Thinking About A Change

I am thinking about changing my blog host. There are a lot of reasons for this, but mainly it's due to my lack of understanding on how to fix little layout issues that really are starting to bug me. Usually I overlook it, but today it is really frustrating.

I'm investigating my options right now. I may end up doing nothing; we'll see. Blogger IS free and you do get what you pay for. Plus, I'm only averaging about four hours of sleep a night (for some reason) and am really grumpy! If I decide to move to another site I will post my new link here and leave it up for a long time so you can make the switch, too!

OK, enough of that. Here is the third ATC I received in the Magic Key ATC swap at Artella. Isn't she cute? Such different takes on the theme!

Here is the last of the ATC's I received in the swap. Interesting, huh? The back of the card says: "Sometimes the darkness comes when I least expect it and I often look for keys to open doors I can't find. Looking for keys, searching but never finding." See? That's the cool thing about these swaps. You never know what somebody's interpretation of the them is going to be. All four cards were really a different take on "Magic Key". It made it one of the more varied swaps this year.

I started cleaning up my studio and felt too overwhelmed so I decided to come in here and post to my blog instead! I do have to get back at it so I can clear room for my next project. I think that's the part I dislike the most in all of this: cleaning up afterward. Of course, if I DID clean up afterward, I wouldn't be whining about it now! Stay tuned...

Ghouls Just Wanna Have Fun!

As you can see, the top two photos have nothing to do with the bottom two! First things first: the top two are the last of my art doll ATC's that I have sent off to the hostess! I loved the cat when I saw him and had to make a doll out of him. His face is all black glitter; that is what some of the reflection is that's glaring on the photo. The little ghoul girl was clip art that I had in a file. I just used her head and made the rest out of fabric, buttons and paper. She's kind of creepy, but it's Halloween, so she's supposed to be!

The next two cards are the part of the Secret Key ATC's I finally received today! Yay! These were a long time getting here. A few people missed the deadline, so we all had to wait. Anyway, here are two of the four.

I love seeing how each person will interpret the theme. It just shows you how creative people can be. I received four very different interpretations of "Secret Key". The first one says, "Travel is the key that helps us see". It's really nice! The artist included some really cool foreign postage stamps and part of a postcard from Hawaii.

The second one is a beautiful card on watercolor paper. Soft pastel peachy color. The back of the card reads: "I Corinthians 13:13 (NN) "And now these three remain: faith, hope and love. But the greatest of these is LOVE." Then at the bottom, she wrote: "psst...pass it on". Very Nice!

It's such a treat getting little pieces of art in the mail from people all over the country. I can't wait to see what kind of art doll ATC's I'll receive. I will post them here when they arrive. Now I have to clean up my studio because I can't even walk through it right now. Bits and scraps of paper, stickers, fabric, glue, etc. are all over the place.

Next projects to work on: 1) the Amusing Paper Doll swap (from Artella) You create 3 paper dolls in any medium you wish: 1 doll is you, 1 is your Muse, and 1 is any kind of doll you want (I think... I'll have to check on that). You get three in return. 2) My art swap with a fellow Artella artist. Still trying to get something centered around the butterfly theme, since that is what she likes. 3) My Art Journal. Hope to have a page done by tomorrow night.

I was upset to hear that the bag of ephemera that I sent PRIORITY MAIL a week ago Saturday never made it to the hostess! I paid extra money for nothing. So, I have to get another baggie of 35 items together by tomorrow and mail it out AGAIN. I'm not using priority anymore. It's a ripoff. So, regular mail will probably get there (I hope) in a reasonable time.

OK. Got that off my chest. That's all for today. Stay tuned...

Little Goblin Girl ATC

Here is the second ATC I made for the Art Doll ATC swap I found on Yahoo groups. She was a lot of work! This little canvas to work with is challenging. They must all be able to fit into the 2 1/2" x 3 1/2" sleeve or on the card of the same size. She does fold up into the sleeve, but I think I'm going to mount her on a card. I have done up a few Halloween backgrounds on some blank cards but I'm still deciding.

I'm trying to catch a cold and have felt sluggish the last couple of days, so I'll keep it short today. I still have two more cards to make and want them out in tomorrow's mail. Speaking of mail, my Magic Key ATC's were supposedly mailed Wednesday from California, so I'm looking forward to receiving those. I will post them when they come in. That's the hard part: waiting on your cards! That's all for today. I will post the other two cards after I finish them.

I'm also working on my first journal page. I'll show that when it's ready. And, I'm looking for ideas for something to make in the art swap I'm doing with my art buddy at Artella. Stay tuned...

Witching Hour Art Doll ATC

Here is my first art doll ATC. Witches don't always have to be ugly! Well, maybe you think she is, but I don't! ;) The broom isn't permanently attached yet, because I have to be able to manipulate it so that it will fit into the ATC sleeve. Believe it or not, she will fold up nicely and fit into that little 2 1/2" x 3 1/2" plastic sleeve.

I found the face image on the web and colored it in with my colored pencils. The legs are fabric that I glued onto the template. The arms and little vest are black crepe paper. The bodice is landscaping fabric left over from our gravel laying! I have a huge strip of this left which makes nice little clothes!! And I found those teeny buttons at Jo-Ann Fabrics. I love her hair. It's one of those cheapy spider webs they sell that you are supposed to drape in your Halloween decorating. I think it makes great hair! The hat is a copy of a sticker. I originally wanted to use the sticker but it was too small for her big head. So I enlarged it and colored it, then adhered it. :)

So, one down and three to go. I'm making four different ones. The next one will be a little anime doll with a mask, then onto a cute little cat figure. I drew the face for doll #4. My first time actually drawing a face for art! These are going to get mailed Monday so I hope to finish them up by tomorrow. My eyes can only take so much of this little tiny work!

I had some exciting news. One of my art buddies at Artella asked if I'd be interested in doing an art swap with her! She's an awesome artist and I was honored that she asked. Of course I said yes. When she returns from her trip after this weekend, we will work out the details. I think I want to make her a mixed media collage on canvas. She loves butterflies, so ideas are forming. Stay tuned!