The Great Big Stitched Postcard Swap

I have joined The Great Big Stitched Postcard Swap. 
This card is on its way to Dulcie Horn in the UK.


 Embellished Ribbon Tree by Velásquez 2014

The Postcard Swap was put together by Beth Kempton of  Do What You Love in association with Coats, the world’s largest supplier of crafting products. 
This event is a global swap of stitched postcard love, where people all across the world make a postcard-sized piece of art using any materials they like. The only rules are that it needs to include some kind of stitching, and it needs to fit with the swap theme. The theme for this swap is CREATE.
You could use any materials you like (paper, ink, fabric, ephemera, ribbon etc) , and put it together anyway you like to make a postcard. You had to include stitches with a machine or by hand. 

I do a lot of block printing when I CREATE so I wanted to incorporate what I CREATE with the stitching portion of the postcard.

Picking colors ….

Deciding on which stock to use.

Thank you for stopping by.

This is "Where Art and Beauty Meet Lifestyle"©

 Embellished Ribbon Tree by Velásquez 2014

All images and content belong to Deborah Velásquez. Copyright 2005-2014.  All rights reserved.

Please do not use anything without permission or without making note of the origin on your blog or website.

Scissors, Paper and Placemats

The PaperLove Blog Hop is a celebration of all things paper! Follow the links to discover more bloggers who love paper and use it to inspire and delight. And if you want to explore a whole world of paper, and stretch your paper passion further with a host of creative projects, why not join the innovative new online course PaperLove (starts March 31). 

Led by book artist Rachel Hazell, PaperLove is a five week creative adventure for paper lovers. 

Find out more here. 

Project: 

Laminated Placemats with Cut Flowers

Colorful Paper to cut Flower designs

Backing paper, I used white 11x17, you can use any color

Laminator and Sheets/pouches

Scissors

1. Flowers and flower centers are cut and placed in pattern of choice, I chose scattered. 

2. Flower sheet is then placed in laminated sheet and sleeve and then run through the laminator, giving you a place mat in minutes. 

Fun and colorful for any table.

A variety of  place settings to show your lovely work !

In addition to your lovely table setting try 

doodles on cardboard for great coaster art.

Do you love paper, does paper make you happy?…….Here are some links to artists and bloggers who share that same love of paper, click on links below to find paper inspiration and projects from other paper enthusiasts.

Majo Bautista / Tona Bell / Louise Best / Cathy Bluteau / Jennifer Bomgardner / Giova Brusa / Lindsay Buck / Beka Buckley / Joanna Caskie / Jonathan Chapman (Mr Yen) / Halle Cisco / Sarah Clare / Cathryn Clarge / Dawn Clarkson / Rhiannon Connelly / Jenny D'Fuego / Molly Dhiman / Ian Dudley / Ayisatu Emore / Akmal Farid / Monika Forsberg / Claire Fritz-Domeney / Louise Gale / Chrissy Gaskell / Julie Hamilton / Emma Hawman / Rachel Hazell / Holly Helgeson / Claudine Hellmuth / Kim Henkel / Sarah Hoffman / Joanne Hus / Paula Joerling / Beth Kempton / Julie Kirk / Eos Koch / Katie LaClair / Kristy Lankford / Michelle Manolov / Doreen Marts / Rosie Martinez-Dekker / Tori Mears / Maria Mederios / Lise Meijer / Debbie Miller / MaryJane Mitchell / Suzy Naidoo / Grace Noel / Hannah Nunn / Camilla Olsson / Jo Packham / Rachelle Panagarry / Monette Pangan / Melanie Paul / Nicole Piar / Jen Pitta / Liz Plummer / Julie Reed / Michelle Reynolds / Lisa Rivas / Angee Robertson / Natalie Ryan / Aisling Ryan / Elisabet Sapena / Kyrrha Sevco / Jamie Sprague / Elizabeth Steele / Terri Stephens / Juniper Stokes / Mary Tanana / Maike Thoma / Linda Tieu / Gabrielle Treanor / Tammy Tutterow / Deborah Velasquez / Jordan Vinograd Kim / Cat Whipple / Brooke Witt / Katie Wood / Amelia Woodbridge

Thank you for stopping by.

This is "Where Art and Beauty Meet Lifestyle"©

All images and content belong to Deborah Velásquez. Copyright 2005-2014.  All rights reserved.

Please do not use anything without permission or without making note of the origin on your blog or website.

Word Path • Closure • A repost, remixed and done with a heavy heart

 We can all take something from this as we help those who face loss.

Everyone has a word path. One word leads to another.

Velásquez©2011

Word Paths have  been a Friday feature showcasing possibilities in written words, creative process and artistic pieces from the beginning of my blog You can go here, to my first post on this project and see how it all started.

•

________________________

Video of Anderson Cooper interviewing his mother Gloria Vanderbilt.

I am a big fan of Anderson Cooper, a CNN anchor. I like his style of

 reporting, he is accessible, funny and genuine. His mother, Gloria Vanderbilt, , a designer, writer, painter and a fashion icon has my respect and admiration for all she has contributed to the world of design. Back on September 19, 2011 Anderson interviewed his mother on his new daytime talk show. Wonderful to watch the both of them so full of pride and love for each other. There was a point in the video where Gloria opened up about their family tragedy, the loss of her son and Anderson's brother, Carter. They both spoke about the word closure and how they both disliked the word, they called it a "TV word". It is mentioned at 13:04 in the video if you want to have a listen. I was going to just have that snippet so you could understand my inspiration for today's Word Path on closure but decided to include the entire interview. I believe it is important to see Gloria and Anderson's relationship in full. 

You get a chance to see how they are each other's champion. 

As a mom especially of boys I am always touched 

by other mother and son relationships, 

it grabs a piece of my heart so tight it aches.

•  

Here is my word path for today 

Closure                                                                              by Velásquez@2011

Inspired by their conversation I made this piece. I am not here to make anyone sad by today's post. I believe it is a good one for sharing and understanding. 
My hope is to have you think of the word differently. 
To see what someone feels in words, that is my goal. 

The word closure is just a line literally and figuratively. As an artist I see the line as having a beginning point and an end point never meeting to complete or make a circle. The line has its ups and downs and at times it spirals out of control or swirling leaving you dazed and confused when tragedy or loss show up at your door.

Closure never makes a circle. 
It is two points never meeting, never making you whole just changed.

In My Heart, I Will Hold You                 by Velásquez ©2014 

_____________________________________________________________________

Be Open and Kind• Enjoy the Language of Words

Thank you for stopping by.

This is "Where Art and Beauty Meet Lifestyle"©

All images and content belong to Deborah Velásquez. Copyright 2005-2014.  All rights reserved.

Please do not use anything without permission or without making note of the origin on your blog or website.