Tape it!

This is a "Glue it" AND a "Tape it" duo 

with lots of other hoopla thrown in for good measure.

Take a look at Artsyville's new washi tapes.

Nice, nice stuff (as in quality and gorgeousness), 

all rockin' the bestest,  coolest doodley artwork ever. 

Glue It!

Gonna give Glue it Tuesday (over at Aimee's) a whirl.

As always, great collage inspiration every week 

at Artsyville HQ.

"The box was full of books."  

Ahhh, lovely sentence!

Not sure if this one is done yet.

Give!

Here's what I been workin' on!

Feels great to design for a good cause
and really, the nicest people ever!

They've set up an account at
Washington State Employee Credit Union
for Cash and his family,
if you'd like to donate.

Spring Dance

I've been out in the garden for weeks now, despite the endless rain -
getting everything ready to go. It's still too soggy to really plant all my starts,
so I have been amusing myself with garden inspired art instead.

This month, our ATC club theme was "Technique" and
I chose to create encaustic papers and incorporate them in this Springy collage.

The final cards were printed out with the Sony Picturemate,
which produces eye-poppingly accurate colors on a high-gloss,
heavyweight paper that is nothing short of scrumptious.

It's serious tech love!
I sit in front of the Picturemate like a slot machine, printing out variations
of one image for hours (while the counter silently tallies up the ante) cha-ching!

At six bucks a sheet, I get that I am capable of inflicting some damage to my credit score
and so to encourage self control, I post a sticky note on the machine.

Nest

With Spring right around the corner, my nesting instincts are coming out. The assignment for this ATC, created for our art club swap, was to include a dictionary swatch with a definition. Tweet tweet.

Postcard Swap 2011

Here's a great opportunity to make artsy friends all around this planet of ours - iHanna's Postcard Swap.

You will create ten postcards and then get 10 back from other swappers. Lots of creativity will swirl around in mailboxes around the world, last year about 1500 postcards were created and sent! This is an international swap, everyone is welcome!

Deadline for sending

your 10 handmade postcards is April 8th!

The DIY Postcard Swap Rules

The rules are simple, but please read these rules and follow through on your part if you sign up. You will disappoint a real person if you don’t send your handmade postcards on time.

1. Join the swap by sending me your information by the 18th of March 2011. In the message field of my contact page please state in this order:

• full name,
• postal address including country (!),
• your e-mail address.

Observe: Last sign up day is 18th of March 2011!

The information sent via the contact page is sent directly to the swap organizer, iHanna, and is not posted online. I will only share your information with the 10 people who will send you your postcards. You are not signed up if you don’t include your postal address AND an email address that works. Do not send a message saying just; “I want to join”. If you don’t hear back from me within two weeks after last sign up date, check your spam folder or contact me again. Thanks.

2. Make 10 handmade postcards any style and be creative. Please, no bought postcards, instead try to be artistic with your cards! DIY = Do It Yourself, you know. You can collage, do mixed media, print your own photos, print digital collages, create flat fabric art, alter an existing postcard from your paper stash (!), paint with watercolors or acrylics, draw a mandala, make a scrapbook style card, embellish, sew, paint, embroider, etc!

3. Document and share what you make! Please feel free to scan or take photos and write about your process on your own blog or share it in the postcard flickr pool! You don’t need to have a blog to sign up, nor do you need to share but it would be nice if you took the time to be supportive in our creative community. Swapping is about being a part this awesome group of people who loves to swap too!

Thanks in advance for your support, visiting other participants, spreading creativity and leaving encouraging comments etc.

4. You will get 10 post addresses via e-mail from me in the beginning of April (not later than the 4th of April), please send your postcards as soon as you can but no later than April 8th! Those are your swap partners and you will send your postcards too these creative people. Connect, share and spread creativity into the world - that’s our slogan! They could be international swap partners or from your country (I live in Sweden).

Send your postcards in an envelope for protection or don’t use envelopes (it’s up to you), write a message on the back, add stamps - and put in a mail box! The postcards you get back will be from 10 other people! Include an email if you want to be contacted/thanked by the receiver (connect with each other!). There is a standard size to postcards in some countries - but there are no rules on the size in the swap. You are free to create what ever you want!

Now, go make some postcards!

Vintage Valentine Collage Cards

These are just some of the Postcard Valentine's I made for my "Sandbox Sistas" this year.

I started with a collage from my art journal and then added doodads to the front.

On the back, I added a few elements that fit with each of my friends.

We all made them for each other and had a great swap party - so much fun!

Poetic License

A sweet sampling of an art journal page featuring
Monsieur Walt Whitman, a personal fave of mine.

Love this guy.

I used to tote his, "Leaves of Grass" to work with me,
back when I had a stressful ad agency job
and it was like an hour of yoga.

Very calming!

Happy 2011

This happy little group was smiling up at me as I was perusing Deviantart.com.
http://www.deviantart.com/#/d37gti2

Christmas Tarts

Today is a big baking day here, as our Christmas preparations go into full swing.

First out of the oven will be heavenly Red Huckleberry tarts, made from our own huckleberries.

They've been all bundled up in the freezer since August, waiting patiently for their time to shine.

And shine they will.

These delicious little pastries are going to be front and center at tomorrow's

Holiday Brunch - for as long as they last!

The tart little Red Huckleberries (aka Bilberries, Craneberries and Whortleberries)

are prized by birds, small mammals and humans alike

and boy, do they make the best jam and tarts ever.

This photo was taken last summer, just outside my back door,

where one amazingly prolific Huckleberry bush

has grown out of the immense stump of an ancient cedar.