summer of color 2014

will be in full force next Monday (June 9th)!  I played along last year for the first time and hope to be able to play each week this year, too. 

Check out Kristin's blog for all the details.  And, I hope you will join in the fun!

Yellow Swap for March:

Linda's monthly swap is such a nice one.  My card and tag and yellow stash was sent to Bev in PA:

Spring will be here soon and it was a welcome change to make something with spring colors and themes in mind. I used pretty patterned papers, pieces of doilies, die cuts, clipart images, ribbon and glitter on the card and tag.  I put the card/envelope into a paper doily that had been folded to hold them.

Here are the things I sent along to Bev:

 

I didn't have very many yellow things to choose from, but I hope Bev likes what she got!

Thanks for visiting!

red, red and more red!

This month the theme for A Swap for all Seasons was to make a Valentine card and tag and send some red destash.  Here is the card and tag I sent to May:

 

I love to find vintage Valentines and use them for cards.  Everything is layered on some red foil paper and a white base card.  I had some vintage square paper doilies and also used a gold foil doily that I got at Ben Franklin's. A red satin ribbon bow and small gold heart were added.  The tag is from a clip art sheet that I mounted on red cardstock and added some stickles, ribbon loops and a gold heart. 

Here are the red items I sent along:



Just a few things, but hopefully May will find a use for them.

Thank you, Linda, for another month of enjoyment. 

randon acts of kindness and a GIVEAWAY!

 -

This is something that I found while visiting Jo's blog: JO MURRAY - ART.  I would like to offer the same kind of giveaway to five people, too.  Here is how it works:

The first five people to comment on this post on my blog that they want to play, will received from me something in this calendar year.  A random gift - something artsy or art related; handmade or store bought - but who knows what??

There will be NO warning and it will be sent to you whenever the mood strikes!

SO WHAT'S THE CATCH?

If you decide to participate, you MUST make this same offer on your blog, facebook page or other social media and randomly send a gift to five other people.

If you are one of my first five commenters, I will need to ask for your postal address.  I will post the list of my five people as soon as I have them.

If you are on the list you will need to e-mail me your address.  Please DO NOT post it here on my blog for the world to see.

If you are not going to follow through and send five gifts of your own, then please don't comment as it's not fair to others.

This is supposed to be fun and give us a treat in the mailbox instead of just bills and junk mail.

No, I am NOT collecting your email and postal address for evil purposes.  I will ONLY be using the information to post your surprise. And, this is open to anyone; you do not have to live in the USA.

SURPRISE ME!  A comment from someone I haven't heard from for awhile will do so.

Let's have some fun through the mail this year!

two ATC's

that I made recently.  This one is for the monthly lottery at Paper Traders:

The background was created with rubber stamps.  A clipart image and found phrases were then added.  Washi tape and small gems finished it off.

This is one I made and sent as an RAK to an online friend:

The background was made by using distress inks on a craft sheet.  More clip art and washi tape.  A rubber stamp was used to add the speckles.  (Sorry for the poor photo!_

Thanks for visiting.

journal 52 week one

Chelle Stein is giving a free art journal prompt workshop which will run for the entire year.  I decided to join this group and hope I can actually do a journal page each week. This week's prompt was Up, Up and Away:

I used monoprints made on my Gelli Plate for a lot of the images on this page.  I drew the clouds and flower free hand and cut them from some of the prints.  The bird is a Stampers Anonymous stamp,the quote is from Inkadinkadoo and the letters are from DCWV.  I used Dylusions spray inks for the background and added some dots through a stencil with transparent modeling paste.  A splatter stamp was used to add some interest.

I am not very good at this art journal thing, but it will be fun to see what transpires over the year.  Hopefully I can stick to it.  :)

Thanks for visiting.

january blue swap

This month's theme for A Swap for All Seasons was Thinking of You.  We were to make a card and a tag and also send some blue stash to one of the gals who signed up.

My card and tag are similar in nature (pardon the pun).  The bird image on the card was taken from the latest issue of Somerset Studio; they usually have some very nice clipart that I love using for cards or collages.  I also made an envelope for the card that matches the tag. 

Since my favorite color is blue, I had a lot of things to choose from to send to Pam in Arizona!

Looking forward to the February swap now - thanks to Linda Smith for hosting this very enjoyable swap.

December ATC for Paper Traders WTA

Hello, friends -

This will be my last post here until the new year.  I will be leaving for Colorado next week and have lots to do before that happens.

Here is my ATC for the Paper Traders December lottery:

I used a paint chip for the background.  A simple collage with elements from various collage sheets and other ephemera.  I love this sassy image and I do imagine that she is a very free spirit!! 

May the holidays bring many blessings to you and yours and may 2014 be a healthy and happy year for you!

Thanks for visiting!

december green swap

Here's what I got for the December green swap (A Swap for All Seasons) from Becky.  First the card and tag:

I love all of the fun details on these beauties!!  Becky did a lot of stitching on them and the background of the tag is so textured and pretty. 

And, here are the wonderful goodies she sent:

I love everything, Becky!  Thanks so very much.  I am currently working on what I will be sending out to Pam for January.  I need to get it done and ready to go before I leave for Denver on the 19th.

Thanks to Linda for hosting this swap! 

A Swap for All Seasons

This is my first time participating in this swap.  We were to make a Christmas card and tag and send along some green stash to our recipient.  Here is a photo of my card and tag:

I forgot to take a photo of the green items I sent to Linda.  Perhaps she will share. 

Thanks to Linda Smith at A Swap for All Seasons for such a fun swap.  I definitely want to do this again!

NOVEMBER LOTTERY ATC

Here is my ATC for this month's lottery at the Paper Traders Yahoo group.  I was hoping I could get one made before the month was over and I finally did.

The image and faux postage stamp are from ArtChix Studio.  I created my background by white embossing an Impression Obsession stamp and adding distress inks over it.  The snowflake punches are from Martha Stewart and the crown punch is from EK Success.  I added sequins with gems in the middle and some blue chenille trim.  The title is computer generated. 

Sure would love to win this lottery - there are some fabulous creations there this month!

flat artys

The Paper Traders Yahoo group has a lot of fun swaps.  Cathy Calamas is currently hosting a 4 for 4 ATC swap for "flat artys".

The ATC's must have only one layer with no 3D embellishments.  I used rubber stamps, distress inks, colored pencils and Stickles glitter to create mine.  Am looking forward to seeing the four ATC's I will get back from this swap!

book pages and an ATC

Here are some book pages for my local swap with two friends.  First, two Paris pages for Renee:

This is the front of the page.  Renee's favorite color is pink.  Here is the back page:

On both sides, I used a lot of rubber stamps and rubons, too, along with some washi tape.

Here are the two Halloween pages for Maureen.
The front:

And, the back:

Pretty spooky, if I do say so myself.  I had a lot of ArtChix Studio items that I used on these pages.  I am not a fan of Halloween, but Maureen is, in a big way.  She always has her house, yard and barn decked out for the whole month and culminates it with a huge Halloween bash every year. 

For the Paper Traders Yahoo group monthly lottery, I made this ATC:

Sprayed with Dylusions ink, sponged through a stencil and then stamped.  If I am lucky, I may win some fabulous ATC's from the other gals this month. 

Have a great day!

Magenta ATC swap

This month, Magenta sponsored an ATC swap.  We were given a swap partner and were to make four ATC's using Magenta stamps to send to our partner.  Here are the ones I sent to Mariette in The Netherlands:

I used several different stamps on each ATC.  Most of them were older stamps but I did use a few new stamps that I recently won from Magenta. I enjoyed making these very much and hope there will be more swaps in the future.

Thanks for visiting!








 

ATC's for Krisha

The Paper Traders Yahoo group had a swap your stuff swap, one on one.  I received a great assortment of things from Krisha in California.  We were to make two ATC's with some of the items we received and send back to our partner.  Here are the two I made for Krisha:

The background paper, images and black sparkly ribbon were sent by Krisha.  I added some rubber stamping, orange and black gems and some orange glitter glue.  She has let me know that she received these, so I am posting them now.  I will post the ones she sends to me when they arrive.

ATC for Paper Traders monthly lottery

Each month the Paper Traders Yahoo group sponsors an ATC lottery.  Submit an ATC and one person from those who submitted will win all of the cards for that month.  Here is mine for September:

I decided to do a Halloween one.  Most of the images were cut from ArtChix Studio collage sheets or faux postage sheets.  I cut the numbers with a Memory Box die.  The tiny hat on the crow was cut from orange paper and Stickles glitter was added in some places.

Enjoy your day!

manila envelope journal swap

The Paper Traders Yahoo group sponsored a one for one manila envelope journal swap.  My partner is Lillian in Canada.  Here is the journal I sent to her:

I used gesso to cover the whole envelope and then added some torn paper strips and pieces of doilies to add texture.  Then I used paints, inks, stencils, bubble wrap and rubber stamps randomly until I liked the results.

Here is the inside front cover:

And the inside back cover:

And the back:

Vintage seam binding was tied around the whole journal - a generous length to allow for expansion.  Five sheets of Bristol board paper were folded in half to make the signature which was sewn into the cover with waxed thread. 

Since this is the first ever journal I have made in this fashion, it was an interesting process and one that I will do again sometime.

If you are interested in joining the Paper Traders Yahoo group, click on the button on my sidebar to learn more. 

Thanks for stopping by!

altered postcard exchange

Hello!  Inspiration Avenue sponsored an altered postcard swap and I just finished mine.  We were to use actual postcards, old or new, to alter in any way we wanted. Here are mine:

I will be sending these three postcards to three separate people and I will received three back from three other people.  Can't wait to see them!

Here is a photo of the backs, which we were to alter also. 

I really had fun doing these and like the way they turned out.  The beach scene is my favorite one!

Have a great day!

another ATC swap for Paper Traders

The theme for this 6-for-6 ATC swap is "Wings & Things". 

I decided to use a butterfly with this clipart image to, in a subtle way, reference the metamorphosis of a blossoming young lady transitioning into womanhood.  The background was made by misting water over an ATC cut from watercolor paper. Then I brushed distress inks over the paper until I was happy with the blended colors.  After the inks had dried, I used a Magenta crackle stamp to add some more texture to the background.  Strips of text were torn from an old book (1925), distressed along the edges and added to the bottom.  The images were also distressed with ink before adhering them. A Martha Stewart punch was used for the butterflies.  Two tiny gems were added to each of them.  The words were computer generated.   

It will be fun to receive some more tiny ATC treasures in my mailbox!

another page for Renee's book

My friends and I were unable to meet on the second Wednesday of August for our book page exchange, so we met this past week.  Here is the front of the page I did for Renee:

And, here is the back:

Pretty simple pages using a freebie collage sheet I have had for awhile.  The background patterned paper was purchased at a local craft store along with the fluffy flower.  I love placing a piece of mica over an image.  This time I roughly cut it into a heart shape for this pretty gal.  I used some rubons, a sentiment stamp and lots of glitter on the front page.  On the back, I used a punched fleur de lis, some braided trim and more glitter!!

Have a great weekend!