I {heart} Poetry

I really enjoyed making my Poe-inspired book box & keychain for Lost Coast Designs' Edgar Allan Poe Appreciation Day Blog Hop & Challenge, but I wanted to try something a bit more out of my comfort zone. Here's my Poe-try wall hanging:

click to enlarge

I started by inking a piece of watercolor paper with purple inks. The I stamped a feather & inkpen (both rubber stamps) onto tissue paper, tore out the middle to create a frame, and glued it onto the textured paper with Mod Podge. I added more ink, some glitter spray, a sprinkling of bronze enamel, red embossing powder, & mica chips to finish the background. I made the eyelashes for the googly eye form black paper. The anatomical heart stencil was cut with my Silhouette, inked onto the background shape with red ink, and heat-embossed in red powder. The Poe Bust by Ikesart was printed on shiny cream paper and backed with white cardstock. The tree stamp was stamped onto Shrinky Dink plastic with green distress ink, shrunk in my toaster oven, and inked with a lighter green. I also made Shrinky Dinks with the inkpen & feather stamps. I handmade the tiny book, using a scoring to create "pages" on the top portion. TO hang the piece, I tied on some string with help from a small branch.

Inspiration:
Lost Coast Designs: EAP Appreciation Day (2nd entry)
Quoth The Raven #52: Anything Poes

Thank you for visiting & may your days be filled with poetry,

Edgar Allan Poe Appreciation Day Blog Hop 

Main link-up is at Lost Coast Designs. Wow, can you believe all these gorgeous Poe projects?!

An InLinkz Link-up

Purple Poe

You still have a week to join the Purple challenge at One Stitch at a Time (OSAAT). 

I had so much fun making my purple book box last week that I decided to make another, smaller version to hold a copy of "The Raven" by Edgar Allan Poe.

This box is roughly 2.5 x 2.125 inches, and features "Poe Bust" by Ikesart. I printed Poe on shiny ivory cardstock, and printed the raven on a regular white paper. I colored the bird with black & glitter gen pens, fussy-cut it, and placed him atop the pallid bust.

Inspiration/Challenges:
Challenge Up Your Life: Box

Craft It Up & Link It Up Linky Party by Craftin Desert Divas: 3D Projects
DoubleClick Skittles #14: Use a bird

Thank you for visiting, and hope you'll join us at One Stitch at a Time,

UnstampaBelles October Challenge - Time + Shabby Chic without Stamping

I'm very proud to announce that I'm the newest member of the UnstampaBelles Team! Their monthly challenges are unique: Aside from a theme, you cannot use any stamps! Quite a challenge for me, but I'm really looking forward to it.

The UnstampaBelles October challenge is Time + Shabby Chic. We're sponsored by the wonderful company Flourish with a Bling, and you can link up your projects until the end of the month.

I decided to make a card slightly inspired by "The Raven" by Edgar Allan Poe, which seemed like a fun way to incorporate both themes.

I used papers from Graphic 45, and a lovely script-printed adhesive cork. I added some black lace behind the cork strip, and distressed all the edges with a distressing tool and Antique Linen ink.

The raven die is from Tim Holtz, and I cut it with black paper & painted it with a black glimmer paint. The "Nevermore" piece & clock are painted with clear crackle paint and ink-distressed with more Antique Linen. I couldn't resist adding this cute wooden ink well, which I painted with black crackle paint.

I've been familiar with "The Raven" for most of my life, but when I moved Baltimore — the home of Poe's gravesite, the football team named for the poem, and even an apartment complex named The Lenore — it gained more significance for me. I ended up studying Creative Writing at the University of Baltimore, and one of my favorite memories is going to a poetry reading where we started by reading the poem. One of my professors looked over & saw that my husband (not a UB student) was reciting it from memory. Man, I got a lot of "cool" points for that! I also take pop-culture pride in introducing my favorite poetry professor to the version of the poem as presented on The Simpsons, and I think she still uses it in her classes.

Many thanks to the UnstampBelles for inspiring this card!

Creaine #41

Challenges:
Craft and Smash: Gothic
Crafty Hazelnut's Patterned Paper October Challenge: Patterned Paper (3rd entry)
Creaine Challenges: Sketch #41

Thank you for visiting, and hope you'll join us at UnstampaBelles,

One Way of Looking at a Blackbird / Favorite Color Challenge at PIO

This week at the Pile It On Challenge, we want you to use your Favorite Color as the main color on your project. Just between you and me, their challenge coordinator picked this theme with the plan to use her favorite color, purple (that's me, CG!)

There are many reasons that this card is special to me; for one, not only is purple my & my husband's favorite color, it's the official color of our local [American] Football team, the Ravens. I don't care much about football, except for the fun of rooting for the home team, but I also attended the University of Baltimore, the unofficial home of the Edgar A. Poe Society (the author of the poem "The Raven" for which the team is named). Their Creative Writing program also focused on the Wallace Stevens poem "Thirteen Ways of Looking at a Blackbird", so long story short, I used the first stanza of that poem: "Among twenty snowy mountains, / The only moving thing / Was the eye of the blackbird." I had a particular design in mind, so my husband helped me out by hand-writing the stanza on a piece of notebook paper.

excerpted from "Thirteen Ways of Looking at a Blackbird" by Wallace Stevens

click to enlarge - ohdeermekit.com

Freckled Fawn generously supplied our DT with some of their great goodies to work with, including Geotag paper clips (available in their September kit) and feather wood embellishments (available in their October kit). Their products are so delicious; you've got to join in at Pile It On, as one lucky participant will win a $20 gift card to ohdeermekit.com.

I was playing with the Geotag paper clips (available in their September kit) and feather wood embellishments (available in their October kit), and found that they made a cute little bird. I used adhesive pearls for the eye and the tummy. I heat-embossed the feathers with black embossing powder that had just a touch of glitter added.

I really wanted there to be twenty mountains, so I made them myself in SCAL and cut them on my electronic cutting machine using two patterned papers I had in my stash. I also made backing layers with a silver paper (Recollections). I added some silver, elastic ribbon, punched one corner with a Marvy punch.

Inspiration/Challenges:
Crafter's Cafe #31: Just a bit out there (I think this is definitely a unique project; it also has some 3D elements)
Crafting By Designs: Anything goes
Crafty Creations: Winged Things
Creative Craft Challenges #20: Anything Goes
LEJ Designs: Things With Wings
Paper Minutes: Bizarre, Strange & Weird (I think this is kind of bizarre!)
Sister Act Card Challenge #27: Anything Goes
Sweet Pea Stampers: Purple Power

Update: This was an honorable mention at Crafting By Designs!

Thank you for visiting,and hope you'll join us this week at Pile It On,

Never saw a Purple Calf...

I simply couldn't resist joining in with this week's Vintage/Polka Dots Challenge at A Day for Daisies, certainly not once I saw this sweet freebie, Cow Dress, provided for this challenge:

Thank you Tammy & ADFD! I just had to make a card based on that familiar verse by Gelett Burgess. I printed the poem (now in the Public Domain) in Garamond onto a light lavender, textured Core'dinations cardstock. I wanted it to feel like an old design, so I didn't over-design it; technology has made anything possible, and sometimes it's nice to keep it simple. I cut out the pieces using a heart-shaped embossing die from the Pot Pourri Becky Fleck/Spellbinders set (which I won from CropStop; Thank you!). I used a violet Offray ribbon to tie on the heart button, made with the die from the same set.

I attached the purple tulle and wavy border with gold brads, which I heat-embossed in shiny purple.The wavy shape was cut from a two-tone purple Core'dinations cardstock with a Sizzix die, and I sanded it to add dimension.

"Purple Cow," The Lark, 1895

Check out how the Burgess poem was originally presented in 1895 (left). Here's my version:

I never saw a purple calf, 

I never thought to see one. 

But if they are this cute by half, 

I'd rather be than see one!

And, in case you thought this was all very fanciful, check out this article on purple cows!

Inspiration/Challenges:

A Day for Daisies Challenge #43: Go Vintage & Add Polka Dots

Cardabilities Challenge #55: Sketch (right)
Craft Your Days Away Challenge #45: All Creatures Great & Small

HotShot Crafts Challenge #8: Die Cuts
Tammy's Scrapin Corner Weekly Challenge #11: Show us your Distress (LOL!)

That Craft Place Challenge: Monochromatic

Update: This placed in the Top 3 for That Craft Place Monochromatic Challenge. Thank you!

Thank you for visiting!

More Poetry Month fun

Well, April certainly has been good to me... this blog is at 27 followers! That's pretty amazing. Thank you everyone; if I'm not already a follower of your blog, be sure to leave your addy so I can see your work as well.

I also had the chance to finally stop by Stampin' Dymonz Scrap Shack's physical location; many thanks to my Baby for driving us across the city in that ever-intensifying rainstorm. Baltimore works well in the rain, however, especially with the cherry blossoms still holding on to their branches. Dymonz gave me some of the blog candy I'd won through her site, and BOY was it difficult to go grocery shopping and not stay to craft! Dymonz, did you know you gave me "diamond" Stickles‽ Made me smile, and ended up being just what I needed for the final touch on these Easter Ornaments/Teacups.

I about lost my mind when I saw these precious Plastic Egg Teacups by Sunghee, and I just had to try to make them. This would have made slightly more sense if I actually some kids to play with, but I figured I'd make them ornaments that could become a tea party when my niece comes to visit again. She knows how to throw a tea party!

For some reason, I decided that I had to stamp on the eggs. Why O why do I keep trying to stamp on round things‽ It never works out well for me. But I had to. It did not go well (thanks to StazOn Ink Remover, I was able to clean off my mistakes & reuse the eggs), at least until I got a small Stampin' Up rubber clear-mount stamp. Between the size and the soft cushion, I was able to get some fairly clean images.

Then I decided that I had to heat-emboss the stamps, to give them texture. The key to this seemed to be to get the entire egg piece to the right temp, let it all emboss at once in a second, and then take the heat away. This is certainly a project I need to revisit, it was too much fun.

And because I can't pass up an opportunity to include a little poetry, I printed out some haiku I wrote last Spring, cut out the 1.5 inch circles, and glued them into the top piece. For extra strength, I edged it with the "diamond" glitter glue I mentioned earlier. Originally, I was going to put the poem into the teacup part, but then I remembered my niece, who taught me how to have a proper tea party, and could just hear her saying, A poem in the tea‽ You silly goose! and I realized that having the poem as part of the hanging portion was even better. At age 3 she's already helping me design!


Speaking of poetry, Meredith Purvis is having a poetry challenge through the end of April. Anyone is eligible, and it's not so much a contest as a prompt to write and share:

"Pay attention to the things you do each day, whether they are routine or unusual. Then turn that into a poem."

I hope you'll take up the challenge! She's also offering prizes:

1. Your poem made into a book by Christina Gay (hey that's me!)
2. A blank journal handmade by Jenny O'Grady
3. A photo inspired by your poem by Avelino Maestas
4. A $15 gift certificate to Powell’s Books

You can read the full rules here. And hey, if you write a poem I'd love to make a book from it no matter what. I'm always looking for new work to play with! Email me at cgsayssomethingloudly [at] gmail[ dot] com, and be sure to enter Meredith's Poetry Out of Nothing challenge.

The Poem as the Book

I'm super honored to have been encouraged by Meredith to participate in her poetry project on her blog, Half Starts & Trails Ofss.

I discuss the making of this piano-hinge book, which I made around a poem by Jenny O'Grady written in response to a painting by Melissa Van der Kaay for The Light Ekphrastic.

I've truly enjoyed Meredith's posts so far this month (including a wonderful one by her mom), so be sure to take a break and check them out.

 
I haven't been able to find a super tutorial of piano-hinge binding online, but there are several books with instructions available at the giant craft and book stores. It's fairly simple, once you get the hang of it. It's a heck of a lot easier than copic binding!You can use almost anything to bind it with: wooden skewers, toothpicks, coffee stirrers, chopsticks, straws, even sticks. My house is full of straight things I got for free around town, usually one at a time so that I don't feel like I'm actually hoarding.
And thank you to my editor Joshua, who wrote my post's intro paragraph with a better understanding of my written voice than I was managing to, and also for taking the photos of the book.

*
Supplies: Core'dinations cardstocks, Southworth Résumé paper, bird punch by ekSuccess, wooden skewers (from grocery store), HP printer & ink, acetate, SCAL & Cricut, Adobe InDesign, bone folder, ZipDry glue

I put together this basic tutorial on how to "stamp" with your printer.

You can view my other piano hinge books here.

All of my mini-books are here.

Read my whole article about this book on Half Starts & Trail Offs.

Wing books 1 and 2

Some months ago I tired of using my own writing for mini-books, so I put a call for work out on FaceBook. I have a lot of creative-writing friends on there, so I was very pleasantly surprised to receive many poems from friends I didn't even know were writers! I'm always hearing people say I wish I were more creative, but in my experience there's no shortage of creativity in this world: and it's always life-affirming and just plain fantastic. One of the first people to contact me was my former co-worker at the University of Baltimore, Kapricia. We'd talked poetry in the past, but I had know idea how many words she had in her! She sent me two poems that I made into the first two books of what I hope will be a series (hint hint!): The Day I Fell in Love
It was a cold and rainy day,
she decided to come anyway.
I couldn’t hold back the pain
& tears, and Oh Yes! a lil fear.
I heard the doctor say
“Push, push, push my dear
I see her head,
she’s almost here,”
So I gave it a push
and heard her cry
what a relief I felt inside.
I held her in my arms,
looked in her eyes.
I couldn’t believe she was
ALL MINE!!

Kapricia Williams ©2010

---

Wings to Fly
I have my own
cheering squad.
They clap as I fly high,
like a bird across the sky.
I’m soaring, flipping and doing tumbles
as I pass you by.
You see you had me cooped up
in what I thought
was love,
but I was wrong, so I
FLEW THE COOP! . . .
See the claps are not for me to return,
but for God’s grace and giving strength
to fly above all things.
Give Him a hand!

Kapricia Williams ©2010

Other books from my "FaceBook Friend" project:
the Shuttlecock!
Phenomenal Lady (also with a poem by Ms. Williams)

Phenomenal Lady book

Last week I received one of my favorite kinds of instant messages: Want to make a book?

Kapricia, also the author for my Wing Book Series, gave me this poem to work with:

"Remember what I told you"
she would shout and say
"We must always be ladies
even at when play."
Kapricia Williams ©2010

I was further influenced by her comment: "When you know better you do better. I love the phenomenal women in my life that showed me to act like a lady, be a lady, speak lady like and some day you too will be a phenomenal WOMAN!!" I know that we both grew up influenced by Maya Angelou, and I defy you to read her poem "Phenomenal Woman" without feeling a surge of power! So I added the title "Phenomenal Lady" as a little shout-out to our shared inspiration.

Having been raised as a lady (however fruitlessly), I really felt this poem! In my experience, such advice was given when the little lady was voicing her opinion... I immediately thought of the wonderful Tantrum images from Mo's Digital Pencil and used this project as an excuse to buy Two Tasha from the set. I contrasted that image with the sweet ballerina from Mo's Kiesha's Curtain Call, and finished the book with four color of tulle.


Digi stamps: Kiesha's Curtain Call and Two Tasha by Mo's Digital Pencil

View all of my mini books here.

"the Shuttlecock!" the Book

Since starting my love affair with making books, people have been very generous in sharing work and ideas with me. One of the poems sent to me for possible book-usage was from a kid I grew up with in Southern Spain. We were the children of civilian employees for the military presence there; I'm so very lucky to be in touch with many of those I grew up with (say what you might about FaceBook, it's been great for me!)

He shared several wonderful poems with me, but the one that just screamed book was "the Shuttlecock!", a memoir of sorts. It captures in words what I've never really been able to express:

the Shuttlecock!
by Chris Wallace

Childhood dreams could never come true.
I’ve already lived in a castle, gilded by runes.
I’ve already sailed the straights that separate
the Moors from the Iberian side of the shore.
I’ve been under the floors where Anne Frank cried.
I’ve stood on Golgotha’s ground where Jesus’ body died.
I’ve touched the iron curtain of hate
dripping with blood from the rusty gate.
I bought a Coke outside a 5000 year old ruin.
I climbed to the top of the world’s largest dune.
I drove through Catalonia to get to Pompeii.
I was lost in Barcelona for two and one half days.
The green fields of Ireland felt so home to me,
almost more than any other place I’ve seen.
And there are too many places left to mention.
So many experiences from Pisa to the London Dungeon;
But they all seem too far away,
the remains of some forgotten day.
I don’t want to forget that time and place
that now only floats in inner space.
Maybe, one day I can take you there
and we can create something new out of thinning air.

I played with several ideas for this book, but I just couldn't get past making it an actual shuttlecock. Finding the image was more difficult than I had anticipated; I ended importing a photo into SCAL and deleting the elements I didn't want cut. The pages are a series of strips; I edged everything with Antique Linen distress ink. My favorite part is how it closes completely flat, yet opens out completely.

Author's note: "The uncapitalized "the" and capitalized "S" is intentional. It's an homage to open source programming variable naming conventions." Love that!