Brighten Up!

 

There's really no reason for me to post this picture other than to brighten up the blog a bit. This is the art work I did for my ad in Scrap N Stamp Arts magazine March issue. The deadline for submission was yesterday. I sent it off last night at 11:56PM...so bad!

Linda's Fabulous Book

 

Linda's Fabulous Book

Hi Everybody,

My friend and multi-media artist Linda Wells came to one of my classes yesterday with this fabulous piece she made. Linda and her husband toured the Middle East in December and her book box contains pictures and mementos of the trip. The mosaic pieces are made of polymer clay. She impressed the clay with various stamps and objects, added paint and metallic accents to create this one of a kind treasure. Thanks Linda for using my Cloisonne Mosaic Frame stamp on some of the tiles.

Card Challenge #4: Metamorphosis

Hi everyone,

Our next card challenge is inspired by Hetty and one of the Happy New Year card winners, Inge Postma. Hetty is always turning one of my stamps into something new and Inge used my butterfly stamp on her card entry. She turned each of the butterfly's wings into a cute little bird.

Here's your challenge: use any MSRS stamp you may own, use any colors you like and add any embellishments you want. The challenge for you will be to find a way to make one of my images into something other than what it appears to be, metamorphosis! The deadline is January 31. Three winners will get to choose any MSRS they want as a prize. Have fun and good luck!

Card Challenge #3 winners!

 

Hi Everyone,

Here are your Happy New "Green" Year card challenge winners. From top to bottom they are Ron Perry, Mary Langler and Inge Postma. Thanks to all who participated in this challenge. We received 20 entries and as usual, you all outdid yourselves! It was not an easy challenge and it was not easy picking the winners.

Ron Perry
Thanks for your spare and elegant card. I think there are two throw-aways on this card. One was easy to identify and the other one I'm still guessing about. Though simple in design, the amount of work Ron did on his entry is prodigious. 10 small triangles stamped, embossed and cut out then perfectly glued to a gold background piece must have taken a fair amount of time. The triangles paired with the gold medallion threaded onto a green ribbon makes a classically formal composition. The formality is cleverly relieved by the little bunches of leaves and the mesh accent. In case you didn't know it, Ron saved the mesh bag his Thanksgiving turkey came in just so he could add a little of it to his cards. I can't quite figure out what the medallion is made from but it's perfect for this card. Well done Ron!

Mary Langler
Wow Mary! What a card. You are someone who is not afraid to think outside the box or in this case, the pot! This entry literally explodes with excitment and fun. Look how artfully the pot has been cut up to look like it has broken into four pieces. The assemblage of items exploding out of the broken pot gives the composition an astonishing vitality. Mary's entry was accompanied by a thoughful funny poem. Well Done Mary!

Inge Postma
Inge, your entry is charming and surprising and it has the sweetest new year message: Love & Peace for All. The little love birds in the grass are perfect expressions of your theme. The surprising part is the way you took my butterfly wings and re-purposed them to express your message. This card is also beautifully colored. The subtle greens futher enhance your message. Well done Inge!

Goodbye TV Weekly

Hi everybody,

I've had a few days to digest the news about the demise TV Weekly and today is the first day I feel like I can express what's in my heart. We all know that nothing lasts forever. Even so, knowing that we will not be doing the shows any more with the TV Weekly Dream Team is a sad loss. I'm old enough to know that things happen for a reason and I look forward to and I will embrace what's just out of sight over the next horizon.

My association with TV Weekly (then called Craft TV Weekly) began about 3 1/2 years ago. My dear friend Cherryl Greene showed up to take a card making class from me at Stampin' On Cloud 9 in Monrovia California. It had been a while since we had seen each other. As you know, Cherryl was Carol Duvall's creative partner and an executive on The Carol Duvall Show. When the show ended, we didn't see each other as much so it was a great joy for me to have her in my class. She was so excited to tell me about her new job producing a show called The Scrapbook Lounge. She said "I want you for the show" and I answered "but I don't scrapbook" and she said, "I don't care, you're doing it!" and that was that. I guess I can best express how I feel about my TV Weekly experience by telling you about my first taping.

It was about a month later that I was on TV Weekly creator and director Mickey Corcoran's set in Burbank ready to tape my first episode "All Dressed Up". I had done many shows with Carol Duvall so I knew my way around a set pretty well. The three cameras, the hot lights (my poor make up artist always patting down my shiny head!), the microphones and the wonderful professional crew, just like on Carol's show. The thing that was different (and terrifying) was that I was on my own. On Carol's show, we just chatted with each other while doing our project. Carol was an expert at bringing out the best in her guests. She made it so easy. We just chatted while we did our projects and she would know just what to say or do to speed things along if need be or to ask the perfect question if we messed up or missed a step. What a pro!

Now it was just The Camera and me. It was a new challenge for me to remember that on The Scrapbook Lounge, we were supposed to engage the viewer by looking at the camera frequently, something we were forbidden to do on Carol's show. Poor Mickey, always having to cut and remind me to look up. He helped me by placing a tennis ball between camera 1 and camera 2 and calling it Jason. Mickey would say, "remember to look at Jason!" about 100 times per shoot. The whole crew is so patient with me but I felt terrible. I knew it was my first and last show for them. Everyone kept saying it was fine but I knew better.

About two months later, the episode aired on TVWeekly.com. I was NOT going to watch it. Later in the day after many wonderful phone calls and e-mail messages, I got the nerve to sit down and look at it. I was amazed! I didn't stink! Somehow, Mickey and his editing wizards pulled it all together to make me look good. The work they lavished on that little 6-minute show proved that there was no better creative team in TV, period! After 15 more shows, my feelings have never changed. I will be forever grateful for having the opportunity to work with such an exceptional group of people.

The memories I have from doing the shows will be with me forever. Am I sad? Yes, but now I have my treasured TVWeekly family and that makes me happy.

Thank you Mickey Corcoran, Ann Corcoran and all the little Corcorans. What a stupendously gifted and generous family you are.

Thank you Cherryl Green for being my friend and for being the hardest working most exceptional Executive Producer in TV.

Thank you Tricia Morris, as a presenter, the gold standard to which we all aspire and my dear friend.

Thank you Judi Watanabi and Rob Bostick, husband and wife and the geniuses behind Team JudiKins. Your friendship is a treasure for Carla and me.

Thank you Jami Petersen, my smart, funny friend and colleague.

Thank you Tamara Berg, my friend and effortlessly perfect presenter.

To the TV Weekly crew, thank you all! I learned so much from your endless professionalism.

Finally, Thank you, thank you, thank you to all of our wonderful viewers who faithfully tuned in every Friday to see what the Scrapbook Lounge family had lovingly prepared. It was all for you and we loved doing it!

Michael Strong