Tree Swap

These are the cards I received back from the tree swap. All so different... I love them all...

"Tree of Splendor 4" by Kathy of Las Vegas

"Pine Tree" by Elaine of New Zealand

"Pine Tree" by Rhonda of California

"Daytime Moon" by Pam of Washington

"Tree of Life-Abundance" by Margaret of Arizona

"Tree #3 by Audrey

By Light Of The Moon Swap

"Midnight Magic"

"Meadow Moon"

"Forest Moon"

Getting ready to mail off the last of the cards for this year's swaps so far.... I almost cancelled out of this one.... I was kind of tapped out after the tree cards, but I'm glad I pushed through and did them. I'm excited now to get started on my tree next week...

Fun Mail Day!

Mine - "Skull In Stitches" ............. From - Martha in Maryland
This trade was the November Match. The background for Martha's tree is from melted crayon. That is kinda her specialty.... you would never guess that's what it is looking at it.... but it is so vibrant and beautiful... I am starting to accumulate an interesting tree collection...

Mine - "Standing Vigil" " ........... "Aura" - From Randi in Nashville

Randi and I have traded before. I made this tree for the Tree swap but made another one for Randi when she wanted it... I know, I'm one of those awesome accomodating people...

Mine - "Pear Tree" traded for...

"Mists Of Dawn" from Kari (pear blossom gallery) in Oregon

This card is even more outstanding irl... I'm going to get a frame for it...


With her card Kari also sent me some fun "stuff" I got so excited over it all as it is all things suited perfectly for me from someone who doesn't "know" me... some awesome little peices of fabric, beads and other embellishments and all the detail of the tree & house are paper pieced on a 1 3/4" square.... amazing... and it is just flawlessly done...

Free Motion Embroidery

I checked out this awesome book on free motion embroidery at the library this week. Not only are the images in it amazing... my sewing machine is made to do this kind of stuff.... I decided I better get some of my money's worth out of my toy that cost more than alot of used cars.

Can you believe this ocean scene is made from thread??

It also has ways of making different trees, which I really love doing so I've set aside some time every day to practice some of these techniques. So far the only thing I've really learned is that it takes ALOT of thread to make them. I could see my little shoebox of thread I inherited from mom rapidly disappearing. So not being one to deny myself much of anything I really want.... I called Melissa to see if she had any thread left from the store closing. She did.... so I took some of my carefully guarded quilt money and splurged on every color of thread she had. Now for the fun part... organizing it all and breathing in all that beautiful color...

The first atc I tried making was an underwater scene. It took me all day but it was alot of fun. I traded it to Julie, from Texas, for one of her dragons and she even worked a tree into it. I just love accomodating people.

Rainbow Swap Done!

I finished up the final 6 cards to the rainbow swap. The hardest one for me to do was the indigo (Celtic Heart) It was difficult to show a design since the fabric was so dark. I ended up highlighting the heart with a white watercolor pencil.... it gave the darker shades of the fabric an almost bronzed look. Next I'm working on a series of trees... along with organizing my project room so I can get a new quilt in the works.... I've loved making the ATC's... they are quite addicting but I really miss the quilting.... I'm afraid I'll forget how and I won't progress the way I want to with them. Such delemias... have I mentioned how much I love my life?

S
"Purple Realm"

"Celtic Heart"

"Chameleon"

"Sparkle Clouds" I know I'm real original with the names.

"Yellow Vine"

"Rainbow Speak" Or I suppose it could be called "Rainbow Vomit"

More Great Art Received

"Horses In Green & Gold" from Elaine in New Zealand

"Cabotin" by Luci from Canada

"Grape Vine" by Myrthe from the Netherlands

"Goldy Locks" another one from Myrthe

"Cherry Blossoms" by Sabrina of Canada

Rainbow Project

I joined a three-part rainbow swap. Each swap is a monochromatic piece in three different colors. By the time 6 months is up I'll have 9 cards in the colors of the rainbow. I really liked working with just one color....

"The Best Of the Garden"

"Two Orange Flowers"

(that's my original name, Brenda. It

took me hours to think of)

"A Rose Is A Rose"

I did this one where you are assigned a partner and then you make them a card based on their profile. We mutually decided to trade trees. She collects earth women so I "tried" to make her a tree in an earth woman's domain. I made it with batik fabric, wool fibers, linen thread, and then did some beading. These themed swaps are making my right brain muscles sore, but it is fun stretching their boundaries.

Art Recieved

I am starting to recieve some awesome art from the new website I'm trading at most of the time now. http://www.illustratedatcs.com/

"Looking Up" by Sharon in Canada.

She is another fiber artist. This is felted and free motion quilted. It was really fun to trade with someone who does similar things. There aren't very many of us.

"Nautilus 117" by Karen in Las Vegas, NV

She has won all sorts of awards for her art, including Artist of the Year and has clients such as Michael Jackson and Playboy. You can see more of her art at http://www.ArtWanted.com/KMS

"Pathway" by Janet of the United Kingdom. I love nature & landscapes

"Canyonlands Sunrise"

These next two are by Margaret of Arizona. You can check out her blog at http://waterblossoms.blogspot.com/ to see links to some of her other art. She's amazing and

every day posts some kind of art and a Zen type inspiring thought.

"Tuscan Sun"

"Ouster"

"Sticking One's Neck Out" I love this. How many times do you get your neck stuck in a noose by doing this.

These next three are by Cynthia of Kansas. You can see more of her art from links on her blog. http://couchart.livejournal.com/ She has a very unique and creative style.

Newest ATC's

"Flower for Ms. Garbo"

"A Winter's Day"

"Ms. Coy"

"Starting Over - Again"

I'm thinking about enlarging some of these to an 8X10 size....