UPCOMING EVENTS THE WEEK OF 9/15/2008

Hope you all had a good weekend. Know those of you who took Jessica's class on Saturday and Kelly's class on Sunday had a very artsy weekend.

The following is what is happening this week at Stampin' from the Heart. Let us know if you have classes you want to take and haven't signed up for yet. Fred Mullett's "Elegant Mess" class is full and has a waiting list, there is 1 opening in the "Dancing Rubber Fish" class and 6 openings in the "Spritz Me Baby Mo Bettah! class.

Tuesday, September 16: The Elemental Basics of Stamping, Ellie Shaw, 11:30-1:30, $35. Ellie will show you some really fun things to do with rubber stamps. She will teach you embossing, direct to paper coloring technique, the difference between the types of ink that are on the market today and many other things. If you want to take the class and have a special request please let us know and Ellie will try to work that in also. Ellie is very patient and has been our Basics Teacher since we started in 2001.

Wednesday, September 17: The Elegant Mess, Fred Mullett, 10-2, $55. The longer description of the Elegant Mess will not deal with material specifics. It will, however, address a few of the basic graphic components that contribute to the merit of several of the samples. (Material specifics will come at some point in the future. Thank you for your patience on this.)In two-dimensional graphics, everything sits on a background. (Some of this is covered more extensively in Push/Pull.) A white piece of paper is a background in service to the image you put on it. Same with a black piece of paper. But plain paper - no matter what the color - lacks interest. Any sort of texturing or pattern gives the work more "visual flavor"; more "pizzazz"; more interest. That's the upside. The downside is that if it's too interesting, it detracts from the image you put on top.
Here is an example of this idea:This is an image that has a high contrast, uniform patterning effect to it. And, believe it or not, there is an object sitting on top of this checkerboard pattern! You can't see it because it matches the background. But let's take this same layout, and lighten and diffuse the background while leaving the object on top in place. (Roll your mouse over the image below to see this effect.)The only thing that has changed is the "presence" of the background. It has less of an impact due to its decreased value contrast (gray and white as opposed to black and white)
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and the softening of the hard edges. The object is still sitting on the background (it almost seems to float). It just draws our attention more because of this change in the background.This is the same general approach to some of the images in the samples for the Elegant Mess. It is certainly seen in the samples on my website: www.fredbmullett.com. Fred will take a maximum of 12 students per class. This class now has 8 signed up.
Dancing Rubber Fish, Fred Mullett, 4-8P, $55. Hands-on elaboration of "Painting With Plastic; Multicolor Embossing with Fred B. Mullett", Somerset Studio, May-June 1997. Expanding the methods of multi-color printing with multi-color embossing and watercolor additions, this class is geared toward the experienced student, though could be considered a "sink or swim" lesson for beginners. Runs approximately 3 1/2-4 hours. Includes handouts and a large supply of instructor-provided supplies. There's a small materials list for students. Max - 12 students.. (Price and availability varies. Check with store for details.) Max. 12
Thursday, September 18: Spritz Me Baby, Mo Bettah, Fred Mullett, 10-2, $55. Finding merit in the "less is more" concept and the power of imprecision, this class focuses on the soluble properties of markers and other water-based media to achieve watery effects using rubber stamps. (This technique was a national winner in a recent contest sponsored by Tsukineko, Inc.) Bleaching out imagery on black paper, then re-introducing color with high contrast accents is also tackled to achieve startling effects. Runs approximately 4+ hours. Some experience in stamping suggested. Includes handouts and a large supply of instructor-provided supplies. Raincoats are optional. (Just kidding!) Students will be responsible for a list of specific required materials. Max - 12 students. (Price and availability varies. Check with store for details.) Max 12.
Undecided Class, 4-8PM, $55. We will see if we have waiting lists on any of Fred’s classes then we’ll put that one in this spot.

Friday, September 19: The Altered Art Club has disbanded so will not be meeting the 3rd Friday of each month.
The ATC Club/Class Swap will be meeting next Friday at 6:30, September 26.

Saturday, September 20: A Victorian Book, Wendy Poma, 10:30-2:00, $40. You really must see this book. It has envelopes, it has plain pages, it has decorated pages, it has slide in places for notes and it is just plain beautiful.

Sunday, September 21: Coffee Tag Book, Gayle Smith, 12:30-3:00, $35. Using big shipping tags to form a book with plenty of pockets for more tags. I bet you think this class sounds easy and quick? Well let me tell you when Gayle gets through putting ribbons, flowers, jewels and anything else she can find to make it glitzy and glamorous that’s what she does—this is not to be missed. This one looks like it is stained with coffee and gives the paper a leathery feel to it.