Making Beautiful things with Friends

Last night Debra Kolce--one of the artists in the Until October ATC group--taught a class at the Stamp Asylum making bookmarks from paint chip samples.

Debra's primary art is that she makes incredible handmade cards.  The color, texture, whimsy and dimension are incredible.  Deb uses a variety of tools to embellish.  Simple things that really make a difference. 

For example, last night she used a simple punch to take rectangular pieces and round the corners.  Amazing how polished--and intentional it looks than the hard edge.

Sylvia Moore--another artist friend who teaches classes was also there after almost a month of being out of commission with pneumonia.  Sylvia's energy is so core to who she is that I can't imagine that she has had to press the pause button on her life for a whole month!  She is the personification of joie de vivir!

I first met Sylvia when she taught a creativity class at Stamp Asylum.  I've told over and over how the next morning after the class I awoke with solutions to three logistics problems I was having at work.  Apparently letting the right side of your brain play can help with left-brained challenges.

 I was really glad I got to sit across from her.

Rina Provost-Smith--also from the ATC (artist trading card) group--got to come for the first time.  I love Rina's beautiful spirit. As we were sitting around the table working on our individual projects, Rina commented how fun this was and how it was an opportunity often lost in our current society.  She mentioned that there was a time when people embellished everything by hand to bring beauty.  Embroidery, carving, toll painting....and often these were done by women in groups.

Another woman--Jane--came late to the class.  I sat near Jane a few years ago and felt instant connection.  It was amazingly cool to see her again last night.

Afterward, we all spent time going through the clearance stamps in the bin. (I must confess, I love the shopping part because there is a discount after the class and I am adding to my Copic Marker collection!)  Not only that but I found two really fun stamps in the bin that I got for a shockingly low price.

There really is magic to making beautiful things with friends.