Hi there, Artlings

Welcome to a new year! I'm itching to make a plan and set a goal.

About, oh, 20 years ago, I realized that my capital letters desperately needed help and I decided that year was going to be dedicated to improving those caps. I took every class on capital letters I could get my hands on. Now, you have to be a special sort of person (read "odd") to want to do that, but I had a goal. And it worked. Of course, the study of anything never ends, there is always something that needs to be tweaked. But I made a huge leap in proficiency that year. For a while my caps were better than my spacing!

Back then, it was easy for me to have a goal. Calligraphy was all I did. Now it's not quite so cut and dried. How about you? Do you have one passion that you want to know everything about? Have you thought of setting goals? Take one aspect of your passion and devoting a year to thoroughly knowing it? or do you have a new passion?

Perhaps this is the time to begin the pursuit of something new. There are so many exciting possibilities. So of the most exciting possibilities are the ones that combine the talents you know with the ones you're about to learn.

Carpe Diem! Seize the Day! or
Seize the Art Supplies and get busy. Have fun.

Create without Limits!

If there is any information you would like to see in this newsletter, let me know. Each month I will email you to let you know the new issue is published. If you know someone who would like to receive notice of byhand, just have them email me and I will put them on the list. Bye for now and thanks for visiting!

suzanne@quietfiredesign.com
(250) 723-0321 Quietfire Design

Please drop into my other website: It changes every month!
http://nourishment.usana.com

While you nourish your creative spirit by reading this newsletter, don't forget your creative body needs nourishment inside and out!
Join my new Yahoo Group
http://health.groups.yahoo.com/group/nourishment/

If you are an Amazon.com customer, please click on this link!

Suzanne is a member of the

Visit my little gallery page on the ISABA website!

Don't forget if you'd like to share some artwork that you have stamped with a Quietfire Rubber Stamp, please send me a copy and I'll be delighted to put in the Stamping Gallery.

Don't be shy!

Nadine M. - Victoria, BC

If you wish to contact me, my email address is:
suzanne@quietfiredesign.com
Quietfire Design, Box 1231, Port Alberni, BC
V9Y 7M1  Canada

To unsubscribe: send me an email saying 'unsubscribe'. I'll live.... (sniff)
To change your email address: send me an email with both your new and old address. Thanks!

Site Siting

Paper Passions

Sonja Idema loves to play with paint and paper. And what happens when she does is pure magic. Her marbled paper is to die for! I am so lucky to have acquired some of her paper for the new Harlequin Stitched Spine kit which is now available.

The samples on the web just don't do these works of art justice, you have to see and touch them in person. If you are looking for unique sheets of paper, where no two will ever be the same, this is for you! Each one is lovelier than the last. I want it all!!

On Sonja's site, Paper Passions, you can see lots of samples of marbled paper, and even learn what some of the styles are called (but you might not be able to pronounce them!). There are also samples of artwork incorporating Sonja's papers.

Then of course, there is the ordering..... What to choose, what to choose....

Like I said. I want it all!

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Stolen Moments

Now I know that excellent letterforms are the goal, but sometimes a person just has to amuse themselves. The Post-it Cover-up correction tape used to be easier to find in the stores - but now I have it for my website, so I thought I'd share a fun little technique.

Place a strip of 1 line Post-it Cover-up tape down on the piece of paper you are going to letter onto. Gently burnish it in position. I love this tape because it is so narrow. If you are using a liner, position the tape so it will be about half way down the x-height of the letters.

I used a Staedtler Calligraph Duo (widest end) here to letter over the tape.

Remove the tape. Because it is a Post-it product, it will not ruin the surface of the paper.

Use a Gel Extreme pen to write in the gap!

And if you're not a calligrapher, you can do the same thing with your rubber stamp alphabets!

The Post-it Cover-up Tape comes in 2 widths.

Removable Magic Tape

Here is an indispensable tool for the calligrapher. I use it to hold the paper I'm lettering on to my liner. I use it to hold the liner onto my drafting table. And sometimes I use it to hold my guard sheet to the paper I'm working on! You can use it to temporarily tape collage elements in place so you can stand back and eye them. Comes with the dispenser.

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Suzanne's Schedule

Text & Texture Journal - new this spring

In this workshop we will use a rich and varied selection of papers to assemble a journal that will fascinate the owner before it is even filled! The cover will be decorated using techniques that will give wonderful texture embedded with intriguing inclusions. The pages will be bound by stitching over hand dyed and stamped straps which are eyeleted through the cover.
As well as the usual bookbinding supplies, students should bring (specifically for this class)

• Something for spreading molding paste - spatula or a cut up credit card
• Three colours of acrylic paint that they would like to use
• A small selection of beads, charms & fibres you might like to use
• Bold rubber stamp designs
• A 1/8" hole punch and hammer
• Hairdryer or heat gun
• Rubber gloves

2006 Schedule to date

To see a complete list (more or less!) of the classes Suzanne teaches, click here!

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Orange ATC swap

Beth Ann continues to hostess a 3 for 3 swap of Artist's Trading Cards! Our first challenge was RED (and you can see those ATC in the last issue of byhand). Beth Ann says she is going to put us through the whole rainbow of colours and judging by this collection, I don't plan to miss any!

Thanks Beth Ann - and thanks to everyone who played. Next month - Yellow!

(ATCs are Artist's Trading Cards which measure 3 1/2" x 2 1/2")

Click on each on to see the larger version.

Join the List!

Would you like to hear about the latest additions to the
Quietfire byhand Products pages?

This way you'll know when the new products arrive and won't have to wait for the newsletter. This includes the bookbinding supplies, calligraphy supplies and of course, the rubber stamps and all the wonderful accessories to make your "arting" lots of fun!
(Don't worry, this won't be a lot of emails!)

Back in stock:

Aluminum Triangle pans
Flip Top Envelopes
1/16" silver eyelets

January Sale!

The Scor-it Board!

Don't miss out on this great opportunity! Click the link to read about it.

New products.................................................

Rubicoil Binder

The incredible Rubicoil Binder. At last it's affordable to do at home. The look is incredibly professional. Any of you who have ordered my bookbinding kits will have a sample of what the Rubicoil can do. I'm absolutely delighted to add the Rubicoil to the Quietfire collection of tools. I look forward to seeing what you can do with your Rubicoil!

The Rubicoil punches round holes, four to the inch, which you can then twist spiral coils through.

If you make presentations, are a teacher, or want to make books like the incomparable Michelle Ward, this is your baby!!

The Harlequin Stitched Spine Journal Kits

Are now available!

	New Charms!

For the Calligraphers

Black	Blue	Brown	Green	Light Green	Olive	Grey	Lemon Yellow	Orange
Pale Orange	Pink	Purple	Red	Sky Blue	Sepia	Steel Blue	Turquoise	Yellow Orange

And here is a delightful everyday tool.
Meet the Pentel Pocket Brush - the cartridge pen brush!

For the Bookbinders

Cedar Book covers - ready to use!

Linen Hinging Tape - and it's so exciting - it's self-adhesive!

I used to use Tyvek for my hinges until I discovered this. No more waiting for your hinging materials to dry!

It's time to visit the Waxed Linen Thread Page if you haven't been there in a while! I now have 2-ply thread in colours!

plus there are 2 new colours of 4-ply waxed linen thread

There are 2 new colours of book cloth available, plus
a new sampler pack of bookcloth is also available.

OCS - other cool stuff

Angelina Fibres

See where your creativity takes you!

There is an article on Angelina Fibres in the current issue of Cloth Paper Scissors.

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Hometown Ghosts & Mysteries Swap

This swap sprung from ideas thrown around during the Hometown swap which appeared in the last newsletter. Our hostess with the mostess for this swap was Diane Glasgow. Thanks Diane!!

This was a fun challenge for me. I even asked at the museum and there appears - or doesn't appear - to be a ghost here in Port Alberni! So I had to adopt a ghost!

Click on each on to see the larger version.

Julie Benge	Good Dog! In Port Tobacco, MD Peddler's Rock is haunted by the apparition of a dog that has been dead for over 200 years. A large charcoal gray shaggy dog was the faithful companion of an old peddler who traveled the same route for many years during the Revolutionary War. The old peddler was murdered for his gold and the dog was killed trying to save his master. It was reported that while staying at Rose Hill, the home of Dr. Gustavious Richard Brown, one foggy evening in February that George Washinton and General Joseph Hooker came across the phantom dog. People say, even to this day, that the ghostly dog is still standing guard where his master was murdered. And on cold winter nights you can hear the dog howling.
Diane Glasgow	Visit the link below for the complete story! http://johnnorrisbrown.com/paranormal-tn/long-dog/index.htm
Dee Rad	Hilo Ghost Story We had to rush to catch our plane in Hilo. The drive to the airport was 45 min. long, on a roller-coaster of a road, plowed through layers of old Lava. The road went through a lonely landscape, no houses. As we drove up over one of the small rises, there we saw a hitchhiker. She appeared out of nowhere, in the middle of nowhere. She was dressed in a long turquoise dress that fluttered around her feet and she had long blond hair and sea green eyes. Something told us not to pick her up, however, so we waved "I'm sorry". Our Hawaiian friends tell us this was most likely Pele and many locals see her hitchhiking. They say it is dangerous not to offer her a ride. One should never mess with Pele.
Linda Tanaka (with the slider pulled out)	A man died tragically in the Galt Hospital in 1933 while being wheeled to the operating room. He was pushed halfway onto the elevator when something went wrong. With the doors still open and George only half on, the elevator started to rise. The front legs of the gurney got caught on the elevator, dangling George above the elevator shaft and then dropping him head first onto the basement floor. Unbelievably, George did not die immediately, but was up and shuffling around in the basement when people got to him. However, he died of head injuries the next day. Since that day reports of a presence being felt accompanied by the sound of shuffling feet and blasts of cold air with no known source have been felt throughout the hospital. The elevator opens and closes mysteriously and objects get moved overnight. A more recent tale is the upstairs of the museum, which once housed the nursery and children sections of the hospital, but now is the curators' office and reference room. In this area people claim to have heard the chattering and laughter of children. One man in particular was studying late and as he exited the museum he felt an irresistible urge to turn around and as he did he looked up and spotted a young girl in the window of the room he had just left. The windows were so high off the floor that a real child would barely be able to peek out. Yet he could clearly see the full torso of the little Indian child. Sir Alexander Galt Museum and Archives
Cathy Highland	The Gypsy Queen Cleo Ann Judge was traveling through Marion county with a band of gypsy's in the early 1900's. She died during childbirth on March 20, 1905, and was buried in the non-Catholic section of Saint Mary's Cemetery. She was supposedly buried in an upright position (standing up) with her coffin encased in concrete....a gypsy burial tradition. Her grave is marked with an old wooden cross, as well as a new stone marker. Today people claim to see her restless spirit wandering through the cemetery, especially near her grave. It is said to be very bad luck to vandalize her grave...she supposedly puts a curse on anyone who does!
Suzanne Cannon	Qualicum College Inn The Qualicum was built in 1835 as a boy's private boarding school. It is believed to be haunted by a ghost of a young boy wearing a school uniform. Guests wake up in the night to hear a young boy crying and as they explore to try and find him, end up in room 453. This young boy has been seen running through the halls, laughing & playing, however, when one tries to catch up with him.... he is gone!
Beth Ann Walker		To read more about this story, please visit: http://www.mainelybelfast.com/html/maidscliff.html
Linda Cameron	Hauntings at Price George Hotel, Kingston, Ontario Before the hotel was built, the site was occupied by a smaller home belonging to the Herchmer family. The daughter of the owners, Lily Herchmer, fell in love with a sailor and was forced into a clandestine affair by her family's dissaproval. She used to hang a lantern in the window as a signal to her lover that it was safe, but one night she fell asleep and the wind blew the flames into the room. She was killed in the blaze. The current hotel was rebuilt on the remains in 1809. The Hauntings The apparition of a young woman has been reported on the 3rd floor, presumably watching the ships in the harbour. A woman has been seen attempting to enter room 206, before vanishing, while a shadowy form has been seen drifting through the hallways. In one of the most sensational stories of this old hotel, one of the cleaning women finished cleaning and locking the last room, only to hear all the other locks on the floor being clicked open. One of the double beds in room 310 has been seen to levitate 3 feet off the floor. The tower light turns itself on, even when the breaker is turned off.
Beth Atkins		Waverly Hills Sanitarium in Louisville, KY, opened in 1926, was a tuberculosis hospital.. It is considered one of the top 10 scariest places in the world. The most infamous area of the hospital is room 502. It is rumored that a young nurse hanged herself in the room and that another nurse so distraught by working there, jumped from the balcony. People have seen a full body apparition of a female nurse in white on this floor. Others report an unsettling feeling of great despair. Some have heard a voice say, “Get out ! “

Mail bag

In December, the byhandartists had a Mingle.

Each person who wanted to play was on a list. Each person on that list sent one item such as a card, an ATC or ? to the next person on the list. Because it was not a "regular" type of swap, I don't have copies of everything in that Mingle, but I was lucky enough to be RAKed a few times! Hear is what appeared in my mailbox.

Thank you to each of you!