Turqoise and Red

What I am working on, sneak peak only:

Creepy, no???? hehehehehe

xoSusan

Dragonfly Mail Call

Received 4 awesome ATC's from around the world last week. These are the All Things Books Swap cards. Scroll back to see my contribution. Here is the first one by Elizabeth Mackie for Australia:

The scan does not do the dragonfly justice. Each wing lifts off the ATC base. Delightful! I love the way Elizabeth shares her techniques on the back of the card:
Who knew you could run copper tape through a Dymo. You did? And you were holding out on me. Bad Artist. Very Bad Artist.

The next lovely ATC is from Lisa Cousineau and is titled "Blue Thread":

The art exemplifies the poem perfectly. The poem by the way is by Dante Gabriel Rossetti and is called "Silent Noon".

Next up is Lyn Wareham from Devon, England:

Love those shimmery colors and the dragonfly charm.

And the 4th creation is by Willow Ciarrochi. The scan does not pick it up, but Willow folded over a card and the oval shape is actually a window to the dragonfly below. Very clever!

So there you have it, the next to last swap from yahoo group ArttechniquesATC's. The Fred Mullet Swap will be the last. I'll post about it when the cards are swapped out.

xoSusan

The Divine Sisters

So Lorri at Artivity was doing a challenge on her blog using this image:

Here's what I came up with:
Yes, I am irreverant and proud of it. It's all in Good Fun. Grace, remember sending me this postcard???? teehee. xoSusan

Fred Mullett Swap

For the last swap at ArttechniquesATC's yahoo group, we are doing ATC's featuring the stamp genius of Fred Mullett. His stamp work is incredibly detailed and so realistic. I plan to take a class of his some day. I'm hoping he will be teaching at The Queens Ink in Maryland this summer.He mentions teaching there as a possibility on his web site.
I can see it now, driving down the day before, awesome blues CD's blaring, crab cakes for dinner, slumber in cheap hotel, wake up and get my Learn On!! Now who wants to go with me?? We will have a total blast. I have never taken a class at TQI but, Claudine Hellmuth is doing a day class for a Very Reasonably priced $75. I've already had the privilege of attending a class with Claudine at Art and Soul. The class at A and S was double the price. Which is OK. I am so sad to be unable to attend A and S this year. Damn belt tightening. I wish my actual belt needed tightening. Sigh. But I digress.
I have ONE Fred Mullett stamp, the sea urchin one. It is about 2 1/2" across, kinda big for an ATC. So, what to do?? I was envisioning a tropical beach with the urchins strewn about. So I started with this paste paper for background:

Cut it into ATC's. Need 4 for swap, made 7, cause well, mistakes happen!

Added some Goldens Clear Granular Gel medium:

It was a lovely day Friday and I was soaking up the sun! Next I added some mica powder:
Next I stamped the sea urchin onto some Shrinky Dink plastic I had laying around.
The sheets start out 8 x 10 ". I used several layers of inks, letting each one dry between stamping. Don't forget to clean the stamp between colors or you will muddy up your stamp pad:
Here comes The Worst part, cutting the Shrinky Dinks. Horrible. Never Again. The plastic cracks, chips and flys up into your eyes. I'm gonna try another brand. Any advice?? I figured the texture of the rough edges was ok for this ATC so I went with it.

The alternative was throwing a fit in the middle of the floor but I did not want to upset Buddy Guy, he was so relaxed on the window sill:

Here I am deciding arrangements of the urchins on the cards:
After adding a little more mica and glueing on some sand, here are the finished cards:


Well, there you have it. My Swan Song for ArttechniquesATC's. Comments?

xoSusan

All Things Books Swap

Here are the Awesome ATC's I received in the "All Things Books" Swap from my arttechniquesATC's group. Scroll back to see the ATC I submitted.

Here are the first two:

Read Classics by Vicki Holdwick

Reading Gives Joy by Sherre Hulbert

Here are the next two:

The Fortunes of Fifi by Rozsi Moser

All Things Books by Vicky Martindale

Beautiful, each one so different yet so book related. This is why I love participating in swaps. Each artist's take on the subject is so unique. Thanks to each artist, and especially our gracious hostess, Sherre. xoSusan