Mail Art Received

A couple of weeks ago, in the midst of Christmas cards, bills and advertisements in our mail box, was this beautiful mail art envelope from Lenna...


And inside, there were three gorgeous postcards from the Creative Swaps Mail Art Swap...


from Rita in Wisconsin...

from Rebecca in Australia...

and from Becky in Arkansas...

Lenna worked at swapping mail art to send back that she thought we would love. I'd say she was right on with her choices for me--it felt like Christmas had arrived early and I definitely love them!!

Thanks so very much for a great swap, Lenna;) And for your incredible art, big thank you's to Lenna, Rita, Rebecca and Becky!!!

Marilyn

A Little More Christmas...

Karla hosted a lovely holiday craft day about a week or so before Christmas. We crafted and ate a delicious lunch and crafted some more! There was also an ornament exchange. Lucky me got to bring home this beauty that Beth made...I love it!!


I made this one with little girls in mind...

(front)

(back)

...so was pleased when Shawn and her daughter, Bethany received mine;)

A few more ornaments I put together for the girls in our family...


And a glimpse at our tree that I didn't get up and decorated this year until December 20th! But here it is on Christmas Eve all ready for a visit from Santa, which is what really counts, right?


It was a very merry Christmas day at our house---I hope yours was too!

Marilyn

"Your Vintage Gluebook"

Craft day at Karla's is always fun and we usually get some good crafting in too. It must be the creative surroundings of her studio and the creative energy of everyone there! On Tuesday, it was Karla, Beth, Mary and me.

I worked on a lesson from Mary's Your Vintage Gluebook Online Class.


It was lesson 8 and one I've been struggling with for weeks. The challenge was to use a photo that was less than perfect in a collage and "make it work". Thanks to that creative energy flowing and bouncing around the studio, I completed the lesson and I think it does work!

I've enjoyed the class immensely! It's self-paced and I learned a lot in nine lessons.

Lesson 1: Color in composition...



Lesson 2: Size in composition/3 piece collage...




Lesson 3: Image and pattern/2 page spread...


Lesson 4: Position in composition...


Lesson 5: Pieces in composition...


Lesson 6: Visual weight in composition...


Lesson 7: Collage with original paper only...


Lesson 8: Making it work...


Lesson 9: Making patterned papers...


This lesson was especially fun--the possibilities are incredible! If you would like to use this background I made in your own collage work, please feel free to do so.

And if you would like to see the work from others in the class, check out Your Vintage Gluebook flickr group.

Marilyn

Craft Day and Babies

We had a craft day at Karla's earlier this week.


Mary brought the "Your Vintage Gluebook" swap ATC's to sort for mailing. What an amazing sight, and how lucky was I to be there to see them all!

These are the beautiful ATC's I received in the swap...

Vintage Figments

rosalieackerson

penny4thoughts

friedaquilter

creativelenna

bleintz

Beth brought her new puppy, Button, with her. Between naps, and other necessities, he found plenty of things to do...here, he's helping Karla choose papers;)


We've missed Shawn and Bethany at recent craft days, but they were back this time with their family's newest addition, Ford! His first craft day and, at 8 weeks old, he too filled the afternoon with naps and other necessities. He's a sweet little boy! I can't believe I hardly took any pictures that day but fortunately Shawn took some, including one of Ford on this quilt I made for him...


The question now is whether he will be the productive crafter his big sister has become--Bethany was busy cutting and glueing before Shawn could unload everything from the car to the studio, lol!

Have a safe and happy July 4th!
Marilyn

Here a Swap, There a Swap...

Oh my, two weeks since my last post! Where does the time go?!

Most likely fun times spent with these two cuties...




And I've also enjoyed some time in the craft room. I made a couple of potholders for the KC Modern Quilt Guild potholder swap...

(fronts)

(backs)

We swapped them at last week's meeting and I came home with two amazing potholders!!

This one is from Jaime--isn't the fabric adorable?!


And this one is from Alex--I love the purple and gray, and the grommet!


*******************************

An ATC Swap in Mary's Your Vintage Gluebook Online Class is soon and I finished my six cards this afternoon...


This has been the best online class--Mary is an excellent instructor and shares so much information and beautiful images too! I need to show you my lesson pages, and will do that soon, but for now you can see some lovely work in the class Flickr group.

Marilyn

It was a beautiful day today...

Excellent weather for a lovely drive to Karla's and craft day!


It seems a while since the last time our regular group got together. Karla, Beth, Mary and I were there today. We missed Shawn this time...she delivered a beautiful baby boy a couple of weeks ago! And don't you know we're looking forward to when he gets to join us for the day:)

It also seems a while since I played in my gluebook, but again lucky, because that's what I had a chance to do today.


Especially fun because I've signed up for Mary's Your Vintage Gluebook Online Class and I can't wait for the first lesson on Sunday, May 16th! Nine lessons total and gorgeous images from Mary's incredible collection are provided in the cost of the class.

If it's something you'd like to try too, just go here to register and be ready to learn from a most talented collage artist!

Marilyn

Craft Day Shadow Boxes

Today, thanks to Liam's mom (who wanted me to continue with craft days) and his grandpa (who wanted that too and offered to take care of Liam), I enjoyed time with my regular crafting group at Karla's.

Vicki, (This Art That Makes Me Happy) was so nice to send several of her shadowbox die cutouts and Altered Fairies Creative Scraps to Karla for us to play with...sweet, huh?


Beth's:


Shawn's:


Mary's:


Karla's:


And mine:


What fun to craft the same project but end up with a variety of results...thanks so much, Vicki!!

Marilyn

Sweet Boy.......

I spent my days this week with this handsome young man...

...our 3 month old grandson, Liam ;)

And I get to do the same thing again next week and for seven more weeks after that...because I am the lucky grandmother providing day care for the little guy.
I love my job!

We had a great week and I'm learning quickly about the new equipment and toys available since my children were babies! Who knows how up to date I'll be by the time summer arrives:)

The change to my schedule is moving around the time I have for crafting, at least initially. But when it comes to prioritizing, there are two things I always find time for, family and creating!

Marilyn

Craft Day Tea Party Baby Shower...

...sounds fun, and it was!

On Tuesday, Shawn and Bethany and I drove out to Karla's for a craft day with Beth, and Mary (who brought all of us a pack of her French dictionary pages) and


Lauri (who also gave us lovely crafting goodies).

(And the doilies in both photos are from Shawn.)



So why the bunny ears and hats you ask?


Because it was also a Tea Party--an Alice in Wonderland Tea Party--in honor of Karla's Alice Tag Book Swap.


Complete with pretty little tea sandwiches that Shawn made :)


Karla had the table beautifully set...




...and placed a tiny little frozen charlotte doll wrapped in vintage flocked wallpaper at each seat!


The party also honored Shawn who is expecting a new addition to their family next month--she is holding a picture that Karla painted of Bethany holding her new baby brother:)


Even Karla's dog, Twinkle, dressed up for the party!

It was really a special day!!!

Marilyn