May 2014: Peg Klitch

How long have you been stamping? 
I’ve done crafts my entire life but started stamping in 2002.

What is your favorite technique?
I like heat embossing because it’s quick and makes a big statement.

What are your favorite colors to work with?
I like black for my base card.  After that it’s whatever works out best with a particular image and what I have on hand.  Honestly, I’m embarrassed to say I have twelve 12 X 12 plastic bins that contain pattern paper and most are filled to the brim!  How did this happen???  I just love paper, I guess!

What are your favorite Asian stamp images?
When I started with OSA I had one or two images and now I have two bins of stamps.  I like people stamps, especially children.  I love nature too, especially delicate birds, butterflies, dragonflies.

Favorite stamping accessory? (Such as scissors, etc.)
Memento Tuxedo Black Ink.  I use it all the time.

What is the one tool you couldn’t live without?
My Stampin’ Trimmer.  I can cut and score without moving the paper

Any helpful tips for the group?
I have learned so much from this group.  I say keep on doing what you’re doing because this is a fun group to be associated with.

As a member of OSA, why do you like stamping in the Oriental theme?
I like the elegant simplicity of oriental art.

What favorite stamping magazines would you recommend and why do you like them?
I read Rubber Stamp Madness, Somerset Studio, Journaling by Somerset Studio…all their publications are excellent and informative.  These magazines jump start my creative juices.

Published in any magazines?  If yes, please list.
No, but I sure would like to be.  Only once have I sent in a project.

Any other hobbies, talents or craft interests?
I’m a voracious reader.  I love to scrap and often attend fundraiser crops with two of my scrapping buddies.  I have made hundreds of cards for our local NICU Milestones program.  With each milestone the preemie achieves (first bottle, first bath, weight gain, tubes removed, etc.) the parents are given a card with a photo of the baby.  It’s wonderfully fun for me to create these cards.

What inspires you to be creative?
It’s lifegiving to me.

Art background?
None.  What really unleashed art to me was a grief class I took telling our story using collage.

Any favorite websites you would recommend for inspiration?
Oh my goodness I spend way too much time on blogs but I learn so much.  I subscribe to many so I constantly get input on trends, new products, etc.

Do you have a day job when you’re not stamping?
The first half of my life I was a nurse.  The second half I managed a fast paced church office.  I am retired now but volunteer in our local neo natal unit as a Cuddler (cuddle preemies) and I am also a Compassionate Companion (sit with someone dying who has no family).

Tell us about your family and where you live.
I live in Southwest Michigan (Kalamazoo), halfway between Chicago and Detroit.  I had a wonderful husband for thirty-four years, two lovely daughters, but lost the youngest nineteen months after my husband died.  My eldest daughter has four beautiful adult daughters of whom I am so proud.  They live in Colorado.  One of them is also a stamper.  They are such a blessing to me.

As of January I have been stamping/cardmaking 2 years !  A friend of mine who’s been stamping for over 15 years introduced me as it’s very therapeutic and a great stress reliever !!!

Project – Paper Dolls

 

I’m honored to be selected as the May SAM.  I only wish I was more artistic with drawing so I could have done a better job with faces. May 5th is Children’s Day in Japan, celebrating the healthy growth and happiness of children.  It became a national holiday in 1948, but has been a day of celebration since ancient times.

Families often take baths sprinkled with iris leaves and roots.  It is thought to promote good health and ward off evil.  Rice cakes wrapped in oak leaves and filled with sweet bean paste are also eaten.

 

Materials Needed

Since I had girls only and my daughter has four girls, I decided to make paper dolls as my project.  After checking out google for many pages of paper dolls examples, I finally came up with a mixture of this and that!  To make these simple Kokeshi dolls you will need the following:

 

•Head – 1 3/4 inch punch

•Hair – 2 1/2 inch punch

•Topknot – 3/4 inch punch

•Body – 3 1/4 inch shaped piece

•collar – Y shaped piece

•Arms – fan shaped piece

•Obi – 1/2 inch piece of black cardstock

•Feet – one 3/4 inch punched piece cut in half

•Washi paper

 

Directions

Cut or punch all pieces.  Glue or tape Washi dress to body piece.  Add Y shaped piece (I looked for a Y in my fonts to find one I could work with and enlarged it to size I wanted).   Cut enough of the hair punched piece to reveal face.  Notch it to look more like bangs and glue to face piece.  Turn it over and add topknot to back of hair.  Glue tip of head piece to front of body piece. Apply the obi strip and trim overhang off.  Apply the two fan shaped arm pieces with the point out (as if the elbow was inside the sleeve).  Cut one 3/4 inch circle in half and apply to bottom of body for the feet.  For the eyes draw a simple curved line and a dot for the nose.  I was lucky enough to find a teeny tiny heart punch for the lips.

I added and extra piece for strength on the back side connecting the upper body and head piece.  If you want the paper doll to stand up you can cut a piece of  heavy cardstock 5 1/2 inches long by 1 inch wide, fold in half and glue or tape on the back.