It all started with two huge pieces of construction paper, one about 3x4 feet and one about 1x2 feet in size. I learned about this paper from Lynne Perrella, who I took that fateful workshop with in August 08. You can buy this in large rolls for about $8 at places like Home Depot. I guess it's meant to cover floors on construction sites. Ha! That's why we call it construction paper!
I treated each of my two pieces a little differently, but the end result was the same: cover each one completely! The big piece was covered in sheet music (Christmas songs) first, then painted over in red and dotted all over with different colors of paint. The second was covered in various small green polygons. Good thing there was some good music on, as this was a somewhat not-so-exciting job which took 2 hours!
After brushing over them both with gloss medium (that's the "varnish"), I cut each piece into several little pieces. The red was cut into 45+ rectangles and the green was cut into the same number of triangles. Glue the green onto the red, sew the rectangles onto 45 blank notecards I bought at a garage sale last summer, write in them, stamp and seal, and voila! You're looking at the final product there in your own hands!
(Remember, you can click on the image to get a closer view. There in the background, you can see some of my other works in progress too...)
I was talking to my friend Diana, who graciously shared that she's kept all the Christmas cards I've ever given her (they're the only ones that get packed in the Christmas box and unpacked every year to sit on the shelf!). We got to talking about the technique and the high number of cards it makes, and then I thought, I could teach a class about this! So I am going to look into that for late summer or fall. It wouldn't have to be for Christmas cards, but for any type of card. Those of you who received our card last year can see how anything goes with this idea!
Today, I'll be working a little on another art piece, cleaning the house, cooking part of tomorrow's dinner, baking walnut rum cookies, and preparing our guest room for our first ever guest! My sister will join us just in time for Christmas dinner tomorrow evening. Tomorrow, a few presents, a hike (or snowshoe, as we just yesterday got a foot of snow), and some good eats!
I'll be back one more time before the New Year, so please come again sometime in the next week. Meanwhile, Merry Christmas to you!
With love,
HLM
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