Sarah*n*dipitous

Halloween Creations

I don't know about how many folks look at the prices of Halloween costumes and cringe but, I do. I also wonder where the heck the sweet and innocent costumes have all gone. Little girls have costumes that sensationalize sex and bad behaviour rather than expound virtues of good character. I guess dressing up like a scientist or an astrophysicist can't compete with a scantily clad  pop idol- such a shame to degrade little girls like that. And for boys, the selection isn't that much better I am afraid. This year we decided to go the- "no-buy" route. My eldest wanted to be Doctor Octopus from the Spiderman comic book series, so we went to pillage the garage for bits and pieces to construct his costume. Our middle child wanted to be a transformer.... lacking boxes and packaging materials, I opted to "transform" an Storm Trooper costume from last year with a little imagination and Golden Paints. Lastly our youngest decided that her fairy princess costume was what she wanted to be so, all was well with the universe..... This year was a fantastic lesson in creativity, something our family really enjoyed.

A Harvest Moon

Sometimes I wonder about folks..... Going through our local town I saw this wonderful scarecrow outside one of our local shops....too funny

Anniversary

Milestones are important- they track the path we've gone on and leave a mark on the timeline of our own personal histories. Today is one of those milestone moments in that I have been married to the love of my life for 9 years. I am absolutely befuddled as to where the time has gone. I looked at this picture of my new husband and I getting into our get away car and I am stunned by how young we look. If he only knew then what he was getting into.... I think he got a whiff of it when I insisted on doing all the calligraphy on our invitations, the floral arrangements, the cake and even my veil by myself. That DIY mentality is something in my genes I suppose. The day I got married was an absolute picture perfect Fall day here in Michigan- if I can steal a phrase from my 5 year old, "It was the bestest day ever...." I am so grateful for my husband. We certainly make a wonderful team and I know for a fact that I could not do what I do if it were not for his support. As many of you may or may not know, Tim is the one who kits my classes and helps fix the computery things, he is the guy who makes sure the right rubbermaid bins get to the right location and he is the one who keeps me sane. He doesn't mind it if the smoke detector goes off while I am working downstairs in the studio, and he is the guy who will stay up to "o'dark thirty" just to make sure he is there to greet me at the door when I fly in from somewhere. I am truly grateful to have the most amazing husband in the universe.

Jen Stark

A friend of mine sent me a link to this incredible paper artist. I am always fascinated by what folks think of to do with paper. I would have never imagined a stack of colored paper could be so beautiful.

On Being Sick

Pneumonia- one of those spelling words I always got wrong (yup, already checked spell check before posting...) as it turns out is what I have. I think God has a wonderful sense of humor and incredible timing. He knows when we should slow down and He knows that folks tend to be rather stubborn about do that so, He tends to throw in a monkey wrench or two to get us to stop and reflect. I am reflecting.... My reflection is a paler shade of pale and well, I am grateful my bedroom is void of mirrors and it is a huge chore to walk myself from my room to any other room where mirrors may be present..... It finally hit me last night (after returning home from the emergency room for the second time in the past 5 days) that sometimes we just need to listen to our bodies, forget about the deadlines and the dust bunnies with fangs pounding their fists from the underside of your bed and just sit. There is a time in the early morning where I like to wrap up in a blanket, sit on my favorite chair ( a chair my husband and I salvaged from a neighbor when we first got married....ugliest thing ever but, officially our very first piece of furniture as a married couple and therefore, sacred....) and just write. Sometimes, the quiet is actually deafening and daresay intimidating- it forces you to think and and be still and confront those things that are on your heart. What do you hear when the room is quiet, what is it that you think about when you are forced to not think about everything else?

Thinking about the Queen of Crafts

Many folks outside of the Crafting Industry do not realize how many "crafting celebrities" were created by Carol Duvall. To be a guest artist on the Carol Duvall Show meant an instant notority for so many people in our industry and it is a badge of honor to say that you had a segment on HGTV with her. I would hazard a guess that many well known artists and crafters today, when asked, would say that meeting Carol, watching her show as they grew up, or being on her show, were pivotal in launching their careers. The industry as a whole, owes Carol a debt of gratitude for bringing crafting to the masses and making it accessible to such a broad range of people. Truly, crafting would not be a multi-BILLION dollar industry had she not been welcomed into so many homes over the years and fostered that creative DIY mentality in so many folks. It takes a special person to be able to touch so many lives and unite them around creating and Carol just has this gift, it is hard to explain but, anyone who watched her show, or read her newsletters knows it and can totally relate.

So where am I going with this? I owe both Carol and PageSage a debt of gratitude. Recently I was invited to participate in a new project Carol is working on with PageSage. For me, this was a HUGE honor, something I can never really put into words, something life changing. The invited artists on this project were folks that I have tremendous respect for on so many levels. The amount of experience and talent involved on this project is something you can't wrap your head around really. Here is the lastest clip from PageSage

Self Imposed Road Blocks

I saw the funniest thing today. This "big bad dog" was barking and telling folks what's what from his perch in his yard. I could not help but see an amazing lesson gelling together at that moment. I pulled the car over and asked my kids what they noticed about this dog (besides being awfully cute and extremely photogenic).

My three year old was the first to ask, "Why doesn't he jump over the fence?" Why doesn't he? It could be that he was just that well-behaved and knew he was not allowed over the fence but, after watching him a bit longer, I could not really make a case for his "good" behavior. The funny thing about this dog was the ritual he did before mounting the pile of wood. He would run around, test the fence in other areas, get the momentum and then leap up the wood pile and, every single time, right as he got to the top, he'd stop as if there was an electric fence in place. There wasn't an electric fence, he had no collar on, no chains,nothing keeping him from getting over the fence, it was all in his mind. I got to thinking about what it is that keeps us from reaching our goals. Here this dog had everything he needed to escape laid out all nice and neat- his freedom was right there yet, he was afraid to go for it. Sometimes it isn't the barriers of life that keep us from our dreams, it is the self-imposed ones we have in our head that hold us back.

Doorways

I have an affinity for doorways and windows. It seems where ever I go, I tend to take pictures of doorways or entryways. They fascinate me. There is so much to be learned by a doorway, so many new and exciting things on the other side of them and perhaps, wonderful memories you will be taking with you as you leave. So, it wasn't a wonder when I had to pull over to take a picture of this random door.

National Card Making Day!

As always, teaching up north at Stamp On It is always a treat. We had an amazing turn out for National Card Making Day and the cloth cards class went off wonderfully. Thank you to all who signed up!

I Work Alone

There is a wonderful line in the Incredibles where Mr. Wonderful tells this too obsessed fan, "Go Home Buddy, I work Alone." It is an interesting part of the movie. I felt somewhat bad for the kid afterall, I know how it is to have heroes and folks you consider to be mentors. It is weird how life imitates art imitates life right back again.

This week has been a weird week filled with discovery and unpleasant revelations. Truly, it is something that shook me to my core and deciding to even mention it is something I am not quite sure about. One of the most amazing parts of what I do, is meeting new folks, sharing new ideas in the classroom, and allowing that creative synergy just grow organically. Because art and crafting is one of those things that draws all sorts of folks together and adds this common ground, it is easy to let the lines of professionalism be blurred, afterall, many of my students are very dear to me and their struggles and such have become very personal to me. Boundaries get crossed. This week it was brought to my attention that certain individuals who have attended my classes have been misrepresenting themselves and me as well. Stamping Today Studio is owned by me alone, the only employees I have are family members and the artwork and classes I design are original and my own handiwork. I do not have help making samples, I do not have assistants teaching for me in my stead, and if I recommend someone and their art to one of my professional contacts, you can be assured, that professional contact has heard about it from me before that someone goes to see them.

So, until further notice, I work alone :)

The Rubber Stamper

Well, it is official, The Rubber Stamper has been sold to Amos Publishing (the folks who bring you the lovely publication Craft n Things) For me, it is a bittersweet thing. I love The Rubber Stamper and since there are precious few magazines that cater to "just" stampers, it is almost the end of an Era yet, as in all times of new beginnings, there is an amazing opportunity to bring stamping to a larger group of crafters through the new magazine. It was such an honor for me to have been published so many times between the covers of The Rubber Stamper and building some amazing friendships over the years along the way.

I tried to figure out a good way to send them all off in style and this is what I came up with.....

I call it Gypsy. When I was younger I traveled throughout Europe and was fortunate enough to be able to learn about the Gypsy lore from some folks in Hungary. I come from a long line of feisty Hungarians and the history of this unique land flows in my veins. Gypsy folk have long been misunderstood I think, they are a vibrant and passionate people who carry that sense of who they are with them where ever they wander. I thought, it is fitting to honor the Editorial Staff over at TRS in this way. Where ever their travels may lead them, I know, they will carry the passion for stamping with them. It is almost as if the very ink on the various projects and techniques is tattooed right there on their hearts.

The Gypsy stamp is stamped on StampBoard with Staz On and water colored in for effect.