We Have A Winner!!

The lucky winner of a free copy of Stampington's new magazine, Bella Grace is...

Roben-Marie Smith! Congratulations! 

I will be in touch with you for your mailing address shortly!

Thank you to everyone who entered. I wish I had copies to send one each of you. If you didn't win, you can still visit this post from Stampington's blog to enter more Bella Grace giveaways!

Studio Table

So Seth is hosting another peek into our artistic community's lives. 

Today we're sharing what our studio table looks like.

This is mine. I promise it really does look like this 99% of the time. I'm a bit of a neat freak in the sense that when I am finished working for the day, I clean up. I can't stand coming into the studio and finding a mess. It blocks my creative flow. I like to start with a clean slate every morning. I like having everything where it belongs because I spend less time looking for things and more time actually working. I've just been away on vacation, so I am in between projects, otherwise I would have purposely left it in work mode & snapped a photo.

Under my iPad & paper cutter, is an old phone book that I use to glue on so my work surface doesn't get sticky. I also use it to remove ink from stamps when I am done using them. I've been using the same phone book for years now. I have two more stashed away for future use, since they've quit making them.

The brown rectangle you see is one of those thick cardboard place mats you can buy at the dollar store. While it's hideously ugly, it also serves to protect my work surface.

To the left of this worktable, I have a computer desk where my laptop sits. I often pull out the keyboard tray to use as an extra surface when I need a place to put stuff.

So...there you go! To view more work tables, head over to Seth's blog. He'll be adding links until Saturday.

***

P.S. Today is the last day to enter to win a free copy of the fabulous Bella Grace. Click here to read my review & leave a comment on that post to be entered. I'll be drawing the winner tomorrow morning. This contest is open worldwide. Good luck!

Hot Off the Presses: Bella Grace!

Two weeks ago, out of the blue, I was contacted by Stampington to see if I would be interested in reviewing their latest offering. Bella Grace. Would I?! I had been hearing about this publication all over the Internet and was dying to get my hands on a copy. Of course I said YES! Bella Grace's tagline is "Life is a Beautiful Adventure". Since I was just heading off on my own beautiful adventure  when my copy arrived, it seemed a fitting travelling companion so I tucked in in my suitcase.

The first noteworthy thing to tell you about this publication is that it's not just another magazine. It's presented as a soft covered book. The cover has fold over both front and back, which, if you're like me and never seem to have a bookmark handy, means you can use it to help mark your place in a pinch. The pages are nice and thick and it has that wonderful new book smell. (Though I seriously doubt Stampington is marketing it based on how it smells, but these are the kinds of things I notice.)

The content of Bella Grace is really lovely. When I was reading through it this past weekend, I was struck by how much it felt like the kind of important life conversations you would have with your best girlfriends over coffee. It's about women (and surprise, a few men!) telling their stories in the most authentic way possible, giving you a glimpse into their artful lives and how they've evolved. As I was reading, I had many moments of feeling a kinship with the writers. When you share your truth, it's relatable and I think the honesty of what's been shared in issue one speaks for itself. My favourite piece was called "Notes On How To Be A Dark Horse" by Jillian Lukiwski. I loved it because she talks about dog ski racing. Anyone who knows me knows how much I love snow and ice adventure. I am now following both her blog & instagram.

Another huge appeal of Bella Grace is of course, the photography. The images they've used are dreamy and ethereal and really quite magical. They've done an excellent job in matching images to content seamlessly. The photos are large enough so you can really soak in every little delicious detail. You can get a sneak peek of what's inside the premier issue here.

 One thing I really liked about how Bella Grace is put together is that there is a wide variety of fonts and font colours used. It makes reading the content that much more interesting. While I really do like this feature, my only constructive criticism of it is that there were places where they used a very fine grey or light blue handwriting font superimposed on a photograph of a similar colour and/or used a very tiny font size. As someone with visual issues, I found had to skip over bits and pieces of the content because it was difficult to see. I think these are things they could easily fix this in the next issue to make it more reader friendly. Other than that, I really enjoyed the eclectic look of the text.

What sets this publication apart from other magazines is that it's also meant to function as a journal of sorts. Bella Grace invites the reader to become a part of the experience by way of prompts within the articles. Each prompt has space for the reader to write whatever comes to mind. It's a unique and personal way to create an interactive experience and one that guarantees that you'll never want to part with your copy.

On the whole, I think Stampington has created a winner. It looks like they plan to publish Bella Grace twice a year, in winter and in summer. I think the quality of the content, paired with a fresh take on how it's presented makes Bella Grace the kind of publication I would happily spend $20.99 CDN on twice a year. ($19.99 US) 

Now the really good news, if you've read this far: Stampington has provided me with a copy of Bella Grace to give away to one lucky reader. Awesome right?!? If you'd like to be entered into the draw, just leave me a comment telling me what you've read recently for creative inspiration. One entry per person! I will randomly draw a winner on Friday, September 19th in the morning. Please be sure there's an email attached to your comment so I can notify you if you've won!

Good Luck!

10 Years Come & Gone!

Creating:

Right now I am working on a top secret project, which I will be able to share with you come the fall. It's a good one!

I whipped up some more envies over the long weekend using pages from old Stampington publications and I posted them to Instagram. Stampington saw them and invited me to submit them for publication. I'd better get on that! It's been awhile since I've written an article for them or submitted art. No time like the present!

Speaking of publishing, Vancouverite author, artist & instructor Leanne Praine's new book Strange Material: Storytelling Through Textiles is due out in October. I just saw the cover and I'm excited to get my hands on a copy-it looks yummy! I am so pleased to have a small written piece included in this book.

Watching:

My friend Deb and I were chatting last week and she asked me to check out this new HBO show called The Leftovers. It's a really odd show, edgy as most HBO shows tend to be, but strangely compelling. It's hard to describe-it takes place after a post apocalyptic type event happens and the people left behind (the leftovers-hence the name) struggle to make sense of it. I would recommend checking out the official website and watching the trailer first because I don't think it's for everybody. It's pretty hardcore and graphic in places. (Typical of HBO series.) That said, I am enjoying it because you really don't know where it's going and I love all the twists and turns.

Oh and here are a couple screen captures from the show I was in. One from my one-on-one interview clip. (I am speaking so that's why my mouth looks funny.) 

The other is a shot with me with the cast in Ft. Langley. We did a ton of location shoots over 5 days.

I am also pleased to share that I will be doing some more filming for the UBC Faculty of Medicine's new program, which I have been consulting on. It's for medical professionals already in practice to learn about patient-centred and collaborative care. I did some filming for these courses back in January and I'll be filming as a presenter for the module they are working on now. 

It's really rewarding to know that this will have a direct impact on the future of health care in our province. I love advocacy work-it feels good to be making a difference and I learn so much about myself and from others in doing it. I'm also going to be doing some interviews for the Health Mentors Program over the next couple of weeks.

Listening:

I recently downloaded James Taylor's version of The Water is Wide. It's a favourite of mine for sentimental reasons and his cover is beautiful.  I love James Taylor.

I also saw the movie Begin Again with Keira Knightly. If you saw Once, you will enjoy this one. I downloaded A Step You Can't Take Back from the Soundtrack. It's my favourite track from the movie.

And lastly, before I sign off for now, it seems only fitting to note that as of August 1st, this humble blog turned

10 Years Old!

Hard to believe it's been that long or that when I began, most artists didn't even have a blog. So for those of you who've been along for the ride, whether in part or for the whole 10 years, thank you for your company, your comments and your friendship! Here's to keeping the home fires burning for another 10!

Rainy Day Upcycling

The other day Roben-Marie Smith posted a great tutorial on her blog. It's silly simple and just the right thing to while away a rainy afternoon. The beauty of  this project is that you can just use whatever you have on hand. I didn't have an old calendar kicking around, so I used some pages from an old Stampington magazine. At the very end, I also used some old wrecked rub-ons. (The letters and numbers were half gone, so they're no good for my usual projects, but perfect for this!)

It was really relaxing just slapping things down with a glue stick while listening to a new mixed CD my pal Tina sent me.  I worked on 8 cards, assembly line style-I'd glue down one layer on each and then go back and add the second one on each and so on. The whole point of doing them that way was to avoid trying to make them too perfect. I just wanted to create without really thinking about it. It was so meditative that lost all track of time.

Roben-Marie also altered some store bought envies, using more scraps. You could either do that or do like I do and make envelopes from magazine pages. 

If you want to make some of those here's how:

-Take an envelope in the size you want to make (be sure it's no bigger than the magazine page) and carefully deconstruct it to use as a template. 

-Lay your envelope template on top of your page folded side up. Splay the envelope open and trace around it with a ball point pen. 

-Fold all the flaps inward and trace around it again. (The ball point works wonderfully on shiny magazine or calendar pages to score the folds.)

-Cut out your envelope on the outer lines. Fold on the inner lines. Use a bone folder to make a good sharp crease.

-Use 1/4 inch wide double sided tape to glue the bottom folds to form the pocket part of the envelope.

-Put a length of double sided tape across the inside of the flap, but do not remove the paper from the tape until you are ready to seal it for mailing.

-Add a return address label to the front top right corner.

-Add an address label on the front. I like to use a "hello my name is" label from the dollar store.

I predict there are going to be some good mail days ahead! If you make cards or envies using either of these ideas, I'd love to see them! Shoot me an email or post here to let me know.