fancraftic.com

California Summer

2007-08-24T15:17:00.000-07:00

I love the Northern California Coast, the fog that burns off midday, the crisp offshore breeze and the colours of grey: blue grey ocean, brown grey sands, grey gulls with brilliant orange beaks.

Clear thinking

2007-08-22T17:11:00.000-07:00

Where do you start when you have been away for so long? When thoughts have not been expressed, but it's nose to the grindstone, and prolific creativity abounds? You get out. You look at surreal landscapes with fog coming and going and you clear away the clutter and start moving. Beginning now.

Mingei

2006-10-10T10:31:00.000-07:00

I love the time I spent in Japan and I am often inspired to create sets that are truly Japanese. If you have ever been there, you know there is a specific set of patterns and colours that are Japanese. Mingei means folk art. Here, in the LO, is a girl I met through Scrap Girls. She is really blonde with green eyes, a Caucasian with a passion for Japanese dance. Talk about inspiration! Her photos are fuel for my fire!

Crack up

2006-08-16T17:00:00.000-07:00

Paper templates are one of my passions. I almost like making materials for others to create with more than actually making finished products. This paper template, Crack Up, imitates cracked paint, that crackled distressed finish that adds a perfect grunge to a finished paper or starts you off with a funky finish.

Happy Belated Birthday

2006-08-01T15:27:00.000-07:00

Ahh, Cancer, you rushed past or were you hiding inside your house to escape summer's heat? Well, while you were, I was busy making just a little something to wish you well throughout the year! Hope the stars and planets shift favorably in your direction!

For this layout I think I used nearly everything but the kitchen sink! But for just a moment, you can get the postcard FREE at Scrap Girls.

Hot Moss

2006-07-27T12:31:00.000-07:00

You can take a bulldog to the beach but you can't make him like it. Even though the day was cool (not like it has been here this last week---105!) Moss hid under the picnic table and swilled water like it was going out of style. Moss never drinks neatly, and soon the sand beneath the table was wet, his feet were sandy, his chin was sandy, I'm sure his insides were sandy! Maybe the name of this page should be True Grit! I used my Sachiko paper templates to create the papers here. I like using pink with Moss, his tongue and bloodshot eyes always seem so much less pink that way! I also used Keri Scheuller's Medallions brush on the headline and a tag from Erica Hite's Cherish Collection!

DaddyO

2006-06-16T18:09:00.000-07:00

One of the best parts of designing this set was having Erica Hite as a partner. We both discovered we love calico fabrics and we assigned ourselves the task of making a masculine collection each, to mix and match in many ways with calico fabrics and men as our inspiration. We call our collections DaddyO. Erica's is DaddyO (one) and mine is DaddyO (two). From hats to shoes, tools to yardwork, bbq's to golf: it's a smattering of what makes men, well: men!

Sachiko

2006-06-13T15:04:00.000-07:00

Once upon a time, I lived in Japan for nearly four years. I was in elementary school but that country seeped into my very pores and the style and design I encountered there has influenced me in countless ways. Imagine my delight when someone came to Scrap Girls looking for Japanese specific kits, not Chinese or Korean, but Japanese. I understood what she needed and quickly created this collection mini called Sachiko, named for a young girl who lived next door to me for a bit. I do believe it's only the first in a series.

Ethan's Hope

2006-06-01T10:23:00.000-07:00

The girls at Scrap Girls rolled up their digital sleeves to help raise money for Ethan. Read more about Ethan at Elemental Scraps and buy their kit as well as the coordinating Scrap Girl's Ethan's Hope Collection to help Ethan and his family.

Company's Coming

2006-05-20T15:46:00.000-07:00

Come on to my house, we'll go to the beach, plan and scheme, talk and dream and talk some more. But even better: for the first time we'll all meet beyond the internet, IM, email and the telephone: alive and in person, real human contact....plus the beach!

First Day at the Beach

2006-05-11T16:01:00.000-07:00

We finally took Moss to the beach. In his young life, we don't know if he has ever been to the beach, surely not with us, since we have had him only 5 months. So off we went to Doran Beach at Bodega Bay. We stopped along the way at a friend's ranch hoping Moss would take care of any needs before we hit the beach, but no go, you know? Nope, our hapless hero decided to make a deposit right on the beach and not neatly either. I so love this photo because I know exactly what's happening just out of camera range. See, this is really my husband's dog so when Moss makes a mess, it's not my problem. So a stick was found and the problem removed, the area cleared as well as possible while Moss sat gazing at the scenery and enjoying the fresh air. (None too fresh behind him, though). Moss's first day at the beach, it was, well: a moving experience!

Happy Birthday Taurus

2006-04-24T15:07:00.000-07:00

Stubborn as me, maybe more so, my husband is a Taurus and when we disagree, we lock horns and it's hard for either of us to back down! But he's grounded and affectionate and though his steady devotion to routine sometimes makes this spontaneous Aries feel a bit bogged down, I think we do remarkably well for two people with zodiac symbols sporting horns on their heads! Must be our twisted senses of humour---gets us through a rough spot every time! This postcard will be a freebie at Scrap Girls some time before Gemini hits, so make sure you are signed up for that newsletter so that you can download this special when it becomes available. The sample layout I created with this postcard will feature Breedeen, a fantastically creative gal I met through scrapbooking message boards. Talk about a sense of humour, she's cheeky! I always look forward to reading her posts, she's a bright spot in anyone's day. Don't forget: there will be a postcard for every sign, ending with Pisces in February 2007, so collect all 12 by signing up for the Scrap Girls newsletter.

ScrapSimple Club

2006-04-17T09:46:00.000-07:00

The Scrap Girls Club is so popular that we thought we would add a second club for all the ScrapSimple fans. Making your own papers and embellishments is so easy when you start with tools designed by pros. Then, add your own creativity and you have a unique collection. It's just like using a pattern to make a dress, if you sewed, that is. But much easier! We create the patterns and templates and you add your sense of colour and style: it's scrapping made simple. This first ScrapSimple Club features Mandy Steward and myself. And I've seen what's coming up, each month is going to be fantastic.

This month you get: Paper Templates, an Alpha Template, an Embellishment Template, a brush set and a Layer your Own Brush set. Our theme started with fabric patterns and grew to include patches, ribbons, buttons and a stitched alphabet. Everything you need to create a fantastic collection. And watch for the matching specials, there will be some great freebies released, but we never know when! Plus, we also offer this Club in a commercial license version.

Stamps

2006-03-31T15:52:00.000-08:00

I am having fun making stamps, hauling out old illustrations I have done, mixing them up with my ScrapSimple Paper Templates for the backgrounds and then adding them as decorative elements to my scrapbook pages. My latest series features illustrations I did in coloured pencil on vellum, my favorite medium. I call this series Life Stamps. I also have Baby Stamps, Fish Stamps, Astrology Stamps, Beach Stamps and Health Stamps. I'll keep digging through my archives and see what else I can come up with. I'm feeling stamp happy!

First Day of Spring

2006-03-20T09:11:00.000-08:00

I came out from under my computer yesterday to simply be lazy and enjoy the weather, it was everything a Californian spring day should be: blue skies and in the seventies with a cool breeze. But today is gray and rainy. The past few months have been all over the map weather wise and we have had a sad showing of blossoms, mustard weed and acacia. With snow, hail, lots of rain and wind and very few warm days, the plants aren't sure what to do.

But is is officially spring, the first day of Aries, in astrology the new year begins today. So rainy day and all, welcome spring! This post card is a special freebie from Scrap Girls, you can only find it by signing up for the newsletter, so watch for its release. I created it from an acrylic painting I did long ago and I'll be releasing postcards for each sign. In the meantime, you might enjoy my Astrology Stamps!

Feeling like a dormouse

2006-01-18T20:23:00.000-08:00

Remember the tea party in Alice in Wonderland? The dormouse kept dropping off to sleep during the festivities and the Mad Hatter would pour tea on him to wake him up. Well, quite frankly, I'm not sure if I'm the Mad Hatter or the dormouse, or even the white rabbit. I thought I just celebrated New Year's Eve.

Maybe I am the white rabbit: I'm late, I'm late, for a very important date. I mean---the month is more than half over! And my blog? It sits here, lonely while I imagine great entries to write at say 3am when I should be sleeping.

Must be all the responsibilities I agreed to when I became Creative Director at Scrap Girls. I am so excited, pleased and honored, but awash in learning many new things. Did I say surprised? Well, it truly is a story to be told in full someday. Soon. But right now, I'm late. I'm late.

Kwanzaa

2005-12-27T12:43:00.000-08:00

This holiday has interested me for a long time, though it's not a part of my culture, I find the concepts inspiring. I especially love the colours, probably because they are so graphic and bold. In fact, I was so inspired I had to make a digital kit: Kwanzaa. Here's hoping that you find a way to celebrate your community, in whatever manner you choose. Happy Kwanzaa!

(This is an RAK for Pixel Lady)

Templates, Anyone?

2005-12-19T16:55:00.000-08:00

They are here, and it's just the beginning. Now you can make crafts easily using my templates. Includes step-by-step instructions. Ready? Get set! Start crafting!

Click on these links:

Candy Wrapper
Gift Bag
Gift Envelope (for monetary gifts)
Horizontal Greeting Card & Envelope
Vertical Greeting Card & Envelope
Pyramid Box

And then stay tuned for more.

So exciting

2005-12-10T12:40:00.000-08:00

Moss, our new dog has NOTHING to do with what I'm working on, except he's so cute in his own way and I can't show you what I am doing. But I can tell you I have 5 more sets of paper templates to link into the Scrap Girls store, just waiting for some tech work on the other end.

In the meantime I'm working on a whole slew of NEW templates, something different! I'm writing the instructions and doing the screen shots to make it simple for you. SO stay tuned, you'll love this!

Talk to Me

2005-12-07T09:27:00.000-08:00

Okay, well chat by typing, it's kinda like talking! Tomorrow, December 8th at 7pm Pacific Time (10pm EST) at Scrap Girls, I'll be in the Chat Room.

It's an open forum, but we'll be talking about digiscrapping and my new Scrap Simple Paper Templates. In fact, go to Scrap Girls and pick up your FREE Scrap Simple Paper Template, just a little gift from me to you. And then, let's talk!

Hi honey, I'm home!

2005-12-05T08:44:00.000-08:00

December. Though it's Christmas, Hannukah, Solstice and Kwanzaa followed by New Year's Eve. it's also property taxes, and an estimated tax payment to the IRS plus year-end bookkeeping. It can be a very expensive month no matter how innovative we get with home made gifts and frugal celebrations. Top that with a husband who has several home improvement projects all in various stages of completion, and whose work is sporadic (he's a carpenter and it often depends on the weather as to whether he's working!) and you have a window into our chaotic life.

So it was with caution that I recommended that my husband find something to do with his day that cost no money. Finish a project around the house with materials on hand. Vacuum. Dump the trash. Do not spend money. Do not go to the hardware store, even if it's just for a nail or sandpaper.

I headed for San Francisco. I had promised his daughter that we would go on our annual holiday shopping trip. She always buys her mom and dad gifts as well as her new stepsister and brother and stepfather. She saves her money and makes a budget and a list and I help her shop. We go to San Francisco to enjoy the big displays and over-the-top decorations.

Just before we left, she gave her dad some money to pick up rat food at the feed store for her pet rats. Then off we went, and left him to his day. Ours was a whirlwind of activity, but we found great sales and our favorite street merchants, and even enjoyed an opera song by a street artist who has the voice of an angel. We arrived home with everyone on her list taken care of, and with money to spare for shopping with her mom.

As we began to share our day's adventures, my husband confessed that when he went to the feed store, he acquired more than rat food. As he described this new addition to our family, I was quite anxious. We already have 2 dogs, albeit tiny, but they are territorial terrors who somehow never managed to socialize well beyond us. And adding a third dog to the mix will require a miracle.

We trooped out to his shop where we met Moss, a lovable galumph of an English Bulldog, a 75lb. 18 month old pup! Unlike our doxies, he sat and stayed on command. He seemed to adore Steve and once we agreed on the ground rules (no Moss in the house) then it seemed like we could work Moss into our life.

Moss's given name was Hoss, which Steve changed to CW Moss, a character from the Bonnie and Clyde movie. He decided that CW stood for Caddy Wapmus, which is how Moss's face looks. So his name is now CW "The Galumph" Moss.

We took him for a walk yesterday and he can't go for long distances, it's hard for him to breathe. We hoped it would tire him out and he wouldn't be so lonely last night, but he was, so we have to find and evening activity now to tire him out. Now I'm wishing our boys weren't such terrors ao that Moss could come in the house, oh I am such a soft touch. I guess that's why we have him, I couldn't say no to either his brown eyes or my husband's.

So, in theory, my husband didn't spend any money that day. (Good boy!) But the next day...toys and extra dog things...and now obedience training....and very soon...neutering (the dog, lol)...I'm praying for sunny days in December so Steve can work alot to support his new baby!

Beccy Collection

2005-11-19T14:05:00.000-08:00

Paper templates, it's my new thing. Love making them and there's no end to the possibilities. This floral kit is named after a friend of mine. Though years and distance separate us now, we shared many art classes in high school. Her serenity and purity were refreshing and she is an amazingly talented artist. When I created this pattern, it brought back memories of her. I hope you have fun with it. My Beccy Collection at Scrap Girls is available as single use or commercial use.

It's About Time

2005-11-16T15:58:00.000-08:00

It was August 2003. My book, FanCraftic® Party Crafts, had been published and I was marketing it. It was one of those Aha! moments, when scrapbooking suddenly made sense to me. If I combined scrapbooking and party crafts together...well, to make a long story short, I started scrapbooking on the computer and I was hooked.

I had been working with Broderbund® products extensively for nearly 7 years, creating crafts and greeting cards and more using their software: The Print Shop®, PrintMaster® and so on. I knew their software inside and out and never touched Adobe® Photoshop®, though I used Illustrator regularly.

We were about ready to develop a new product, Creating Keepsakes™ Scrapbook Designer Deluxe. I did a few test pages and realized the product was missing some vital elements. Knowing their software as well as I did, I knew that black vector art would allow for a wide variety of embellishments, tags, ribbons, papers and more and I created an entire product line including samples, thinking Broderbund would see the enormous possibilities of digital scrapbooking.

However, Broderbund was owned by Riverdeep and they had different ideas, which was to concentrate on educational software and sell off all the products I worked on. In the meantime, I was left with a whole range of illustrated templates which I sometimes use when I create my own digital collections.

Fast forward two years to this week: suddenly another AHA moment. Let's use these and other patterns and create templates that any scrapbooker can use to create their own papers. And let's offer them at a personal use fee as well as a commercial use fee.

So, ta-da: I am pleased to announce a new product line at Scrap Girls called Scrap Simple, initially named by Melissa Renfro. The whole Scrap Girls team is going to be creating lots of basic brushes and templates which will be the beginning of your own creativity. A small push in a fun direction!

I'm starting out with some basic shapes, designed to be layered, mixed and matched. And I'm adding collections, the first one is called Beccy, look for that one soon. In the meantime, here's a link to the Scrap Simple Commercial Licensed products.

I can't wait to see what you do with all this fun stuff! Don't you think it's about time?

Another Preview

2005-11-05T10:06:00.000-08:00

Yup, another Collection Biggie, this one has been gestating for 15 months, rather like an elephant, lol. It began as an offshoot to my first Quilt Series at scrapbook-elements.com called Autumn Quilts. The patterns intriqued me and I set out to do a similar series in baby pastels, but that kit morphed into my Spring Fling at scrapgirls.com when Ro, our CEO, decided to start the monthly Scrap Girls Club and needed product quickly.

I also seem to have a stockpile of materials in various stages and ideas unlimited, in fact there are not enough hours in the day for me to create all that's in my head. Still, the Baby Quilt set was quietly calling my name and I recently spent a week nurturing it until its birth.

In a strange twist of fate, my new computer, a RAID setup with 4 hard drives that work as one, lost 2 of the 4 drives (which they tell me is next to impossible). Losing 1 drive isn't a problem, all the data can be rebuilt. But losing 2 is a different story and though I had thought that this kit was backed up on a DVD, it didn't show up and all my original material has vaporized. Thankfully, I had just uploaded the kit to the Scrap Girls ftp site, so all is not lost.

So please look for this Baby Quilt collection at Scrap Girls! Again, I am using stock photos to fill a void in my own library. Having only given birth to artistic endeavors and not humans, I am at a loss for those cute baby pictures this set calls for, but I'll bet you have just the right ones!

Here's to Your Health---a Preview

2005-11-04T17:32:00.000-08:00

Some of my Dad's best advice was if you have your health, you have everything. And it's true. I seem to have been blessed with good health, though of course, I've had my share of colds, the measles and mumps (though never chicken pox.) And there was that time I had mono in high school from kissing someone I shouldn't have: he was so ill he was hospitalized and with the brazeness of youth I kissed him and ended up home sick for at least 6 weeks. Poor Mom! (She was stuck caring for me.)

So, though I hope you and yours will always have your health, there may be those times when you or someone you love is ill. I've created a Collection Biggie full of Papers and Embellishments that will help you scrap those doctor visits, scraped knees and bumped foreheads. I call it 2 Your Health!

I hope you'll find it useful for scrapbooking as well as card making. Remember: Live well, be well and stay well. Here's to your health! (the tag shown here will be a featured special [freebie] for a limited time, sign up for the Scrap Girls newsletter to receive it.)

(PS, I've taken to buying photos from istockphoto.com for my kits when I just don't have the right image in my own library. So I have no idea who this kid is, but he's pretty cute! This whole page is a fantasy story, but it's just to show you how to use the kit, KWIM? I used to do this type of faux work all the time when I created samples for Broderbund software, it's very common.)

Thank You is not Enough

2005-10-28T16:22:00.000-07:00

It's times like these that can make a girl cry: when someone does so sweet and then tops it off with an action so kind, it's heartbreaking but in a good way.

Tonya Doughty, the infamous gauchogirl of scrapbooking and knitting fame, mom and photographer extraordinaire and designer most inspiring created a set of scrapbooking papers and entitled them after my user name. It took a statement in the Scrap Girls newsletter for me to realize the honor. I had to read it several times and once I grasped the fact that she really named them after me, I was numb. It is not often I get honored and it feels quite wonderful.

But on top of all that, above and beyond all of that, Tonya offered to knit a chemo hat for my mom and in less than 24 hours, the hat was in the mail. How incredible is that?

So how can I possible offer her thanks, except in a card and to pass along her kindness to someone else who may need it. Still, there are days when "Thank You" just doesn't seem like enough.

Men, Men and Men

2005-10-21T11:21:00.000-07:00

Last week I attended a funeral. My best friend's mother passed. We knew it was coming, Janet had been the caregiver for quite a while until finally, she had to place her mom in a convalescent hospital. It was a waiting game and yet still surprising when it happened. The finality of it all. Janet's dad died awhile ago. Then she lost her son. Death seems to have taken a liking to Janet and I am hoping that Death takes an extended vacation, gives my friend a chance to catch her breath.

Still, within each death, each passing, there is an amazing opportunity to reconnect. And Janet, one of seven children, has plenty of family. We met in the 6th grade. It was February 1966. I had switched schools again. Dad had just retired from the military and it would be the last time I had to change schools. Janet's family was military, too. When we met we weren't too sure of each other, but our teacher decided we should be friends. Janet had just started school a few weeks before me.

And friends we became. Janet, raised Catholic, told me she had prayed for a best friend to walk home from school with. In military families, there is so much uprooting that friends are made and lost often. Raised in an unreligious family, I had wished for such a friend. How nice that Janet's prayers and my wishes collided!

As I wrote to her last week in an email: we have been through menstruation and menopause together and men in between. I have no other friends who have intimately shared that much of my life. And so it was no surprise when she asked me to come down early, if I could. She was feeling the need for a friend.

As I drove the two hours, I reminisced about her siblings. We all grew up together, in fact her brothers were about the same age as mine. I still remember them as they were then, though we are all older now, many with children of their own.

After the viewing, we gathered back at the house for pizza. It was like it once was, all the kids in the parental house. Soon, it was time to break out the vodka and mix a few martinis when we discovered a complete lack of olives. We could accept the lack of vermouth, but I'm not much of a drinker, so I really needed those olives. "Let's walk to my mom's." I suggested, "She has olives, we can raid the pantry!"

And on that balmy evening, as the sun was setting, Janet and I walked the two blocks to my house, just as though we were back in the 6th grade. It was an opportunity we knew we'd never have again. We surprised my folks, secured a jar of olives and headed back to Janet's. Later, I would drive to my folks and spend the night, but as we walked back to her house, years slipped away and we were eleven again.

The next morning, Janet walked back over. My mom had invited her for breakfast. Now my mom is undergoing chemo and my Dad has been having a few health issues as well. Things seem to be going well for them, better than a few weeks ago.

But the fact that my mom felt up to having Janet for breakfast was so sweet. Someone needed caring for and it seemed as though my mom jumped at the chance to take care of someone. It brings me to tears. Mom made blueberry pancakes (from scratch) bacon, tea for Janet, coffee for me and had the dining room all set before I was up. Janet showered at our house (her own house was suddenly too crowded) and then she left to get ready for the funeral.

The funeral is a beautiful story for another day; it was both painful and healing, full of memories and reconnections. And through it all, there was my friend. And my own mother. And all that holds us together: the love, the sorrow, the circles of life, the ebb and flow of blood, the men, the men and the men. Amen.

Enjoy being a Girl!

2005-10-09T15:33:00.000-07:00

I know, I've heard all about the comments that there are too many scrapbook sets in pink. But it's been a long time since I've designed anything in pink and I just had to do a Slumber/Make-up Party kind of kit. It's just a little one, but lots of fun and so girly! I had a great time drawing all the make-up and goodies. In fact, I'm finding that I'm using more of my drawing skills in my kits. Kinda going back to my roots. I call this kit Slumberella.

Scrap Girl of the Month

2005-10-03T12:52:00.000-07:00

I have a whole lotta stuff being offered this month at Scrap Girls. Each month a different designer is selected to create a whole new slew of materials which is offered in the Monthly Club kit. It's a great deal: so much to play with for only $9.99! I created a collection called Utopia. It started as a pun for the colour taupe, but as the papers developed, a distinctive fall tone started to appear. I was also inspired by the colours in beer bottle label I saw. My kit was supposed to have appeared in November, so it had a bit of Thanksgiving, a bit of Christmas, but an overall universal quality. I like my kits to be used year 'round so I think about other pages people might create with them. It's always exciting to see what someone else creates!

I also created a fun card that looks like a tag but is really a pop-up Christmas Tree when it's opened. It took a while to make it work and make it easy for others to reproduce.

I'm not sure which I enjoyed more, creating my Yule Luv It! Alphabet and Easy Pages, or coming up with the "punny" name. I don't know where these puns come from, I just can't help it. And there isn't really a process. Sometimes I have the pun before the design, other times the pun just happpens while I am struggling with developing a unique name.

I'm looking forward to seeing what people create with October's Club Kit. In the meantime, I better keep working on some more new products.

A Change in the Weather

2005-09-20T17:26:00.000-07:00

With just a phone call, things shift, deadlines change and I take a few days to play, creating some Collection Super Minis: 3 papers plus a sheet of embellishments. From my soon to be released collection called: BeBop, this is for my folks, who celebrated their 55th anniversary in early September.

It was the best of times...

2005-09-14T16:42:00.000-07:00

...it was the worst of times, so penned Charles Dickens in a statement so truthful it has become part of our venacular. As hurricanes ravage our shores and our soldiers continue to battle, as we remember 9/11 and dig into our pockets to help so many in need, I can certainly see the worst of times. And yet the best of times bubbles forth in small ways: a blue sky, autumn's bountiful harvest, a phone call from a dear friend, chocolate fudge made by my mom. Stories of heroes large and small, people doing their best to move forward.

Even in my small world, the "best of times" always finds a way to overcome the worst of times. As I race uphill towards a goal, I feel out of breath. I'd love to sit down, relax. But I remember this mantra: "As I breathe in, I calm myself, as I exhale, I smile." My "worst of times" fade and I move forward. I hope you are able to find the best of times in your life, too.

Stray Pixels

2005-08-24T09:10:00.000-07:00

The days are starting to blur. I worked over 70 hours last week and I expect it'll be more of the same for several weeks to come. But if I don't take any days off, then it doesn't seem like a week, just days rolling into days. The rhythm is the same: the sun rises and sets and I click a mouse and chase stray pixels. All else seems to fall away: if only I could manage the laundry, groceries and dust bunnies with the click of my mouse---I would be omnipresent! Even my own scrapbooking has taken a back seat to this project I have taken on. But what a project---a dream becoming reality as pixels gather. And I had better get clicking!

Coming up for Air

2005-08-06T16:10:00.000-07:00

Only to dive again. I am feeling like a gopher underground, nose to grindstone, working extra hard to complete phenomenal amounts of work so that I can spend time with my family. I brace myself for the upcoming family dynamics as my mom heads in for surgery again. It's emotionally exhausting, draining. Tomorrow I have to do that familiar household stuff: groceries, laundry and preparing to be away from home: is the cell phone charged, do I have all the CDs I need to do some work on my laptop? And so on. In between, I have to take a creative break: a coming up for air break...just a little something sweet before I dive back into work. I made an Artist Trading Card, or ATC. It's just a tiny thing, same as a business card. This one uses a painting I did of the element Air. In the background is some scrollwork I drew long ago to decorate a cake package for a client. Finally scanned it and spent time removing the white areas: I have not yet been able to duplicate that linear quality that comes from my hand on a computer. I still find there is nothing like ink on paper, paint on board. But boy do I love Photoshop! And thank goodness for scanners and ways to get my real work in a digital format so I can make a quick little thing like an ATC in just a flash. It's like coming up for air after a long time underground.

In Two Worlds

2005-07-31T13:50:00.000-07:00

It is a time in my life when people dear to me are going through some hard times of their own. I am affected, am a player in the play and also an observer. Sometimes I forget that All is well. I get caught up in the delusion that I am in control, somehow. I forget that I can turn this over to a higher power than my little self. When I forget, I feel alone in a sea of grey, buffeted by the radiating waves of emotions---just like when a drop of water falls into a pool and rings expand. I wanted to create a scrapbook page that expresed this feeling. The feeling of being alone and the fleeting glimpse of being part of All That Is. I have moments when I feel that All is well and perfect. I took the photograph of the clouds on July 28th in the morning as my Dad and I were leaving his house to go visit my Mom in the hospital. The clouds were directly over my folks' house and I did nothing to the photo to enhance it. It simply spoke to me and I was glad I tossed my camera in the trunk of my car; though I missed taking pictures of my niece while we waited for my Mom's surgery to be completed. Maybe I took the only photo I really needed to at the time.

With this need to express two sides of myself, the two worlds in which I reside, I think that I have just begun to push digital scrapbooking to a new level, where a simple animation can lead to a whole new dimension of scrapbooking. With each painful experience, we grow and who knows where that will lead us to?

Room to Breathe

2005-07-18T11:19:00.000-07:00

I love the coast, the brown hills of summer, the deep green of oak and pine, the promise of fog when it gets too hot, the bays and rivers which feed into the ocean beyond. Pt. Reyes National Seashore is an amazing place. It offers every type of hiking you can imagine and getting there is half the fun. Winding roads, barbequed oysters, (Tomales Bay is favored for oyster farming) and dairies, the land remains largely unspoiled. With the amazing amount of rain we had this year, the wildflowers are still blooming: vibrant spots of colour dot the hills. It helps me to get away from my computer and just breathe: the cool crisp coastal air clears my head, nature's beauty inspires me. We hiked about seven miles (I thought I was going to die---it was uphill and my husband said beach hiking so I wore flip flops) and returned to the warm valley of Petaluma before heading north to Santa Rosa. But we saw the fog, always a welcome sight for me. Although the days have been 90 to 100 degrees and we have no humidity, I am not a hot weather girl. Give me cool foggy days, please. And breathing space.

Camp Scrappy

2005-07-13T17:16:00.000-07:00

I had a great time creating this kit, which I call Camp Scrappy. Camping is the inspiration, but its rustic playfulness feels right for many other subjects. This paper and bookplate will soon be available as a Special Gift from Scrap Girls, so watch for their newsletter to see how you can get your free copies. In the meantime, please check out the whole set: Camp Scrappy!

Dog Days of Summer

2005-07-12T10:17:00.000-07:00

Every day's a dog day at our house. The boys love their routine and seem to spend as much time sleeping as cats do. The morning begins as they bust out of their condo (a cupboard under the window seat in my bedroom) to have breakfast and do their doggie business. Then it's back to bed (our bed) while we read the paper and have coffee and I put on my make-up. Then it's up to the studio for more napping in front of their own space heater (almost every day, all year long, ok, except today when it'll be 100 degrees!!!) until lunch when they spend the afternoon patrolling the back yard for lizards, birds and other varmits. An afternoon might also include: digging for moles, chewing on bones and, gee, more naps! But if it's cold and rainy then it's back to the studio and space heater. Then it's dinner at 5pm and nap time at 7pm until bed at 10! Tough life, eh?

It's All in a Name

2005-07-06T16:14:00.000-07:00

FanCraftic!® Coming up with a name, something unique, is never easy and thankfully I worked with a copywriter, Karla Jacobs, who helped generate many possibilities. FanCraftic was coined by combining Fantastic and Crafts. At the time, I thought I'd specialize in creating crafts people could easily print from their computers. I incorporated a fan shape into my logo, my business card, even my mailings. I had a cute flash opening sequence on my original website where a sheet of paper is printed and flies out of the printer, folding into a fan and opening to display the name FanCraftic! It all seems so long ago: my visions for that company have changed radically and continue to change as I dig ever deeper into digital scrapbooking.

Party Crafts

2005-07-02T09:41:00.000-07:00

These are party sets I created for one of the Click Art series.

My Long and Winding Road

2005-07-02T09:11:00.000-07:00

In 1997, I started freelancing for Broderbund® software. I was hired to design what we called "output" which are examples of how their software products can be used to create everything from greeting cards to posters. Output is featured on the packaging to show and sell the product's benefits.

I began working on The Print Shop® and soon expanded to other product lines. A hidden talent I had began to blossom, and soon I was creating coordinated sets: crafts for parties and events showcasing the graphics (illustrations and photos) and fonts as well as the program's unique features. I was given creative freedom to select the imagery, develop the concept, write the copy and create and craft the materials.

For me, this work was a dream come true. I loved coming up with unique crafts and building templates. As an outside contractor, I worked steadily with Broderbund under all their different owners: from The Learning Company, to Mattel, Gore Technologies and Riverdeep until 2004 when they shifted their focus from print productivity software to the scholastic market.

It was in 2003, that my attention was drawn towards scrapbooking, as I attempted to market a book I had written called FanCraftic® Party Crafts. Suddenly it all became clear to me: why not make scrapbooks to match all the party crafts I had spent so many years developing? I could do it on the computer!

Previously, I had shied away from scrapbooking. It seemed too much like work: too much cutting and pasting and yet with a computer, it made sense. And I started to regroup, thinking I had created a whole new direction for the entire industry! Only to find out, that there were several of us who were all tapping into the same concept: so huge is the power of digital scrapbooking, that its very nature warrants expression through so many sources! I laugh now, when I think of my aha moment---my belief that I had started something special, but when you work alone as I do, you tend to live a lot inside your head!

My journey into digital scrapbooking is still long and winding, but I'll save those tales for another day.

Homeward Bound

2005-07-01T15:09:00.000-07:00

Reinventing myself takes time, so again this year there is no vacation. Instead, I'll be working towards a goal and happily, I might add. But when I'm needing to feel refreshed, going through my photos from Tahiti brings balmy carefree days to mind.

Blah, Blah, Blog

2005-06-30T20:08:00.000-07:00

I'm just beachy, and you? Today I'm trying to make sense of 27 background papers for a new set I'm working on. I think tomorrow it'll all come together, I just need 5 more sheets. Then it will become a Collection Biggie with a coordinating Paper Biggie. That's 32 papers!

Parts of this kit have been hanging around for over a year, papers I created and never did anything with. Other parts are from some early kits that have been retired. I'm making all new embellishments and alphas and late this afternoon it just started to click. It's in a pastel range of aquas, sands, taupes and pale greens, but I just punched it up with a bit of black and now it feels cohesive, like it has backbone. Now is when it starts getting exciting and I can't wait to get into my studio tomorrow morning.

A beautiful bride

2005-06-29T16:24:00.000-07:00

Whew!

2005-06-29T15:42:00.000-07:00

When is enough enough? Inspired by my friend Leslie, I started designing a new digital/printable scrapbook page kit late last week. She was married in March (her birthday is today) and sent me a CD of photos. She wore a beautiful navy blue gown, blue is her favorite colour. As I began creating the kit, I decided to recreate a double ring quilt pattern. Leslie is also a quilter and the symbology of the linked rings seemed to be a perfect way to honor her. The kit grew and grew, as I created stitched borders, vellum envelopes and alphabets. When is enough, enough?

Thankfully, at Scrap Girls, where this kit will be sold, we have criteria of what constitutes a Collection or Collection Biggie, and yet I could keep going. I have already added more things to each of the embellishment folders, after uploading my final files to the ftp site.

So when is enough, enough? For a friend like Leslie, it's never enough: she is worth it all and then some. I hope she sees all the little things: the letter S in the floral paper for her childhood nickname of Suzy, the words written on the background papers, the number 2.

Today, when I emailed her the gallery links so she could see the pages I created for her, she emailed me back this simple phrase: "My tears shorted-out my keyboard!!"

Maybe this is enough.

June 22, 2005

2005-06-22T11:05:00.000-07:00

A new place to be. With everything that is happening, why would I add a bit more for me to do? As a place to connect, with thoughts concentrated in one locale. Somehow, it makes sense to me.