Aaah...Paree!

It's officially Spring now but today it's sleeting outside. Luckily I have my new and beautiful stamp set, Paris in Love, to focus me on much lovelier things and buoy my spirits! This is the third set Shelley of Singlestone Studios designed for her April 1st release. I LOVE this set. More than any of the other sets this one seems to speak to me. Yes I love the images but I love the way you can look at the images and see a story. As if they are illustrations to some great romance that has yet to be written. There is great music out that will paint a picture in your head while you listen to it. That is the best way I can describe how I feel about this collection of text and images. The rose tossed to the ground, the looming Eiffel Tower in silhouette, the swirl seems like a breeze, the postmark, they all point to a place and a story. Maybe there was a love letter? Maybe some secret assignation between two lovers who's hearts pound as they meet. They don't need to speak, they've written all their thoughts in letters. Now they only whisper little phrases that say nothing but that speak to each heart of a great love.

I don't know how Shelley chose the images and text she did for this set but I really do LOVE how it all comes together in my imagination and tells me this story. The first piece of artwork I did with this set is kind of a memory board of this love story that didn't actually happen. I chose postcard papers and pages from a French-English Dictionary to create the background. Then I added some ink, some paint, and the stamped imagery. I loved the scratched up, mixed media feel of the piece. So I really accentuated that. I added some paper patterned with script that made me think of the love letters I was envisioning. The red acrylic was to add a sense of passion and romance. I think the addition of the wire flower, because of the way it's attached, gave me the sense that this was a sign of sorts. In another form it would have been hanging over the entrance to a cafe but here, it merely points the way to my story of lovers. I really loved how this piece came together and I had a ton of fun creating it.

After this piece I thought it would be fun to make an invitation with the stamps. I created some ink blots, and used a credit card in black acrylic to frame the Tower. Then, because I was having waaayy too much fun with this set, I threw together this little clay pendant. Again it has the roughed up aged quality that just screams romance to me. The final project I have in mind I haven't done yet. But can't you just imagine a pair of white undies embellished with red lace and some of these stamped images? I have to try it! When I do I'll post so you can see what I mean. Trust me, it will be sooo cute you're gonna want your own!

The Paris set, the Tweet set, and the Butterfly Garden set all go on sale TOMORROW- April 1st! To purchase go to www. singlestonestudios.com! Then when you've done you're own projects I would LOVE to see pics!!

A New Creation

So I wasn't going to post tonight but when I checked my e-mail I found this gorgeous little piece of art waiting for me. It's a sample from my friend Shelley's Spring '09 collection and is a new style for her. But chatting with her she says it is more of an expression of her personal style then anything she's done yet. I absolutely love it. She's also been sweet enough to say that the constructed piece I created partially inspired the first piece she did in this style. Which ties in wonderfully enough to something I heard in church this morning. The pastor told the story of the man who penned Amazing Grace. He was captain of a slave ship and saw nothing wrong with his life until one night. That night there was a storm and he cried out to God. God listened and this man changed his life. Later, this man's story inspired someone else who became a powerful advocate for the abolition of slavery in America.

Stories are powerful. Art too can be powerful. The connection is inspiration. When we are inspired by something, or someone we are moved to action in response. Our reaction can result in something new and beautiful or something great, that in turn might inspire someone else. It's a natural, internalized reaction that has its root in our Great Creator God. Our ability to be inspired and to react to this inspiration with the creation of something else is one of the ways God created us to be like Him. Shelley had no idea that her response to my work would inspire me to make this connection, or to share with you this idea, but isn't that one of the most surprising and wonderful things about this life? Maybe reading this and seeing her work will inspire one of you, the readers. Maybe this is the beginning of a chain of loveliness and creation that spans the globe. My little piece was just a little piece, but who knows- this whisper could one day become the shout of someone else. Every bit of creation becomes extremely valuable in this light.

So take a look, be inspired and maybe it will motivate you to create a work, a thought, or a writing that will then continue on as an inspiration to someone else.