WINNER WINNER CHICKEN DINNER!

Summer time collage supplies!

Three handmade ATC's made by me. :)

Someone approves!

Close up of the "Red" themed ATC.

This one is called "Pretty In Pink".

This one is called "Tones".

Pig Boy and Cow Boy call #3 is the winner!!

Raven wins!  Hooray...I'll send a message to you as soon as I'm done with this post. :)

 For more inspiration and swaps please visit:   ATC's For All

A great place to trade and chat and play.
 My mail art name is TangoAlphaMike look me up!

Thanks for playing everyone!

STEAMPUNK ARTIST TRADING CARDS

Working on the little steampunk teddy.  I am still really liking the "Bottle Of Ink In A Pencil" watercolor pencil.

Happy Valentine's Day! A huge thanks to all my new swap bot friends! Thanks so much for visiting my blog and leaving comments. I really appreciate all the kind words and thoughts. LOVE YOU GUYS!! xoxo

All Done!

Steampunk collage...these were harder than I thought they would be.

Not sure I am completely clear on what steampunk is?

 I sure like the idea of it.  Gears and clocks and steam and things from the late 1800s!  

ARTIST TRADING CARDS

These were hard for me!  I can see all the mistakes now that they are loaded on the blog.  Not sure what my problem was.  They took a long time and things didn't line up, glue right, dry right or look quite like I wanted when they were finished.  Really having an off couple of days art wise.  I wonder if people have those kind of days when they try an art project and then never try to do it again. 

TIM

Sorry I'm not blogging these days. I guess I do go in cycles with painting then blogging and back again. I'm trying to get some paintings done for family and the Cooper Mountian Art Fair is on Friday! We will be working on ATC's. Hooray!

I finished "Tim" and gave it to him on Friday. I think he really liked it. :) So, "Tim" (my bro) and "Denise" (my SIL) are together. Awesome!

Now some family wants acrylic paintings of trees and whatnot. I tried to paint with acrylics last night and threw a little temper tantrum. The canvas is lucky it's still paint-able. I guess I need to try again. I think I might be getting mixed up, light to dark with watercolor, dark to light with acrylic. WHO KNOWS?? GGGRRROOOWWWLLL!

MORE ATC GOOFINESS

Two more ATC's for swap-bot. I love the bird punch! I love a little touch of sparkle. Collage is fun on these little ATC's but still tricky for me on a large scale.

ARTIST TRADING CARD GOOFINESS

And still another artist trading card for swap-bot! I copied this little guy from a greeting card.

I love doing art on pages from old books. These otherwise unused, unloved and really uncared for books become one of a kind art. A little messages behind the colored pencil. So, have I convinced you it's okay to tear apart a book?

Still seems strange to do! Years ago I joined an altered book group, I never had the chance to alter a book for the group but some of the work they do is so amazing. Really unique art form!

COLLAGE ATC'S

 Here is a picture of the altered playing card collage ATC's I tried for another swap bot swap. I don't usually do collage, I really like it, however it's too time consuming for me. I rethink and rethink the design for so long I feel exhausted by the time I'm finished. I would rather draw. I need to stop signing up for swaps that aren't just drawing/painting. I'm going to get in trouble for being late! BUT, it's good to stretch yourself and try something new all the time. MUST NOT AVOID WHAT'S HARD, (I'm telling myself ) and so I better sign up for what looks interesting.

On another note, thank you to Claire http://clairesheartspace.blogspot.com/ for the wonderful Kreative Blog Award! I love your blog and I visit on a regular basis. I've already listed my 7, or rather 8 favorite things in the previous post.

Below are my seven people who deserve this award! Remember to copy the award to your blog , list seven things about you and seven people who deserve this award!

http://thingsandplacesforkids.blogspot.com/

http://worksofartbysara.blogspot.com/

http://whatsinyourdrawers.blogspot.com/

http://whatthehellwednesday.blogspot.com/

http://whimsy-girl.blogspot.com/

http://debvandetdesigns.blogspot.com/

http://thearthermit.blogspot.com/

There's my seven, you deserve it guys, enjoy!

TEDDY ONE, TWO, THREE...

These little guys were made for an ATC swap. They are drawn on paper bag material with colored pencil. The paper was thin so I used chip board to back them up. I let the chip board show through for added interest. Not everyones cup of tea, I guess. I love drawing the bears. I've never done a panda before. Panda's are my favorite right now.

DUM DUM VALENTINE ATC

This is the Valentine ATC I did for the swap on Swap-Bot. Sort of simple.



The boys are not real big on valentine's and how "lovey" the event is. They are getting to big for those Transformers or Power Ranger premade Valentine cards. So this year we went with Dum Dums and an attached tag that reads, "Valentine's are for Dum Dums." Funny. I found the idea in a magazine.

RAIN

Pen & ink, watercolor ATC done for a Nervousness swap. April showers was the theme. I used wet on wet technique which was hard to control. I wanted to keep the white on the flowers. I could have picked up some of the color off the little flowers after the paint dried but I was afraid it might look muddy.

It's still raining here in Oregon! STILL RAINING!

THE GROWING SEED

I did this pen & ink watercolor for a Nervousness swap called "April Showers". I played around with different rain effects. Turned out okay, I think.

My first grader is learning about the life cycle and processes of seeds to plants. He really appreciates this piece.

Thanks Tommy!

MAIL ART

This is an example of some of the mail art I am working on. I am a member of a few art groups that swap Deco's (mini handmade books) and ATC's (Artist Trading Cards) They are fun to make and force me to keep creating and learning new techniques.