I am very lucky to be part of a tight-knit group of cardmakers on Facebook. When one of us finds a new-to-us idea, we share links, then challenge each other to attempt the card technique in question.
Recently someone found these fabulous cards, and a video on how to make them. I am talking about Diorama cards.
They are a little fiddly, and they do use slightly more cardstock than a regular card, but they are worth the extra effort for someone special.
This card was my first attempt. I had to watch the video a second time as I was having some difficulties, but it turned out okay in the end.
From the outside, it looks like a regular card, but when you open it, it's a whole different story:
There is so much scope for these cards, and you really could get carried away if you let yourself.
If you would like to see the video instructions, or would like to view a masculine version of this card, go here.
Thanks for looking!
Til next time,
Links:
My website: www.cheryl-wright.com
Blog: www.cheryl-wright.com/blog
Facebook: https://www.facebook.com/cherylwrightauthor
BWL website: http://bookswelove.net/authors/wright-cheryl/
Tuesday, March 10, 2015
Diorama Card by Cheryl Wright
Multi-published author, Cheryl Wright, former secretary, debt collector, account manager, writing instructor, and shopping tour hostess, loves reading. She writes romantic suspense, contemporary romance, and the occasional comedy.
She lives in Melbourne, Australia, and is married with two adult children and has six grandchildren. When she’s not writing, she can be found in her craft room making greeting cards.
Monday, March 9, 2015
Stephen King: My Favorite Teacher by Joan Hall Hovey
The year was 1984, a lovely summer’s day and I was sitting
in the packed, buzzed audience waiting for Stephen King to appear. To say I was excited is an understatement.
Uncool? Totally. I’d bought my hardcover copy of his book Different Seasons for him to sign. I wouldn’t be denied. I had all his books in
hardcover – Carrie, Cycle of the
Werewolf, Danse Macabre, Salem’s Lot - there would be
many more to come. He was my hero in a time when I was already much too
old to be star-struck. I’ve read that it
is mainly teenagers who are addicted to Stephen King’s work, and I was hardly
that. Though probably immature. I’m at a much more more advanced age now and
that hasn’t changed, and I hope it never does.
Stephen King was the Elvis
Presley of the literary world.
I hadn’t had a novel published yet; that was still a dream,
floating somewhere above the horizon. But I’d written and published some
articles and short stories, enough to make me eligible for a travel grant through
the NB Arts Council to London, England to the writers workshop at Polytechnic
Institution on Marylebone Road, aptly across the street from Madam Tussauds wax
museum. Stephen King would be a
panelist, along with authors P.D. James, Robert Parker and some others. I was eager to hear all the celebrated authors,
but I’d flown all this way from New Brunswick, Canada to see and hear Mr. King.
He came into the large room through the back door and I
swear I knew the instant he did.
You
couldn’t miss the rising buzz of the audience, of course, the shifting of
bodies as people turned to look, but I also felt the change of energy in the
air. On stage, Stephen King joked about his ‘big writing engine’ and I had heard
(within my third eye – yes, it can hear) its power, its purr. Or maybe there’s more to it.
As he talked to us about writing, he spoke about seeing
with that third eye. The eye of the imagination. He told us to imagine a chair. Then he said it was a blue chair. I saw it clearer now. He added the detail of a paint blister on the
leg of the chair. Now I saw it close up,
with my zoom lens. We hung on his every
word. He was funny and brilliant and
entertaining, and we learned. Everything he said was not necessarily something
brand new, but were reminders to pay close attention to details. To always tell the truth in our writing. I even got to ask a couple of questions. And his answers to all our questions were
thoughtful and insightful. I try to pass along a few of those lessons to
my own students.
Stephen King has been teaching creative writing to aspiring
and even established writers for decades, long before his wonderful book On Writing came out. Such a gift to writers that is, regardless of
the genre you write in. I am
gushing. I don’t mind. It’s true. I have been fortunate to have had many highlights in my
life – an anniversary trip to Niagara
Falls with my wonderful husband, the births of my children and grandchildren,
great-grandchildren – a trip to the Bahamas with my eldest son – my own first
novel published and several more after that - and I have to say that that
workshop in London, England, where Stephen King spoke to us about writing, is
right up there. Thank you, Mr. King.
I want to leave you with a quote from an interview with contributing
writing for the Atlantic, Jessica Lahey, published in The Atlantic, Sept 2014.
She asked him if teaching was craft or art.
“It’s both,” he said. “The best teachers are artists.”
Stephen King is an artist on every level. He tells the truth. In his fiction. And in his teachings.
~~
By Joan Hall Hovey, author of The
Deepest Dark
Saturday, March 7, 2015
All in a Day's Work Or How to Make Good Use of a Distraction by Tia Dani
Since there are two of us, wouldn't you think we
could finish a book in record time? Sure, we both have busy lives. We have
husbands, kids, grandkids, housework, other careers and hobbies (well, Tia has
hobbies, Dani just plays) but that's another blog for a later time. Like we
said, we are both fully committed to our writing. So what happens that we can't seem, to finish
a project?
Life happens. Not always in a mundane way.
Take the other day for example. Our plan was to meet
up at Tia's house and not leave until we had completed the next phase of
editing our work in progress. Which, by the way, it is going to be an awesome
blend of the present and past, with elements of paranormal, regression, and
plenty of romance. But when Dani pulled into Tia's driveway she was met with a
frantic Tia waving her arms. She needed help with an unexpected emergency.
The emergency was a baby bird that had fallen from
its palm tree nest near the front of Tia's house. Tia was certain it was an owl
and we needed to find a rescue place quick. Someone needed to come get the bird
before it died. She had already called two places who both told her they don't
take in raptor species. Raptors?!? Aren't they supposed to be those honking,
huge birds during the dinosaur age?
We made several more calls to animal shelters and
finally were directed to a place that would take in raptors. Only problem, they
didn't pick up. We had to deliver.
Twenty minutes later we had packed the back seat of
Dani's car with the make shift cage, which was really a crate with a lid over
the top to hold the tiny ball of white feathers. Off we went with the
directions programed into the GPS system. It took us almost 45 minutes on the
freeway to the exit we needed to take us north to Cave Creek and the bird
hospital.
At this point, we should let you know Dani is not
really fond of birds. Not that she doesn't like them, it's just she's sorta
afraid of them.
When she called her husband to let him know where
she was headed he said, "You are what?"
"Rescuing a bird."
"That's what I thought you said. You have a bird in your car?"
"Yes. We are saving his life."
"Ooookay. Good luck"
Meanwhile Tia is yelping and leaning over the seat, trying
to keep the tiny owl from squeezing through the holes in the grate and jumping
out of the box. Miniature fuzzy feathers are flying everywhere. With all the
commotion we missed the turn off and had to do a U-turn and go back to where
the GPS was insisting we should go in the first place. It was a winding dirt
road with large pot holes. We bounced along making the odd turns, when told by
the voice that seemed quite sure of where we were going. Us not so much.
In the distance we saw a sign and perched on top was
a metal hawk with the large wings spread wide. WILD AT HEART. Yep, we had
reached our destination.
Relieved we pulled in and parked. Not only had we arrived safe and sound, our little owl was still alive. Tia retrieved her precious cargo from the back seat. Dani stayed a safe distance away.
Off we went to find a doctor.
We were greeted immediately and our little guy was taken to be examined.
After a thorough examination we were assured he would be fine. He was wrapped in a warm blanket and placed into an incubator where he would be watched for several days. Then they broke the news to Tia that her baby was not an owl but actually a falcon.
"What!" Tia exclaimed. "It must be an
owl. He's so small and his feathers are white. And just look at his cute little
face. He must be an owl?"
The examining veterinarian assured Tia her bird was
definitely a falcon.
While we were in the critical-care room, a landscaper from the near-by golf course brought in a severely injured hawk.
We were allowed to stay and watch as they examined him, feed him an antibiotic stuffed into a dead baby mouse. (Here's where Tia nearly lost it…Abandoned baby bird fine. Poor dead baby mouse…ugh.)
Who knew?
Once our sweet raptor was snuggled in and sleeping, we were invited to look around at all the wild raptor birds they had in their outside sanctuary. We could stay as long as we wanted. Tia immediately took advantage of their generous offer and pulled along the reluctant Dani outside to see the many different kind of birds.
It was a wonderful day of adventure. Needless to say we didn't get any writing done that day, but we did help save a life.
Which is okay because there's always tomorrow.
And who knows, our little adventure might just end
up in a book someday.
Wild At Heart is a non-profit 501(c)3 organization dedicated to the conservation and preservation of Arizona's native birds of prey. http://wildatheartraptors.org/
To find out more about the writing team Tia Dani and our books visit us at:
https://tiadaniauthor.wordpress.com/
Time's Enduring Love, our historical time-travel is a Books We Love Best Seller.
To purchase click this link.
http://amzn.com/B00EVXABV0
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