| ..... | ........ | BEYOND PAPER DOLLS Book Signing, Sat., Sept. 30, 2006 - As one of some 50
artists who contributed to this book by Lynne Perrella, I was fortunate to be invited to sign copies at Stamp Your Heart Out. Some Background Stamp Your Heart Out, my long-time home stamp store in Claremont, CA, hosted the signing. Nearly 20 years ago my sister, then a sales rep for various gift lines, introduced me to the store owner, Joan Bunte. When we met, Joan had a gift shop which also carried rubber stamps, to which I rapidly became addicted. In 1989 she opened the stamp store. That summer my family and I spent several weeks at Big Bear Lake and the store was nicely midway between our Pasadena home and the rented cabin. My stamp collection grew. In the 1990s, Stamp Your Heart Out moved to its current - larger - location and Joan opened a companion scrapbook store in an adjacent space. The sister shops have become destinations, both for their ample and irresistible stock and for being part of Claremont Village, site of multiple restaurants and shops within walking distance of the Claremont Colleges. The route to Joan's store takes me along a street called Indian Hill. In the summer it is canopied by trees in full leaf. As fall approaches, the leaves thin and even though autumn hasn't arrived in Southern California by the end of September, I watched to see if signs of the season were visible. For natives of the Los Angeles area, even the most subtle shift of light is all we need to start our Dance of Autumn Joy. Recently I'd mentioned to a friend who lives in a land of changing leaf colors that here we have to guage time by the appearance of bags of candy corn at the drugstore. But Indian Hill, while not to be mistaken for, say, the Shenandoah Valley, had begun its transition. At the store For the signing, I brought with me the artwork I'd submitted for BEYOND PAPER DOLLS, all of which had been presented in its very best light. (For anyone who hasn't yet seen the book, it is a glorious collaboration. Everyone from contirbutors through its author, the photographers, stylists and publisher, Stampington, has brought all of her talent to the project.) Having the book's pages and the original work there together would add dimension, I felt, to the afternoon. Guests would be able to examine the dolls, their clothes, and the various party accessories at close range. I'd prepared a hand-out sheet with a pattern for one of the dolls - to be copied onto cardstock, colored with pencils or other medium - and thoughts for creating a paper wardrobe. I'd also planned to demonstrate, if anyone asked, color pencil techniques and the making of Halloween nut cups, since reviving that craft from the 1950s had been part of the fun of contributing to the book. Joan had found crepe paper and the proper size of "souffle cups" so the pieces could be duplicated. Nut cups may be a complete mystery to more youthful women. Those of us of, as they say, a "certain age" remember them as a required object at each place around the birthday table. Whether you made your own or bought them ready-made, they were fashioned from crepe paper - a wondrous material that had become nearly extinct - and featured paper motifs that celebrated the season. At some point the nut cup was replaced by the treat bag, which certainly held more in the way of treats than the rather small nut cup, but these are traditions. It isn't only about quantity. (A note: as I write this, I remember the radio interview I did in which I also seemed to be evangelizing about nut cups which might, just might, make me sound somewhat obsessive (at best) or just deranged (at worst.) The truth is, somehow nut cups and crepe paper have come to symbolize something essential to me. They, and the memory of them, connect me to my childhood, to the '50s which held such promise in my child mind, to my mother and the extraordinary work she put into fashioning us holidays out of paper and imagination, and to all the friends from those years whose parties were the cause of such anticipation. Happy Birthday to you all.) So the afternoon progressed with visits from a number of old friends, the chance to meet new ones, the opportunity to share the delight of nut cups through an impromptu make it-take it session and a time to introduce customers to the beautiful BEYOND PAPER DOLLS book. As I mentioned to a number of people, even if traditional paper dolls are NOT your thing, the book holds such variety - in materials and expression - that it should be the word "beyond" that invites you in. "You have no idea," I told them. As I arrived in the Village just at the moment the signing was due to start, I didn't have a chance to visit the scrapbook store, From the Heart, but using the stamp store as an indication, I knew Halloween had arrived with all its tricks. The shop's display window used a Day of the Dead theme - did you know that Target was carrying faux. sugar skull vases? - with tissue paper flowers and Mexican pierced paper garlands abounding. The season was in glowing evidence throughout the displays...stamps, papers, ribbons, garlands, die-cuts. I had a wonderful afternoon - visiting, playing with paper, being surrounded by favorite people and things - and wish to thank everyone who was there, helping make it all feel just like the dollies' birthday party. To learn more about Stamp Your Heart Out, From the Heart and Joan Bunte, please go to the website: stampyourheart.com. You may sign up for their e-mail newsletter. And if you live in or visit Southern California, you won't be disappointed to discover Claremont Village and its treasures. One last favorite thing about going to Claremont...along Foothill Boulevard, which used to be the only northern route to the Village before the extension of the 210 Freeway was completed, there is a drive-through Starbucks. Pasadena has a fine, local coffee drive-through called Gotta Java but it is only open mornings Monday through Saturday. Ah, to be able to drive up at 6 p.m. on a Saturday and drive away with one's beverage of choice without leaving the car...I call that modern living at its best. Marylinn |
