october artful bag challenge

Happy wonderful magical October!

My most favorite month of all. I just hope it doesn't go by too fast.

For this month's Artful Bag Challenge Alter It theme I decided to go with the obvious.

september artful bag challenge

Hello September and hello also to our third and final Artful Bag Challenge Playing With Paper theme! My inspiration this month came to me right away. The new copy of Better Homes and Gardens Halloween (which I posted here) had this amazing Autumn Mad Tea Party.

artful bag challenge atc swap

Thank you to all the lovely ladies who played along for the second Artful Bag Challenge ATC swap. I can't believe we just finished another round of our challenge themes. Just one more round to go.

This month I swapped cards with 2 lovely ladies and what an amazing swap it was.

These are the 2 cards I sent out.

I made a Bag Fairy for Karla and a Carpet Bag for Diane.

For each card I also made a bag to hold the card.

The ATC sits inside and the bag closes with mini magnets.

These are both made from scrapbook paper and I made up my own template.

I received both of my partners' cards today.

This package came from Diane of  Dianie Mac Designs.

I already fell in love with the Halloween colors and Diane even treated me to the season's first bag of candy corn!

If you're not familiar with Diane's work you are in for a treat. She creates wonderfully whimsical clay art with a holiday theme, especially Halloween and Christmas.

Diane created this witch bag ATC just for me! What a treat! It's truly magical and amazing. I feel so honored to receive a piece of her art. I just love it.

Thank you so much Diane!

My other swap partner is Karla from Sketchbooks ATCs Mail Art. Karla and I were ATC swap partners last December. When I was a person short for my Artful Bag ATC swap and I didn't have a partner, both she and Diane offered to swap with me.

Karla's beautiful ATC came with all these wonderful goodies, including postcards and mini pieces of handmade art.

What's amazing about Karla's ATC  is that it's actually a bag! And it opens up to reveal more treasures tucked inside. Each section is decorated with a unique design and held a little surprise!

Everything about it is feminine and sweet and makes me think of a lovely afternoon tea. Karla in fact tucked in a little bag of  Perfect Peach tea inside which I know has very special meaning for her.

Thank you so much for creating this just for me Karla.

I feel so lucky to receive 2 very special bags from 2 lovely ladies, both amazing artists. Thank you Diane and Karla for a wonderful swap.

Please feel free to link up your ATC bag post here so everyone can see your lovely creations. You're also welcome to add your photos to the Artful Bag Challenge Flickr page anytime.

I hope everyone enjoyed their swap. Thank you again for playing.

We'll be back next month for another Playing With Paper theme.

august atc swap partners

Here is the partners list for the Artful Bag Challenge ATC swap.

Amy --- Wendy

Elly -- Selma

Fran -- Victoria

JenW -- Patricia

Linda -- Penny

Tina -- Tracy

We have a total of 13 swappers so I paired everyone up except for me. I'm going to wait to see if I get any last minute sign ups so if anyone is interested in swapping just email me. I will be making a card either way.

The swappers list on the right sidebar is also a link to everyone's blog. Please get in touch with your partner and allow enough time for your ATC to arrive before the 25th. On the 25th you can post your card on your blog and link up to my ATC post. You can also add your card to our Flickr page.

I can't wait to see all your fabulous bag themed ATCs.
Thank you for playing and have fun!

Update: I had offers to swap from 2 lovely ladies and I couldn't turn either one down so I'm happily swapping with an old friend and a new one.
Thank you Karla and Diane!

august artful bag challenge atc swap

It's time for another Artful Bag Challenge ATC swap. I have a list of swappers so far (see right side bar). There is still plenty of time to sign up so just email me by Aug 4 and I will add your name to the list. I will post the partners on the 5th.

Remember your ATC should have a bag theme. How you interpret it is completely up to you. Please make sure you allow enough time for your card to reach your partner by the 25th. You can share your ATCs on your blog and on our Artful Bag Challenge Flickr page on that day.

Please also remember that if you sign up to swap you must follow through and send an ATC to your partner. Someone is looking forward to your lovely piece of art. If something comes up please contact your partner and let them know.

OK now I want to share the wonderful ATC I received from my swap partner Ana for our first swap last April. Ana lives in Brazil and owns the blog Scrap da Ana.  She creates beautiful paper art among other things and I first saw her work last year during the Paper Dress challenge.

Ana created a stamped fabric ATC on a vintage air mail envelope. She made it into a little bag with colorful beaded stems tucked inside.

This is the back.

Ana also sent me sheets of vintage pages and ephemera, air mail envelopes and a sweet little bag made in her country. I love the bright cheery colors!

And all of it came in this wonderful box she decorated. It was stuffed with ribbons, laces, doilies and all sorts of  colorful trim. It was so amazing and incredibly thoughtful and generous of her.

I have been having so much fun using these goodies in my creations. Thank you so much Ana for sharing your art and gifts.

Now whether you share a few extras with your partner is completely up to you. There is no requirement to send anything more than your ATC. Many artists love to share supplies and gifts so that again is completely up to you. My swap partner was extraordinarily generous and I just wanted to share her beautiful gifts here. 

For more details about the Artful Bag Challenge please click on the button on the right sidebar. And thank you to everyone that played along for the July theme.

Hope you had a great weekend.

p.s. Happy Birthday today to Harry Potter and JK Rowling!!

Did I tell you we have seen the movie 3 times?!

august atc swap, hp movie

Thank you everyone for your comments on my last post about my Blogger woes. I really appreciate all your suggestions and glad to hear I'm not the only one having posting issues. I think I'll keep using Chrome for now even if my text looks weird to me. At least I know it looks OK to you guys so that works for me.

Next month we are doing the second round of our ATC swap for the Artful Bag Challenge. A few people have already signed up so if you're interested in doing the swap please send me an email and let me know. I'll post the pairings on August 5.

It looks like Harry Potter DH2 is breaking all sorts of box office records. We have seen it twice and it is truly amazing. My son and I did the 2 day movie marathon last week which ended with the midnight opening of the new film. We even got fun freebies for doing the marathon (special Harry 3D glasses, hat, poster). It was so great to see all the movies on the big screen again and seeing them all back to back really made me appreciate the journey those young actors went on.

I have to say that seeing it on opening night wasn't exactly the experience I had expected. We saw it in 3D and it was amazing of course, but I think seeing it on opening night and in 3D was just a little too distracting for me. We had a great time in the theater and there was a fun party atmosphere the whole time, but I had a hard time fully immersing myself in the story. I really thought I would be in tears most of the time but I was surprised to find I never used any of the tissues I stuffed in my purse.

Even my son said he was surprised he didn't feel as sad as he thought he would be. So we spent the drive home discussing why we felt this way and came to the conclusion that although we had a great time at the marathon, all the excitement proved to be a little too distracting. I mean there was even someone in the audience who was sobbing so hard that people started giggling!

So we decided we had to go and see it again right away, which we did. This time not in 3D and during a less crowded show. Finally I was able to get into it and fully appreciate each scene and of course by the end I had gone through all my tissues. I also hope Alan Rickman gets recognized for his performance because he was absolutely brilliant.

What's next? My son wants to see the movie in D-Box. That's when you get to sit in a motion chair that moves along with the scenes in the film. A few theaters are showing DH2 with the D-Box experience (also in 3D). Now I get motion sickness at the drop of a hat, but I'm also curious to see what it's like. So I'll probably end up taking a bunch of ginger pills....which is suppose to work for motion sickness....and bring along a little brown bag just in case, lol.

Hope you're having a nice weekend!

p.s. We went to our Borders store yesterday and it made me so sad to see everything going away. I can't believe they're closing. I have wonderful memories of going to the Harry Potter midnight book releases and parties there with my little guy. It was really too much to see it all being cleared out :(

july artful bag challenge

It's round two of our Embellish It theme. That is to take an old bag you have in your collection and embellish it however you like. You can add trim, flowers, jewels, art. Make it practical and usable or turn it into a work of art.

Buried deep in my closet I unearthed this crochet style bag I got around 12 years ago. Remember when bags like The Sak where all the rage? This one is 7x9 with a really long strap so you can wear it across your body. I have no idea how I ever managed to use anything this small.

I have always loved Magnolia Pearl bags. I love the layers of texture, vintage air and bohemian gypsy style found in their entire line. I've seen several people create their own version of MP's pricey purses so for this challenge I used them for inspiration.

I went through my stash of vintage lace and thrift store doilies and attached a few to the front. Over the flap I added a tattered fabric cuff I made a few months ago after drooling over Thespa's amazing cuff over at Vintiquities Workshop. I followed her tutorial and tea dyed strips of muslin and rolled them into rosettes. Then I took apart one of my old bracelets and added a little bit of sparkle.

I also used the same blue trim to add a vintage key to the strap.

Finally I recycled the vintage floral brooch and a few ribbon rosettes I used on the first Embellish It bag I made back in March. And there you have it. My mini Magnolia Pearl inspired purse. I would really like to add long fringe around the edges to make it look even more Magnolia Pear-ish so I'll have to see what I can find at the thrift or fabric store next time.

Again I'd like to say thank you to everyone that played along in June. I love all of your wonderful altered art bags. I can't wait to see what you come up with this month. Remember anyone can still join up even if you haven't done any of the past ones. You can always catch up if you like.



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!

june artful bag challenge

We're halfway through our bag challenge already and we're once again doing the Altered Art theme. For this challenge we will take any everyday object (as along as it isn't a bag) and alter it to look like one. The last time we did this theme, you all came up with so many creative and wonderful ideas. I can't wait to see what you have this time.

Thank you to everyone who played along with the Playing With Paper theme last month. As always, all the paper purses were amazing. I'm a little behind visiting all the entries but now that I'm getting caught up on my projects, I'm going back to see the ones I missed.

For my Altered Art bag I decided to alter a plain old dvd case. It took me a few tries to come up with something that worked. I started with a fun sweet cupcake theme but couldn't get it to all work together.

I finally decided to go vintagey. First I gessoed the edges of the case then painted it vintage gold. I cut a piece of velvet remnant to fit the cover then basted the gold and wine trim around the edges. Then I went through my jewelry kit and attached a charm bracelet I made last year. And last, I added a velvet flower 'clasp' and a lenght of chain for the handle.

And now I'd love to see your altered art bag!

may artful bag challenge

Happy May everyone.

It finally really feels like Spring with the last of the Winter weather gone for good.

So much has been going on in the world the last few days. From the joyous and grand, to another heartbreaking disaster, to the truly incredible.

Prayers go to everyone affected by the tornadoes, the very best of luck to the newlyweds and a hope for peace to the families of 9/11.

Well I was one of the 2 billion people watching the Royal Wedding and being on the west coast, that was from 2am to 5am. I wanted to watch it live so I stayed up just like my mom and I did 30 years ago to watch Charles and Diana.

I filled my blue and white Laura Ashley teapot with English Breakfast tea, wore my bright pink flower head band (or should I say Alice band) and cheered along with everyone into the wee hours of the morning.

My husband, whose parents are English, had absolutely no interest in it and went straight to bed. But we did go back to our favorite pub on Sunday for fish and chips celebrated with a cupcake afterwards.

Didn't you just love all those fabulously zany hats?! I am absolutely fascinated by fascinators! Some of the ones on parade at the wedding had a life of its own. I wish we had that tradition here of wearing hats and headgear to formal events. They look like so much fun. Can you imagine?

You can probably guess where I got my inspiration for the May Artful Bag Challenge. We are back to our first theme, Playing With Paper and my bag is a fun tribute to the new Duchess of Cambridge and the spectacular colors in Westminster Abbey.

I used  gold and blue embossed paper and bright raspberry cardstock for my Royal Crown Purse (I didn't have a deep red that I liked). Embellished it with gold pen and added the crest, paper flower and ribbons.

I know I promised a wand giveaway for May Day but I admit that I'm running behind because I got caught up in all the repeat coverage of the wedding all weekend. I never got tired of watching Catherine walking up that splendid aisle and the look on Prince William's face when he finally sees her is priceless. What can I say, I'm a hopeless romantic.

So I will do my wand giveaway at the end of the week. I still have pictures to post of the wonderful wand I recieved from Lynn and also the amazing package I got from Ana for the ATC swap.

The Linky tool for your May paper purse is below. Please join us for the Artful Bag Challenge if you haven't already. The challenge is open the entire month and all you need to do is create your bag and add your post to the Linky. You can also add pictures to the Artful Bag Challenge Flickr page.

Click on the buttons at the top of the page for more details.

I can't wait to see your wonderful paper purses!

the artful bag challenge atc swap

Hello everyone! I hope you had a lovely Easter weekend. Did you have beautiful Spring weather? We had clouds, a cold breeze and a few showers here and there. Very unusual for this time of the year when we normally start to hit the 80's by now. But I'm so much more fond of cool weather and this is just fine with me.

It's time to share all the beautiful ATCs we sent and recieved. Hopefully everyone got one from their partners by now and if you haven't you can always add another post later. My wonderful swap partner, Ana, is from Brazil and she let me know that the mail there can take even longer so I know her card is on it's way.

But I can share the one I sent to her (hopefully she got it already) and right below is a Linky so you can link up your ATC post. You can also add your own ATC card to the Artful Bag Challenge group pool on Flickr. The link is at the top of the page on the right. If you haven't joined yet all you have to do is follow the steps to join up on the Flickr page and I'll add you on.

This is the ATC I made for Ana. I called it Alice's Big Bag. I used an image from my Halloween in Wonderland papers from Graphic45, colored it with pencils, pastels and ink. Then added different cut outs to embellish.

I hope you enjoyed our first Artful Bag ATC swap. Next month we start again with our first theme, Playing With Paper. I'm already looking forward to making a new paper purse and seeing what lovely ideas you come up with. Thank you to everyone who joined the swap this month.

artful bag challenge flickr group

Hello my lovely Bag Ladies! You can now share all of your Artful Bag Challenge projects on our new Flickr page. Upload pics from past themes and share with present and future bag ladies. You're welcome to share bag photos from Jan, Feb and March but kindly wait until after the ATC cards are posted on the 25th before adding pics of your April ATC.

Follow the link here to the Artful Bag Challenge group on Flickr. If you don't have a Flickr account yet you will have to open one in order to add your pics to the group pool. But it's simple and free so I hope to see you there!

ATC swap partners

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Here is the list of swap partners for the Artful Bag Challenge ATC swap. Everyone's name is listed on the sidebar and each name is a link to that person's blog. Please contact your partner to swap addresses and remember to allow enough time for international mail.

Anna -- Ana

Angela -- Wendy B

Electra -- Mrs. A

Fran -- Wendy A

Jeanie -- Tracy

Julie -- Toni

Linda -- Selma

Maryanne -- Cathy

Patricia -- Peggy

Pauline -- Penny
Jana -- Jill

We will post our cards on our blogs on the 25th and I will put up a Linky just like the ones for the previous challenges. Anyone creating a card to 'share' instead of swap can post on the 25th also. Thank you to everyone that signed up to play.

I can't wait to see your artful bag ATCs.

Have fun creating and swaping!

mom's carousel and thoughts to share

Hello dearies! Hope you had a nice weekend with even nicer weather. It was almost Summer-like here a few days ago but we are back to real Spring temps again this week. Most of the trees are leafy and green once more and before you know it we'll be back up in the 90's and 100's. Eeeuww...

I had another lovely visit with my mom this weekend. Just relaxed and helped her with errands and things. I was up early yesterday morning enjoying my buttered toast and hot cocoa while taking in the morning light. Now I have a habit of walking around while sipping my drink and chewing on a mouthful of toast. So while doing my breakfast tour around my mom's house I finally remembered that I've always wanted to take pictures of her music box carousel.

The carousel (or merry-go-round as we always called it) was actually one of the rides my stomach didn't mind too much. Although some of them would go fast enough that I was more than ready to get off during the last few spins.

But just like the rest of the carnival it's the colors and sounds that I like. If you're lucky enough to find a real vintage carousel you can see how beautifully the animals and carriages are crafted. Many are true works of art.

I admit that this is the only way I like to see animals involved in a carnival or circus. When they are not real. As much as I love the romance and nostalgia of the vintage circus I'm not a fan of seeing any live animals perform.

Sadly the circus has a history of mistreating animals and although it's getting better I still won't go to a traditional circus like Ringling Bros. I went as a child and have fond memories but the only one I will go to now is Cirque Du Soleil, where all the performers are human. I have been to several shows and they are absolutely amazing.

I am proud to say however, that my city is one of the ones committed to protecting the welfare of animal performers. A law was passed here last year requiring the inspection and monitoring of animals in shows such as Ringling Bros. A step in the right direction at least.

Not sure if the US will join other countries in banning the use of wild animals in circuses all together. China and Bolivia have done so, among others, and most recently the UK has taken steps to do the same in light of reports of animal cruelty. It's a touchy subject as performing animals have always been part of the allure of the circus. But times change so we shall see.

Speaking of circuses...

Water For Elephants opens in a few weeks and a fascinating indie documentary called Circo just opened this weekend in very few small indie theaters. Crossing my fingers that it comes here too.

And back to the Artful Bag Challenge ATC swap...

I'm so excited to see how many people have signed up to do our first ATC swap. Yay!! So far we have 19 swappers so if anyone else would like to play, I would love to have one more to make it even. I'll post the partners list tomorrow so please check back.

Off to do more PT for my shoulder again.

Hope everyone is already having a lovely Monday.