ATC swap

The new group I hooked up with on The Trodden Path,  had a swap for ATCs with the theme of winged children.      So I signed up, and made three little ATCs which got sent off to Australia yesterday.    I'll post pics of what I receive when they arrive.       In the meantime, here is a quick shot of the ones I made.

Next thing I signed up for is a 20 minute painting challenge.  The rules are:   Get paints and stuff ready.  Set the timer.   Paint away.  When timer goes off, stop.    Take a picture of it and submit it to their web gallery.    Sounds like a fun exercise.      There is no theme, so it can be a painting of any old thing.        

Saying goodbye to an era of online group

Cloth Paper Studio is an online group I've belonged to for years and years.    It is closing up shop as the  owners/list moms are moving on in their lives to other things.    

They are receiving many nice notes from other artists and craftspeople, quilters, felters, beaders, etc. who found a happy home with them for many years.   I am sure they know how grateful we all are for their encouragement, their chiding and teasing, their good humor and sense of fun, as well as the forum they provided for easy exchanges of ideas, techniques, and information.    It's been a great ride.     May first is the closing day, and I for one will be raising a toast to them for the pleasure they brought to me daily online.

Over the years many of the online groups have closed, some because they were related to a particularly hot trend in the altered arts world, and it just plays itself out - and some we just don't know why the interest waned.      This is one group that had so many  varied interests, it always was jumping from one thing to another - and every month at least, I would come away with a new idea, or way of doing something.     You know when we put our heads together, we learn a lot from each other.     One idea leads to another.  And the photos and links to other sites led me to places I never would have visited.     Here is a huge THANKS to Diane, Rachel, Wendy and Sue.     The best group leaders ever.   Now we will have to keep up with each other through the blogs and other new media.   

 I guess it's true the one unchanging thing in the world is change.    It always happens.   Sometimes it makes me sad.   On the other hand, it makes me move forward.    I just joined Trodden  Path, which is a relatively new online group, and immediately came across Evie in Scotland.     An old friend I met through the Cloth Paper Studio group years ago, and whose work I have collected.     Now we are in an ATC swap together.     Here is one of the little cards I just made for my partner.  The theme is winged children.

Good mail days

I've had such a busy week, with art, and dentists, and the Lodi Grape Festival - I thought I"d better take some time out and post some art for you. I was in a recent swap in the Cloth Paper Studio group for ATCs with a leaf theme. Here are the ones I got in the mail. The top one is from Diane, who was the hostess, the middle is from Margaret and the lower one is from Dr Amy. I'm delighted with my new treasures which will go right into my collection as soon as I show them to my friends. thanks gals.

Swaps in the mail

I am ready to send off my leaf ATCs for a swap at Cloth Paper Studio. I just got a couple nice swaps in the mail and thought I'd share them here. The one with the words Oh oh, oh. is from Beth, one of the California Art Girls. She's the one that usually thinks up the swaps. This was a swap on words. I don't think they'll show on the screen, but there are adorable little staples scattered on the card.

The other card is from Dr. Amy in Virginia. It is part of the peel off tape "peek a boo" swap for the CPS group. I really like the way she carved the tape into wavy lines. And they blend in so well they don't even look like tape. I've only peeled up one piece so far. There are two more and I'll let friends have the fun of checking under them for a hidden message. There may not e any more words - but we'll see.

The Harlequin Romance series are post cards with most of the backgrounds painted out and adding some stamping. They'll go out soon.

Mail call again

Here are more beauties that came in the mail. I identified the pcs on the images. The ATCs are from a group swap. The paper boats on green is from Margaret Scheers, The grey satin hopscotch is from Diane Ferguson. Geogeayne Adams sent the little horse, and Cindi sent the sewing machine. Swaps can be fun. This was a good one.