An envelope from across the pond!

When I got home from work tonight there was a suspicious looking envelope on the counter...

I was a little puzzled because, although I'm involved in several ATC swaps, I wasn't expecting any cards this soon. I guess I had kind of forgotten one very special ATC swap!

WOYWW!!!

Heather, of Algera Designs, really knows how to build the suspense! Okay...what's in side?

 

A GORGEOUS card!

 

 

Inside that...a little package...and a wonderful note from Heather. Yes, your package arrived safely in the U.S. and is much treasured by this WOYWWer!

 

 

Ta-dah!! A beautiful ATC full of wonderful blingyness!

 

 

Your ATC is only the second I've ever received! It now has a place of honor in my ATC notebook.

 

 

And your card graces my bookshelves...

 

 

Thanks so much for all of the creativity you put into this beautiful gift! It is exciting to have a little piece of England here in my home. Thanks again, Heather! :)

 

Shalom!

 

 

ATC from Becky!

My very first ATC! Thanks Becky for trading with me on ATC's for All. It was so exciting getting that envelope in the mail. Here are a couple of photos...

Your card ensconced in my ATC notebook. It fills the first spot on my "ATC's Received" page!

And now your card will live in my messy art room.

Becky lives in Katy, TX near where my folks live, so we already have a lot in common, right? :) Hope we'll be doing more trades in the future, Becky! Thanks!

It's getting late, so I'm off to bed. Shalom, y'all!

WOYWW!

So, I hear that one of my WOYWW-4 ATC's has reached it's destination! Hope you enjoyed it Robyn! :)  When I receive mine I'll be sure to post pictures! How exciting!

Welcome back to my desk where I'm working on ATC's for a swap called Watercolor Trees. Right up my alley since I love trees and watercolors, TAH-DAH!  The ATC's are in the lower right of the picture.

On my computer wallpaper you will find the model for one of my ATC's. I have a fascination with pollarded willows. Go figure! My bookshelves in the background are becoming a gathering place for photos of kids, cards from them and my mom and all sorts of odds and ends that give me joy when I look at them.

 

This is an old book I bought recently from the library book sale. It's quite interesting and I'm hoping to learn something about mixing colors and coming up with the right one!

 



I just learned that my daughter has a walking/skating friend who has an Etsy shop and blog! I'd love to learn more about selling art. Have any of you had success selling through your Etsy shop? Any advice would be wonderful! This gal's blog is called Dancing Fork.  I'm sure she wouldn't mind me giving her some free advertising!

Addendum: After some playing with my watercolors this is what my four ATC's look like...so far. They still need some tweaking with pen...

 

 

 

Anyway, have a swell time visiting desks and blogs around the blogging universe. You are all an inspiration! To join the fun go to Julia's Stamping Ground blog!

Shalom!

Getting organized and making a few "cover" cards...

The whole ATC trading game has my head spinning a little just keeping track of cards being sent out and those I will be receiving sometime in the future. What to do? Get organized!

First of all a three-ring binder must be sought out. This one may look familiar. It has had many uses over the years, but hopefully it will help me keep track of things for years to come!

But what's inside? Aha... The front pocket holds some precut ATC cards, a baggy of plastic card sleeves and a little card containing my log in info for the ATC's for All website. The first page of plastic card protectors contains cards I've made for one-on-one trading. Not many...yet. The card you see in the top middle slot is actually on the second page and is one I'm working on for a group swap.

 

 

After the pages for cards to swap and cards received I have a few page protectors for lists of "Cards Sent Out"...

and "Cards I'm Expecting".  On these two pages I can keep track of swaps and I have checklists to be sure I don't forget to give itrader points or reputation points to other players and hosts. It also acts as a reminder of what I've done and how many of my cards are "out there" in the world at large. :)

 

 

After these pages I have a few pocket pages to hole odds and ends that have been scribbled on random pieces of paper. I have lots of that kind of stuff!

 

 

Since I had three ATC's to send off I decided to rev up the painting station (complete with roll of tissue for blotting) and make cover cards for the ATC's. Just a little extra protection in the mail and another excuse to make art!!

 

 

And here they are...

 



 

And here are the ATC's I'm working on for the "Books are Quotations" swap. I've done the collaging part and now I just have to print off the quotations to glue on each one. These were fun to do this afternoon!

 

 

 

 

 

And now they are safely ensconced in my ATC notebook until I can finish them...

 





So, that's what I've been doing this morning/afternoon. Hope you're having a great day!

Shalom!

WOYWW! 4th Anniversary! Yippee!

I'm posting this a little early because I work late tonight, but I wanted to be prepared for the WOYWW ATC swap! Yippee!

My desk doesn't look too messy. I've been working on ATC's for a swap that's not due until August! That's so far away! (At least I hope the summer doesn't speed by!)

I'm not fancy. I'm using an old file folder as a surface for doing mod podging/gluing. Whatever works! My handy dandy notepad contains info for the swaps I'm involved in. Where's Waldo?  Um, I mean, can you find the WOYWW button? Yup, he's still  hangin' around.

This is my watercolor "station" for the moment. I'm assuming we aren't supposed to post pics of the ATC's we're sending out to fellow WOYWWers. (Oh, wait! I see others are showing their cards! So here are mine!)

 

 

I think the second card is spoken for. This will be a lot of fun! Waiting in suspense for my card!

Have fun gawking at desks all around the globe at Julia's Stamping Ground!

Shalom!

Tiny art...

I've been enjoying doing some watercolor ATC's for the last couple of days. I don't know how everyone else does these, but this is the solution I came up with that works best for me.

For my first cards I cut them out first and then painted/color penciled/drew. That doesn't work well for me since they want to move around. Hence the boxes! Working so far! :)

Sort of a manga horse?

 

 



 I really loved doing this colorful little conch shell!

 

 So, I'm working at building up my supply of cards to trade and in the process I'm tricking myself into practicing art almost every day! (I'm so sneaky.) I have several lists of themes and subjects for cards which gives me lots of ideas. I may tackle an old car next!

 

Have a great and artful day!

 

Shalom!

 



Art day!

I spent a lot of time "doing" art and took a 4 mile walk! (See my exercise blog post here, with pics!)

I made two ATC's for the WOYWW anniversary swap next week. I only made two. One for the regular swap and I think the other one is spoken for. Not sure I'm supposed to share them yet, so...

This is another ATC I'm working on. It's not for a particular swap, but just for one-on-one trading. I like this translucent look which I'll add text over. I may try to come up with several of this style.

 

It's similar to something I've done in my scripture journal. I may have found my style! :)

It's late, so I'll say adios for now! Peace upon you.