fascinated with mermaids, particularly the Weeki Wachee mermaids. During the summer of 1970, while I was visiting my grandparents, my little sister Laura sent me a Giant Post Card from Weeki Wachee, addressed to the wrong street and zip code, but somehow it not only managed to find me, but I still have it!  (In her post card note, she apologized for being too busy to write sooner -- were we always so busy?) Along with that postcard I also received a Florida Pictorial booklet from Weeki Wachee featuring an entire cast of beautiful mermaids.  I am surprised there is anything left of this booklet as we studied it endlessly, imitating the mermaid underwater poses in our backyard wading pool. Bringing this new collection to life has been a lot of fun and a little like being in the splash pool with my sisters on one of our mermaid adventures!

Adopting the She Sells Seashells title for my collection has had me wondering about the origins of the tongue twister.  As luck would have it, I received a call from a kindred spirit this morning, Maliene Wajer.  We met in Balitmore, Maryland a few summers ago during a weekend workshop at The Queen's Ink.  Maliene discovered my new ad for She Sells Seashells and called to tell me about a book by Tracy Chavalier (Girl With the Pear Earring), entitled Remarkable Creatures.  I had actually read this book a couple of years ago and was reminded by Maliene that the story of remarkable creatures is based on the life of Mary Anning, a fossil hunter who lived in Lyme Regis, on the coast of England.  The She Sells tongue twister is believed to have been written about Mary.  So, for those of you joining me on mermaid adventures this year, I highly recommend this book.  

To get your mermaid adventure underway, slip into your favorite scallop shell bra top, pick a tail from the book of mermaid couture, and relax for a little longer.  You have made it this far (merci), so please sit down and enjoy this slide show compliments of one of my very best friends and mermaid artist extraordinaire, Nancy Gene Armstrong:

 

T'was the afternoon before Christmas and all through the house . . .

For the last several hours, while everyone was enjoying an afternoon siesta, I put the final touches on our Christmas table.  This is when my office / library transforms back into our dining room once again. I arranged a vase of fresh cut flowers, all white,

and set the table.  This year I decided to celebrate the season with a little nod to the major design project that has kept me so busy for several months, She Sells Seashells.  It seems only fitting as my immersion also becomes my family's immersion, and everything gets put on the back burner until I reach my December 1st deadline to deliver illustrations to my manufacturer.  So, to honor that process and to savour the completion of yet another collection, I decided I would include a few mermaid decorations on our holiday table this year.

 

They are actually pretty simple, but all that I could manage with the marathon of activity leading up to this moment.  A marathon of shopping, wrapping, shipping, decorating, tree trimming, Christmas cards, baking, menu planning, cooking, cleaning, and all that on top of the day to day running of Character Constructions.  But, they look sweet alongside our Coquille china, and sitting here now at my desk on Christmas Eve, I feel a sense of peace and also of accomplishment knowing that everything is finally in place for our family Christmas.  

As I sat chronicling yet another Christmas Eve, the sun slowly set.  It's dark now, but here is the view from my desk just a short while ago.  I am off to the kitchen to prepare for tomorrow's Christmas dinner.  

Merry Christmas everyone! 

A Mermaid's Tale

But remember always, as I told you at first

that this is all a fairy tale,

and only fun and pretense; and, therefore,

you are not to believe a word of it, even if it is true.

~ Charles Kingsley (1819 - 1875)
 

New Mexico Travelogue: Fall 2010

Just a short while after returning from The Assemblage Studio in DePere, WI, I accompanied my husband Dale to New Mexico.  He would be there on business and knowing how much I love the area, he invited me to join him.  We arrived early and had two blissful days in Santa Fe before his business engagement.  The weather was brisk but sunny and there is nothing that compares to that beautiful New Mexico sky.  Here we are riding on the Santa Ana Pueblo in Bernalillo, just outside of Albuquerque. Dale's conference was in Bernalillo, at Tamaya, which was beautiful beyond our expectations.  Dale was pretty busy most of the time, but on our last day there we arose early and took a hike along the Rio Grande, followed by a trail ride.

 

After our morning ride, we drove into Albuquerque and visited a few bead shops.  I first discovered beads while visiting New Mexico in the early 90s.  I don't think there are more bead shops anywhere else in the country, but my absolute favorite is Glorianna's in Santa Fe, where the mother and daughter proprietors are always friendly and welcoming, and oh the beads!  

While in Santa Fe, we visited several museums, among them the Georgia O'Keeffe Museum, where we caught the Art & Materials exhibit.  On display were some of her brushes, paints, pastels and sketch journals, as well as the natural objects that she collected and represented in her paintings.  Rocks, shells, twigs and even bones were part of the exhibit.  After her death in 1986 I read about her many collections of natural objects and felt a strong connection to this earth-centered woman.

Outside of the O'Keeffe Museum.

In the museum shop I purchased this photographic postcard of Georgia O'Keeffe, taken by Maria Chabot. O'Keeffe was a woman with true grit.  On a previous visit to the museum, I caught another exhibit, The Poetry of Things, and brought home the exhibit catalog which was also a biography of sorts.  I remember a passage that described the simplicity of her home.  There was very little ornamentation but among those few items was a sculpture of a Bodhisattva right hand, the gesture which means to go without fear.  

The high desert plains and adobe architecture of New Mexico are very different, and why I had a difficult time passing up the opportunity for a visit.

Outside the Santa Fe Art Museum.

A courtyard inside the Museum of Art in Santa Fe, with just a glimpse of that beautiful sky.

 

Trying to capture a typical street scene in Santa Fe, shrouded by that exquisite blue sky.

A perfectly blissful end to a magnificent week in the high desert plains. 

Season of the Witch

 

Halloween Greetings!  I'm back from my three-day event at The Assemblage Studio in DePere, Wisconsin.   It was an action packed three days that began with a paper doll social on Friday evening. Everyone in town or out was invited to join us, and we had about 30 friends stop by throughout the evening. Wine and cheese were served while friends old and new joined us for some good old fashioned paper doll making.  We worked with fall themed stamps from the Bird & Bee Paperie collection to create this little scarecrow paper doll, which I have since inserted into a theatre set in my journal. It is a rare and wonderful thing to have an opportunity to play with my stamps and sharing that experience with friends is the cherry on top!      

We got off to an early start on Saturday morning and spent the first half of the day building our paper doll / toy theatre sets.  The doll I engineered was designed to allow everyone the opportunity to add their own unique style to the project, from embellishments to the theatre set itself (built inside the doll's skirt).  It was exciting to see how many different ways the doll and toy theatre evolved in the hands of this creative collective.    

(If you would like to make one, you will find complete instructions for creating Season of the Witch in the September / October 2010 issue of Somerset Studio.)

On our final day in the studio, we gathered to create The Delicate Nest bracelet.  I am not a jewelery maker per se, but a couple of years ago I had the opportunity to experiment with designing jewelry for Jenn Mason's book, Altered Paper Jewelry.  Once you master the technique for laminating the collage papers to the charms, you can make a bracelet in just a couple of hours, which was a good thing because I had to make a quick get away after class in order to catch my flight back to Atlanta.  It was so sad saying goodbye to friends. 

Thank you everyone to taking time out of your busy lives to join Teresa and I at The Assemblage Studio!

Here are a few photos that I took during class:

Teresa Gifford and budding artist Tyler Lambert

Hello from Linda Warlyn!

It was fun watching Linda work!  Her doll is really outstanding as you can see.  

Linda's doll in transition.

Danine's witch . . . love the way she made the broom so full!

Teresa in creative mode.

Teresa's witch fully glittered!

Tyler's witch in process.  Tyler was leading the pack after the morning session and an abundance of ideas!

Jeanne's witch under construction.

 

Maria Nordin's witch in progress.

I love the way "Z" made her collar ruffled all the way around and standing up behind the neck!

The fabulous "Z"

Teresa and MaryAnn McKeating

MaryAnn's witch in process

Dawn in the background and Sky's witch in the foreground

The self-described "chronically early girls" Sky and Dawn 

 

Of course, being surrounded by so many treasures, there was a lot of shopping going on throughout the weekend:

My friend Jeanne Mueller drove in from Eau Claire, WI for the weekend.  So nice to see you again Jeanne.  

The lovely Isabelle aka Shoppe Girl

 

I was the first to arrive and get the shopping underway!

My new friend Tyler Lambert.  He was a wonder to behold, poised, abundantly creative and a perfect gentleman.  It was an honor to have Tyler in my classroom.  

As my old friend Linn Jacobs was fond of saying "Ciao and Meow for now."  

Stamp, Align, Cut!

My new crinoline custom die is designed to work with the Clearly Constructed French Laundry crinoline stamp on plate no. 6. To ALIGN your custom die with your stamped image, you will need to first create an alignment tool.  This is one way to create the tool, and I just learned a different way and will be posting that very soon!

 

1.  Place your die cutting edges up on your work surface.  

 

3.  Remove the crinoline stamp from its transparent carrier plate, and place the carrier plate stamp side up on top of the die.  Align the cutting edges inside the stamp design.  Move the carrier plate around to get the best possible alignment.  With a permanent marker, place dots on the carrier plate over both registration circles attached to the sides of the die.  With a 1/16" circle hole punch or an awl, create tiny holes through the dots. That's all there is to it and you only need to do this once.  Now that you have an alignment tool, you are ready to stamp the crinoline image.

4.  Stamp crinoline image onto your choice of paper or cardstock.

 

5.  Place your carrier plate (alignment tool) over the stamped image stamp side down.  Manipulate it so that the image you just stamped aligns with the image on the carrier plate.  Insert a pencil through the holes and mark.  Now you are ready to cut!

6.  Place your die cutting side down over the stamped image that has been marked with pencil dots, and align the dots with the holes in the die.  Use some removable tape or a heavy duty sticky note to hold the die in place temporarily.

7.  Run the die, paper attached, through your cutting machine following the manufacturers instructions, and Viola!  I use a Sizzix Big Shot, but there are many brands to choose from and the methodology for each one is somewhat different.  I can tell you that the original Sizzix will not work.  You need one of the newer models that actually rolls the die through a sort of press.  With acid etched dies the paper is actually "cut" with pressure.

Plan B, Craft Green!  If for any reason you no longer have your carrier plate, you can easily create an alignment tool in less than a minute with a recycled milk bottle!  

1.  Go to your recycle bin and salvage a plastic milk bottle.  Cut a piece of plastic that is slightly larger than the die.  

 

2.  Place the die, cutting side down, onto the recycled plastic.  Mark it "this side up," secure in place, and run through your die cutting machine. The plastic is very thick so it won't cut, but it will score the plastic with the configuration of the cutting edges.  Cut the crinoline shape out of the plastic taking care to leave those registration circles on the sides. 

  

3.  Place your new alignment tool on top of your stamped image, move it around and align it so that the cutting lines are inside the stamped lines, secure in place with a heavy duty post it note or removable tape, and run it through your die cutting machine according to manufacturers instructions.  Store your alignment tool with your stamp or die for future use.   

SIDE BAR:  If you ordered your crinoline die a few weeks ago, then you received the prototype which came with it's own plastic alignment tool.  Anyone who can operate one of these sweet little cutting machines can easily create an alignment tool with recycled plastic in less than a minute, and this planet could do with a less plastic.  Don't you think?! 

TECHNOLOGY:  

Being the information junkie that I am, I have been immersed in the technology that brought forth my new custom crinoline die.  I am smitten with my new die and desiring more to play with, and from the feedback I have been getting I am not alone.  

What I have learned, is that acid etched dies (as compared with Sizzix-type steel rule dies) are a mere 1 mm thick and constructed of a special steel that is not manufactured in the US.  The steel is poured into sheets in Germany and shipped to the US where it undergoes a hardening process so that it can withstand the trials of being pressed in our die cutting machines! 

Hardened steel is just the rough material.  To turn it into a die, first a graphic artist, working with a stamped image, plots a tooling diagram that will be transfered to steel coated with a photo resist and exposed to a controlled UV light source. This will leave an image identical to the tooling (artwork) on the resist.  The unexposed areas are stripped away leaving the bare metal to be etched away.  Then the individual dies are cut from the sheet, painted and sanded.  

It is a lot more involved than I ever could have imagined.  But, I have a greater appreciation for dies now that I understand the process.  

Here are some behind the scenes photos at Dies Direct, my manufacturer in Phoenix, AZ:

My New Toy

I'm using this page from my Bonjour Madame journal to show you my new Character Constructions toy.  If you take a closer look at the Parisienne doll you will see that she is wearing a crinoline skirt that I created with one of my  French Laundry stamps.  You can stamp directly to paper, patterned or plain, or as I did here, you can also cut out some of those boxes and put patterned paper behind it.  In this case I stamped on the dotted paper with the light background, but removed every other row and filled in with another dotted paper with a darker background.  I used a craft knife to do all that cutting (and I know so many of you have done this as well).  It's a really nice effect, I think, but tedious and time consuming!  So, this is where I tell you about my newest toy.

A few weeks back Lisa Guerin wrote to me to say that she thought a die would be such a handy tool to have for this stamp and I could not agree more. She had created this amazing little part-woman, part sea-creature, with claws visible under the crinoline (very cool).  I must have contacted a half dozen different die cut manufacturers before, frustrated, I tabled the idea.  They wanted huge sums of cash and it just wasn't practical.  But, I happened to mention this to another friend, Maria Nordin, aka The Queen of Die Cuts, and she did some independent research and discovered another potential manufacturer. And, viola, with a little help from my friends, the crinoline die cut is born. (and hopefully more to come)

I believe there are limitless possibilities for my new toy.  For instance, the die cut on the left side of the photo (above) is just a die cut from some pretty paper, no stamping (no stamp required).   You could make two, a front and back, and have the pretty legs show through, giving it a more three-dimensional quality.  You could layer some sheer fabric under or over the crinoline, and . . .

This is an acid etched die, not the Sizzix steel-ruled type, so they aren't sharp, but they do "cut" with pressure.  My dies will not cut through chipboard or fabric, but they do well with pretty scrapbook papers and cardstock.  And if you desire more thickness, The Queen of Die Cuts tells me that you can double them or triple the die cuts to get more dimension.

I recommend the Sizzix Big Shot die cutting machine, and hope to have a little demo for you soon.

PLEASE NOTE, if you own the original wood-mounted crinoline stamp, the stamped image will not align with this die.  When I went to clear stamps I had to scale the crinoline down a bit to make it fit the 4x6-inxh format.  But, you can still use the die to create a stand-alone die cut and it works pretty nicely as you can see in the photo above.

Any questions?  Feel free to e-mail me at:  PostoDelSol@aol.com

Any suggestions?  I value your opinions, so tell me what you think.  Use the comments or e-mail me.  Have a favorite stamp you think is destined to be a Character De-Constructions die, tell me.  I can't  promise I'll make it into a die, but I will certainly give it thoughtful consideration.

I have more news to share . . . have you seen the Halloween issue of Somerset Studio yet?  Check out pages 14 - 16, Season of the Witch!

Mark your calendars, I will be Jenny Doh's ART SAVES Guest Curator beginning the week of September 20, 2010.

 

 

 

The Seashell Islands

After seven days of island life we are home once again.  We found our sanctuary in the Gulf of Mexico oil free.  The naturalists on the island believe there is only about a 10% chance that the loop currents will bring oil to this gulf shore, unless there is a hurricane.  I hope they are right.  For now anyway,  Sanibel's shores are pristine. 

 

Our days there were very peaceful, unhurried and unworried.  It's important, I think, to get away from life's daily trials and tribulations periodically.  Sanibel is not a posh venue, quite the contrary.  If you have read Anne Morrow Lindbergh's Gift From the Sea,then you may already have some concept of what life can be like on the island.  Gift From the Sea was written on Sanibel's sister island, Captiva.  If you have a mind to, I am sure you could stay pretty busy with activities but we find comfort in the simplicity of life on this island nature sanctuary. 

 

On the shore, my days begin around 6:30 am, just after sunup.  I love mornings on the beach, the sun's first blush and gentle breezes wafting off the ocean.  My husband and son, who stay up later than me, will be fast asleep for several more hours.  So I quietly find a pair of shorts, a t-shirt, flip flops, and slip out the back door.  Within minutes I'm on the beach and ready for a stroll along the shore.   

 

 

Among my companions each morning, White Ibis.  We seemed to fall into step, a communal rhythm, while foraging in the surf.  I sift through the sands for sea shells while they mine for their breakfasts. Unlike most islands, which are positioned north and south to the mainland, Sanibel is positioned east and west, and as you can see, captures an abundance of shells.  This is what makes Sanibel Island one of the world's top shelling locations.  There are shells everywhere, but in various places the contours of the shore cause shells to pile up several feet deep.  Thousands and thousands of them, mostly common shells.  But, with some patience, you can uncover the sought after shells in these piles.  

On my last morning on the island, at high tide, I found myself sifting through this large accumulation of shells.  As I did, the surf kept bringing new shells to me.  First a Lightening Welk, then a Florida Alphabet Cone, a Lettered Olive, a Fighting Conch, a perfect Lace Murex, and for the next two hours I stayed in this spot and the surf continued to deliver new treasures.  It really felt magical.  This was the first time I had ever found an Alphabet Cone in all the years I have shelled on Sanibel, and before the morning was over I found four of them in one spot. (I just read on the I Love Shelling blog that the live ones are poisonous, so I'm glad none of them were alive when they washed up.  I just discovered this blog, and love that it shows the shells on the shore as they find them and the majority of the photos were taken on Sanibel Island.)

 

Here's a sampler of some of my favorite finds of the week.
 

I also enjoyed the companionship of the Sandpipers on my walks, and though they were a bit skittish about my presence, they allowed me to stroll along beside them.  I like their vociferous banter but they may have been chiding me.

 

I had been observing Brown Pelicans fishing well offshore, several hundred feet or more, curiously accompanied by a Sea Gull or two.  One morning I witnessed the ritual carried out just a few feet from where I walked in the surf.  The Pelican would fly a few feet into the air, then dive and fill it's mouth with tiny fish.  The Gull would fly alongside and subsequently find himself in position to enjoy some of the fresh catch.  Perhaps the Pelican enjoyed the company, but in any case he or she didn't object to sharing.  

 

I rescued this sea star washed ashore during low tide and placed it in deeper water out of harm's way.  

At this time of year, sea turtles make landfall during the night to lay eggs.  We always stay at the same place on the west shore and during my morning sojourns I would very often encounter the turtle patrol making their rounds.  They survey for signs of new nests which are then staked, dated, and monitored until the baby turtles hatch.  As you can see from the sea turtle link, there is a lot of nesting activity on the west gulf; we saw many nests and one morning I found the signs of a hatch from the previous night.   

A few summers ago, I read Mary Alice Monroe's book Swimming Lessons.  She's a great story teller as well as a naturalist.  If you have an interest in life along the seashore and sea turtles in particular, you might very well enjoy this book. It's a great summer read and will transport  you to the shore.  The story takes place on the coast near Charleston, South Carolina.  I have found all Mary Alice Monroe's books to my liking and  Skyward is a personal favorite, which is about a rescue center for birds of prey.

Over the years we have enjoyed some of the varying cruises offered on the island.  This time we took a power boat cruise that completely circled the shores of both Sanibel and Captiva.  Just a short distance off shore we encountered several sea turtles and dolphin pods feeding.  When the sea is very calm, dead still, it is not unusual to see pods of dolphins feeding offshore.  But it was a bit choppy during our week and I saw them only once, but much to my delight during our wild ride on the Sanibel Thriller we saw multiple pods of Bottle-Nosed Dolphins who chased our boat and played in our wake.  We were told by the naturalists that this activity stresses the dolphins, but we had a difficult time believing it, as they seemed to be having a great time. 

 

 

After my morning walks, most days, you could find us right here on the beach under our umbrella, contemplating the universe.

 

 

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BAY SIDE:

The other side of the island, the bay side, is the most environmentally sensitive due to the wildlife it supports.  This is where you will find the mangrove stands, mud flats and grass and oyster beds.  We took a sunset tour of the estuaries of Tarpon Bay, which is part of the Ding Darling National Wildlife Refuge.  Manatees can be seen here grazing in meadows of sea grass, along with pods of young bottle-nose dolphins bobbing alongside their mothers.  During the evening, many of the wading birds found on the beaches can be seen roosting here on the small islands that dot Tarpon Bay.  Disconnected from the mainland they are safe from raccoons, bob cats and other predators.  We were fortunate to finally see one of the beautiful pink roseate spoonbills.  Not surprisingly,  birders from all over the world come here to observe more than 240 species.

 

 

 

Great Blue Herons

 

Snowy Egret
 
 

 

A perfectly peaceful end to a blissful day. 

“You cannot argue the case for saving any wilderness on the grounds of practicality alone. If this difficult saving is to be done, it will be because man is the creature who preserves things that stir him.” 

--Archie Carr

 

Gone Shelling

"It is  perhaps a more fortunate destiny to have a taste for collecting shells than to be born a millionaire."  Robert Louis Stevenson

 

You are Cordially Invited to Attend a Paper Doll Social

WHAT:   A Paper Doll Social

WHERE:  The Assemblage Studio

WHEN:  Friday, October 22, 2010

If you happen to be in the neighborhood, please do drop by and say hi!  It's free, as in no fee.  Pull up a chair, sit down, and we will cut and paste in no great haste.  We might even have something light to taste.

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Character Constructions seems to keep me amazingly busy, so it's a rare treat to find time for a workshop or two each year.  It's an occasion and what better way to celebrate than to get together for a paper doll social.  And, Teresa's studio, The Assemblage Studio, is a unique pleasure in itself.  So, I hope you will mark your calendars and make a point to stop by.  I look forward to seeing you there!

 

Earlier this year

 

Just as spring was unfolding here in Peachtree City, oddly enough I found myself planted in my studio completely immersed in Fall.  On one side of the work table I was developing a Paris journal for my Fall 2011 workshop, and on the other side of the work table I was designing something very very different, a Halloween witch!  My friend Teresa invited me to return to The Assemblage Studio for a fall workshop. We put our heads together, marked our calendars for the last weekend before Halloween, and began to conjure up something witchy.  We have always wanted to do a theatre workshop of some sort but building an intricate theatre could make for a very work intense weekend.  But, as long as I was designing something entirely new for the occasion, I thought why not combine our mutual love of dolls and theatres, and create something we can complete in several hours rather than days.  And, I had this big stack of boxes remaining from another project that I wanted to re-purpose.  So, the creative challenge was to design a witch and a theatre around these boxes.  I love a challenge!  

As the doll/theatre structure took shape on one side of the work table, lovely little French women began to evolve on the other side of the table.  The doll shown above is version one. Structurally, she was shaping up nicely (at least I thought so) and one of those sweet little French faces from the Paris journal was adopted (I felt certain she was a good witch at heart and needed a face that matched).  But, overall, she was not witchy enough.  She was more forest nymph than Halloween witch.  So, back to the drawing board I went.  

I mentioned to a couple of friends that I was working on something for Halloween and it just so happens so were they.  They were in the midst of designing Vintage Halloween pieces for Somerset Studio's call for art and encouraged me to do so as well.  At this point, version two definitely has Halloween charm, but is she Somerset material?  I decided she was not.  I had planned my project out step-by-step, knew she would take in the neighborhood of five hours to construct and embellish, but I felt she wasn't quite ready for Somerset.  The final challenge was to take my girl Halloween to the next level and viola, the third time was a charm.  

The final edits necessitated expanding my class from five hours to six, to present everyone with the same challenge that I faced, to share my solutions, and also give the class an opportunity to personalize their projects.  I am a less is more kind of person.  I appreciate good workmanship, clean design, and I am pretty particular about materials and won't just throw in anything. I look at it like this, if I can identify store bought items, it's just not happening for me.  So, as I took a look at version two, what was not working for me was the ribbon.  I loved the infusion of color, but it was too off the shelf.  What did I do to solve this problem?  You won't have to attend my class in DePere, Wisconsin this fall to find out because version three, entitled Season of the Witch, was selected for the Vintage Halloween issue of Somerset Studio.  This is a how to kind feature and all the details will be published in September, so stay tuned. 

By the way, I wanted to share with you the method for creating the "flower" embellishments on the forest nymph above and the witch below, they are Hemlock cones! (Thank You Becky)  

You can use them as is (above), or you can use a needle nose plier and gently nip away the tip of the cone, exposing the layers underneath makes them look like little flowers.

In addition to the Hemlock cone embellishments, I used stained teabag papers, old (200 years old) newspaper, crepe paper, and leaves cut from my Histoire Naturelle collection of art papers to create the sleeves.

One of the major changes that I made in the costume, was to create a hat that was not just the typical triangular party hat, and I didn't want to glue it to her head.  So I designed a witch'es hat that could come on and off, as well as a mask, a beauty mark, and a few other items which I will share this coming Fall.  

Well, that's one project I worked on.  I will be back to share more soon.