september atc swap

The theme for September's Blissfull ATC Swap is INDUSTRIAL. I knew that but....somewhere between the time I filed that information in my head and the time I started making my card I kept thinking of INDUSTRY.

So I set out to make my industry atc and came up with the 'Captains of Industry'. And it wasn't until I put it in the mail that I realized I was just a bit off. Sorry Wendy. I hope you both still like it.

may atc swap - movies

This was such a fun swap....actually all of them are fun! Our theme for the Blissfull ATC swap is MOVIES. I received this great 'Pinocchio' card from my swap partner Chrissy. It is just adorable and I love the way she used alcohol ink to color the canvas. It really made me smile when I opened up my little envelope. Thank you Chrissy!

For my ATC I gathered different movie related images, including a vintage French film poster. I also found a fun retro image of a movie audience wearing 3d glasses. Once I started putting it together I thought it would be fun to make 2 cards.

So I made a folder connected with a piece of old negative film.

I also used negative strips for the collage and finished it all with charcoal ink stain and silver metallic pen. I thought the 2 cards together gave it a 'widescreen' affect.

You can see more great movie ATCs at the Blissfull ATC Swap Flickr page.

♥

Don't forget to visit the Artful Bag Challenge page to see this month's lovely paper purses. And you can still enter to win my Fairy Wand giveaway. Click on the buttons on the right sidebar for details.

steampunk atc

As many of you know I participate in the Blissfull ATC Swap. Somehow my wires got crossed this month. When I got my swap partner's name from Wendy I assumed she was my ATC swap and sent my steampunk card out to her. I figured out later that she was my wand swap partner! So not only is Lynn getting a wand but she also got a surprise ATC, lol.

This was fun to make. I created a digi collage first then printed it and added inks and pastels. The tiny watch parts are from an old watch that I took apart.

My wand is on it's way so I'll post it after my swap partner gets it.

I hope your Artful Bag Challenge ATCs have been sent out by now. I'll have a Linky tool on my post on the 25th and everyone can link up their ATC posts.

february ATC swap

Time for the Blissfull ATC Swap again! This month's team is naturally, love. My partner is Michele and here is the adorable ATC she sent me.

The vintage couple is sooo sweet and I love the 'love' stamp.

Thank you Michele!

This is the one I sent her.

I printed an image from The Graphics Fairy then collaged sheet music and the banner on. I used a little angel charm I recieved from my friend Linda, then I brushed on beeswax to finish and added glitter.

Our Blissfull ATC Swap has a new Flickr group!

So you can click here to see some of our cards.

Thank you again Wendy for putting our fun swap together.

january blissfull atc swap

First Blissfull ATC swap for the year. The theme for January is

white and/or snow and my swap partner is Patti  from Treasure Barn.

Here is the beautiful card she sent me.

Love the gorgeous snow bird and how she framed

it with the soft yellow and pink.

Patti also included this little image which

I love love love!

It just made me smile and I thought of how many

of us have husbands that probably wonder the same thing.

I had to put it up on my inspiration board so I

can look at it everyday.

Thank you Patti! I love them both.

And here is the ATC I sent her.

I found this picture of a beautiful snow fox in a calendar

I just took down. The snow on the branches is

the stuff you use on miniature trees and winter villages.

I also sent Patti a little tag I made using a coffee

filter and vintage sheet music. I aged everything with

my favorite Vintage Photo distress ink pad.

You know I really love doing this ATC swap. I look forward

to working on a new theme each month and meeting

a new artist to swap with. I learn more with each one I make

and the best part is finding a little work of art

in my mailbox everymonth.

Thank you Wendy for all the work you put into making

this a great and fun swap!

Stop by Blissfull ATC Swap to see the January

cards or to play along.

Speaking of blissfull.....here is my Luna, dreaming of tuna perhaps :)

blissfull atc swap - december angels

Just a quick post to share the ATC I recieved from my Blissfull ATC swap partner Karla.I don't have a blog from Karla so there isn't a link but here is her wonderful card.

Her December ATC is also an ornament! The background is clear and the little angel is adorable. I already have it hanging in my chandelier along with other wonderful holiday treasures I recieved. Thank you Karla.

Here is my angel on recycled corrugated cardboard. I used an image from The Graphics Fairy and a page from a vintage German prayer book that was a gift from the wonderful Angelique (For The Love of Creativity).

You can see all the other angel ATCs at Blissfull ATC Swap.

blissfull atc swap

First of all I'd like to say thank you to all of you who left such lovely comments and well wishes for my little arm on my last post. You are all so sweet and I appreciate your thoughtfulness and wonderful advice. I will keep resting so I'll keep this short and sweet. Here is the ATC sent to me by my Blissfull ATC swap partner Jan from Fursdon House.

Jan's ATC celebrates all she is thankful for. I think it's beautiful and perfect for this season of thanks. Thank you Jan for sharing your wonderful art!

And here is the card I sent her. Now I didn't realize until now how much I used butterflies in my art this month! On my background, my ATC and my painting. I guess I have butterflies on my mind. Maybe it has to do with my bum arm and wanting to fly lol.

"If nothing ever changed there would be no butterflies."

Now I'm off to pack snacks and other magical goodies for the big HP movie this afternoon. We're going as soon as my son gets out of school. I can't wait to see it...oh and I'm bringing lots of tissue.

spooky monday and a 'dark' atc swap

It's another Spooky Monday Tuesday! I seem to always be a day late...or as I like to say, sometimes I just feel like I live in a different time zone! Thank you to everyone that stopped by my Halloween party. This is a mad week with my tea party coming up this Saturday too. I'm so excited. And starting to panic just a smidge as I'm farther behind than I wanted to be. But I've got my pointy hat on and I'm stirring and brewing as  fast as I can!

Here is the beautiful ATC Wendy sent me for our Blissfull ATC Swap. Our theme this month is DARK and I think this Gothic image and all the dark sparkles and elements Wendy used is perfect. Wendy is the hostess for the Blissfull ATC Swap and I'm so glad I got a chance to swap with her this time. You can see the one I sent her on her blog Blissfull Angels.

Each night my son and I add a few more things to the front of our house. Last night we did tombstones and ravens which I didn't do pictures of yet but here is what's by the garage door. There's one on each side. I started with a frosted berry wreathe and added a sunflower and black bow to it. On top is a foam cutout of an owl (from an old Martha Stewart magazine). Inside the wreathe is a tin luminarie hanging on a nail and inside that is a little battery operated tea light. I just turn it on each night for a spooky look.

Giant jack-o-lantern near the front door. I put another battery operated tea light in it instead of plugging in the light because I like the softer glow and it flickers like a real candle.

I'm also addicted to little signs!

This is Oliver. He followed me home from Michael's last week. He'll be at my Tea Party with his friend Blossom who you'll meet on Saturday.

Happy Spooky Monday!

Go and visit Wendy at Wendy's Adventures in Wonderland for more spooky fun.

P.S. Is it just me or is everyone having problems uploading images on Blogger? I can only upload one image then I have to go back to the edit post page before I can upload another one. It took me forever to do the Halloween party post! This happen to any of you guys too?

september atc swap

My atc swap group at Blissfull ATC Swap just posted out September cards. Our theme was LEAVES. I posted my partner Yvette's card earlier but I'm posting it again. She has a beautiful blog called The Charm House

I mentioned last time how gorgeous her card was in person. I love the little fairy and the beads gave it so much more dimension and texture. And I love how she used beeswax as a finish. Again I am truly inspired.

I also wanted to share the atc I sent her and show you how beautifully she photographed it. I need to take a few pointers from her I think. Yvette I learn so much from you yet again! Thank you.

I'm really enjoying creating these little atcs. It's like getting a quick creative fix. I like working with this small scale and trying to see how much or how little I can fit on it. Our next theme is DARK and even if they haven't announced our partners yet I finished it a while ago because I was so excited to make it!

atc holder challenge

Blissfull ATC Swap also held a challenge this month to create a holder for our ATCs. I have been storing mine in a paper mache 'book' which I decided to decorate for the challenge.

The inspiration for the collage came from another of my dear friends, Linda from Moments In An Eye. She recently sent me a package of collage goodies. Lovely images, stamps, trinkets and pieces of this and that.

It was like Christmas morning! I used a few of her goodies here. Linda also loves clocks and time which inspired me to use the clock images on my box as well.

Inside the 'book'.

The 'pages' are made from recycled plain brown paper bags and the pockets are pages from a great vintage book I found at a second hand book store. I love that it already came with a wonderful aged patina.

I'll eventually put a pocket on the other side as I get more ATCs. The little leaves stamp came from my September swap partner Yvette. I love it!

Each packet is made of 2 layers of folded paper that gave me a total of 4 'pages'. I can take them out and rearrange them however I like which I thought was fun.

This challenge is actually a contest so you can go over to Blissfull ATC Swap and vote for your favorite one. There are some really amazing and creative ATC holders there. Go take a look!

blissfull atc swap #2

I had an unexpected trip out of town this weekend so I'm catching up on my postings this morning. Here is a beautiful ATC from my September Blissfull ATC swap partner Yvette from The Charm House.

Our theme this month is LEAVES. Her ATC is even more beautiful in person. I love the image of the fairy and the the rich  colors of autumn she used.  And the glass beads and leaves are exquisite. She also used a layer of beeswax as a final finish which gave the card this wonderful texture and look. I'm really inspired by her work. You can see more of it at her blog.

Detail of beads and leaves.

The ATC also came in this lovely little box which I think she might have made as well. And she even included a few autumn goodies with the card! Thank you Yvette.

blissfull atc swap #1

I participated in my first real ATC swap this month at Blissfull ATC Swap and today I received my first card. My swap partner is Angela from Sew Loquacious (love that name). Angela has a fabulous blog filled with lots of fun crafts and a great challenge called Rewind Week. The theme for this month's ATC is 'orange'. It also took me a while to come up with something and I couldn't decide whether to do one with the color orange or an actual orange fruit. You can see mine on Angela's blog and I'll post it here later after all the cards are in.

Here is the beautiful card Angela sent me. I love the fabric flower and how she sewed the outline of the petals. There is text from a lovely poem called 'What Is Pink?' printed on gold paper and the entire poem is also on the back of the card. It was so exciting to get my first ATC card and I can't wait for another one next month. Thank you so much Angela for a fun swap and a beautiful card.

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You can still enter to win my Romantic Homes magazine giveaway.
Just comment on Monday's post and you could win!

Today I'm grateful for...

All the wonderful friends I've made in blogland. You guys are the best!

♥