Goddess of greeting cards

I was looking thru some old books the other night, hoping to organize, or at least straighten out my overflowing book shelves.  As usually happens when I pull books out I found something that I had to stop and look at.  I found a book that I forgot all about----" 365 Goddess--A daily guide to the magic and inspiration of the Goddess."  I looked up my birthday (Oct 25) and this was the entry:

                                                                             October 25
                                                                  Sweetest Day (United States)

                                                                             FELICITAS

                   Themes: Kindness, Charity, Love, Romance, Joy, Success, Luck
                   Symbols: GREETINGS (greeting cards)
                   About Felicitas:  This Roman Goddess brings happiness, success, and good fortune
                      whenever someone salutes another with good words or amiable deeds.  She
                      comes to us today to energize late fall and early winter with the transformational
                      power of kindness.
                   To Do Today:  While Sweetest Day seems to be focused on lovers these days, in
                      earlier years it represented an opportunity to shower anyone and everyone with
                      cheerful trinkets, kind acts, and gentle words to lift people's spirits.  By looking to
                      Felicitas for help, we can return this holiday to its original form and bring joy to
                      people who might otherwise be feeling a case of the autumn blues.  Look for, or make,
                      some humorous greeting cards to send to folks you know would appreciate them
                      and invoke Felicitas' blessings in any way that feels right.
                      To improve the effect further, anoint the cards with rejuvenating aromatic oils that
                       match the recipient's needs (such as pine for money, rose for love or peace, cinnamon
                       for luck, sandalwood for health, and lavender to combat depression).  This way, when
                      they open that card, the magic and the aroma will be released together to bless,
                      energize, and bear Felcitas's greetings along with your heartfelt wishes.

How freaky is it that the symbol for my birthday is the greeting card???  So from here on out I am going to think of myself as the Goddess of Greeting Cards!!!!  Kind of has a nice ring to it.
                      
    


      

OK--so here's the pumpkin I did for our contest at work today.  I came in third and won $10.  Was a little disappointed but everyone did a great job this year.  This was a fun pumpkin to decorate and he looks cool sitting out on my porch, so all is not lost!!  I hope you enjoy seeing what I did.  And a big thank you to my friend Barbara for taking a great photograph for me.  Actually she won second place so I think I will post her pumpkin too.    

                                                      Congratulations Barb---good job!!!!
                        

I wanted to post another card here tonight but I spent the evening decorating my pumpkin for a contest at work tomorrow.  My friend is going to bring her camera to work so tomorrow night I will post a picture of it.  Was going to explain what it is but just decided that I will wait til I get the picture to post.  Guess anyone who is reading this will just have to come back tomorrow.  Trust me, it will be worth it.  So come back tomorrow at this same time and see what I did.  Hopefully I will be $25 richer--that is first prize.  Until then here is another card from the cards that I made a while ago.  I love the colors in this one.
                                  

                                    

Late night card

Only had a few minutes to get this card made and post it on here.  I have to take the card to work tomorrow for my friend Shirley.  This is the first time I have used this stamp and I really like the way it looks.  It is actually one image of four cats and I cut the images apart, mounted and layered them on the card.  I hope Shirley likes it--she is a fellow cat lover and was a big fan of "Harpo the Wonder Cat" so I think she will.  Hope anyone who happens by here likes it too--cat lover or not.

Looking over older cards

I was looking at the images of cards that I have stored on my computer and came across this one that I am probably going to refashion as one of my Christmas cards this year.  This was for my friend Pat--hi Pat if you read this--for her birthday next year.  Pat is my biggest supporter and I love making cards for her.  We met when we were only 17 and I don't want to say how long ago it was, just leave it at I am soon going to making a card for her grandchild.  How did that happen?  The saying on the card sums up our years together--many moments that created many wonderful memories that have strung together into a lifetime.

I am getting ready to start making holiday cards.  I always leave it til the last minute.  Every year I say I am going to start during the summer and every year I sit here as the weather getting colder thinking "next year, next year".  Someone remind me of this next summer!!
I hope whoever sees this enjoys it--Good night til next time.  Maybe I will have my holiday cards started and can post one of them using my new technique for this week.

Quick post

This is just going to be a real quick post.  It is late at night and I am about to collapse for the night, but I wanted to put something on here because I have promised myself that I would not just stop doing this.  My problem is that I look around at a lot of other blogs and think "I'll never be that good". And when I look at the cards that other paper artist post on their blogs, I get intimidated.  But I have decided that instead of letting this stop me from doing something I really want to do, I will use it as inspiration to make my art better.  So thanks to all of you paper artists and other bloggers that I have visited in the last couple of weeks.  I will get better because of you.
Meanwhile I am posting a card that I made for a friend of mine for her birthday.  I was walking by her desk at work the other day and saw it hanging on her office wall.  I asked her if she would photograph it for me so that I could post it here.  It is very simple but it was fun to make. I hope you enjoy it.

Tumbled marbles paper

OK so here is the first of my weekly card projects using a new technique every week.  The first picture is of the background paper that  made using a technique called "tumbling marbles".  To make it you need a plastic container with a lid larger than the paper you are going to use.  I used  a white glossy card stock--1/2 a sheet.
Using double sided tape, attach the paper to the underside of the lid of the container.  In the bottom of the container put a few drops of 2 different colors of dye based stamping pad re-inkers.  Put 6 or seven marbles of different sizes into the container.  Replace the lid and roll the marbles around in the ink.  Turn the container over so that the marbles are in contact with the paper you taped to the underside of the lid.  Shake the container vigorously for a few seconds, allowing the marbles to roll over the paper.  Check out the paper--if you want more color add another few drops of ink and do the process again.  for this piece I only did the process twice.  Untape the paper and let it sit and dry.  NOTE--only use a container that you don't want to use for anything else--it will definitely end up an interesting color.
The colors that I used seemed to really lend themselves to a fall theme.  This is the resulting card.

You really could use any color combination for the background and use this for a card for any type of occasion.  I look forward to trying it again with other colors.
Looking at these images I am realizing that I need to invest in a camera to get a better image of my cards.  right now I am just using my scanner and it does not really show the papers the way they really look.  Guess it's time for a shopping trip.  Until then I think I will have my friend Barb (she took the photo of Harpo the Wonder Cat) take pictures of the cards for me.  If I am going to be serious about this blog then I want it to look the best I can make it.  So just hang in there with me til I get a camera---hopefully very soon.

I was looking at this photo this morning when I was going thru pictures of cards I had made.  I was looking for some inspiration to make something new this weekend.  I would love to re-create this but it is very time intensive--I think this took several weeks to make.  It is a 3-dimensional merry-go-round card that I made when my boss's first grandchild was born.  It was fun to make and I love the way it came out.  The picture definitely does not do it justice.  It was done from a template but everything was stamped and painted by hand.  People have asked me how much I would charge to make another one and I have never come up with an answer.  Any one have any ideas?  What would you pay for this? It was about 7 inches high and made up of 5 panels that pop out when you open the card.  It was a lot of hard work but also a lot of fun, and well worth the effort.  Maybe I will try "deconstructing" it this weekend and making a card with just one or two panels.  I will post whatever it is I come up with when it is finished.
By the way, the blue piece hanging off the side is a tag with the baby's name, birth date and birth weight on it.  It's kind of hard to tell what it is from the picture.

Up and running

OK--so here I go.  This is my initial attempt at entering the world of blogging.  Or, more correctly, writing in the world of blogging.  I have been lurking and reading for several months and finally decided to "take the plunge".  It took a long time to start writing because I am a world class procrastinator.  I couldn't come up with a concept, so I wasn't doing anything except thinking about blogging.  Finally I decided to just start and see what it turns into.
What do I want to write about?  I am an avid lover of paper arts--mostly card making.  I make greeting cards using rubber stamps and a variety of other materials---someone once said that I would make a card out of anything that wasn't tied down and that pretty much says it in a nutshell.  I make my cards under the name of Harpo's Cards.  Harpo being the best cat that I ever had.  He used to sit with me while I worked in my studio and occasionally walk across my work area with ink on his paws.  So in his memory I have paw prints on the back of all of my cards.  I guess I strayed from what I want to write about--sorry.  I want to use this blog to share pictures of the cards I make and explain the techniques I used to make each card.  I am starting a project where I want to try a new card making technique every week and post the cards that result on here.
I will also be writing about random things that occur--or have occurred in my life--books I am reading or books I love, movies I love.  Pretty much anything that pops into my head I guess.
I would like to go thru old photographs that I have in a box in the closet and write about what thoughts come to mind as I pull them out and look at them.
I am also on a perpetual diet (who isn't?) and thought that maybe if I started writing about the process that it would keep me honest--or accountable to someone other than me. Guess that would be whoever happens by and reads what I am rambling about that day.
Because I am such a procrastinator,  I am not going to commit to writing everyday--that just sets me up for failure.  So I am going to just commit to keeping this going--guess that is a pretty good start.
Hopefully someone will read this--if not, a least I am doing something I have wanted to do for a long time.
So, if you happen to find your way here, leave a note--good, bad, or ugly.