Thematic Photographic 12 - Colorful

Week 12 of Carmi's Thematic Photographic is C O L O R F U L ! Yea! I can come up with some of that. I am away from my archives at the moment so I have stolen from my other blog Made For Keeps a post I did recently of a greeting card I made and why it made me think of a box of crayons.



Growing up I thought that the beginning of the year should be September and the end of the year should be August. I sort of stayed in that pattern until the past few years. Just as for most of us, for the better part of my life the years revolved around the school schedule. September marked the beginning of the year, first when I was in school, then when my son was in school.


Later, I became used to life revolving around the calendar year thanks to corporate reports and new vacation day buckets. The beginning of the school year now comes to my attention when Target and Wal-Mart convert the seasonal lawn and garden section to school supplies. I'm not in school and I don't have children in school, but it is still one of my favorite sections: new designs for notebooks, backpacks sporting the latest action/music heroes/heroines, packages of paper, pens and pencils.


Then there are the boxes of crayons! We made magical pictures with crayons and gave them to parents, grandparents, aunts, uncles, and anyone who would take them. Now there are so many colors in the boxes that some have had to be retired to make room for the new colors. My first box of crayons was the box of 8 that were as thick as broomsticks .... or so it seemed. As the years went by the lists of required supplies showed crayons in larger color varieties ... and thinner. We knew we had really made it when Mom was able to get us the box of 24 colors --- or more!


With a studio full of paper, inks, stamps, punches.... you name it, there isn't a box of crayons to be found. But I still love the smell of a fresh box --- I think that is the prevailing odor in the school supply section. Maybe I should have a box around for those times I need a creative whiff.
This card reminds me of the colors in that very first box of crayons: bright primary and secondary colors. Maybe I should rub in some crayon scent.

A Cup of Tea

The desire to have my own business started many, many years ago. Like so many others, we work to support our families, and often that job takes us far away frrom the dreams of our youth. Yet I feel fortunate that my corporate career took me to world renown companies. Each of those companies allowed me to make a good living and learn skills in so many different areas. I would not trade those years of experience and growth for anything.

During my corporate years I did make time for my artistic passions, whether it was sewing, cross-stitching, scrapbooking, or photography. During the past few years I further developed my life-long passion for photography and, at the same time, found a very satisfying outlet in making greeting cards from scratch. As diverse as these two creative endeavors may seem, they came together by abbreviating the scrapbooking activity, and sharing the photography through a different medium, greeting cards. The cardmaking then became a new sideline, resulting in handcrafting close to three hundred cards over the past three years. I love this craft! What is so surprising, and satisfying, is that people tell me that they can't bring themselves to throw away my cards. I even gave gift sets of the cards for people to use, but they wouldn't part with them unless it was for a very special person. Wow! Thus was born my little idea to take it to the next level in a company called "Made for Keeps Originals". Not only does that name seem an apt description of the cards, but when I was little my grandmother told me that I was "made for keeps".

What about the photography? Absolutely a big part of my life, every bit as much as the cards and I will continue to build that business, as well. Many of my posts so far have featured photos and there are many more to bring out of the vault. But for this post I want to share a new card design that we are pretty excited about. A few weeks ago I showcased some cards that were submitted to a magazine. I won't know for some time yet if any will be published. So, I continue to make cards (all from scratch) and take photos to put into my little shop at the Branson Craft Mall. I am happy to see more success there as the busy season gets underway. Other outlets for both the cards and photos will be announced --- soon, I hope!

So, here are some cards inspired by a recent trip to the Amana Colonies in Iowa. One of my favorite places there is the General Store which is like walking into history. They have so many fun things and great gift ideas. Well, being attracted to beautiful colors, I found a basket of beautifully wrapped tea bags -- yes, tea bags! Bright burgundy for raspberry tea, royal blue for Ceylon tea, turquoise for Japanese green tea, lavender for Darjeeling tea, teal for vanilla spice tea, .... well, you get the idea. So did I! Thinking about all the paper I have at home in dozens --- ok, hundreds-- of colors and prints, a layout formed in my head to put a special surprise in the cards. Thinking of friends far away who I know enjoy tea, these cards were designed with them in mind. So, to say "Hello! I wish we could have a cup of tea together", here's "Have a Cup of Tea on Me":

And inside, one of the sentiments:

Find an island of tranquility in each day, and have a cup of tea on me!

More "Made For Keeps Originals"

Dedicated to my friends in Phoenix for your support and encouragement, though it was so hard to leave you!







In October 2007 we left the Arizona desert and the corporate world for the quieter and milder climes of the Midwest, and to follow a dream to build my own business of photography and greeting cards. I have managed to do both, but primarily photography so far. I'm happy to say that I'm beginning to see some success with both.


So for this post, I am "showing off" some recent greeting cards I have made. Many are without my trademark photos. The similarity of some are because I answered a challenge in Take Ten magazine to make cards of a specific design. To that end I submitted 6 or 7 cards. Since the magazine focuses on rubber stamping, I used more of that technique, but did slip in a photo of a yellow tulip on one of the cards. If published I will get a free copy of the Autumn 2008 issue (a $14.99 value) and bragging rights that come with being published. All that aside, it was fun to experiment with the countless arrangements of color and pattern using the same layout.

Made For Keeps Originals Now Open

After what seems like years of planning and dreaming, my little business of photography and handmade designer greeting cards is now open. As I mentioned in my last post we were busy setting up at the Branson Craft Mall. Here are some pictures of my shop. The right side displays our photography in frames and unframed. The left side will showcase the greeting cards. The back wall has a variety of merchandise as well as brochures and other information. The location of my shop is halfway down the center aisle --- just come in the front door and keep walking straight ahead!

Mom is looking forward to another successful year with her sweatshirt jackets.

There are so many fun shops to explore and some of the vendors are at their shops all day. They have actually set up so they can work there. A favorite is Nan's Classic Creations featuring decorated shirts and tops. Nan has a luxurious variety of tops with sparkle! I also met Betty who makes microwave potato pockets. Really! These are the greatest things: padded fabric pocket that holds a potato, yam, or ear of corn for microwaving. Everyday in her on-site workshop she sews up these pockets in a multitude of fabric patterns and colors.

One of the favorite spots in the Craft Mall is the Men's Sitting Room. A corner has been comfortably furnished with couches, TV, magazines and beverages so no one has to miss the big game while their spouse is browsing all the fun shops. It does take some time to explore. The bus tours that come by allow at least an hour for their groups to shop.

Branson has been a quiet little town since the holidays, but everyone is gearing up for the return of our very welcome visitors. We are already seeing out-of-state plates. If you haven't been here before, just point yourself toward the center of the U.S. map and get ready for a great time and lots of shopping!