skinny swap

there is a text inspired skinny swap that a friend of mine is hosting. i wasn't quite sure what i wanted to do for it and as usual, when i sit down at my art desk, i never have a clue what i'll do. on my art desk i always have a white sheet of paper to work directly on which also in turn protects my craft sheet. i love when i get marks, paint, glue, etc on it because i love to use it in my art when it gets really messy. so when i sat down all that mess just called to me and even tho there were still some bare spots on it i used acrylic paints to paint over it and then i cut it up into my 3 x 5 pieces. i had a few text stamps i had pulled off the shelf earlier but when i saw the paper i just felt like i wanted to do a bird. so i grabbed my bird text and stamped it, then i stamped the bird and i created the bird cage around that text block so it would look like the bottom of the bird cage. it's hard to see but i sewed the bird cage bars all with gold thread. i used a punch at the bottom to replicate a piece of paper being ripped out of a book.

a bee challenge

there is an atc challenge on a private site that i'm doing on monday and the requirement is that there had to be a bee on it somewhere. this is what i came up with. there have been a few bee themed things popping up for me lately which makes me chuckle to myself because i have the worst bee phobia. every year when the warmer weather hits i swear the bees say let's head over to roc's house and terrorize her. i honestly believe that they know i'm deathly afraid of them. i know that sounds silly but there could be four of us standing outside and the bee will single me out to buzz around. i once read somewhere that when you are afraid you emit carbon which is a signal to the bees. i don't know if that's true or not but i must emit a ton of it! i now can't even go to the mailbox because there were about a dozen bees on it yesterday. i don't know what it is about the mailbox (do you think it emits carbon too?) but every single year they try to make a nest in it through out the summer. i told my husband he has to go spray it because nothing will stand in my way to collect my mail art!

inchie time

i'm hosting an inchie swap at a private site and the theme is "birds". i don't know what it is about birds but they make me smile. we have a pair of pheobes that roost on our screened in porch awning each year. they are amazing to watch as they dive in mid air to catch bugs for their babies. they are very hard workers to provide for their family and they don't like us in their territory and make it known by squawking at us like crazy. we try to be quiet when we are out there so they can do their thing and won't be afraid but we aren't too successful in that department. i can't wait to hear their babies start to chirp. last year we had wrens nest in one of my hanging geranium plants. i didn't know birds would nest in a potted plant. when i watered it from the side of the porch the babies jumped out. i panicked, felt horrible and cried. my husband and i tried to scoop them up and put them back but they were scared and kept jumping out. the mom rounded them up underneath the porch and took care of them which made me feel a teeny bit less guilty. i can't believe i was watering those babies all along! poor souls.

mermaid doll

i found a mermaid pattern on altered bits and thought i would try making one. i think it would be a great magnet. i am hosting a challenge at a
private site and hopeful that some people will sign up to make one, too.

today was a pretty productive day for art. i got to make some coasters for a swap i'm hosting. here is just one to show you a sample of what they basically look like. i love days like today where i can work uninterrupted until the dogs bark to go out. i stayed in my pajamas all day and just did art.

another challenge

i'm in a challenge for a postcard with the theme of birds and we were suppose to think of the phrase "you can't prevent the birds of sorrow from flying overhead....", etc. when we designed our card. we could use the quote or not, what ever our preference was. i've been using my sewing machine quite frequently lately. i seem to go in spurts sewing but for some reason i am very fond of the texture it adds to the artwork, not to mention it securely attaches the front to the back and makes a sturdy postcard.

queen bee

today i had a chance to work on card for a bee swap i'm participating in. i dug out my old trusty bee stamps that i got from invoke arts a year or two ago. i know some people may think stamps have no place in art, but i am quite fond of using stamps in my art work. i actually got my start in the atc world with my rubberstamps and i think that using stamps to create something pleasing to the eye is much harder than it looks. i love stamping and cutting images out and paper piecing things together, so using that technique here is the bee card i came up with.

colored pencils

it's been a long time since i did a whole piece of art in colored pencils, but i'm participating in a challenge where a postcard had to be drawn by hand and had to use pencils, pens, markers, etc. it was fun to do something different from my normal glue and paper and stamps.

and the winner is

i selected a name from a hat for the easter holiday give away. and the winner is:

Paben said...

I don't care much for ham either sis!Ron is making pulled pork this year to take to our daughters,but usually we have a turkey!I am making fruit pizza,as most of them love it!I love seeing my family and getting together,life would be dull without all that drama!lol!

congratulations!

monday madness

today was a good day because i go to spend a large amount time just on working in my art room. i finished up a journal page for a journal group i am in, altho it didn't get finished with any speediness. i had this "brilliant" idea and in my head it seemed like a good idea but when it came to fruition ...not so much. after two tries of hand sewing the middle into a slightly larger frame, and about three hours of time i finally conceded that i couldn't get it straight and i had to let it go and move on. i also managed to a postcard done for a postcard challenge on thursday with the theme of "mona lisa". since that turned out straight i'll share it with you.

an easter gift

hard to believe it's easter already. the time goes by so quickly it seems. i always spend easter with my family at my mom and dad's house. they make ham, and while that is not high on my list for the delicious factor, i really do enjoy spending some time with everyone. i hope you all remember to love someone a little extra, eat lots of chocolate and remember what the true meaning of easter is and give thanks for being alive to share in this wonderful journey we having. i want to share in the spirit of the holiday so i'm going to do another give away. if you'd like to have a chance to win this printed copy of my original postcard art please leave me a note about what you love about the easter holiday. i will pick a name next week. have a wonderful easter!

i'm in a postcard challenge and the theme is "pick 3". you have to use at least three different medium type things to your cards (ie: sewing, stamping, painting, collage, etc.). this was a great chance to use another new stamp i got at the stamp convention over the weekend.

tea party

yesterday i went to the annual stamp convention and i bought some new stamps. i left my house at 8:30am and didn't get back home until 4pm. oh my i was tired from shopping all day. i even stayed with in my budget and came home with some extra money which almost made my husband fall over in shock. quite honestly, when i really thought about it i almost fell over in shock! i love quirky stamp images for some reason and there is always this one stand in particular that i love to visit. i spent the most money at that vendor booth. i was so exhausted from shopping tho i fell asleep on the couch at 8pm and never woke up til 4am. i was wide awake so i took a shower and came down to the art room and got to work mounting the stamps and getting them cut out. i was anxious to start using them so i made a postcard for a challenge i'm in on thursday and theme is "tea".