A "little" art...

Howdy, folks!

Looking forward to a weekend of reading and art. I've been doing so much art in my spare time that I've neglected some of the "good" reading I've been wanting to do. I've been working my way, ever-so-slowly, through Watchman Nee's The Normal Christian Life, but I'd like to get more into that. Of course, my Bible is most important, but I find myself thinking, "I'll read that when I'm really able to concentrate." You-know-who makes sure I never feel really able to concentrate, so I'll just jump in and read anyway! I also have the autobiography of George Muller which I've been looking forward to.

I just finished the Miscellaneous Mail Art PAT, so-called because there are several groups, each doing a different type of mail art. The one I'm in is for MOO's, which are tiny cards measuring 1"x2-3/4". I've done one before and swore I'd never do it again, lol! It's so hard to fit a drawing on a rectangle of those dimensions! Anyway, here are the MOO's I made. I made two cards for each group member according to the theme they chose.

Here are a couple more Faith Art cards for the Random Act of Kindness group. This is an ongoing project, so I just mail them to the host when I happen to get some made. I'm enjoying this a lot!

I also find I haven't written in my journal in ages. I'd like to start doing that again, even if only a very short entry each day. A person should be able to come up with something worthwhile to say once a day, right? It just takes a little pondering to recapture something that's worth passing along. A little goal of mine.

Well, that's all for right now. Thanks for dropping by! I'll try to get over and visit some of you this weekend.

Shalom and God's blessings on whomever passes this way. :)

Thrift store haul!

My day off began with helping Micah and the girls. A new seatbelt was needed in her van before baby Sullivan arrives (maybe in the next few weeks!). So, I followed her to the repair shop and she and the girls crowded into my car to wait for the van to be ready. We ate our drive-through lunches and the girls colored and played games on Micah's phone. We had a good time together. The mechanic is a friend of Micah's, so he gave her some good-humored ribbing about being pregnant AGAIN. He and his wife have four kids also, so he was only kidding. :)

As they drove away to do their own errands I decided to drop in and take a quick look at one of the local thrift/antique/junque shops. I ended up staying for almost 3 hours! My idea of a fun afternoon! I came away with a basketful of loot.

  

I got rid of most of my salt and pepper shaker collection before I moved, so I thought it was time to buy some more. I'm looking for cute little knick-knacks to brighten up the apartment.

  

I love this box of postcards. The artwork is inspired by matchbox cover art. I'll use these when mailing ATC's to make a sturdier package and the recipients will love the art!

 This little Santa nesting doll is in poor shape, but I love it as art. It looks cute on my desk shelf. The plaid box is lacquered and was made in India. It's in rough shape, too, but I think that gives it more charm. The lid lifts off and I'll find something to store in there!

 I bought these two frames mainly for the frames themselves. They look like something you would hang on the walls of your resort cabin. Someone put 1960-ish looking magazine pictures in the frames. But if you click on this to enlarge it you'll notice that the magazine picture doesn't go all the way to the top. Someone finished the picture at the top! I wish they would have painted the whole thing! This was something I hadn't noticed til I got it home. I'm hoping to someday make a painting or two to put in them.

 I got this because I love the illustrations. I wouldn't be above copying them for some ATC artwork!

 This funny box was filled with pretty stationary with interesting borders. I'll probably use these to wrap ATC's in. Some of the collagers among us will probably cut the borders off and use them in their collages. Or maybe I will. ;)

 

I don't know about you guys, but I read ALL of the Black Stallion books when I was about 10-12 years old. So, when I come across a copy I snap it up for my grandkids' library.

 I had sort of a souvenir theme going for a while...

 This tiny mug celebrates my Texas roots. It will sit on my desk and will eventually hold some art supplies.

 I just thought this was funny! It will work perfectly with my Keurig coffee maker!

 What can I say? I need a tea bag holder!

I also need a spoon holder...don't I?

So there you go. A lot of fun for not a lot of money.

In other news, I made this postcard for the MMH (Make Me Happy) Postcard swap. A gal asked for a painting of a mushroom. This little postcard is in the mail and bound for St. Petersburg, Russia! My first card to go to Mother Russia. I hope there's something left of the art by the time it gets there. It's sort of a funny feeling to spend time making  a painting and then to stick it bare nekked in the mail! But that's how it's done. Here's hoping she gets it okay.

 

For another Make Me Happy swap I made this ATC of a chicken.

 It's been a pleasant day off, and I'm feeling blessed! I hope you're having a good day and that you'll have a wonderful weekend!

Shalom, all!

Hummingbird wars...

This little fellow (I guess it's a fellow!) has been hogging the hummingbird feeder. He sits guard on a nearby sunflower and when other hummers come along he attacks and drives them off. He was doing this this morning and was still at it when I came home from work!  See him silhouetted against the sky?

 Here he was craning his neck to get a better look at me. You can see his ruby throat. There's a lot of dive-bombing and chattering going on. He's still doing this as I type. Little rascal!

 

This woodpecker card is for a Make Me Happy swap. I mailed it out this afternoon.

 

We also have a monthly RAK (Random Act of Kindness) that we do at my ATC website. Each month someone is nominated who could use some encouragement and support. One gal lost her husband a month or so back, so we sign up to send her a "care" package. This is a bookmark I made, along with some other things I thought she might like; art materials and such along with a note. I think about 30 people signed up, so she will get quite an avalanche of mail. It's a nice thing to be able to take part in. 

 

 This llama was for another Make Me Happy swap. In these we send a card to just one person.

 Look what just came in the mail! MK, do you suggest reading the books in order, or can they be read in any order?

 I tried to capture the sunrise. Too bad about the power lines. Oh well, it was amazingly orange!

Almost forgot! Here's my harvest so far. Well, I did have one earlier. A lot of my tomatoes had blossom end rot, but it looks like I'll get a few good ones before cold weather sets in. That's all I really wanted. Just a few fresh tomato sandwiches and some to slice and douse with Ranch dressing!

I have a hankering for a sloppy joe, so I think I'll make some!

 Thanks for dropping by!

Shalom to all.

Beatrix Potter swap...

Not much news. I'm on one of my three day mini-vacations, so I'm doing a lot of relaxing and recreating...RECreating...you know, like in recreation? Ha!

I just finished the "Potty About Beatrix Potter" swap. Potty. Is that an English term? The swap host is from the UK, so I'm assuming... Anyway, here are my cards.

Have a happy weekend! Shalom, my friends and family!

Paint on my hands...

Nope. I don't have an awesome photo of that, lol.

I bet you folks are heartily sick of looking at my artwork but, honestly, that's about all I do in my spare time. :) And I have to record it somewhere before I mail it off.

Let's see...where did I leave off? I only have one swap to show you (YAY!). This one was a little different. It's called a Rolo because you do art on Rolodex size cards which have holes punched in the bottom to make them fit on an actual Rolodex...if you can find one. My cards don't have holes because I don't own a Rolodex punch, and don't intend to get one! Anyway here are my cards for the Rolo! swap. (This was an open theme swap, so I just made whatever I felt like making. Well, I did do a little research by checking out the various people's profiles to see what type of themes they like to collect and that gave me some ideas.)

Whoops! I found another swap that I failed to post on here. Sorry! This one is called The Tenth Annual Personal Profile PAT (Pick-a-Theme). There are 40 players but we are divided up into 8 groups of 5 people. I had to make a card for each of the other four players in my group, and I had to pick a theme by reading their profile information and learning about them and their personal likes and such. It was a fun way to get to know more about a few folks. Here they are.

This was a host gift card. She likes boardgames.

 This lady is a Christian, and loves ballet. This was one of my favorite cards. I drew and re-drew those feet and I'm still not sure they're right, but I like how it turned out. :)

 This gal likes dogs and writing.

 One lady loves loteria cards. I'd never heard of them! But I can see why she does like them. They are decorated with lots of vibrant, colorful art. Are they lottery tickets? I'll have to Google that.

 The last lady is a Snoopy fan, and she lives in New Mexico.

Okay, I cheated a little. I do have more photos of cards, but these are a little different. One young lady on the ATC site is a pastor's wife in Berea, Kentucky. That's about 15 miles from where my son Josh lives, so I quickly introduced myself and got to know her. Anyway, she came up with the idea to give little pieces of art to people in need of some cheer in their lives. She asked if any of us ATC people would like to contribute some art. She was willing to trade and send us a card for each one we sent her, but most of us are just sending them without asking for a return card. (How could she possibly keep up?!? Anyway, it's the giving that's fun!) This is an ongoing thing and she will tuck these little ATC's into birthday cards and give them out in other ways. She has a lot of contacts since her husband is a pastor and knows lots of lonely folks who need a lift. Anyway, here are the ones I'm working on right now. Her one requirement was that they contain at least one word or a phrase/scripture as long as it's something positive and uplifting. I look forward to doing this for a long time!

I'll be posting finished versions of these later.

I decided to actually clear off my desk enough to do my painting there. I usually try to do it perched in my recliner leaning over to reach my paints on the side table. Not good! This was so nice!

Thanks to Jordan for this vintage makeup case. It works great to hold my acrylics and other odds and ends!

Well, if you made it this far...BRAVO! Thanks for stopping by to see what I'm up to. Blessings on your week!

Shalom!