TMTA - Open Your Eyes

What an interesting theme this week on TMTA...open your eyes. As a nurse, I know how the eyes technically work to see. What's more fascinating is the act of seeing and what is seen...how two people can look on the same scene and see very different things. I love this stamp by Paperbag Studios...it was so much fun to be able to use it today.

Gothic Arches - For the Birds

It's been a while since I made an arch for the weekly challenge but how could I resist a bird theme? There's something so magical about birds to me...their beauty, their grace, the music they make and their freedom in flight. Enjoy all the birds created here today. Here's my Bird Queen.

Red Lead House Swap

Here are all the house ATC's I received from the Red Lead July swap. I think they're just wonderful! I love the house shapes...there's everything from birdhouses to fairy houses, little pink houses to a house with Mrs. Beasley in the window! I'll never get tired of this subject...I think the idea of house and home strikes a chord in all of us. Thank you to Kim, Kathy, Linda, Susan, Allison, Sally, Susie, Charleen and Debi for sharing your houses with me!

SDA Fairy Swap

Here's my little house fairy. She was made for the SDA Fairy Swap hosted by Carrie Rees. I'll be sending these out in the morning. This is actually my first fairy swap...for some reason I have a hard time with the subject. I hope these will be okay! This little fairy girl is from a collage sheet by Lisa's Altered Art. You can find it here.

TMTA - Nostalgia

Life has been so hectic lately that I haven't been able to get to any of my favorite weekly challenges in ages! When I looked at the theme this week at TMTA I knew I had the perfect stamp to make a quick card. This Tim Holtz stamp practically makes a card by itself! The smaller image is from one of my favorite sheets from Time to Stamp called Photo Booth. I love this image...he's smiling right into the camera, she's a little unsure. It makes me think of my parents...my mom left home for the first time when she was 18 to elope to Florida where my dad was stationed during WWII. They were married on the base with none of their family and only a new friend of my dad as a witness.

Itty Bitty Friendship Book

Well, it was SO worth the wait! My Itty Bitty Friendship book arrived and it's just a treasure to behold! This was a swap dreamed up by Linda for the Red Lead group. There were 32 participants who each created an itty bitty friendship page the size of an ATC with room on the side for binding. Each page is just wonderful and Linda did a terriffic job of putting it together. Here are just a couple pics. You can see the whole book here if you like.

SDA July Swap

I made this ATC for the Stampin D'Amour July swap. The theme I chose this month was "beach vacation." As lovely as this bathing beauty is, she looked lonely to me...so I had to write a "wishing you were here" message on her post card. I love this swap...it's such a talented group and the ATC's have been just gorgeous! I can't wait to see what this month will bring!

Another friend...

I enjoyed using this image of these two sweet little girls so much that I just had to use it again! Here's a card I made for my local Friday night group.

A Friend's House

Here's my card for the Red Lead July Swap. The theme this month is "any kind of house." I love this sweet image...it was generously shared by chicks57 here.

Wednesday Lunch Swap

As much as I love all my online swap groups you just can't beat physically getting together with like minded women and chatting about art and ATC's, charms, techniques and everything else over lunch. I've been getting together for lunch once a month with this small group that I've just come to treasure...Grace, Lyneen, Cathy and Jo. I really look forward to seeing them...they're each so generous...there's always sharing...and they're all so talented! Here's the card I'm making to swap this week...the image is from an old greeting card I found at a garage sale last month. There's such a sweetness to the artwork on those old cards.

Red Lead June Swap

The theme for the June Red Lead swap was Americana. Here's mine...












And here are the nine I received in return...everything from the flag, to siblings, jazz, mom and apple pie. I love it!

Itty Bitty Friendship Book

Linda Smith at Red Lead has organized another book swap...she was the person behind the Spring Fatbook swap. This time the book is itty bitty...just 3.5 in tall x 2.75 in wide. There are 32 participants and the theme is Friendship. We should be receiving our books next week...I can't wait to see it! here's my page...I used an old photo of me and lambie. Even though she's my sister she'll always be the friend closest to my heart. Here's the front and back of my page...

July Inchies

Well, here is my final set of inchies for the aMUSEme 6 x 6 inchie swap. The idea was to send 6 inchies to a different partner once a month for 6 months. Margie has a grand finale of sorts up her sleeve when this last month's inchies all all swapped...I can't wait to see what she's dreamed up! These inchies are for Teri. The images are from Phenomenon1859...be sure to take a look...she has some great digital collage sheets. I love Alice in Wonderland and Through the Looking Glass so when I saw these little inchie images I just knew I had to use them!

Bird Swap

I really love bird images. I found a great stamp set from Inkadinkadoo called Birds Galore on sale recently and I used one of the stamps for this bird swap. I really loved seeing all the birds fly in when I received mine. That's one aspect of group swapping that I really love...each swap has a theme but each person will interpret it in their own unique way. Here's mine...









And here are the rest of the birdies...just click on the photo for more detail.

June Swap at SDA

Here's the card I made for the June ATC swap at SDA. We had several themes to choose from...I chose weddings because I just love this vintage wedding photo and wanted to use it again.














Here are the cards I received back...aren't they all gorgeous? Be sure to click on the picture so you can see some of the detail. This is such a talented group!


Created by:
Kris Dickinson, Julia Zieman, me
Louise Granlund, Sara Hemphill, Lyneen Jessee
Alice Hyde, Pam Sparks, Kathleen Miller

Red Lead Charm Swap

Red Lead Paperworks has started an ongoing charm swap. Anyone can join in so if you're interested just go to the Red Lead Yahoo group here and sign up. The next set of three charms is due the last day of July. These are the charms I made for this last swap. They're made out of old Scrabble tiles that I've collaged and sealed with diamond glaze. I'd seen an article on how to make them in a recent Somerset Studios Magazine. They were so easy and a lot of fun to make.

Here are the three charms I received in return from Kathy Lee, Linda Smith and Michelle Kasban...aren't they wonderful?

It' Summer!

Well, I can't believe I haven't posted for almost a month! Between Katie getting home from school, a short vacation, working, an art class, working...oh, right I said that...I've just been one busy girl! Wouldn't you love to be this girl in the canoe and spend the summer at camp? Ah well...let's all have a wonderful summer!