More Swaps

I've been having fun with my creative swaps.  Even tho I've not done as many as I hoped, I've done at least one set a month.  This batch I'm going to show you comes in all sorts of sizes.

Back in January I showed you my snowman for a post card (6x4) swap.

Here are the 4 post cards I received back:

Then in February there was the Artist Trading Card (3x2.5) swap with the theme "Sealed With A Kiss" (the creative piece had to feature a set of 'kissy lips').

My ATC.

And the ones I got back...

My last swap to show is from April.  It was a new size for me; an 'inchie'.  Each tiny little creative piece is only one inch square.  The theme was 'one word affirmations'.

This is mine.

Here are the 12 that came to me:

Sturdy -- Joy-Full -- You -- Gentle

This -- Beautiful -- Loved -- Exquisite

Curious -- Important -- Enough -- Good

Swapping a Cuppa

March was time for the spring tea swap at The Enchanting Rose blog  http://theenchantingrose.blogspot.com/ . 

Here is the swap I sent out to Jill in NC.

It started with the antique tea cup with a dogwood pattern that I found at an estate sale.  There were two and I kept the other for myself.  And to go with it, I put in this dogwood iron piece that was made by a blacksmith friend.  

I enclosed a box of my favorite chai and a cinnamon candle.  Finally I put in a note pad with ladybugs... as what is more spring than the annual spring ladybug invasion?  LOL 

And I am so happy to see that Jill enjoyed her parcel... 

https://blessingsofastayathomemom.blogspot.com/2017/04/tea-cup-exchange-reveal.html

And here is the package I received from Anne in CO.

I absolutely love the beautiful tea cup.  It's my favorite shade of teal.  The box of tea she enclosed is a new one for me...mint and lemon verbena.  It's very good; so relaxing to sip.  All the goodies she sent were so nice... in fact, there are a couple missing from the photo.  A square of dark chocolate disappeared very quickly and a lip balm from Celestial Seasonings is in my purse.

Thank you so much Anne!

Altered Card Deck Swap is In!

Remember a few weeks ago I showed you the 56 tiny watercolor paintings I did for a swap?

Here are the cards I received back for the swap!

These nine are my favorites.

Handmade stamp on fabric, then hand colored.

Multi layered.

Watercolor

Handmade flower.

Mixed media

Sewn fabric pocket

Glitter in netting

Mixed media photo

So dainty!

Mixed media

Art and Craft in January

January has been a great start for my creative New Year of 2017!  I've been cooking, doing makeovers, and working on my KonMari project. I've also raised the bar on my creative arts and crafts.  Classes, workshops, challenge groups, and fun in my studio all play part.

I did a canvas painting workshop with the 'Red, White, and Blue' group.  My painting is called "Northern Lights over the Koyukuk River".

And a short time later I did another night sky at a free painting class at Michaels' craft store.  It's called "Blue Moon Over The Mountains".

I played around sketching copies of the rooster off my grandmother's "Poppy Cock" plates.  I did four them on backgrounds with Chinese writing.  I call the series "Year of the Red Rooster".

I had some fun with a post card swap with the theme of "snowman".

And I attended an interesting workshop on making bath salts (or scrubs) using essential oils.  The salts smell SO good!

I think I've gotten my routines pretty well in place this month so I'm looking forward to being able to add more creativity next month!

Wanna Swap?

As part of my plan to become more creative, I have joined up with a couple of groups that does 'small art' swaps.  I've done three so far.

The first was what is called an "Artist Trading Card".  It's a take off of baseball trading cards, the same size.  Very tiny art.  

In this swap it is a deck of cards, you make 54 cards and get the same back...all made by different people.  The theme for this swap was "Travel".    The above where the cards I made.

And here are the beautiful set of cards I got back!

The next swap was Christmas ornaments.  I made these 3 needle felted hearts...

...and received these three lovelies to hang on my tree.

The last swap I did was a post card swap.  The challenge was to use our favorite color.

This beautiful trio are what came back to me.

I'm keeping my swaps in an album so I can admire them and use them for new ideas/techniques.  (I'll put photos of my ornaments in so I can remember them).

If anyone is interested in these groups, email me and I will give you the information to hook up with them.

KM Studio - Paper Supplies and a Christmas Swap

Studio KonMari continues with the paper crafting area which is this little built in closet.  This is 'after' shot.- the 'before' was just too frightening to photo.  Uff-da!  

But after a few hours of sorting it is nice and neat.  There wasn't too much I culled as "stash" is very important to creating.  Really... it's true.  That's what I tell Himself all the time.

The top two shelves have my paper.  Yes, I use pages from all those books for creative projects.

This area has my embellishments of all sorts, plus a bit of oversize storage.

And this top section has tags, stickers, and protective sheets.  The bottom section is tools - 'sharps', stamps and ink pads, chalks, etc.

Just after I finished it, one of the creative groups I'm a part of (paper crafting) had a "Christmas Swap".  The swap was 4 papers, 4 'stickies', and 4 embellishment things.

I sent these 4 papers, 4 big rolls of Washi tape, and for embellishments a rubber stamp, a metal tag, a frame and an overlay.

And I received all this in return.  Wow.

Care for a Cuppa?

Two things I really enjoy are a cup of hot tea and doing swaps.  Stephanie at the blog "The Enchanting Rose" ( http://theenchantingrose.blogspot.com/ ) hosts a tea cup and mug swap twice a year.  I just missed the one on the spring so I waited all summer to get in on the September swap.

The basics of the swap are you decide if you want to do a tea cup and saucer or a mug.  You can do both which is what I decided to do.  After the cut off date, Stephanie assigns swap partners and you put together a lovely little gift to be sent to your person.  A different person will have your name.  You mail by a certain date and enjoy the parcel you receive.

This is the parcel I put together for the 'mug' swap.

And here is what I did for the 'tea cup & saucer' swap.

Both of my swap partners are named Amy.  I hope they liked their packages.

For the tea cup, I was sent this lovely parcel from Freida.

The cup and saucer are so unusual!  I love them.  Those tea towels are adorable and are brightening my kitchen.  The little "Harvest" sign is going to be incorporated into a Thanksgiving vignette.  And the Werther's...ummmmmm!

Thank you so much Freida.

However, my mug swap didn't work out.  I'll leave it at that.

I am already planning to join in the Spring swap.  Maybe I'll see you there?