monochromatic 4x4 pick-a-theme

i recently hosted a swap at www.illustratedatcs.com that was a monochromatic 4x4 PAT. what the heck? basically as folks signed up they were put in groups of 6 and asked to pick a color. they then had to make a 4x4 piece of art for everyone in their group in the colors people had chosen. here is the art for my group:

turquoise for eraserqueen

cobalt blue for coffeelatte

red for nicci

red for cindyjob

orange for amerasu

next time i will share the beautiful art i received in return!

antler folk atc's

one of my greatest pleasures these days is hosting atc swaps on www.illustratedatcs.com and www.atcsforall.com (the 1st site is juried, the 2nd site is not). part of the fun is coming up with interesting themes that i'd like to collect. my recent obsession has been with antlered folks. you know, people with antlers. of course i know they don't really exist, but they look so awesome in art. and the cool thing is, it's easy to make antlered folk whether you are a hand drawn artist or a mixed media collage artist (like me). it's accessible.

just find some antler images online, print them out (and in my case color them), and add them to the person of your choice. antlers make anyone look striking.

what was really fun for me in make these particular cards was i also played with my other 2 obsessions: spray paint, and cool color combos--in this case yellow, aqua, and pink. to me, they mix a look of ancient times, when fairies existed, with a more modern look.

as always, i've added bits of intriguing text to further the sense of story. text is a common denominator with the majority of my art. here it is added in the background--finnish text, and then an english word or phrase. i really love how these turned out. what are some of your fave techniques?

Underloved ATC of the DAY

i made this card as part of the november monthly match up at iATC's. the idea is you sign up each month to be randomly paired up with one other person for whom you make an ATC based on themes they prefer. this card is a nick bantock inspired collaged with a bird for my partner fyrelyter. she has animals, with birds as a preference, as one of the themes she collects.

CHIRP! it's a birdie mobile!

awhile back i was involved in a swap over at amusing muses for bird shaped chunkies. chunky books, also known as fat books, are typically 4x4 pieces of art with lots of fiber and doodads added to them that are bound together with books rings (or a binding machine if you are lucky enough to have one). i have about 15 books on various themes. what was cool about this project was the shape lent itself to be something other than a book. sure, you could bind them with one ring at the top, but wouldn't something like a mobile be more fun? i thought so!

using an embroidery hoop, vintage seam binding and a hot glue gun i fashioned myself a mobile! the thing is so darn cute. right now it is hanging over my bed, we'll see how long it lasts there!

here is a look at the birds i received in the swap:




and here they are in their new mobile:



roc nicholas was the woman behind this brilliant idea and i asked her if she would mind if i hosted the same kind of swap over at atcsforall.com. the sweet lady said no problem! so come join me in making yummy birds! it's free to join the site and the swap, all i ask is you do your best work. there is a link to the template provided.

mother mary/blessed virgin mary swap

about 3 months ago i had the brilliant idea to host this swap and to host it as hand drawn. i am so glad i did. watching the most beautiful cards ever roll into my house has been such a treat. some people have the wildest notions of what mother mary looks like and i love it! although i was raised catholic i am no longer practicing, nor do i even consider myself to be a christian. my spirituality runs more along the lines of earth/goddess based crossed with hinduism, taoism, and buddhism . BUT i still have a thing for the blessed virgin. she was a prominent figure of my childhood and she represents an earthly aspect of jesus. beyond all this, mary art is simply stunning. growing up in arizona there are images of her as the virgen de guadalupe everywhere. so i challenged 30 0ther artists to join me in making art of her and in her honor. what's more, i got my mom, dotsdots on atcsforall.com, to join in. mom is a fabulous artist and she, along with others did not let me down. below you'll find a piece i did for the swap along with one of mom's. the one mom did is based on a photo of her mother, my grandmother. enjoy!

mine:


mom's:

12 Days of Christmas

Yep, it's that time again! I have to admit to loving Christmas for the sheer joy gift giving gives me. It thrills me to know I have given the perfect gift to someone. This year i was invited to join a 12 Days of Christmas Swap hosted by curbsidetreasure at AFA. The pressure was on as this swap was invite only and filled with amazing artists. The goal of the swap? To give and get a gift a day from Dec. 14 to Dec. 26. How does it work you ask? Each participant (13 of us so you can open a gift on your day) were asked to pick a day, mine is day 7, 12/20/08 we were also asked to create 12 handmade gifts for the other participants and wrap them beautifully. The gifts are then sent to curbsidetreasure who distributes them to each artist. From 12/14-12/26 we open 1 gift each day. On the 7thday the other artists in the group will open my gift which is an ________ ___________ ___________ (I'll spill the beans after the gifts have been opened!). We were each given clues as to each artists preference so we could make gifts specifically for them, or we could make the gifts all the same. What I did, as well as most of the other artists, was to make the same type of item but personalize it with the artists favorite color. My gifts have officially landed at our hosts home and any day now she will be mailing a huge package to me! Woot! Here is a sneak peack at my wrapped gifties: