This “action packed” last meeting of the season was great, with a terrific turnout. First we did some business, elected the new board for the coming 2005-2006 year, and then moved on to the educational part of the evening.

First, Sylver Kinsella did a lovely origami presentation, where the end result was a business card holder, credit card holder, bill holder, or holder for small notes. It’s very versatile and was appreciated by all—something you could fit in your purse or pocketbook easily. Tyvek is great for this use.

Next, we broke up into four groups, with Carole Johnson -- “How to Letter on a Curve”; Naomi Lesberg – “How to enlarge without a copier and other drawing tips”; Susan Richardson – “Envious Envelopes – Fun easy ways to make memorable envelopes!”; and Lisabet Wilson – “How to do a drop shadow!”

My first station was with Carole She had some great examples of work written on a curve, some her own and some done by others. Besides the “base” circle, the line your letters will sit on, she also said to draw one for ascenders and one for descenders. Each letter should be thought of as being perpendicular to the curve, that way it will all look uniform when done. For curves that aren’t circular but more elliptical, you can buy an elliptical template to help draw the lines. Another tip was to write out your words and cut them out as one long piece. Then make slits, top or bottom depending on how you want the words to bend, without cutting all the way through them. This results in a flexible strip of words you can bend and move on your paper to determine how you want them laid out.

Next I sat with Lisabet. She had great tips for doing drop shadows. The key thing to remember is to be consistent once you’ve decided where the light is coming from. Most ladies who were with my group agreed that it’s best to pick an angle and direction, then stick with them. Lisabet also showed us that once the angle is determined (usually 45 degrees), if you use a medium size and a smaller size triangular ruler, you can keep your medium one in place at your determined angle and slide the other along the long edge of your medium triangle to keep your angle consistent when drawing the lines for filling in the shadow part. She provided a nice working template of an alphabet to practice on right there and to take home.

Next was Naomi’s presentation on how to enlarge without a copier. It was actually a dual purpose demo, since the techniques she taught applied to those of us who don’t feel adept at drawing. First she had us pick a small sample picture and glue it on some graph paper. Then we numbered the lines on the graph paper across and down one side. Next we created a larger grid on larger paper and started to replicate the original picture. What the graph paper does is visually break down the picture into pieces. So instead of feeling overwhelmed at the total picture, you have small, simpler shapes that you’re duplicating on the larger graph paper. I was one of those who hadn’t used the graph paper technique before, and I was just ecstatic at possibilities that were now opened to me. Naomi also had lots of practice sheets, some that included pictures already broken up into squares, and then a fresh grid to start “replicating” on. She also had lots of examples of SpongeBob SquarePants characters, which for me, living in a house of SpongeBob SquarePants fans, was perfect for practicing.

My last station was with Susan, creating/decorating great envelopes, although by this last rotation, new techniques were also taught: specifically, how to make a personal envelope without a template. She showed us how to fold and cut a piece of paper to fit your personal card, then to glue it together. This was terrific to learn if you’re ever without your envelope templates. It also opens up the world of creativity for your own personalized envelopes. Susan shared a bunch of her papers, decorated, colorful, and some positively gorgeous. The last rotation also gave us a few extra moments to finalize our creations since we were at the end of the meeting.

Afterward, we lingered for awhile to wrap up this fun evening.
I hope you all have a fun and relaxing summer! See you in September.
Mary Kloha

2005-2006 Workshops Packet

Photos by Pat Sunda