Thursday, November 24, 2011

Happy Thanksgiving!

There have been 6 piles of would be thanksgiving day cards on the floor for a while now.  Better late than never, right?  I caught a break this year and didn't have to do ANYTHING for the holiday. Not that I don't like doing the family thing with the big meal and all that, it's just nice to have this one all to myself.  Left to my own devices, I inevitably wind up covered with ink, glue and snippets of paper. 

I started playing with one of those Tim Holtz edge dies.  He comes out with a couple new ones every year.  This one makes the bracketed edge you see in all the samples below.  I started out kind of timid, not really getting into it, but each one seems to get a little bit more interesting as I added more and more edges. 

The other element on the cards is fringe.  Fringe.  Huh.  Kind-a cool, and Thanksgiving-y, right?  Traditionally, fringe is meant to help with water management, channeling it away from the body, hence you see all the biker/cowboy rain gear with fringe all over it.  The cowboys learned the trick from the American Indians who, as you know, played the starring role in the original Thanksgiving.  So, I say again, Thanksgiving-y, right? 

The fringe was cut using Cuttlebug's quilling dies.  You're supposed to cut this stuff and then roll it up on the tip of a quilling needle to make a flower.  To be sure, it makes a cool flower, but what's the fun in using the tools the way you're supposed to? 

Ok - how many of you bought that little 2x2 turkey die from Quikkutz when it came out 6 or 7 years ago?  C'mon, how many of you?  Hah! I knew it, no one but me owns this thing and now, don't you all wish you did! 

Happy Thanksgiving, everyone!

AMK




Saturday, November 5, 2011

Rejections

About a 6 weeks ago I put these together to submit to Card Maker magazine for the May/June issue next year.  I did not make the cut.  One of the requirements says you can't have submitted the work anywhere else, nor can you post it on your blog.  Since they rejected these, they are now fair game. 

The worst part about submitting is doing seasonal stuff out of season.  I find it really hard to get motivated for July 4th when it's September.  And, this particular magazine wants you using current papers and products.  Well, again, finding 4th of July stuff in the stores in September is not all that easy either.  Fortunately, We R Memory Keepers did this really cool 4th paper this past summer and I had some of that still in the arsenal.  The stamp set on that one is also WRMK.  The other one, I must confess was a valentine that I converted to the sweet 16 card.  They wanted special birthdays so that's what they got. 

Any questions on any of these, shout them out.  I would encourage you all to submit your work to magazines.  There are a host of them out there and it's a thrill to see your stuff in print.  Very few of them pay you in actual cash.  Many will extend your subscription for free or give you a free copy of the issue you are published in.  Card Maker is one of the few, if not the only one that WILL pay you in cash if you make the cut.  Don't be discouraged and don't edit yourself too much.  You'll be surprised at what some magazines will publish.  The stuff you thought was only marginal sometimes will surprise you.