What I Did on my Work Vacation a.k.a. 'The Weekend'

Did I do all this this weekend? Yup. Did I eat and sleep? Yes. Did I go out to eat, do some laundry, lose Larry the Cat in the coat closet for three hours? Check. One of my always-inspiring Art and Poetry on-line friends said it looks like I cram a month into my weekends. And I guess I do. That's because I love love love doing all this stuff so much, and there is never enough time. Whoever heard of working 5 days and having a two-day weekend? Someone needs to re-write that book! Let's put on our lawyer pants and walk down that road (fave new line from a stupid commercial).

So what have we here? A canvas for The ZNE Book Club, studying Traci Bautista's Collage Unleashed ("See Rock City"), an altered nicho or dream box from ARTChix Studios for The Faerie Zine's 3-D Fairytale box swap ("I hope you dance: In emergency, break glass for pixie dust"), 32 charms (Mermaid Ballerinas) for Art & Soul swap, Tulip earrings for Cottage Style Street Team (CSST) on Etsy, listing 3/15/08, Barbie and Cancelled Stamps (Love is the center of the Universe) for Artists' Trading Card (ATC) World Yahoo! group swaps, and nautical and purple mother-of-pearl charm bracelet I made over the weekend, listed on etsy and promptly sold. I think I may miss this one! Send caffeine!

It Wasn't Even My Birthday!

Although the plan was for a Zetti-style Holiday ATC swap at lunch, I think this "Bonus Mona" might be my favorite. I feel like I should have headlined this post "I Did Not Make These!" And, if all this sounds like code, let me explain.

It was a gathering of ARTchix as Jade, her sister Coral and mom Vonda and I gathered, never having met before, with the original intent of Jade and I swapping a holiday card and some goodies. Goodies in the art world can mean just about anything, but usually ephemera and little bits and baubles to alter with.

However, I had my binder of ATC cards that I had made and so did Jade. Plus I had some that I have gotten from swaps (and am keeping) so we had a look-fest, and then the swapping began in earnest. I had made Vonda and Coral surprise cards anyway, and Vonda had one she had made with her (the purple-gray angel here) from her ATC Cemetery and Statuary group which she gave to me. Then Jade saw some more she liked and so did I. That girl is seriously talented and so is her family. Mom Vonda just won the ARTchix Fairy Dreams swap!

They also turned me onto Crafts 2000 as well as some cool Yahoo! groups: ATC World, Altered Heads, Zetti Zoo, Cemetery and Statuary as well as Zentangles. http://www.zentangle.com/. Ah! More stuff to learn and do!

The Christmas Greetings, Eighth Dwarf and Mona are all from Jade and the Crusty Tale Mermaid on an actual canvas is from Dana of fairydustedmermaids on ebay and Flickr.

Coral's goodies are coming by post, and not faux post either! That's an ARTchix joke. Okay, so I guess we artistas are weird. But, we're a (mostly) happy lot.

A Bunch of Wonderful Things

Yesterday I was thinking I might not even bother to put up my big Christmas tree. I thought I might not even do my other big one- a white artificial for which I have all new fuschia and silver ornaments I haven't even used yet. Bah, humbug.

Today I wake up to huge snowflakes, and it is all good! First things first. New holiday music for my blog- quite an eclectic mix if you check my playlist at the bottom of the screen. Project Playlist is great fun for mixing your own collection.

Trees? Not today, but soon. Still the big one for the family room seems to take up the entire room, and I could do without it. But, it has all the traditional family ornaments, the adults' childhood ornaments, ya know, so we really have to. Plus, the DH likes to watch television by tree-light- even if he likes the big, yucky, multi-color lights instead of little twinkly white ones.

Yesterday I received the most amazing sort-of-ATC, sort-of-art-doll (shown here) from Carol Stocker, a fellow ARTchick from Spirit's Journey http://spiritsjourneydesigns.blogspot.com/. We did a 1:1 trade. Hope she likes her Mercat. No, not meerkat. Or whatever they are.

Today is the opening day to register for Art & Soul in Hampton, VA http://www.artandsoulretreat.com/ for May 1-5, 2008. I sorted out my classes last night and hope I get my first choice. Meanwhile, I also emailed Elaine http://www.alphabetstudiobyelainethomas.com/ in Ohio of Artful Spirit to see if she is going and would like to ride with me. Lucky for me, she said yes! That will make the trip so much more fun and easy. I wish it were now! Elaine makes incredibly neat, wonderful stuff and may have a table at vendor night at A&S. Check out her site or her Flickr photos.

I first "met" Elaine when she so kindly bought my creation "Hope will Always See a Star" for the ZNE Hope Sees a Star fund raiser auction. My piece is shown here again and one of Elaine's creations.

And if all this were not fabulous enough, I took the plunge and ordered an ADG Blythe brunette who only has to travel from Illinois to Indiana and so should probably be here about the same time as Lilly from Tokyo. I think I will take my time coming up with a name for this one. I may have to whip out my crochet hook and sewing machine and create some fashions. There are amazing intricate outfits for sale on ebay and etsy both. It's a whole other world. And to those who find any part of this post weird, I say, as any good Blythe would, "whatever!"

In a Mermaid Kind of Mood

Mermaid swaps, mermaid ATCs, Mermaid Flickr groups- yep, Mermaids may just be the IT girls of the moment. Everyone seems to want them. So, for a current swap, I whipped up some of these goodies. I drew the doodled cats; the other is an altered photo. Then I embellished with mermaid paper bodies, glitter, charms, wings, wands, jewels, silver leaf and more. A couple are going in the mail tomorrow.

The sepia ATCs are my receivings in the ARTchix Sepia Swap. Hostess Kelly Parsons from Canada even made the manilla envelope a work of art. I would have photographed it, but I had to tear into it after a long week. I also received a shoebox full of swappy goodness from Dale at Sea Dream Studio and can't believe my good fortune at all the wonderful art-ables she included.

The Bird ATC with gold birdie charm attached is obviously not a Mermaid, but it is for a birthday mailing to an ART chick, so it can be in this post.

Off to stamp camp tomorrow....

ARTchix Sepia ATC Swap

Another early morning as I was so excited about last night's completion of my sepia tone artist trading cards for swap in my ARTchix group that I had to get up early to photograph, upload, edit and post right here!
Today was also the opening day for the CaaT Complementary Art and Things collage and altered arts theme week. So, I had to get my 6 different collage prints uploaded and listed. Just try dealing with photobucket, photo editor, ebay, ebay groups, scanner, printer and camera- all at 6 a.m. Please search ebay under hpsgsmith and buy yourself a signed, suitable for framing print and help me win my CaaT challenge!
But I am done, done, done and looking forward to an artsy weekend! Friday to Monday is also the annual Blueberry Festival in Plymouth, IN - one of the largest arts and crafts festivals in the state and nation, or so they say. Hope to find some great goodies for my swap gifts! And I have lots of projects on the weekend's front burner, including some altered domino pendants that I will list for sale. Also, what perfect weather for a three-day weekend! O, happy day!

Color and Art and Crows?

Here are my most recent, most colorful and maybe my best yet ATCs. I can say "best" because I am an ATC virgin and have done so few, that whatever comes next could be my best because I never really know what I am doing. I just do "it" and see what happens. I especially like the Twyla Tharp quote I used on one, "Art is the only way to run away from home without actually leaving." Also, love my crow domestic triangle called "Bad Crow Karma," which I made from parts of my "Peaches and Cream" crow collage (below and on ebay). The background is supposed to be crackled and is from my winter watercolor ATC backgrounds. Some of the other backgrounds you see here are also handpainted by me. Love bright colors!!

Fairy Dreams kept me Awake

I started on these 5 artist trading cards for the ARTchix Fairy Dreams swap about 9 p.m. last night, finishing about 1 a.m. I was so excited to see how they would turn out after drying, that I woke up about 4 a.m. to check (or maybe that was when the noisy adult daughter came home).

They looked so great, but needed a little additional sealing and a few other touches. I also decided my pocket fairy needed a magic wand. So, instead of going back to bed, I have been tinkering for the last 3 hours and finally decided they were ready to photograph and upload. Mind you, the swap is not due until Oct. 15, but when inspiration strikes, who wants to shut it down? I guess it sounds like I like my results, which I do. I am always so amazed and pleasantly surprised when something turns out the way I hoped. As well, usually when I fiddle with a finished project, I end up ruining it. So, all is well and that must mean I need to work only in the wee hours.

Artist Trading Cards Zetti Style

The Washington state artist Teesha Moore, who with her writer husband Tracy and artist/writer daughters Tiphoni (daughter's business spelling) and Trista, has charmed (or horrified depending on your take) art watchers for 25 years with her outsider brand of collage, journaling, fabric arts and rubber stamp line called Zettiology. See her stuff at: http://www.teeshamoore.com/ or check my links at right.

These four artist trading cards were inspired by her style as well as made for a Zetti-style (no, not spaghetti) ATC swap with an ARTchix member, who has just informed me about an ATC swap day in Monroe, MI on my birthday weekend that sounds like it will be my treat to me. Happy Day!