Another Swap

(l) front view of the postcard
(r) back view of the postcard

This was a swap that I hosted called Receive your own postcard Swap. Your partner sent you bits and pieces of their favorite supplies and you made a postcard from them and sent the finished card to the owner.

The front of the card uses an image that my partner sent. I cropped the photo and edited the background. I then printed it out on a transparency. The card is layered with a blue and green wash paper (she had sent samples of these two colors). The fish is cut out of newsprint style paper. Once the overlay was applied, I put a single googlie eye on the fish.

My partner also sent a used postage stamp from Australia that featured this frog. I liked the image so much, I decided to decorate the back side of the postcard as well. I scanned the postage stamp and then edited the colors so that they would appear as a washout.

My swap partner liked her postcard very much.

Summer Swap

I am hosting a swap based on the Seasons. This swap is the second in the series and is based on Summer. The postcard on the left is my typical idea of summer colors--hot colors like yellows, reds and oranges. The background is a watercolor wash that I am calling "summer peach." It is full of light yellows with a touch of a red blush. Summer always reminds me of these colors and flying kites. The figure is a silhouette that I am developing for a book of silhouettes.

The postcard on the right is for a swap partner who does not like the color orange so I had to rethink my ideas. I have a friend that just returned from Miami and thought about those beautiful Miami nights. This is another of the silhouettes that I am developing. The sheen to the card is a product that I have been asked to evaluate. It is a Plaid product called ModPodge Sparkle. The glitter is supposed to simulate the stars over Miami.

Swap Art

Here are two postcards that I am considering for a swap based on Doodles. The card on the left is based upon a game that I developed while I was teaching. You place random dots on a page. You then connect the dots with straight lines until you have a completed "loop." You then color in the shapes (either the postive or negative space) making sure that no two colors touch each other.

The second postcard is a homage to one of my favorite websites . I visit this blog every day. For this postcard, you take a single continuous line that crosses itself. You then make pictures based on the loops. It took me several tries because my hand would not allow itself to reverse direction. Once I freed my self from this deficiency, I had something that I could work with. BTW, the little blob above Tonto is supposed to be a feather and the little blob above the cyclops is supposed to be mistletoe.

BTW, if you are interested in doodling art you can visit here or here.

Busy, Busy, Busy

I am sorry that I haven't posted in a while but I have been busy developing and making products for my etsy opening in August. I am trying to stockpile items so that I can have a successful launching and will be able to run for a while without having to worry about simultaneously posting while making product.

I am also in the middle of designing my holiday items. I know, Christmas in July, but you have to think about these things six months in advance if you want to be ready.

Working in Leather

(l) front view of leather case bound book

(r) endsheets

The goal for the Bookbinding II class was working in leather. This was my first attempt at working with leather (this project was done outside of class). It is a classic quarter bound book cased in book. The spine is a buttery-yellow leather. The crane decorative paper was from the supply that I brought back from my last trip to Japan.

The endsheets are Chinese (I think) but I figured what the heck--why not. The text block is from Hollanders and is a blank journal text block.