Tis The Season To Be Swappin'

It's snowing outside!!!...and I'm painting inside. Today was the perfect day to knock out all the swaps I signed up for! This batch of ATCs is for a ATC Swap on Toletown.

This was a good opportunity for me to sketch a doodle, and use my H20 watercolor paints. Each ATC took approximately 15 minutes.

Valentines Day

Easter

Independence Day

Christmas Throughout The Year

The Brush Bunch group on YAHOO, hosts a year round exchange, called CTTY or Christmas Throughout The Year.

I just finished these quick paint snowfaces on canvas coasters...and in the mail they

All She Ever Wanted To Do Was Sing....

This is my Mother. All I ever remember her ever wanting to do, was sing. Even today - she's teaching music, singing in musicals at the local theatre...singing in church.

Tiare's Tuesday Technique Challenge over at Classy Scrappers, was creating a ROUND layout. I told Tiare, by the time I'm finished doing all her challenges - I'll have done almost EVERYTHING!!!

...guess that's the point, huh?....well it works for this newbie to scrapbooking.

Valentine's Day Cards...Who Knew?

Okay, I'm doing a swap and I text a pic to my sister, to show her my first batch of cards!!! now, I've made cards in the past - but they are normally trial by error and all of them always different. This time, for the swap I had to make them all the same.

Well anyway ... I text my sister to ask her if they need something else...and within minutes she is texting me back that she has an order for me...for 24 cards!!!

Whaaaaat? Who wants to buy my cards?

My sister texts me again and says - what do you mean?? I LOVE THEM!!! HOW MUCH??

Now I must admit, for a SPLIT second I was like...FUGGEDABOUT THOSE SWAP GALS!!!LOL...tee hee ..

I told my sister I can't sell them - and she texts back - Oh I know...but make up 24 more and my co-worker wants to buy them!!

Holy Moly - who knew?

here I was fretting about not being good enough to enter this swap with this talented bunch of ladies on Tiare's Scraps Of Color site ... PRAYING that my cards don't seem too "plain Jane"...and in Brooklyn, there is someone who wants to buy my stuff!!

So, this weekend, I will be whipping up some more cards - not exactly like the ones I did for the swap ... but with the same theme...and off they go!!

Who Knew?

DAIC Trading Card (DTC) Swap From Jeanie

This is my DTC swap from Jeanie - and it's already framed and sitting here on my desk at work. Isn't it beautiful?? Jeanie painted this wonderful scene on a 4x6 piece of canvas.

The DAIC DTC swaps are a wonderful exchange run on the Decorative Artists in Canada yahoo group. Its a wonderful way to expand your painting horizons, and also receive an original piece of artwork from a painting friend.

Weekend Crafting Marathon

My diningroom table was a mess this past weekend - filled with papers, paint, stencils, brushes...you name it - I had it and was trying to work it.

Though I am a decorative artist, I've really tried to stretch this year by trying different things, which in turn inspires my painting.

There is a Yahoo Group, Art For The Creative Mind, where its no holds barred swapping of mixed media, ATCs, cards...they have even swapped dominoes! While not everything appeals to me, I do try and do things that are out of my comfort zone ... and this weekend I managed to complete some things.

An ongoing Altered Journal Pages swap. Each person in a small group must complete 2 6x6 pages with a different theme.


These page are almost done...need to add more elements. I had a ton of fun doing the background on this one.

Also, there was another swap that was a Valentine's Theme postcard. I love doing the postcards...and here's my swap for that one:

This last little postcard isn't finished yet...but as you can see, I used the wrapper to the stamp book..LOL

ALl of these I incorporated things I already had. Manilla folders for the 6x6 pages, watered down acrylic paint in spray bottles, even the postage stamp book cover!

What Type Are You Quiz

These types of quizzes are always fun - and this one is interactive! Thanks to the How About Orange site for sharing this - it was interesting. After a short series of questions, you are "diagnosed" - and he reveals your type and tells you a little about font history. It's fun!!

What Type Are You Quiz
The password is character.

And my type is DOT MATRIX.

Painted Bookmarks and ATCs

Many of the swaps lately have been bookmarks and ATCs...items that are small and don't break the bank mail.

I took some time this weekend to paint up some bookmarks and do a couple of ATCs for various swaps that I'm involved in. I decided to make many of my bookmarks larger - because I read lots of magazines, and thought the larger bookmarks would fare well.

There are a couple of the bookmarks that I did with watercolor pencils ... the rose and the large bookmark with the large yellow flower. Not too happy with the results - I still feel as though I paint with acrylics far better than I create with pencils...but I'm going to keep at it.

The 2 ATCs are for a children collage swap. I REALLY stink at collages, so it took a while.

She's Back...and Looking Beautiful At 50!!

Tiare's Technique Tuesday Challenge - Week 2

Tiare at Classy Scraps has some good challenges so far...and they are challenging me to finally do these scrapbook pages. I can't believe I have completed my 2nd page!! The challenge for Week 2 was to incorporate flowers. Here is what I created:

Pray For Haiti

Text Haiti to 90999 to give $10 to the Red Cross for Haiti

Call the State Department for information about missing friends or relatives 1888 407-4747

My Forever Blanket

I knit and crochet ... but it normally takes me FOREVER, as I am always doing a 1000 things at once - and my knitting and crocheting always seem to fall by the wayside.

Here is a blanket I've worked on, off and on, for the past couple of years!!LOL You can't tell by the picture, because its rolled up and sitting on my dining room table - but this thing is huge. When I started it, it was supposed to be for a king size bed - but now that I'm thinking of downsizing to a Double or Queen .. I'm stuck with this mammoth blanket - that I'm determined to finish this winter.

Busy Weekend!!

Hi All!

This weekend was a pretty busy one - creatively at least. I worked on a painting project, I finally worked on this blanket I've been crocheting forEVER ... and I finally had a breakthrough, creatively, and did a scrapbook page!! My first one!



Tiare over at Classy Scraps has some great forums. Classy Scraps and Scraps of Color. Tiare also has LOTS going on other than her forums. She has Classy Coordinates monthly kits, monthly challenges, sketch-a-day club, books....shall I go on?? LOL It's she and her wonderful forums that gave me the nudge I needed to start seriously scrappin and not just doing my cards.

Now, I doubt scrapbooking will ever totally replace my love of painting ... but it's a fun and relaxing thing to do when I'm having a painters block.

Mom, What Is A Typewriter?

A recent convo went like this between my son and his father.

Dad:

"You know, back when I was young - we weren't so fortunate as to have video games, computers ...shoot - we were lucky to even have a typewriter!"

Our Son:

"A what??"

Complete silence, as I imagined the stunned look on my husband's face.

"Mom, what is a typewriter?"

Whaaaaaat????

I couldn't believe my son asked me that.

"Are you serious?" I asked.

"Uhhhh...yeah"

Well ... I am not the world's biggest packrat for anything!!!! I've been lugging around my G'pa's old typewriter ... the one that my husband long since gave up begging me to sell on EBAY or Etsy.

I gave him that LOOK ... and he went to get it.



My son was SHOCKED!!LOL ... now I did explain that this thing was an antique ... that the one I used in college was more the norm of what we had "back in the day". My son was still fascinated that this thing even worked!!ROFL ... and he played with it for a good hour.



...I won't even tell you the hilarity that ensued when we showed him actual records and a record player which we had stored in the attic!!

My Recycling is Catching On!!

Okay ... while my son was gathering the supplies he wanted to make his Thank You card, I noticed when he was finished, he set aside the acrylic blocks ...



but did not put them back into the case.



After he finished his card, I walked into the kitchen, reminding him to put the things away ... and he said ... OKAAAAAY. You know, the kind of "OK" that tells you they did something THEIR way, and not YOUR way?

Well, by the time I got back into the livingroom - he'd long gone but he left something on the table which made me smile:



It's catching on!!!...

Chip Off The Momma Block

My son and I do a lot of things together. We exercise (Wii Fit), we cook (can't have my son not knowing how to cook his own food and do his own laundry) ... and we craft. My son has always been my little helper when it came to painting. He has basecoated projects for me and been my most honest critic. Now, as I dabble in paper he is always interested to see what I am doing ... and to my surprise, when he received 25.00 from his Uncle for doing so well with his music (he made area band this year)- he told me he NEEDED to make a Thank You card.

He had specifications though ... no flowers, no flowers, no flowers!!LOL Since he shares his love of the drums with my brother, he said he had to find something JUST RIGHT ... so off he went to look through my stamps.

...and look what he did!! I'm so proud of him.

Organizing Using Recyled Stuff

Okay ... I figure I'd start off 2010 with a purpose (no not a resolution), and that is to start sharing some of the little things I do to help not just myself, but my son to organize our little knick knacks.

Do you recognize what these containers are?


Still can't guess???

My hodgepodge of Twinkling H20's and paint daubers are sitting pretty in what used to hold plastic utensils!!

So THIS:


Became THIS:




And THIS:



Became something my son can't do without:

Happy New Year..,Let's Get Creative!!

I hope everyone had a safe but wonderful New Year celebration. For me, I was content to sit at my dining table and make some cards, while my son was playing on his video game console.