11 Things You Didn't Know About Me!

I joined this swap in one of my Facebook groups and we had to send our partner 10 different items showing something about our self that the other person may not know.  I thought it was going to be really difficult to come up with 10 things, but it wasn't, and I actually came up with 11. To put all of these goodies together to send to my partner I created a bag and loaded it with everything.

Birds & An Octopus!

"Design-a-Dog Bone" Open Media Swap

So, this was an interesting swap.  This was a open media swap with the end result being a 6" or 8" dog bone.  I haven't had a dog of my own since I was a teenager and someone stole that one.  We did own a dog in Colorado, but it ended up being "psycho" and we had to give it back to the original owner.

These were fun to make and I broke out my Gloss Mod Podge to create the background out of some random paper I had lying around.  Then I cut each dog bone out and added doggie stickers.  I outlined each item and added swirls and dots with my white gel pen and metallic gel pens.

I took my awl and punched holes around each dog bone after I glued another piece of cardstock to the back of each bone.  Once all the bones had holes I took embroidery floss and "stitched" around each bone.  They might look simple, but in reality it took me like two days to make these.  I'm happy with how they turned out and am possibly going to make some for myself.

I'm also thinking about hosting a swap for Cat Paws!

Dragonflies and Butterflies Swap

Collage/Mixed media only!

Progressive Dinner Party-SOUPs 'N SALADs

HandDrawn/HandPainted "A Face, Fowl, & a Fruit Color Palette" Swap

ATCs: Hand Drawn/Hand Painted "Stained Glass" Swap!

I hosted this swap and made a psd file to send to Admin for adding to AFA's Swap Gallery.  I had alot of returns that I was able to keep and made it from some of those.  Kind of a bummer that I could only use 24 of the over 30 cards I received, but I think it worked out well.

JAMing with kiddos swap III - The other 2 cards

Mountains at Night - My daughter drew the mountains, clouds, and stars. My husband added the river, sidewalk, and finished off the mountain. I added everything else!

Smiley Girl - My daughter drew the girls face, hair, and sun . My husband added the neck, shirt, and smiley pin. I added everything else!

My 9 yo wanted to color in these two, so I let her!

JAMing with kiddos swap III - 2 of 4 cards

What is a JAM ATC you may be asking.  Well, “JAM - A JAM Card is an ATC worked on by more than one artist. Each person adds to the card, leaving room for others to add on. The card is then passed on to the next person...”

My husband and I took our 9 year old daughter to Braum's last night for ice cream and while we were sitting there we worked on four cards for this swap.  She started and worked on one for two minutes, then my husband would work on it for two minutes, and then I would finish the card up in two minutes.

Then last night I painstakingly went over each one with a black fine permanent marker.  I colored in the two I am posting now and she is going to color in the other two.  I'll post those when she is finished coloring them in.

 

Fun in the sun! - My daughter drew the Palm tree, line for sand, sun, clouds, and words "fun in the sun!".  My husband added the sail boat and starfish.  I added everything else, including the leaves for the palm tree!

Sleeping Cat - My daughter drew the sleeping cat.  My husband added the ball of yarn and stripes on the cat.  I added everything else!

KID Friendly Swap: Summer

I get so excited when ATCs for All! has KID friendly swaps and so does my 9 year old.  This particular swap is going to be awesome as the participation includes an elementary class.  My daughter thought really hard as to what she wanted to do on each card and I printed her out some "Summer" type images to help encourage her imagination.  The end result was the following and I am so proud of her.

1) Catching Butterflies, 2) Summer Picnic, 3) Summer Time, and 4) Moonlight Camping

Flower Swap - Due April 25th

Paper Doll Swap: Mary Lou

I'm not sure when Magnetic Mary Lou dolls came out, but  I do remember playing with something similar in the 70's.  I held a swap based on the original Magnetic Mary Lou doll, where everyone needed to create three dolls using the "fashions" from the boxed dolls.  I provided links to various places, so they could actually see the fashions.  I even found a box set being sold somewhere for $70.00.

I didn't get many players, so I created three dolls myself to include for swapping.

 

In The Style of Tim Burton Swap

Wow, I am so sorry.  I can't believe it has been over a month since I posted last.  I'll catch up with other swaps later, but I really wanted to post this about the "In the Style of Tim Burton Swap".  I love Tim Burton's work and I figured that what better way to honor him then to try and draw something he has in his website gallery.  Three of the ATCs I did were from his gallery and the fourth one was based on the his character from his art display at MoMA.

For those that are not aware; MoMA stands for Museum of Modern Art.

I figured out that Tim Burton does alot of art with stitches, black and white checkers, and spirals.  I am really partial to the flowers he does with cactus bases!

Color Palette I Purple/Blue/Green

 I never really join the "color palette" swaps, because you can use very little black or white and the main portion of the artist trading card (ATC) has to be the colors listed.  However, I really like the colors purple, blue, and green.  This was going to be a challenge for me and I had to think outside the box.  What could I do that would allow me to use all three colors while incorporating little to no black and white. 

I decided to break out the watercolors and start there.  I took three ATC sized watercolor cards and started to paint the three colors on the cards without really thinking about form.  When I was done I walked away, so when I came back it would be with new perspective.

When I returned to the cards; I was excited to see some type of form or shape and immediately broke out the glitter and metallic markers to start adding the needed flare for each card.

Needless to say, I was both pleased and impressed that I could actually handle doing a color palette ATC without alot of strain on the brain.

Getting Down with the Freaky!

This is Toby the wanna-be house elf. Please do not mistake him for his "perfect" brother Doby the house elf. Toby was born with one side longer than the other and his eyesight wasn't perfect either. Toby loves to party and is really looking forward to turning over some new leaves with this upcoming 2012 year. He loves walks in the bog and absolutely hates house work. Aside from the rather severe tooth malformations he really is a handsome guy. Toby is not sure yet what is wearing for the upcoming New Year's Eve party, but he is considering a couple of different options.

I totally don't have the gory, gruesome, or grotesque kind of mind, but I do like the weird and wacky when it comes to creatures.  So, I signed up for the the Dolls: Freaky Deaky New Year's Swap and this is my second doll I have made so far.

Next is Alexander the poison dart frog.   Alexander kills an average of 10 people a year. He never gets invited to parties and when he finally does, he brings his own darts. If you decide to chance playing a game with him beware; very few have lived to tell anyone about it and if you miss his dart board that has been painted on his stomach; he gets a free throw at you!

As soon as I get the other two done I will share those with you all as well!

Art Dolls Holiday Characters Swap!

Here are the other three characters I finished for the Art Dolls Holiday Characters Swap.  Oh yeah,  I ordered some more "brads" in different colors to help add some flair to my future Paper Dolls.  They are time consuming to make, but I love how they turn out and sometimes I just don't want to see them go.  That is why I keep them in my gallery at ATC's For All! and on my computer.

First up we have The True Mrs. Jingle.  She is an elf that use to be a giant!  You see, the swap only allowed for dolls under nine inches and when I first made her, well, she was 10.5 inches tall.  I had to crop her legs and arms to decrease her height.  I still think she turned out super cool though.

Next, we have Jacquilene-in-the-box.  People always do "Jack" and I thought I would put my little twist and make this fun box toy a girl.  She was alot of fun to make and she slides from left to right, which is kind of different for a "doll", but definitely worth the outcome.

Finally, we have the Spirit of Christmas Present.  We were watching the Muppet Christmas Carol and I forgot how amazing the human puppet for this character was.  I fell in love with him all over again and decided that he would be my fourth and final paper doll for this swap.

Still on the Paper Doll Kick!

I finally made my last paper doll for the Art Dolls: Holiday Characters -- Due Jan 10, 2012. I know they aren't due until January 10th, but when I get into something I can't do anything besides just that and I am obsessed with getting something done.  I wanted to post my Leprachuan Steve because I wanted to show you all how just using a white gel pen to highlight my characters.  I am often amazed at how a small thing like a white gel pen can make such a difference.

All of my Art Dolls can be found in my Gallery at ATC's For All!

Before Highlights

 

After Highlights

SpOoKy HaLLowEeN Paper Doll Swap

Here are my paper dolls for the SpOoKy HaLLowEen Paper Doll Swap at ATC's for All!

Trudy Disturbed

Jack O'Fire

Voodoo Medusa

Missy Dreadful

Freaky Frida

My 1st Time Doing a Pick-A-Theme (PAT) Swap

I am learning alot about trading different types of art on ATCs For All! and my recent venture was a Pick-A-Theme swap.  There is so much to learn and not enough time in any given day.  The PAT works like this:

1. There are a number of "groups" with a particular type of art style assigned.
2. There are up to 5 people in each "group" and they each pick a theme.
3. Then you have to make a card for each of the other people in whatever "theme" they choose.

Example:
This was the group I was in for the Mid-October PAT swap!

Group 1 ~ Hand Drawn/Painted ~ Easy Themes ~ FULL
1 tlsexton0913 ~ Flowers (This is me, so I should get 4 cards with Flowers)
2 Robin ~ Dragonflies
3 bernie712 ~ Crabs or Witches
4 arlie707 ~Rabbits
5 ghillietoes42 ~ Pandas

These are the cards that I Hand Drew for each of the participants.  Can you guess which card is for who?

Grandma Cheatwood's Pecan Pie Recipe

I am totally having a blast over at ATCs for All with the PIF Recipe Card Swap.  This particular recipe came from my Great, Great Grandma Cheatwood.  It is her famous pecan pie and the secret is that instead of using 1 cup of either dark or light Karo Syrup, you use a 1/2 cup of each.  I've had many a pie and none have compared to this recipe!

This also my dad's favorite recipe and I used to make it at Thanksgiving when we lived near my parents.  I'd always ask what kind of pie he wanted and this is the only one he ever chose.