NEWSLETTER ~ WINTER 1998-9

ERA Catalog

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Winter 98-99

Well, I never thought it would be so difficult to get out a simple newsletter. The response to our last issue was overwhelming and we thank you from the bottom of our hearts. So much has happened and is going on that we simply had to atop shipping orders and get out the word.

Most of all, we wish you and yours a happy holiday season and a healthy and prosperous New Year.

we're vulcans!

Thanks to a chance encounter with Amy of Beeswax Rubberstamps, we took the plunge and installed our own vulcanizer (or vaporizer as my sister-in-law calls it). This handy-dandy machine allows us to press our own rubber dies, speed up service and eliminate backorders. This brings new meaning to the term - hot off the press!

who's that gimp?

Karen is now sporting a glow-in-the-dark cast after getting drunk, robbing a bank, running from the cops and crashing the getaway car... not really, but that is a much better story than admitting she tripped on a step in front of her house. Boy, when she did it, she did it good! Broke the major bone in her calf and all points in the ankle that connect her foot. Major ouch. Good drugs got her through the worst of it although she did have to miss the Cleveland Art Continuum. Thanks for all the cards and notes!

Hands Across the Border #70-001H.

farewell, sweet james

Roberta's infamous poodle James, Champion Graphic Enterprise, was put to sleep this past summer. He was 16 and led a long and wonderful life. A prince among dogs, elegant and a true gentleman. He was also a top producer with over 26 champions around the world to his credit. While no living thing can ever take the place of another, we now live at the sufferance of Winter Storm, the Princess Poodle. Winnie, a luscious white standard, will determine if she wants to keep us after she sees the results from obedience school. In early November she had her second litter of puppies. Hopefully she will be willing to sit for a portrait and thus grace us with a stamp image in the near future. Previous sketches have been rejected as not being regal enough.

webs, charlotte's and otherwise

Roberta has finally entered the computer age. You can reach her at roberta@ERAGraphics.com. The new website address is www.ERAGraphics.com. This should be up and running soon. You can still reach Karen at her same address: kwkolander@prodigy.net and see her little homepage/website at pages.prodigy.net/kwkolander/ (You can find past issues of the newsletter there.)

Even more time consuming than producing a newsletter is a web site. While not quite the gestation of an elephant, our web mistress, Christina Gibbs, co-editor of the on-line stamping magazine Kerchunk, has finally assured me that we will be up and accessible by the end of the year. Christina assisted by her cohort and co-editor Liz Zobel, has done yeoman work in producing this web site. Christina and Liz also have a small web site design business, SkyBluePink Design.

Come visit us at ERAGraphics.com. For now we are displaying the essence of the catalog, and have e-mail and ordering information. Soon we will have our Focus Cards, the affirmation cards, our amulet bags and our spectacular new limited edition BEAD KITS. Much more on this later (after the New Year) on the web. For those of you not yet on-line, we will continue to publish this newsletter and get it out to you via snail mail (look at all the new terms technology has spawned).

African Masks #70-002H

exciting tidbits...

... introducing the Wessex Collection

Good friend and great artist Bill Mannion has graciously agreed to let us reproduce his beautiful pen and ink drawings as stamps. Each scene was personally sketched by Bill on his (and artist-wife Pauline's), many trips to England.

Bill, who among other things is the premier house portrait painter of Cleveland, is a noted American artist. His pastels and water colors have won numerous awards and he has had more gallery show than I can count. His drawings are a departure for us on several counts ... up to this point, with a small exception, every image in the catalog was drawn by Roberta or Karen. Bill's work was simply too good not to pass on to you. Click here to see the Wessex Collection in flyer #27.

We just can't rave enough about The Studio, from the creative genius of the multi-talented Teesha Moore and her husband Tracy. Just celebrating their first year, this 'zine is simply the best new journal to come our way. It is like having an alternative art feast in magazine form. Each issue is strictly limited to the number of subscribers with no back copies available. With full color inserts and other special goodies, each issue is sure to become a collectors' item.

Subscription information is available from:

Alternative Arts Productions
PO Box 2665
Renton WA 98056

classes & shows

OUTER ADORNMENTS ~ Origami-style cards. A new dimension to the classic cards we have all produced in conjunction with stamps. This class offers a chance to use all the great Asian design stamps you have accumulated. Also, check out our new Japanese and Chinese influenced stamps.

VESSELS ~ Combining polymer clay and stamping and wire work and ... This class continually changes as we explore and discover new and different ways to work with clay. We have developed a way to make Inroe, the delicate Japanese-style boxes that hand from the sash of a kimono are are used like small purses. Roberta will be teaching this class for the Boston Bead society on June 23 - 25, 1999 in Nadick, Massachusetts. If you want to book her for a class in the North East, this is your chance to save on the cost of coast-to-coast air fare. Let us know. Cancelled

Drummers #64-004F

on the road...

Reservations have been made for the Artful Journey in Daytona Beach, Florida. Dates for the show are May 21 - 23, 1999. Similar in style to Teesha Moore's Alternative Art Festival and Ginny Carter's Art Continuum, this show promises much more than your basic rubber stamping. Roberta will be teaching an abbreviated version of the Vessels class. Additionally, Deb Shipley will be presenting the basics of stamping in clay, and bead work. Deb is a terrific teacher with abundant enthusiasm and patience galore. Our class will build on hers. Think of it as Stamping In Clay 101 and 102, however, there are no prerequisites required. Look up Deb's article on polymer clay in Somerset magazine, May 1997.

In October, Ginny Carter of The Creative Block put on the Art Continuum in Cleveland, Ohio. Roberta, husband Gene, and Debbie Shipley manned the ERA booth while shoppers found delight in the beaded Amulet Pouches and Mojo Bags along with tons of unmounted dies.

focus cards

These beautiful cards are a useful tool to help you focus and trigger creative and positive thoughts. Hopefully, these focus cards can help you connect with your own inner guidance, the part of you that knows. Each card contains a different word and can be used in conjunction with other Creative Visualization processes, such as that espoused by Shakti Gawain.

Designed and rendered by E. Roberta Altshuler, the original art work was then reproduced and laminated to withstand years of use and remain as beautiful as the day they were purchased. The focus cards are produced in two sizes: large, 3" x 5" (shown above), and small, 1 1/2" x 2 1/2". Each set contains 68 cards and is packaged in a velvet drawstring pouch. Also included is a magnetized vinyl sleeve which allows display of the selected card on any metal surface and an introduction to the concept and ideas for use.

Large deck ~ $35.00 Small deck ~ $25.00

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