Monthly Archives: February 2016

Upcoming Class with Carolyn on March 5, 2016: St. Patrick’s Day Cards

I hope you can join me for my next class at my new Studio! Learn rubber stamping and other paper craft techniques as we make St. Patrick’s Day cards. Participants will be provided with enough paper and cardstock to make at least two cards, two different card sketches and written instructions to take home.

St. Patrick's Day Card with paper flower embellishments
St. Patrick’s Day Card with paper flower embellishments

I will have paper, cardstock, templates, rubber stamps, punches, decorative scissors, ink, stamp pads, paper cutters, stamp mounting blocks, tape, glue sticks, tracing paper, embellishments and other tools and supplies available for you to use during the class. If you have any of the following tools or supplies, it would be helpful to bring them – there will be less wait to use tools if participants bring some – but it’s not a requirement. If you bring tools please mark them to indicate ownership.

Optional tool and supply list:
Clean scrap paper
Bone folder
Metal ruler
Craft knife and blades (X-Acto or something similar)
Cutting mat
Pencil
Eraser
Rubber stamps (St. Patrick’s Day or Celtic themes if you have any – spirals are good too)
Stamping ink pads and re-inkers in the following colors: Dark brown, shades of green
Acrylic stamp mounting blocks
Double-sided tape
Paper cutter
Awl or needle tool
Small hole punch
Scissors
Decorative scissors
Glue stick
Masking tape

If you have any questions about the class please feel free to contact me.

Class: St. Patrick’s Day Cards
Date: March 5, 2016
Time: 1-4 pm
Location: 7403 Manchester Road, Maplewood MO, 63143
Cost: $17 if paid in advance, $25 day of class
Signup form: www.carolynsstampstore.com/catalog/class_signup.php

If you choose to pay ahead of time to get the discount for pre-paying, I will send you a PayPal invoice via email. Alternately if you prefer to pay by Square I can take your information over the phone. Credit card processing at the studio will be with Square. Beginner stampers are welcome. Children under 18 must be enrolled with a parent as I think parents are best able to judge their child’s ability level and what tools they should be allowed to use.

St. Patrick's Day Card with collage
St. Patrick’s Day Card with collage

Supplies for the class are included in the class price. I will have some paper crafting supplies available for purchase the day of the class in case you see anything you want to add to your stash but you will not need to purchase anything additional to make the class project.

Book Review: “A Thousand Acres” by Jane Smiley

A Thousand Acres by Jane Smiley
Most of the books I review are not exactly current. Why is that? One reason is that I like to go to used book sales to save money. The other reason is that it seems like most current fiction books that I’ve tried to read are not very satisfying. I don’t think about them after I read them and I could almost read them again without realizing I’ve read it before until I’m partly done. They often seem like they were written by committee and not edited by someone who understood how to make the point of the book comprehensible to the reader. Has anyone else noticed this? Did I just read the wrong books? So I’m quite happy to read older books because they are on average much better!

“A Thousand Acres” was published in 1991 and the story takes place in the late 1970s on a family farm in Iowa. The family in question is the most successful in the community so you think at first they must have it pretty good. The story starts off kind of light but there are hints to let you know it’s not going to stay that way. Even so I did not anticipate how dark the story eventually turned out. Once I caught on to that  it doesn’t quite get to the crescendo of horror I thought might be coming. What DOES happen is bad enough. In that way it reminds me of “Other Voices Other Rooms” by Truman Capote but is written in a more straightforward way without the surrealism.

It took me awhile to get to sleep after finishing “A Thousand Acres” because I was trying to think of what the point was of telling a story like this. The book was certainly absorbing and made me totally forget about my own life for a few hours – and I sure was glad to get back to it! I should probably give my Dad some extra hugs too! (You’ll understand why if you read this!)

I normally don’t read reviews before writing my own but in this case I read a couple to see if I was missing something big. I was – I don’t know Shakespeare well enough to recognize on my own that this is a modern retelling of King Lear. I already was kind of thinking that this book is for readers who are fans of good writing for it’s own sake, which I am. I enjoy it when writers indulge their own virtuosity. Knowing that it’s kind of a exercise of sorts makes me feel better about it – it seems like it does have a point other than just making you feel bad! If like me you are not familiar with King Lear this might be a better read if you DON’T know what might be coming up. The shock value is the best part of it – the idea of what might be going on behind all the pleasant and successful facades around you is not a pleasant one but it sure is interesting! I don’t want to give away too much about why it’s so disturbing but I will say it’s not a “horror” book – while there is death and cruelty there is not much blood and gore.

I did not feel good after reading “A Thousand Acres” and I’m not sure if I’m glad I read it so in what way is the writing good? Any book that can keep my attention that intensely for that many hours is good writing in my opinion.  I don’t know if I’ll ever read it again but I probably will keep it in the permanent library since it is good quality and I want whoever inherits my library to get a good one!

Here are some of my other older book reviews.

On my work table right now: cuff bracelet prototypes

I’ve been working on some prototypes for cuff bracelets made from upcycled fabric, ribbon and faux leather. I’ve had a lot of fun stitching ribbon to tubes made of fabric and pieces of faux leather. I’m embellishing some with beads and buttons. My next step will be working out how to finish the backs and attach snap fasteners. So much fun!

Cuff Bracelet Prototypes
Cuff Bracelet Prototypes

Upcoming Class with Carolyn on February 20, 2016: Jewelry Basics

Class with Carolyn Hasenfratz - Jewelry Basics
Class with Carolyn Hasenfratz – Jewelry Basics

Learn basic jewelry assembly techniques while creating one necklace and one bracelet. You will learn how to attach clasps on jewelry stringing wire with crimp beads, how to make a loop attachment, how to open and close jump rings and how to embed an image of your choice into a glass pendant. Class price includes materials. A variety of beads and images will be provided, but if you have any particular beads or images you would like to use you can bring them. If you bring any images they should be printed with waterproof ink (like from a laser printer or copier). Tools will be available to borrow so you can complete the two pieces and some tools and supplies will be available for purchase if you want to keep working on your own.

If you have the following tools, please bring:

Bead stringing board
Wire cutters
Chain nose pliers (flat and narrow)
Round nose pliers

If you have any questions about the class please feel free to contact me.

Class: Jewelry Basics
Date: February 20, 2016
Time: 1-4 pm
Location: 7403 Manchester Road, Maplewood MO, 63143
Cost: $32 if paid in advance, $40 day of class
Signup form: www.carolynsstampstore.com/catalog/class_signup.php

If you choose to pay ahead of time to get the discount for pre-paying, I will send you a PayPal invoice via email or if you’d prefer I can get your information over the phone and process your credit card with Square. Children under 18 must be enrolled with a parent as I think parents are best able to judge their child’s ability level and what tools they should be allowed to use.