365 Project Day 180

More cards for the tape swap. Its amazing the things you can use in new and different ways!

365 Project Day 179

Here a couple of cards that I made for a swap titled "Tape-let's get sticky!" The requirement, of course, is to make the cards using one of the many techniques using tape of some kind. I made these using metal tape that you get at the hardware store. Another fun technique and I love the results. Recognize where my inspiration came from, Mom?

365 Project Day 178

Happy Birthday to me! Okay...I know I didnt take these but I thought they were perfect for today. The first is my 1st birthday and the second is my 6th birthday.

365 Project Day 177

Okay, one more for the needle felting. I tried to incorporate some beading and other details in the pieces to give them a little more texture and realized how easy it is to add things to my needle felted pieces. Everything I do adds to the joy and thrill of discovery. I'll never stop wanting to learn and do more and I'll thankfully never run out of new things to try and learn. Thank you God for art in all its forms!

365 Project Day 176

Here is another for the needle felting swap. Needle felting is really just starting to catch on here in the US so this swap and many of the people participating in it are from the UK and Scotland. To me that just makes it cooler. Not only do I get to have fun creating but my work will then go live in places I can only dream of seeing and work from those places will get to come here and live with me. How cool is that!

365 Project Day 175

Here is one I made for yet another swap. Again, this is something I havent done before. This is created with needle felting. I've done needle felting, I've just never made ATCs with it before. Needle felting is actually taking wool roving (wool that has not been spun into yarn) and using a special needle that is covered with small, very sharp barbs to bind the fibers together creating felt. Its very fun, easy and a good stress reliever. I hope to do a lot more of it because it is a very creative process with endless possibilities.

365 Project Day 174

More cards created for the Artfest. One of the coolest things about the trading, aside for all the really awesome cards I was able to trade for and all the neat people and places they came from, was finding a connection to my family history. I went to write the address on one of the envelopes I was mailing and realized that one of my cards was going to Clarion, PA. A whole branch of my mother's family lived in and around Clarion, PA and I hope someday to make a trip there for some genealogy research. What makes it so incredible is that Clarion is a tiny little place in the Western part of PA. So tiny that the chances of me hooking up with someone on a global website for ATCs and actually trading with them is pretty small. I just love the fact that one of my cards is now living there and one from there is living here with me. It really is a small world after all!

365 Project Day 173

Here is another batch of twinchies that I made for the Artfest. This is the first time I have incorporated my polymer clay work into my cards. It makes mailing a little more interesting but they were the perfect accent to the backgrounds I created.

365 Project Day 173

My first twinchies (cards that are 2 in x 2 in)

This weekend was also the weekend that AFA (ATCsforall) was having their Artfest in Indianapolis. Those of us who couldnt attend, many in other countries participated in an Art-a-thon of our own on the ATCsforall.com website. It was a challenge with all the other stuff going on but I wanted to at least complete a few things so that I could participate. I really was a lot of fun. Everyone was creating, posting their creations and trading as much and as quickly as possible over the 3 days. Even with my limited time I was able to create enough to make 9 trades. They are still coming in from as far away as Australia and Scotland so every day at the mailbox is like Christmas.

365 Project Day 172

We had such a great weekend with John and great friends from college. Some were able to come Saturday for dancing, others joined us at our house on Sunday for a cookout. We had such a great time reminiscing, laughing and enjoying the great company. We definitely need to do this more often. Really reminds me again and again how blessed I've been by the amazing people that God has brought in and out of my life.

365 Project Day 171

Our friend, John was here visiting for the weekend from North Carolina and when he is here we usually try to go dancing. We went out to what is becoming our favorite spot, Dale's Essenhaus in Walburg. Its very relaxed, family friendly and even on the hottest night its comfortable despite being an outdoor venue. They had expanded the dance floor since our last visit and had a great band that was made up of 2 bands that we all danced to at the SPJST in college. It was such a fun night.

365 Project Day 170

Okay...here is the last one for the PAT. The theme chosen was zebras. I wasnt able to figure out a way to use the circles to create this one and I was intimidated by the thought of trying to make a decent looking zebra face so I chose to depict the easier end. I actually like the way it turned out and people on the ATC site have really liked it too. It cracks people up which is exactly what I hoped it would do so I'll have to call this one a success.

365 Project Day 169

The theme for this one was cats and I again tried to use the circles from the one piece of scrapbook paper to create the form of the cat. I think the form itself turned out pretty good eventhough I'm really not totally happy with the way it turned out overall. Oh well...cant win them all!

365 Project Day 168

Another for the June PAT. This one was for the theme farmyard animals. I used a piece of scrapbook paper that I had with these cool circles on it for the sunflowers and decided to try to use it in the other cards for this PAT if I could. Makes for some surreal chickens but I like the way it turned out.

365 Project Day 167

Another card for the June PAT. This player chose sunflowers as her theme and in this group the requirement is that they be collaged. I dont do a lot of collage although I really love collaged art and hope to do more of it. This one is my favorite. I love the way it turned out.

365 Project Day 168

I'm in my office/craft room/utility room most of the day and while I'm in there I like to have music on. I used to listen to Launchcast and had, over several years, created a very eclectic station for myself. Well, as with mint Carmex, Launchcast is no more so my mom turned me on to Pandora. If you havent tried it, you should. I'm slowly creating a station that plays a wide variety of the many different kinds of music that I like and I'm still adding and changing. Mom has given me the names of songs that she thinks I would like and by adding those I get whole new genres of music that I hadnt tried before. Check it out! Its free and you may just like it.

365 Project Day 167

Why is it that the products I learn to love and depend on never last? This seems to happen often lately and the latest casualty appears to be mint carmex. I dont use anything but carmex and i love the click stick (no fingernails full of carmex anymore) but I cant seem to find it in mint anymore. Carmex is awesome, works really well but doesnt taste or smell that great. The mint stuff actually smelled good and didnt really taste bad either. I've used it for years but like so many of the products I end up liking it seems to have gone the way of the dinosaur and become extinct. I'll still use Carmex but now I'll either reek of cherry or have to deal with the taste of the regular. Ugh! Why cant they just leave my favorites alone and pick on someone else for a change.

365 Project Day 166

I just finished these cards for another PAT (pick a theme) swap. The others in my group requested mermaids, cute male gnomes with pointy red hats, potted plants and waterfowl. These are the cards I came up with for them.

365 Project Day 165

I got some wonderful pictures of Sarah and Trinity today. Trinity was being really silly but this was one that really caught just how beautiful my girls are. Both of them are just the lights of my life and I am so very blessed to share my life with them.

365 Project Day 164

My poor sad pants! I love these pants. They are my favorite and I wear them all the time. I keep patching and they keep sprouting new holes. I'll never find another pair that I like as much as these. Just makes me want to cry.

365 Project Day 163

This is my pasta machine. No, I dont make my own pasta. This little gem is one of the most necessary tools for my work with polymer clay. Without this baby all my hippos would be naked and the church would have to do without ornaments for Christmas Eve. Either that or Id just be completely crippled with arthritis and unable to make anything. Perish the thought!!

365 Project Day 162

Whenever Trinity is at our house and eating in her high chair, Buddy assumes a position close by and watches, hopeful that she will drop something for him. You can usually tell when she is done eating because she will actually start dropping things for him on purpose. He is quick to snatch anything he can, no matter what it is.

365 Project Day 161

We came back from a late night trip to the grocery store and the girls were helping me put the groceries away. Artha's favorite cereal comes in a big bag so we have a large container that we pour it into to keep it fresh. Artha poured her cereal in and then realized that she forgot to take the cup that she uses to scoop it out out first. The night was full of blond moments for both of the girls but this one was too funny not to get a picture.

365 Project Day 160

Here are the latest cards I have finished. This swap was titled "Hand drawn/Handpainted 5 Letter Words". I tried to pick words that I thought no one else would pick and that would be fun. I like the way they turned out.

365 Project Day 159

I saw this really strange bug today and although I'm not crazy about bugs this one was large and interesting so I took a picture. You cant tell here but it was about 1 1/2 inches long. Thankfully it was far enough away and just sitting there. If it had moved I would have been out of there like a shot.

365 Project Day 158

These are the cards I completed today. The theme of this swap is "Look What the Cat Dragged In" and requires there be at least one cat involved on each card. My darling Zoe was my inspiration but I'll never be able to do her justice. She is just the prettiest kitty ever!

365 Project Day 157

These are just some cards I made to send to my mom. I wanted her to have a little sunshine and know that I was thinking of her. Love you, Mom! Keep getting better so you can come home and I can come visit.

365 Project Day 156

Sarah has always been a Disney nut, esp the Princesses, and she has been training our little Trinity well. Trin can already identify all the Disney Princesses by sight and by their theme song. We sat down with her the other day to watch The Little Mermaid and were amazed to hear her singing along...and she knew all the words! I took one picture of her but the flash had her turning around, that started a quick game of peekaboo before she turned her attention back to the movie. She is just so smart! and I am not biased at all ;)

365 Project Day 155

Artha has already started receiving mail from prospective colleges and this one really jumped out at me. The Academy of Art University! She may not want to go...but heck...I do! Hmmmm....they offer online classes...in art...freakin' awesome!

365 Project Day 154

Here are just some of the wonderful cards I have received in trade for my ATCs. Each one is unique and I've gotten them from as far away as the Philippines. Getting them in the mail is like Christmas and almost as fun as making them. Not quite, but almost ;)