Happy Mother's Day

I spent a lovely Mother's Day. My mother had sent me a yummy sounding recipe from Dr. Andrew Weil a couple of days ago. I knew that this is what I had to cook for her on Mother's Day. So for lunch I cooked today Dr. Weil's orange glazed salmon fillets, asparagus risotto, roasted beets, feta and spinach salad and for dessert crepes Suzette with strawberries.
Like every year I also made a card for my mom, which you can see above. It was interesting to try and bring some more dimension to my cards. It took me a while to figure out how to construct it and reminds me a bit of a pop-up book construction.
In the morning my daughter presented an amazing drawing to me, that you can see underneath. True to her beautiful pen and ink style she created another mysterious picture that reminds me of situations in a dream.
We also had a wonderful time in the kitchen together. She helped me cook the Mother's Day lunch and entertained me with cool music from her iPod. I wish all Sundays could be Mother's Day... days filled with the creativity and sensuality of making art, cooking food and enjoying each others company.

Belated Anniversary Card Post

I made this paper cut-out for my darling husband Scott to celebrate 17 years of "not getting divorced" (quoting my friend Eric here) on November 3rd 2009. I am looking forward to many more adventures together with him!

Artful Greeting Cards at Kozo

I am absolutely delighted about my newest collaboration! I am teaching a variety of art classes for Kozo Arts, a gorgeous Japanese paper store and bookbindery in San Francisco. The first class
took place last Wednesday, October 21st. It was called "Artful Greeting Cards". I had the pleasure of crafting with 3 lovely ladies, who produced gorgeous greeting cards , incorporating the artful Japanese Chiyogami papers that Kozo Arts sells. This class is a lot of fun, because the cards comprise of different elements: beautiful patterned papers, decoupaged images and stamping techniques. I brought lots of different stamps, cutter and punches and we had papers galore. The class is suited for beginners as well as seasoned crafters. It is always fascinating for me to see the different interpretations my students come up. Check out their beautiful results :



My students busy at work, creating artful greeting cards:

What I'm working on for fall

Girlie Silhouette Collage




Long Berries and Chain Necklace

It's this time of the year: I need to kick some butt and make new things. i am just getting started I am playing around with different media and hope to develop some art classes (to be taught in the fall) and create jewelry (to be sold soon). I am looking for opportunities to teach in the Bay Area and for some cool and stylish stores that would sell my jewelry. Do you know of any? Ideas and advice is welcome.

A wedding card for Chihuahua lovers

My mom had asked me to design a wedding card with Chihuahuas, because the couple owns one.
I enjoyed the challenge, having to work with a theme. I collaged a lot, but also used Photoshop to get the little Chihuahuas in proportion.

More hand-made cards

The card's main image is a mother bird and her baby bird in a nest. I copied it out of my old elementary school biology book that I found last year in my dad's basement. It is just the perfect image and I used it on this mother's day card for my mom.

Sometimes it takes a while to get the creative juices flowing and I just mess around. So before I made the actual mother's day card, I had pulled out my hand carved flower stamps and stamped them out on card stock. Then I cut out each stamped image and affixed them on the card shown underneath. I use little double sided sticky foam squares to attach them. This lifts the image of the paper and gives the card some dimension.

Birthday Bliss

Here is a birthday card I made for my friend Ellen.

Inspired by my Asian trip

It's hard being away from my studio for such a long time. I was suffering from art withdrawal. So I assembled some materials and made these collages and note cards.

Christine's Birthday at Lovejoy's Tearoom

My lovely mom and I met our good friend Christine for a birthday celebration at Lovejoy's Tearoom (one of my favorite places in San Francisco). We enjoyed a delicious English high tea with sandwiches and scones and cream and a bottomless pot of tea. In the shelf behind us you can see Christine's birthday flowers and the card I had made her.
Don't you love the red crochet peace sign tea cozy in the shelf on the right hand side?

Close up of the birthday card I made for Christine



Close up of the birthday card I made for my friend Julia

New Halloween Classes

Want to do something creative? Are you bored with store-bought decorations? Come and join me at The Workshop, where I'll be teaching some Halloween themed classes this month.
Just visit The Workshop website to sign up.

Wickedly Whimsical Witches

with Elisabeth Alexander

This Halloween themed class is perfect for trying your

hand at collage with different papers, images and

stamps. Using your own face (or that of a family

member or friend*) you'll create some whimsical

witches. The paper doll is actually a card that can

be given to somebody or just placed on your mantel

as a Halloween decoration.

*We'll also have a selection of vintage faces to choose from

Sunday, October 19 1:00 - 4:00

$50/class fee + $10/materials fee

Stamp Art Series

with Elisabeth Alexander

Carve your own rubber stamps and print personalized edition note cards and other
stationery items. Learn tips and tricks to easily use and convert found images or draw your own.
We’ll also cover embellishments with different inks, glitter and embossing powders.

Sunday October 26 1:00 - 4:00 Halloween & Day of the Dead
Monday, November 3 6:00 - 9:00 Fall Table Settings
Tuesday, December 9 6:00 - 9:00 New Years Cards

$50/class (or $150/for all four classes) + $10/materials fee

Charms, Buttons and Embellishments

I have so much fun with kid's crafts and Shrinky Dinks are a little obsession mine. Last year I taught kids at Martin Luther King Middle School to make cool key tags from Shrinky Dinks and had a blast. So I had to revisit this craft, but this time I wanted to give it an adult twist, make something I would wear and use myself. I experimented with Ink jet printer shrink plastic and created a series of Victorian Wine Charms and Pins, as well as interestingly patterned buttons that I embellish greeting cards with. If you are tempted to join in the fun, come and take my class at The Workshop, September 24th.

Artist Trading Cards

Sometimes I need to pull back and just enjoy the creative process. Artist Trading Cards (ATCs) are the perfect project for a lazy afternoon, when you want to craft without the pressure. These small cards are not intimidating and invite you to try out a variety of techniques. I love to combine decoupage, drawing and stamping. If you are interested to learn how to make some, sign up for Courtney Cerruti's ATCs class, also at The Workshop. Her cards are delightful and she masters many different techniques! She is also a fellow arts and crafts blogger and has a wonderful blog.

Some of my stamps

Here are some of the stamps I carved for different occasions: Valentine's Day, Day of the Dead, Winter Solstice, Birthdays or Thank you notes. The person who got me started some years ago is the wonderful Alice Armstrong, who teaches at Castle in the air . At a time when I was mostly doing art with kids and for kids, she encouraged me to follow my own creativity and taught me many skills, including calligraphy.