Jeu de lettres or Playing with Letters

In an effort to get control of all these little bits of paper in my life, I came across this wonderful quote by Gerard Charriere, a Swiss-Trained Typographer and Book Artist.

If you choose a delicate typeface, don't put something with it that will overwhelm; it is a marriage. You can play with letters until they become part of the design. I like them to be very clear, with lots of space, each letter to make a statement. Sometimes I call my work 'Je de lettres" or playing with letters. I arrange them so that each one stands on its own, like in a bunch of flowers, yet never overcrowding. It is a balance. I see it when it works.

On the same piece of paper, I wrote "Pick a letter, set the timer, cut out letters from magazines, quickly arrange." I picked the letter "T," but started seeing some interesting "J's" so they got included too. The entire exercise took an hour. You can find it on the second to last page of one of my art journals. I am sure I will play with it some more because that is what I do.  It was a fun way to jump start my creativity today. What do you do to jump start your creativity?

Nominated for Teacher of the Year and Thoughts on Power

I've been nominated for Teacher of the Year given by the International Association of Professional Quilters! This is my second nomination. I have no illusions of winning. I'm simply and deeply touched that a student of mine would take the time to nominate me. It feels so good that I can touch people's lives in a meaningful way.  It's also a great way to start of the year.

And nine days into the new year, I keep journaling and thinking about what I want this year to be for me. I know I want to continue my journey of learning to trust my intuition, developing intention, being authentic and holding my own power. It's not easy. I'm most certainly not a saint. In The Artist's Way, Julia Cameron says, "The first rule of magic is self-containment. You must hold your intention within yourself, stoking it with power. Only then will you be able to manifest what you desire." I remember how deeply reading this affected and still affects me. It helped me understand that many of the people in my life didn't have my best interest at heart so I needed to release them with love. Now I am surrounded by much healthier people. I also had to admit to myself that most of my life had been based on meeting the needs and expectations of others and that had to change.

What does the word power mean to you?

Do you think of yourself as powerful? For me, it wasn't easy.

Do you think you are more powerful in the domain of "being" or "doing"?
For me, it's definitely doing but I am working on also feeling powerful in being.

You know how much I love typography. The poster is by Francesca Ramos, a 22 year old graphic design student. Isn't it wonderful? You can download it for free courtesy of the artist! I have and it's going to hang on my wall as a reminder. As always, thanks for sharing with me.

Life's Challenges and Tips of Typography Rocks

I seem to be continuing living in a period of challenges. Now my camera has died. I choose to look at this as an opportunity to upgrade. It's either that or cry.

I have gotten several queries about my typography rocks and how I made them "lumpless." I think the key is stuffing tightly yet slowly. Don't try to put a lot of stuffing in all at once. I used an unsharpened pencil to move the stuffing around and pack it tightly. And yes, I do plan to make more and I will share them.

Here's to a day without any challenges! Or at least only interesting not stress inducing ones.

Another Cardborad Box Typography Apple

Several people asked me if I took a photo of the box before I cut it up to make my first apple and I had to say, "no." The idea hit and I went into action. When making the second and smaller apple (5.5 h" by 6.5" w), I did. Here is a photo of the ends of the box before I cut it up. I love that the handle created a bite out of the apple! These have been so much fun to make!

A Cardboard Box Becomes an Apple

My husband brought home beer from one of his favorite breweries, Three Floyds, in the most amazing cardboard box. I would not let him break it down and recycle. It has sat in my kitchen for some time waiting for inspiration to strike and it did yesterday.  I started by making a pear out of the bottom to see if I could actually make my idea work. The pear is not finished and I'll share it when it is done. I decided that by constructing another pear I would not use as much as the design on the box as possible so I decided to make an apple. Late yesterday we had a storm blow through and knocked this wonderful stick out of my locust tree. Continuing to play with typography and having lots of words let over from my Ransom Note ATCs, I decided to add words most related to beer. My favorite is "Barkeep, a glass of Sarsaparilla." I also added some seeds for fun. I was pleasantly surprised by how much my husband liked it (including the twig) so I gave it to him.  The apple is 7.5" h x 7" w. When you add the stick, it becomes around 15 inches tall. I am seeing cardboard boxes in a new light.

Typography Rocks!

I collect rocks on my travels and have bowls of them all around my house. I keep thinking about typography which is the theme for the Arts in the Cards Revisioned group. I kept thinking "typography rocks" and suddenly taking this literally popped into my head. Here are the results. They were so much fun to make and I plan to make more because they are just like potato chips and I want to fill this red bowl from my friend Ron with them. It sits on the coffee table in my living room. I think I will continue to play with typography for a while. Wonder what will pop into my head next!

The Story of Me in Typography

I was excited when Marie Z. Johansen suggested that we open ourselves to any media when we (members of Art in the Cards) revisit our ATC themes on Art in the Cards Revisioned.  When Marie choose the Typography theme for us to revisit, I was thrilled.  I love typography! I love words! It was one of my favorite themes. To be able to create in a supportive group is also a great gift. 

My goals lately have included to play more and think outside the box. My intent was to make a quilt. Obviously that didn't happen--yet. I started going through magazines and tearing out interesting fonts and words and well, one thing lead to another. Suddenly the idea popped into my head to create a piece and tell the story of me in words.  I had an old flower pot (11" x 11" x 4") that use to house my hens and chicks in the garage. I wasn't sure that the magazine pieces of text would stick with glue but I liked the shape and the crudeness of it figuring "nothing ventured, nothing gained. To my amazement my simple glue stick worked and soon my pile of magazines had lots of holes in the pages.  While satisfied with the results, I decided I wanted to also have an element of play so I made paper beads, again using magazine pages, that can be picked up and rearranged. I warn you these are addicting. Just like potato chips, once you get started you just can't stop.


My youngest son likes playing with them. I like the tactile feel of the beads and the ever changing nature of the piece.  In the end,  I also coated the entire bowl with two coats of matte medium to seal it. I suspect it might need another coat down the line. For now, it sits on my coffee table and makes me smile every time I look at it.