My 3rd 30-Day-Coloring Challenge

It's that time of the year again! Kathy Racoosin's 30-Day-Coloring Challenge.

 

#the dailymarker30day

July 5-Aug 5, 2016

 

Last Friday night, my husband and I went to hear a presentation by a photographer named Bruce Matthews. He has published 4 books in collaboration with the Kansas City Star books and is working on his next one. He mentioned during his speech about the use of stained glass windows in churches and hospitals. He said there is growing evidence that color can be a part of the healing process, so this morning I did some googling on the use of stained glass windows and color in healthcare. His reference was our Kansas City Children's Mercy Hospital. They have made use of stained glass windows throughout the hospital.

 

I remember asking our therapist, Dr. Grace Ketterman, who diagnosed our family with ADD fifteen years ago, about the use of color in a child's bedroom, if it was valid theory and she said yes, it's a proven fact that color can affect mood. One of the things she wanted us to do during the winter was to use at least 100 watt wide spectrum light bulbs in our home as the lights would imitate sunlight with its rainbow of colors  and would help alleviate the symptoms of SAD (seasonal affective disorder).

Hospital Design = https://www.bu.edu/articles/2024/impact-of-hospital-design-on-patient-recovery/

 

 DAY 1

Kathy's Coloring Book Card

My Coloring Project For Day 1:

I'm following Stephanie Ackerman's Documented Faith 2016 and back in May she sent us a doodled coloring page to do and guess who is just getting around to painting it? grin! I had firework smoke hangover today, so wasn't feeling my best and waited until the last minute to watercolor and upload Stephanie's doodled digi.

 

 

DAY 2

Kathy has a blog-hop with giveaway!

 

Mine:

Today I water-colored backgrounds. So I have a bunch in every color of the rainbow hanging to dry on one of those old-fashioned, wooden laundry racks.

 

 

DAY 3

Kathy -- Adding Color with Pencils

 

Me:

I got some rubber stamping done last night, but just as I was getting ready to color it in, my husband came to ask me to come cut his hair and trim his bushy beard. I'd been pestering him for several days to let me cut it, so, you all who are married understand that scenario, right? grin! Although, come to think of it, doesn't black and white colors count, Kathy?

 

 

DAYS 4-6:

Kathy's Day 4 -- Water-colored Postcards

 

ME: I'm filling in where I missed (I know, it's not the same as doing it during Kathy's 30 Day coloring challenge, but I'm determined to finish), so here's one day -- I colored this page in with markers.

 

 

Kathy's Day 5 -- Quick Post

 

ME: Here's the second day -- this is the last monthly divider I needed to finish for my Documented Faith-book. It's always amazing to me, how much a difference there is between my first day to second day. From using light colors on the background to the finished state with the dry colored pencils.

 

 

Kathy's Day 6 --  It's All About You

 

Me:

We attended a family reunion and a birthday party  down in the country this last weekend and I didn't have access to the internet there. Didn't sweat it as I knew I would color again once I returned home and had access to a scanner and the Wi-Fi.

 

DAY 7:

Kathy's Day 7 -- Blog Hop and Giveaway.

 

 

I had some oopsie pages from the previous stamping pages, so I cut out the flowers, watercolored them and enhanced them with dots and dashes like Kathy has done to some of her images. I left the top one plain so you can see how I enhanced them with a black fine-line sharpie and a white gel pen. Click on them to enlarge to see details.

 

DAY 8:

Kathy's -- Doodle Coloring

 

ME: I tried to emulate Kathy's Doodle flowers only in opposite colors as I still had some flowers left over from the oopsie pages that I fussy cut out and glued to a quarter page, then watercolored. Now I have a background I can use on a card sometime. Kinda reminds me somewhat of a bandana handkerchief. What do you think?

 

 

DAY 9:

Kathy's -- feather card

ME: This is a coloring page from a Gratitude Coloring Book that I found a couple of months ago at Half-Price Bookstore with a quote by Doris Day -- "Gratitude is riches. Complaint is poverty." I used the black fine-line marker and white paint pen to restore and add in the details.

DAY 10:

What? Kathy watercolored with coffee!

 

Me: Another Stephanie Ackerman coloring sheet. . .

 

 

DAY 11-13:

Kathy's -- Mermaid Altered Stamps

ME: Day 2 colored - front

 

Kathy's Blog Hop

ME: Day 2 colored - back

 

Kathy's Featured coloring projects

ME:

DAY 14:
Kathy's Zig Marker Shaker Card

ME: I appreciate not only the military personnel, but also our police officers, who stand in for me to serve and protect. . .

 

DAY 15:
Winner, Winner Chicken Dinner!

ME: My asthma is thankful for my husband today. He was able to come home from work and help clean up an ammonia mess that my elbow created when I pulled the dryer lint trap out to clean. PU!

Paper Postcard Unit Study

Update: I'm resurrecting this old homeschool unit study as I learned that the second annual postcard show came to our area  June 23 and 24, 2017. Click here for more details!

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Our son needed a community service project to do. As I didn’t drive and he wasn’t of age, yet, to obtain his student driving permit, I scouted around to find something he could do from home. I devised a Paper Postcard Unit Study (ie card ministry) after a little study of my own. He read about the beginning of writing, the postal service and in addition, studied art history. And created art postcards weekly for a period of about 6 months to mail to church members and his youth group.

We came up with several techniques that could be used to make his art postcards. Note that postal regulations have changed - art cards must be flat to send by regular postcard rates; bumpy cards must pay extra postage. These were some of the techniques he employed to design his cards with: applique, blow markers (watercolor markers - like air brushing), calligraphy, collage (magazine cutouts, stickers, etc.), color me (black & white), comic drawing, construction -- paper engineering, crayon rubbings, crosswords or word puzzles, glitter, graphing, ink blotting, mosaic (bits of colored paper), painting, pen & ink drawing, pressed flowers, rubber stamping, scratch pictures, silhouettes, spin painting, sponging, stenciling, stickers, watercolor (be sure to spray w/ a fixative), string or marble painting, and so on.

To get started in a similar study, see my unit study below:

Vocabulary:

acid-free, advertising cards, artist, comic, commemorative, deltiology, ephemera, First Class Mail, lithography, linen, mechanical cards, note, novelty, paper engineering, photo-chrome printing, postmark, postal stationery, postcard, stamp, topical, viewcards

Related Scripture for Memorization/Penmanship Practice:

Exodus 31:18; Exodus 32:15-16; 2 Kings 19:14; 2 Chronicles 2: 11; Esther 9:30; Psalm 119:103; Proverbs 15:30 & 16:24; Proverbs 25: 11, 25; Ecclesiastes 12:10; Isaiah 52:7; John 1:1; Acts 15: 30-31; 2 Corinthians 3:2-3; 2 Corinthians 10:11; 2 Thessalonians 2:15 & 3:17; and 2 John :12.

May Read About:

Read an encyclopedia or books on advertising cards, the alphabet, biographies of cardmakers/illustrators (Sam Butcher, Betsy Clark, Mary Engelbreit, Kate Greenaway, Bessie Pease Gutman, Holly Hobbie, Charlotte Spiers), cachets, card companies (Ambassador, Gibson, or Hallmark Cards), card poets/verse (Helen Steiner Rice); Christmas cards, ink, mailboxes, Mother’s/Father’s Day, parchment, paper, papyrus, pencils, pens, Pony Express, postcards, postmarks, the postal service, printing, printing companies (Currier & Ives), rubber, rubber stamping, stamp collecting, trading cards, Valentine cards, vintage postcard collections; value guides, woodblock printing, writing, envelope history, and so forth.

Did you know that Abraham Lincoln had a copy book or scrapbook in which he kept sayings/quotes/poems that he liked? Did you know he wrote at least three poems?

Interesting Books:

1. Addressing for Automation: A Study Guide (Grades 5-8) (free from US Postal Service)

2. A History of Valentines. By Ruth Webb Lee. New York; 1952.

3. Ambassador of Sunshine. (abt. Helen Steiner Rice 1900-1981). By Ronald Pollitt & Virginia Wiltsie. Published: 1994. OR: In the Vineyard of the Lord. By Helen Steiner Rice as told to Fred Bauer. 1979.

4. Art Postcard Books from Dover Publications, Inc., 31 East 2nd Street, Mineola, NY 11501-3582

5. Bessie Pease Gutmann: over 50 Years of Published Art. By Karen Choppa. 1998

6. Centennial Handbook of the First Issue Postal Card. By Charles A. Fricke. 1973.

7. Child-Size Masterpieces.(series) By Aline D.Wolf (curriculum using Art postcards)

8. Gift of a Letter. By Alexandra Stoddard. 1990.

9. Holy Cards. by Barbara Calaman & Sandra Dipasqua. Harry N. Abrams, Inc., 2004.

10. Mailbox Ministry: Greeting Cards that Share the Faith. Sue Banker. Morehouse Publishing, Harrisburg, NY; 2009.

11. Mail Memories: a Pictorial Guide to Postcard Collecting. By John M. Kaduck. 1971

12. Mary Engelbreit: The Art and the Artist. By Patrick Regan (b. 1952 - ?)1996.

13. Postcard Collector Annual: Commemorating 100 Years of the Postcard. By Deborah Lengkeek. 1993

14. The Alphabet Makers, by Hyatt Moore, The Museum of the Alphabet, Waxhaw, NC, 1991

15. The Complete Guide to Greeting Card Design & Illustration. By Eva Szela. North Light Books, Cincinnati, OH; 1994.

16. The Encyclopedia of Antique Postcards. By Susan Brown Nicholson. 1994.

17. The History of the Christmas Card. By George Buday. Omnigraphics, Detroit, MI.; 1992.

18. The Picture Postcard & Its Origins. By Frank Staff. 1967.

19. The Rubber Stamp Album. By Joni K. Miller & Lowry Thompson. Workman Pub., 1978.

20. The Scrapbook in American Life. By Patricia P. Buckler, Katherine Ott, & Susan Tucker.

21. The Trade Card in Nineteenth-Century America. By Robert Jay. University of Missouri Press; Columbia; 1987.

22. The United States Postal Service: An American History (1775-2002) (free from US Postal Service)

23. Valentines: A Loving Remembrance. By Jean P. Favalora. Lark Books, 1995.

24. When You Care Enough. By J. C. Hall. (1891-1982). Published: 1979, reprinted 1992

25. Here Lies Kansas City: A Collection of Our City’s Notables and Their Final Resting Places. By Wilda Sandy. 1984. [Joyce C. Hall (1891-1982) of Hallmark Cards].

26. Splitcoast Stampers Postal Poetry Thread

27. Philatelic Genealogy
28. Raphael Tuck and Sons Database of Postcards

Music:

The Letter (1967). Written by Wayne Carson Thompson and made famous by The Box Tops and their singer, Alex Chilton.

Field Trips:

1. Greeting Card or Printing Companies:

2. Hallmark’s Visitor’s Center, Crown Center,  2500 Grand Ave, Kansas City, MO.

3.  Mary Engelbreit, St. Louis, MO.

4. Gift, Card, Rubber Stamping, Scrapbook, and Stationery Shops

5. Postal Museums Collections

6. National Postal Museum at the Smithsonian 

7. Postmark Museum

8. Post Offices

9. University Libraries and Archives (Post Card and Letter Collections)

10. Art Museums

11. Post Crossing; an online postcard swapping site.

Holidays:
#NationalCardandLetterWritingMonth -- April

National Postcard Week = first week in May.

Timeline:

3000 BC = Courier Runners

1500 = Semite Clay Tablets

1000 = Phoenician Alphabet

190 = Parchment & Egyptian Papyrus

50 = Cuttlefish Ink

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105 A.D = Chinese Paper

500 = Chinese/Japanese Stencil

635 = Quill Pen

740 = Wood Block Printing

1040 = Movable type printing

1400s = European Woodblock Printed Cards

1450 = Gutenberg Printing Press

1466 = Master E.S. from Strasbourg New Year Greeting Card

1565 = pencils

1639 = US Post

1683 = London Penny Post

1690 = 1st US Paper Mill, Germantown, PA.

1700s = Engraved or woodcut printed advertising cards; Rubber Eraser

1775 = Benjamin Franklin, printer & 1st US Postmaster General

1792 = Color printing

1799 = Scraps (die-cut glossy printed paper images)

1829 = Harvey/Thompson Anniversary card

1834-1896 = William Morris design era

1839 = Goodyear's Vulcanized rubber

1840 = Postage stamp; Sunday School Scriptural text & reward cards

1841 = Crayon By Currier & Ives

1843 = Lithograph Printed Cards

1851 = Warren de la Rue (1815-1889) invented envelope-making machine

1856 = Chemical dyes

1858 = Street Letter Boxes

1860 = Pony Express

1861 = Brass US revenue mechanical wheel hand stamp; Lipman postcard; 1 cent postal rate

1862 = Printed playing cards; Mourning Cards by L. Prang & Co.

1873 = 1st shipment of rubber stamps from US to Peru; 1st US Postal Cards; typewriter

1875 = Louis Prang's US Cards

1884 = Excelsior Stamp Pad; fountain pen

1890 = Sign Markers (alphabet stamps)

1893 to 1918 = Postcard's highlight era

1900s = Arm & Hammer Baking Soda Wildlife Trading Cards

1902 = Kodak Photograph Cards

1911 = First Marking-device Trade Convention, Chicago, IL.

1911 = Marking Device Association

1912 = Kewpie postcards by Rose
1912 = Joyce C. Hall of Hall Brothers publishes his own postcards of Kansas City sights.

1918 = Air Mail

1928 = Voter stamped hands

1930s = Louis Waynai's hand-stamped Bible

1938 = Bethlehem, PA. Christmas postal cachet

1950s = Correspondence Art; Xerox Photocopy

1953 = White House Christmas Cards

1958 = Dial-a-Phrase stamps

1963 = Zip Codes

1967 = Polymer clear stamps

1972 = All Night Media

1974 = Hero Arts

1974 = International Stamp-Art Exhibit, Paris

1977 = Rubberstampede

1979 = Dee Gruenig/Posh Home Parties

1983 = Posh Impressions Rubber Stamp Store

You might like to see these too!:
Club Posh
Dee Gruenig & Posh (YouTube Playlist)
Fave Crafts. 

Originally published on blog: Jan 3, 2011

updated 9/26/2020. Compiled by Dolores J. Rush

Scrapbooks and Steampunk

Have you ever wondered who invented self-pasting scrapbooks? Well, wonder no more. They were invented by Mark Twain, the author of Tom Sawyer, Huckleberry Finn, Connecticut Yankee in King Arthur's Court, and the Prince and the Pauper, among other books.

 

Mark Twain was tired of making scrapbooks with pots of glue, according the Mark Twain museum in Hannibal, Missouri. He pictured a scrapbook with glue already on the page, ready to moisten and use. He developed this idea and applied for a patent.

 

On June 24, 1873, he received his patent for "Improvement in Scrapbooks." He then took his idea to a firm that began producing "Mark Twain's Patent Self-Pasting Scrapbooks."

 

The scrapbooks were sold in more than 30 sizes and models, from pocket size to ones that would hold almost a half of a newspaper page. Specialist books were developed for druggists to hold prescriptions, as well as other organizations.

 

Of Mark Twain's three patents, this one made a profit. In 1877, about 25,000 scrapbooks sold.

 

Hannibal, MO. had their first Steampunk Festival last year and had more interest than expected with approximately 1000 people showing up.  This years festival will be September 5-7, 2015. I purchased my first piece of steampunk jewelry today in Hannibal's Historic Museum.

 

I've got my thinking cap on -- I want to challenge myself to come up with an ATC or pocket letter with an antebellum/Border War/Civil War images. Do I have any rubber stamps with images that will suit? Will have to dig in the ole craft barn collection. 

 

And, I've been collecting miniature items from thrift stores to make a fairy garden. I have quite a few images/ideas pinned to my miniature Pinterest board "Miniature Scenes." I think I've changed my mind about the fairy garden. I think I want to make a diorama instead with a large glass fish aquarium. In the Hannibal museum, they had 10 dioramas of scenes behind glass from Mark Twain's novel "Tom Sawyer" right in a row. Pretty cool if you ask me!

The Special Colors of the Christian Year

What's your religious persuasion? If you have a faith relationship with Jesus Christ, do you pick any of these colors as you make your paper crafting color choices during these Holy seasons?

Here's a list of the colors most commonly used during these seasons and what they represent:

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Colors for Advent: Purple or blue; purple symbolizes both penitence and royalty; blue is the color of hope.

In stained glass windows, blue is symbolic of spiritual love, constancy and fidelity, so it is no surprise that Mary, the mother of Jesus, is usually shown wearing a blue cloak.

Blue is the color of God's glory and it is said to ward off the evil eye and to protect the white purity of holiness within.

Christmas Season & Day of Epiphany: White and gold because they are joyous, festive colors.

In stained glass windows, Mary's robe is white, the color of purity, and she is frequently shown with a vase of white lilies. The three kings wear royal colors of red, gold, and purple.

Season after the Epiphany: First and last Sunday's white; other Sunday's green represents growth, a mark of honor, or the color of repentance.

Lent: Purple, a royal color that also signifies penitence and preparation.

Ash Wednesday: Gray or other dark earth tones are especially appropriate as are rough textures such a burlap or linen to suggest sack cloth and ashes. Purple, the Lenten color may be used.

Holy Week: Purple, the Lenten color may be used, or red may be used to symbolize the blood of Christ.

In stained glass windows, red may be the symbol of blood and suffering.

Easter: White and gold are joyous and festive colors to use at Easter season.

In stained glass windows, yellow or gold is symbolic of the sun, and hence the Son of God, however it can also represent deceit, jealousy, cowardice or treason.

Pentecost: Red or red on white. Red, the color of fire, represents the Holy Spirit.

Season after Pentecost: The basic color is green symbolizing growth in Christ. White is used on Trinity Sunday, All Saints Day, and Christ the King Sunday. Red may be used on civic holidays.

In stained glass windows, green is a symbol of hope.

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Bibliography:

1.) The Special Days and Seasons of the Christian Year. By Pat Floyd.
2.) Gospels in Glass: Stained Glass Windows in Missouri Churches. By Ken Luebbering & Robyn Burnett. 2000. 

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8/5/2019 Update: Wordless Gospel Book (or Pony Bead Bracelet) Color Meanings. 

My paternal grandmother, a primary Sunday School teacher, once showed me a book made of construction paper, she had made to tell her students the gospel story. She cut the construction paper in half widthwise and then stapled it together in this order.

1. Navy (Dark Heart) = Sin - Romans 3:23 - Everyone sins

2. Red - Blood - 1 John 1:7, 9 - Jesus' blood covers our sins and

3. White - (Pure Heart) - Psalm 51:7 - Washes away our confessed sin

4.  Yellow - Heaven - John 14:2 - Believe on Jesus and receive eternal life

5. Green - Grow - 2 Peter 3:18 - grow in the knowledge of the Lord.

10/22/2019 Update: Here's an article on color coding your Bible! 

2/10/2022 Update: If you go to summer camp-meeting, be sure to wear blue, green, purple, and/or white as mosquitos aren't as attracted to those colors as they are to red and black. 

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A Little About Me!

First of all, I'm an ordinary person who has been richly blessed with a genetic crafting gene. Exodus 35:31 and Proverbs 24:3-4 are two of my favorite scriptures.

For most of my life, I've been involved in the creative arts - ceramics, creative writing, singing in both church and school choirs (even cutting a record with my school mates in ninth grade), and needlework. I've taught craft classes to children at church and to homeschoolers. I have sewn some costumes and made props for our church dramas.

I was a volunteer page in a small town library for two years and was honored by the library system at a special tea presenting a new craft book to our library with a inscribed frontpiece nameplate with my name and the amount of hours (1000+) I put in there. 

I began scrapbooking approximately thirteen years ago when my sister sold Creative Memories, and was introduced to rubber stamping about the same time. I've had several things published that I've written or created. Poetry has been published in literary & youth magazines, a church history article in a genealogy publication, crafting articles online at OldFashionedLiving.com and cards published in Scrap & Stamp Arts, Just Cards!, Just Invitations!, Just Weddings!, and Just Holidays! magazines. For three years, I compiled an e-newsletter for educators at church, a resource list for my homeschooling support group, and most recently, a hometown arts & crafts resource list.

I was a moderator in the homeschooling sub-forum in the Parlor forum at the defunct Old Fashioned Living website, and currently, I'm a member at Splitcoast Stampers where I have a thread in the forum called "Need a Poem?", was a member of Club Posh's forum. I'm also a member of other websites -- check those out on the "follow me" tab. 

In October of 2009, I accepted a position with the Stamp A Mania/Posh Rubber Stamp Design Team and served seven months with them until the recession hit. Unfortunately, several years later Mark Stansell's health declined and he passed away during treatment for cancer.

I was active in two ATC clubs on and off for over a year until both stamp/scrapbook stores closed its doors. Since the coronavirus shutdown (2020-2021) made in-person crafting impossible, occasionally my friends and I craft together via video chat app.  Several years ago I was introduced to Stephanie Ackerman's Documented Faith by a friend and have learned how to doodle during one of her classes, however, Stephanie has closed her Documented Faith ministry as of this year (2021). I am continuing to doodle though and am trying my hand at art journaling. It is much like card making, except in larger scale. 

I met my husband on a blind date and married my dear knight one year later. We've been married for 36 years now and have one son.  Health-wise, I have A.D.D., pigmentary glaucoma (am an advocate for the Glaucoma Research Foundation ONLY!), asthma, sleep apnea, wore a brace on my right leg for drop foot (now am wearing a built-up shoe which feels as stiff as a brace) and some doctors thought, because of an enlarged heart, I might have pulmonary hypertension, but that has been disregarded (I still have the enlarged heart and water retention, so the search continues for a diagnoses), but I don't let any of it slow me down. If ya have dreams, you gotta put feet on them! ❤

One of the most enjoyable extracurricular activities I participated in in high school and college was the publication of the campus literary magazine. I wanted to carry that over in our son's homeschool, so we combined two activities into one in our homeschool support group = a literary magazine and yearbook. 

In the samples below, I combined scans of the front covers of each of the publications my poetry were published in along with one poem. (click on photos to enlarge for viewing).

Our homeschool support group published a poem that I wrote about schooling our ADD son. His mama was ADD too, so I went to school twice!💗

I filled out a survey and Christine M. Field selected certain portions of my answers to use in her book she was writing called Homeschooling the Challenging Child. I received a complimentary copy for participating after it was published in 2005 by Broadman & Holman . Woo hoo! She quotes me 4 times! Christine was interviewed about the book on YouTube -- click here to watch! 

Boy, was I surprised when I received this complimentary copy of Pearl Dexter's book called "Scones, Shortbread, and More." I sent her a royal scone recipe which she included in her book. 

My first craft magazine - YaY!