t&t tuesday, atc swap and bizarre weather

Hello and happy Tuesday! It feels like I've been away much longer than 5 days, or maybe it's just me since I've been busy these past few days. We have been visiting family, cleaning and sprucing up the house and I'm also working on organizing my work space for the WBC blog party. And I have had to be more mindful of taking care of myself as I had to take an unexpected trip to the hospital the other week. It seems my tummy is much pickier about what I put in it nowadays.

Our bizarre weather continues here in Tomatoland. Last week we were up to 102 but today is cloudy and breezy and we may actually have some rain. Something that hasn't happened here in June since stagecoach days I think, lol.

You might have noticed my Tips & Treasures Tuesday link disappeared. I think Summer may not be the best time to start up a new linky party since most of us find ourselves spending more time with our families and less time on the computer. I'll still post my favorite tips and treasures now and then and you're more than welcome to add your own in a comment if you like.

In fact here are two favorite things I have found very useful in my art space.

I love this hanging jewelry organizer for storing all the small odds and ends that easily gets lost in my drawers. There are pockets on both sides and when I don't need it I just tuck it away between the hutch and another fixture.

Almost everything sitting on my work table spins. This is a fun and very useful holder I found in the clearance section at Marshalls. The trays stack and the top and middle ones also spin so it's easy to grab any of the little bottles and tubes. And the red rubber mats keep everything from sliding around. I got a couple of these placemats for $1 and cut them up to fit under some of my organizers since the surface on my work table is slippery. That way when Luna gets up on my table things are less likely to get knocked down.

Finally I wanted to add something regarding the Artful Bag Challenge ATC swap from April. Unfortunately not everyone received a card from their partner and this is most frustrating when your partner won't respond to emails to let you know if there might be a problem. We all sign up to do these swaps because we love sharing our art with other creative souls. It's always a thrill to receive a piece of handmade art in the mail from someone who might be a future friend. We all understand that things happen, we end up with more on our plate than we expected, and other things become more important than mailing out a tiny card, wand, doll, etc. It only takes a minute to send an email to your swap partner to let them know what's going on. Later is better than never if possible. And if it's truly impossible, then a little courtesy among artists is appreciated and a quick email to update your partner should be a no brainer. I hope this helps and thank you again to all of you who share your amazing artful bags every month.

I'll see you soon with next month's Artful Bag Challenge theme: Embellish It!