SDA Halloween ATC's

What a fun week I'm having. The atc's from the SDA September swap were waiting for me when I got home today...aren't they wonderful? Halloween is one of my favorite holiday themes and it's so much fun seeing the variety of interpretations...I love it! In my group there was one swapper who chose a harvest theme (there are multiple theme choices each month) and her card is the bottom right...isn't it lovely?






Kris, Alice, Louise
Lyneen, mine, Pam
Sarah, Kathleen, Julia

Message in a Bottle

I joined Lisa Vollrath's Message in a Bottle mail art project a few weeks ago and now I've received my first bottle! The bottle was sent by DaNelle in Phoenix...thank you so much DaNelle.! It was such fun getting this regular plastic water bottle in the mail...my first piece of mail art! Sadly, I was so excited to see it that I forgot to snap a photo of the bottle before I tore into it! Ah well...As you can see it was filled with all kinds of goodies...a 4x4 page, a post card, a cork, stamps, charms, collage bits, fibers, flowers, beads, metal thingies, an inchie and a playing card! How fun is that? Now, I have to make up two bottles of my own to send out. If you'd like to play just let me know and I'll include your name in one of my bottles and one day soon you'll find a message in a bottle in your mailbox too!

Artsy Autumn Swap

Here are the photos of the basket I received in the Artsy Autumn Swap...isn't it something?! This is the first round of swaps in Linda's year long A Swap for All Seasons. My swap partner for this round was Julie from CupcakeDD. She created this gorgeous basket filled with edible treats, luscious yarns, vintage goodies, a beautiful hanging card and the MOST adorable little happy baby!! Sign-ups for the next round begin on October 1 if you'd like to join in the fun!






















Isn't the Happy Baby just the cutest??



















Artsy Autumn Pendant - a gift from the hostess!

Red Lead School Days ATC's

Here are the wonderful School Days atc's I received from the Red Lead swap. I love the cards with the actual school photos on them. Doesn't Eddy Smith have the most adorable face?













Linda Smith, Liz Friedmann, Denise Mitchell
Helen Stevens, Debbie Metti, Chris Schwartz
Kim Solinas, Sally Paul, Becky F.

Mail Art

As far back as I can remember I've always loved decorating mail. Whether it was with stickers, rubber stamps or doodles I just couldn't seem to let an envelope go unadorned. I think that's one of the reasons I always buy commemorative stamps instead of the ones that come in a book...they're just more fun! I mentioned to someone that I always decorate my boxes when I send out a swap. She asked to see one so I'm posting my two latest packages. These were the boxes I sent out for the Artsy Autumn Swap...one to my partner and one with a small thank you for our hostess. I bet you decorate your boxes too, don't you??

Artsy Autumn Sneak Peek

Today is the first day of Fall and the day we're supposed to mail our packages to our swap partners in the Artsy Autumn swap. Here are my two sneak peek photos. My package is heading out to Julie at CupcakeDD. Be sure to check out her blog and her Etsy shop...she has some wonderful Halloween things! I'm off to the post office....

Catching Up

Well, I've become a little lax in my posting I see. I've been working on all kinds of things with not too much to show for it yet. Here are a few ATC's I've made for swaps and a large arch I completed for an ongoing project.











SDA September swap




















Lunch group swap





















Faustino - sorry about the glare

New ATC's

Here are two new atc's I've finished for upcoming swaps. The first one is for a "Shades of..." swap. I chose shades of black and white. I used one of the new photos I picked up recently.













The second one is for the Red Lead School Days swap. I love this boy riding his fish and thought it would be perfect on my back to school card! This cute image was generously shared here.

Spreading the Love...

Linda, a blogging and swapping friend, surprised me by nominating my blog for this award. Thank you Linda! Linda's blogs, Grace Filled Moments and A Swap for All Seasons, are filled with constant delights and inspiration! Be sure to stop by and take a look. Now, I get to nominate others...up to seven... for the same award. Here are three blogs I'd like to nominate today:

Robin's blog: A Robin's Nest
Cora's blog: Paper Flowers
Cathy's blog: MudBay Musings

Robin has a great style. Cora is so generous with her vintage images and has a new stamp line coming out soon. Cathy is a wonderfully creative artist who has just started blogging. I'm sure you'll be inspired...take a look!

Latest Thrift Store Finds

I had fun visiting some new thrift and antique stores while I was in Oregon. I saw lots of gorgeous spendy stuff that I petted but left behind. Here are a couple of photos of things that made it home with me. I love my new doll head...it's the first boy 's head for me! Charlotte and Emily will be suspicious at first I'm sure but I know they'll come to love him too! Now, what will I name him...hmmm?



New instant ancestors!