The theme this month at A Swap for All Seasons was "Thinking of You" and the color was blue. I knew right away that I wanted to use these pretty old greeting card images. I love these blue birds and they show up so often on these old cards. I can't pass up old greeting cards when I see them in my favorite thrift stores...the colors and images just grab me. I hope Jan likes them too!
And here are my de-stash items...a few vintage blue goodies along with a yo-yo brooch.
Sign-ups begin tomorrow for the February swap so if you'd like to play along stop by A Swap for All Seasons and see what the fun's all about!
Now, look at the lovely things I received from Lorraine. Her card and tag are so pretty and look at the fun de-stash treats she sent. De-lightful!
For the December Swap at A Swap for All Seasons the theme was Happy Holidays and the color was green. For this round I got to treat Marie from Spun By Me. Be sure to stop over at Marie's blog and take a look at all the lovely things she's been crafting for the holidays! I've always loved the artwork of Ellen Clapsaddle so I chose two of her images for my card and tag. I'm sure you might recognize her images as she was one of the most successful female illustrators of her day and her art was featured on greeting cards and postcards in the early 1900s. Sadly, she had a very tragic end but her art lived on to be enjoyed worldwide to this day. I still find her postcards in antiques stores and thrift shops now and then. Here is my card and tag. I forgot to take a picture of the stash items I sent but I hope Marie enjoys them. Another love of mine is mail art so I couldn't help spiffing up the package!
Now, the next best thing to giving is receiving so I have to share with you what I received from my partner Joy. Here is her lovely card and tag. The photo just doesn't do them justice though because there is such a pretty sparkle and shimmer on them that the camera (or my poor photographic skills) can't capture. I love them! And I'm going to have so much fun with the green stash items she sent me...they're perfect for some last minute Christmas craft projects I have planned. Thank you Joy!
If you'd like to join us Linda is accepting sign-ups for the next swap. Just take a look at A Swap for all Seasons to see what the color and theme with be for January!
The November swap theme at A Swap for All Seasons
was Birthday and the color was Brown. Along with one card and one tag
we were to send one brown de-stash item to our swap partners. I've
always loved Holly Hobbie so I chose these "Holly inspired" images to
use for my card and tag. There's something simple and whimsical about
these images that always make me smile. Inspired by the colorful
pinafores often worn by the Holly Hobbie girls, my de-stash item is one
of my yo-yo brooches made from vintage calico. Sign-ups for the
December swap begin today...if you'd like to join in the fun go take a look!
My old swapping buddy Linda Smith recently resurrected one of my favorite swaps of all times...her wonderful A Swap for All Seasons.
This time around she's holding a monthly swap featuring three
things...a handmade tag, a handmade card and one de-stash item. With a
different theme for each month it's bound to be a year of great
swapping! During the month Linda shares ideas related to each theme,
examples of cards and tags and even holds a giveaway. Lucky me...I was
the winner of the giveaway this month!
November's Brown Giveaway
It's too late to join in the November swap but sign ups for the December swap begin on November 1st so be sure to stop by and take a look.
I was recently invited to join an ATC swap with the theme "Put a Heart on It." It's been a long time since I made an ATC so I wasn't sure I'd even remember how to do it! Silly me! I had packed up most of my crafty paper supplies so I had to look around and use what I could find. A page from an old book, a bit of paper napkin, an old ticket, a button from my sewing basket and some cardboard off a box that came in the mail. Pretty simple but so fun to do. Now I remember why I love playing with paper!
Finding out that my job has been eliminated, looking for a new job and trying to decide if I even want another job has me feeling a bit "lifted by the ribs" these days. Some days I feel fine about what's happening, some days I feel angry and some days just helpless.
Some Days
Some days I put the people in their places at the table,
bend their legs at the knees,
if they come with that feature,
and fix them into the tiny wooden chairs.
All afternoon, they face one another,
the man in the brown suit,
the woman in the blue dress,
perfectly motionless, perfectly behaved.
But other days,
I am the one who is lifted up by the ribs,
then lowered into the dining room of a dollhouse
to sit with the others at the long table.
Very funny,
but how would you like it
if you never knew from one day to the next
if you were going to spend it
striding around like a vivid god,
your shoulders in the clouds,
or sitting down there amidst the wallpaper,
staring straight ahead with your little plastic face?
BUT, you'll definitely feel refreshed, inspired and full of possibilities. You might
even find yourself humming a little hum. And you'll feel thankful.
Thankful for this day and the memory that you'll keep in your pocket to
pull out and look at until you can find yourself setting off on another trail on another lovely day.
I saw this today on Poppytalk and had to share it because it makes me so happy watching it! I love old retro patterns and this is just too funny. My favorite part is the little head nod from the girl in the back...oh yeah!
I'm participating in a sweet little project called Love Notes Postcard Project. It was dreamed up by Jennifer Belthoff and you can read all about it on the Love Notes site. Who wouldn't wanted to receive some love in the mail? If you'd like to...go take a look!
At work we throw away several small operator's manuals each day...they're included in every box of kits we open. I was looking at one the other day and decided it would be the perfect size for a small journal. So, I took one home, glued every other page together, gessoed the pages, added a light wash of paint to each spread and a cover and here it is...a handy little junk journal! For the cover I used a page out of a 1906 book called Health and Home. Reading it I realized that the "essential" things haven't changed much in the past 107 years! Here's a copy of the image I used...feel free to use it in your own journal.
