Index Collage Art Card- Flower Theme and Puzzle Letter

 Title: Letter From a Friend Read in the Rain

This is a swap card collage made on an index card. I had made two and good thing I did so because the one I originally planned to send I "wrecked" due to using the wrong product! Put on your glasses old lady! LOL. I will keep it and "fix" it for another project or a journal. Nothing is 100% ruined.

I also had done a puzzle letter swap. That was interesting. I bought a puzzle that I think is so cute from Dollar Tree but the pieces do not interlock so even putting it together is a PITA!! I don't know how I'd be able to flip it over and write a letter on it. So I made a trip to the thrift store and found several 100 piece puzzles!! for less than I paid for the DT one. My partner likes Disney so I put together this one and it went super well and was fun to do. I hope she likes it. We keep the boxes so I have a cute picture to turn into postcards or packing material for flat items. Fun fun and win win!!!

As for the DT puzzle, I will make it but glue it right away. Maybe for a journal cover or something. It is so silly and cute! When I do so I shall share here.

Swallow the Darkness

 

This painting is entered in the Art and Mental Health art show at the Heyde Center in Chippewa Falls, WI. It is done in acrylics. The original concept came from my Composition journal I started when depression was crushing me. I took a Comp. notebook and only black sharpie and worked in it daily. When the show was announced I entered and was accepted. It isn't big, only 8x10 but it means a lot to me. One day I will do a video and show the rest of the book-if I ever create a YouTube channel.

I went to see the show after the opening so I could take my time and absorb other's pieces. It was a real eye opener! Please go to any show portraying mental health and art. You will not regret it. Each had a story even if it wasn't written. Some suffer so much they used a pseudo name as artist or no name at all. Some had no descriptions. The art was from huge original paintings by people who do it for a living down to the smallest creations from art therapy. The show truly showed the power of art and the deepness of people who struggle...or have struggled, as was shown by one family's showing of their son's work who sadly committed suicide.

It made me realize my suffering is nothing compared to others. We are all in this together!! One never knows what that person next to you is going through. Be kind.

Where Have I Been?

 

Hi all!!

Going on 10 years ago I developed a vestibular condition that causes severe vertigo. It is a condition I will live with for the rest of my life with management. It eventually cost me my health and job. I retired last year from my beloved rural mail carrier position, which was traumatic. I still am dealing with the depression and feelings of being lost but it is getting better. Art is helping in that regard. 

Being as rural as we are, friends are few and far between. Since the pandemic I have lost more friends but by joining our local Democratic group, I have gained new ones. None are artsy types though. I am still looking for that tribe.

Blogging seems to be on the outs but I thought I'd give it a go again. Thus here I am, if for nothing else but for my own record. It is interesting to see the projects I've done in the past that I have forgotten about. 

Inktober Days 1 and 2

I am participating in Inktober 2016 hosted through Artsnacks.co.  I purchased their special Inktober Artsnacks box which came with pens, a beautiful special addition drawing book, india ink, a stylus pen with nibs, a beautiful handcrafted (and ethically crafted, no animals were killed in obtaining the hair) sable brush and of course a candy :).

I am following the suggestion calendar and here are my drawings.

Day 1, FAST

 A Thelwell pony :).

Day 2, NOISY

A bellowing mama cow.  We have a stinker bull calf that keeps escaping the pasture and lounging around the hayfield.  His mother will bellow all day long for him and he of course just ignores her.  It gets really annoying after awhile.

Imprint, Hometown and Wolverines Oh My

These are two of my latest swaps I've made.  Above left is a body print that I made with rubber stamping ink and colored with watercolor.

The other is a postcard I had made back in 2014, just the woman and the wolverine.  I had put it away and when I needed a swap card I found the quote about the nature of the wolverine and knew it was just what this card needed.  It was fun to make.

Another swap I did was the "Hometown" swap where we took at least 5 photos of our hometown and sent them on.


Below is one page of my album, of our Post Office where I work.  I ended up sending 12 photos and a Polish flag postcard.  My recipient gave me a "heart" due to the envelope (on the left), not the swap LOL.

Ransom Note Postcard and "E" Postcard

My partner in the ransom note postcard said she despised anything Trump so I figured he'd be a good candidate to get me some really good cake.  :)

The letter "E" postcard was to be of something with the letter.  I thought of this right away but didn't think a giant bird eye or a human eye would look right so I just did this.  I don't know if it is to exact swap rules but she liked it and that is what matters.

A Book Themed Postcard Swap

I am always so happy when I find a postcard swap that includes handmade postcards.  This one is to be book themed and can be a store bought card or made.  I haven't any store bought that have a book as the main theme, just some with people reading.  So I did this ink and watercolor this morning to fit the bill.  I almost hate to send it directly through the mail but you know what?  It is a POSTCARD.  Yes, original art, not a print but art is meant to be shared by everyone including the postal people.

I don't know why there is such a dislike of handmade postcards.  I have received many that are wall worthy in my opinion.  If I got this one it would be a keeper for me...but then again I am a bit biased.

MEOW!!

Handmade Postcards

Two handmade postcard swaps.  First one I made over the weekend.  It is done on bristol with a stencil, spray ink, sharpie marker and an adorable kitten I found in the newspaper.  I just tossed all the elements together and hope they worked out.

The second is an older card I made but it fit the theme of "Put a Bird on It".  I loved the movie The Lone Ranger.  I mean, I saw it 6 times in the theater and every time I saw something new.  It was cute and funny, Johnny Depp really was expressive and of course there was Silver the horse who was the smartest of all!   I have a connection with ravens and crows.  I love the colors in this card, the grays, mustard yellow, black.  I kept the card because I liked it so much but now it was time to release it to the universe.

Your Naturist Self-Portrait #2

I always worry that I need to be precise in my sketches so I don't sign up for too many at once.  This one, if it took me 15 minutes it is a lot.  The song lyrics took longer.  I like how it turned out.

Your Naturist Self-Portrait #1

I don't know how accurate it is, LOL but it is done from a photo I shot of myself on my porch.  I'm getting bold in my old age :).

Your Arty Body Imprint #1

I need to do two of these for two swaps.  This is one finished one and the other I just need to embellish.  It was fun.

Abandoned Art

After YEARS of abandoning my own art I actually FOUND some yesterday!  This was lying outside our little library.  I had to bring it home to record and then I will once again release it into the wild for someone else to find :).  It is a painted tile with a hanger on back by a local artist.

When I abandon I use a pseudonym but this gal puts it all out there :)

Mail Me Some Art

Yesterday I found this little treat in my mailbox!  It is from "Mail Me Some Art" or MMSA.  I have totally been out of the mail art loop for a good 7 months.  Life got in the way.  As I was cleaning my room I came across some ATC etc. and thought "I should get back into this".  Well, look!  If the universe isn't saying "Welcome back!" I don't know who is!!!!

So in return, Greg in Georgia, is getting this postcard I made a couple years ago...

Color Themed Handmade Postcards

These are for two separate swaps for two different clubs.  Just a little simple idea, using paint chips and one of the photo cards from the paint kiosk.  Then on one I added washi tape and the other a piece of yellow rickrack.  Easy peasy yet fun to make.

Better Than a Photo Postcard

We were to take a photograph and alter it.  I had a hard time deciding and then re-read the directions and saw we could use a magazine photo if we wished.  That was an easier decision.  But then what to do?  Well, doodle I guess.  And this is what happened.

I learn something with every piece I do.  The lesson that came with this one was quit overthinking and being so darn uptight!  UGH!!

Ugly Cat Postcard

Ok first off there is no such thing as an ugly cat!

This is my rendition.  Now if I had to pick a cat that doesn't really appeal to me it would be one of those pushed in face Persian types.  I don't find them so appealing.  Rex though...just gorgeous!  Like a living sculpture.  If I ever decided to get a purebred cat that is what I'd get.  In the meantime I have "American Barn Cats", LOL.  And they are lovable!

Happy Accident

Yesterday I worked at the antique store I have a booth in.  During a down time I was straightening up behind the desk and found a stack of old magazines.  For fun I went tearing (literally) through them (hope that was ok...they were older...2011-2013) and found this full page ad.  I tore it out, brought it home and lo and behold, it matches the cover of my one journaling book.  Pretty cool.  I also have quite a few dogs, cats and some people and sayings I tore out to play with.  I need to come up with a system to organize them.

Just A Note

I made this card for a long time penpal I have just to let her know I am on hiatus for writing letters, that I need this time to go within.  I know she will understand and so I feel I can say this to her.

I grew up with an alcoholic dad.  And making matters worse I had been a daddy's girl until my brother came along and the whole dynamic shifted.  As my dad turned to alcohol more and more I just blamed everything on that.  Of course it didn't help but there was a lot more going on underneath it all.

Now that he is gone I have allowed myself to have fonder feelings for him.  I have come to realize I was a daddy's girl and I feel royally screwed out of a relationship with the man who should have taught me how men are to treat women.  Too late now and at almost 54 I am still trying to figure it out.

Awhile back I came across a book called "Daily Affirmations for Adult Children of Alcoholics".  It is almost 40 years old.  I found it while sorting one of my tubs of stuff and brought it upstairs thinking I can tear it apart and use it in my journaling.   But instead I started reading it.  Today I came across this one and it hit straight home with me.  It says...

"I am learning to avoid hurt by seeing people and situations for what they are-not for what I wish them to be."

Wow.   This is me in a nutshell.  I get frustrated when I devote my being to people only to not have it returned.  I get put out when I can't get one on one time with someone but now I know they just are either more comfortable in a group or are the type a group gathers around.  The friend I am sending this to is one of those.  I always would get so upset because I never could have her attention 100%.  I crave 1:1 but apparently she doesn't and I think I probably even turned her off.  I don't know if I come across needy or not.  One co-worker told me once that she is envious as to how calm and collected I am.  I'm like who, me???  Holy cow, if she saw what was going on inside she'd not think that at all.

We all view things through our own private lenses.  And sometimes that view is wrong.

A Collage and a Secret

Crappy Windchimes

Here is my creation for the Crappy Windchimes swap.  They work pretty good and aren't too annoying with their clanging :).  I used a jello mold, measuring cups, measuring spoons and cookie cutters, all aluminum, that I have collected over time from the thrift store.  The green beads are strung on tiger tail jewelry wire.  I then lightly spray painted the metal with green and gold.

I'd have done a few things differently but for a first try I think it turned out more ambitious than I intended.  I'm sorry to see it go and hope my person likes it.