black and tan's enjoyed with good friends...a fine way to spend a chilly day and close out 2007.
I love the way this photo came out. I think it's postcard worthy. If anyone has a phrase or quote that might work well with these beers, please post a comment to share.
my girl is really no longer a baby in any way. she's four now! and so sweet and smart and kind and silly and funny. it seems like everyday she does or says something that totally blows me away. I really miss being able to stay home with her. she'll be off to school before I know it.
I gave my parents an 8x10 print of the photo above for christmas and have a 4x6 on my desk at work. she's such a great subject. It's really not hard to take great photos of someone so beautiful
this was part of a private swap with RoseHips. she loves mermaids. I knew I wanted to do an ornament, and had several ideas on how to pull it off. after several unsuccessful attempts, I came up with this:
I am happy with how it turned out.
I'm in the January Coloriffic Swap-O-Rama Swap and the theme is black. It was hard for me to envision what I would include in my package at first. Then after a trip to Hobby Lobby, I had a vision...and a ton of really cool black goodies. It turned out to be sort of a vintage/French feeling going on.
You must include at least one handmade item. I randomly was assigned the same partner that I got in December, so I didn't want to send another felt ornie (my current crafting staple). I had bought some nice heavy & textured blank black notecards and envies on sale at Michael's a while back, so I decided I'd do handmade notecards. I was inspired by the beautiful cards Spiced Coffee sent to me in the November Couleurs De Vie swap:
see bottom right corner
So I decided to take some of my flower photos and convert them to black and white. I added some inspiring quote and placed a print order with flickr. My first one. I opted for the mail service rather than picking up the prints in Target, as you can only get matte prints via mail service. I prefer matte prints enough to wait the ridiculously long 7-10 days for standard delivery.
...when I dipped back into crafting via 1001 journals, postcardx.net, and swap-bot.com I kept seeing ATC everywhere and I had no clue what it was. I had to google it.
an ATC is an Artist Trading Card. It's 2.5" x 3.5", just like a standard sports trading card. Only difference is they represent you in an artistic sense. They are like a combo of a mini canvas and a business card. They are always supposed to be traded, never sold (although there is another type ACEO or something that people do sell for $3-10 a piece). The concept is to meet other artists and trade cards while networking.
I've only had the chance to trade ATC's through the mail. I've heard of large ATC's meet ups. Maybe I'll do that some day.
I've not really made too many ATC's though. My first few didn't really seem worthy of photographing. I've probably made about 10-15 of them.
Here are the most recent, for an "Anything French" swap:
the 2 on the bottom went to the swap host, and the two on top to another swapper
And the one's before that:
this is one of my all time faves so far. went to Lily Lemon, which is fitting, as I received my first and some of my favorite ATC's from her.
this one went to FerretLady.
so they are getting better. I have a couple of ATC swaps I need to get cracking on. they are nice because I can finish one or maybe two in a few hours.
so I created my first real embroidery project and sent it off in a swap. well the package went AWOL and was never received. I felt so bad and irritated too. so I created a replacement swap. the funny thing is, this project was obviously more polished. maybe it was a good thing the first one got lost in the mail. lol.
the swap theme was cranberry, cocoa, sage green, and golden yellow. i embroidered a floral design incorporating those colors and used the piece as a sleeve for a blank journal. I incorporated golden yellow beads into the floral design.
I am really pleased with how it came out. I am looking forward to the next embroidery project. My only trouble is the back of my work is so sloppy! I don't have the patience to tie things off as much as I should, so the backsides are anything but pretty. also, embroidering has made me realize I need to get my eyes checked. lol.
i transformed another of the $0.25 wooden bird cutouts into a pretty little ornament. this one is for my November Couluers de Vie swap. the theme was black, grass green, and bright pink.
the whole swap I sent