Getting the Itch While Making Gifts

I still have a month before my self imposed sabbatical ends - a sabbatical from doing art that will be sold in the shop, but I must confess that the itch is getting a bit more obvious.

Part of the reason is that periodically I have occasions in which to make gifts and to start thinking about gifts for Christmas.  And birthdays.  Or get well or unbirthdays.  And so when I do that sort of thing, I start thinking about making stuff for the shop.

One of those gifts happened to be for the daughter of my therapist who is moving on to college at the end of August.  Since I give a handmade calendar to her mother each Christmas (I think she's got 4 of them at this point), Katie is getting jealous, I think, and sad that she won't be witnessing the ritual of turning the calendar page to see what's next.  The calendars look like these unfinished ones (they don't have the usual funny sayings)

Of course, I do plan to make Katie a calendar of her own, but don't tell her - or her mother - that.

So I decided to make Katie a mini collage that could be set on a little easel and displayed in a small niche.  I know space is at a premium in a dorm room so small is good.  She loves red and cats, and this is what I came up with

 This is before I added a saying to it.  Of course I forget now exactly what I put but it was either "She and her cat had the same birthday" or "She secretly thought she was a cat."

The woman's image is from a bunch of Edwardian images that I found on a website offering free images.  I found the background paper in a Cambridge (Massachusetts) stationery shop a number of years ago (and it's probably out of business now).  I added a gold foil crown to the woman's head and a little flower at the top with a bead glued to the middle.  I thought it came out pretty nice, and I may duplicate it for the shop.  Not exactly, of course.

I wrote a little message to her on the back of the canvas.  I hope she loves it - her mother assures me she will.

I also decided to make a card for Katie with one of the two sentiments I mentioned earlier.

I see in this photo that there's a ragged edge of the gold paper in the lower right corner - I did indeed trim that.  The top half is Italian paper that I picked up at the RISD shop, and the bottom half is actually textured scrapbook paper I bought somewhere.  I added some gold paper to the bottom, and two vintage style buttons at the top.  The trim in the middle was purchased at Lorraine Fabrics in Pawtucket, Rhode Island, across from the gallery where I volunteer.  (the store's staff conspire to liberate me from my money every time I'm in the area)

I really like making gifts for people, and I hope they like what I give them.  I think it's a great act of thoughtfulness to make a quality gift for a friend or relative who you know will love your gift.  

later,
lin