Round 19

Round 19 of our 4 x 6 exchange is done....and this doodle/watercolor card went to Becky.  

And this one is my keeper card.  It was the very first one I did several weeks ago as an experiment but I thought the doodles needed to be more prominent so changed to one row of larger doodles for Becky's and Brenda's card. These were all fun to do....both the doodling and painting are relaxing activities for me....no matter what the results.  

Round 19 ✔ We're stopping/pausing for now....it's been a great year long journey! Thanks Becky and Brenda!✔

Something Simple

Becky, Brenda and I are going to take a break from our 4 x 6 exchange after this round.....we've been at it for a full year.  We might start up again once we settle in for the winter....but that's yet to be decided.  Today I posted a timelapse of all the cards I have so far.....if you're interested you can see it here on my Instagram page: https://www.instagram.com/p/CTxLxAhJ_Uy/

This time around I'm doing something simple....a doodle and a watercolor wash  I sent this one to Brenda last week....and Becky's went out in the mail today.

One Year Anniversary

It's been one full year since Becky, Brenda and I started our 4 x 6 art card exchange....and none of us have missed a week. We'll be finishing up round 18 this next week....each round is 3 weeks long.  The first week of each round we send to one....the second week to the other and we keep the third week's card. Including this coming week we've each done 54 cards x 3 of us that's a total of 162 little pieces of art...and there's no talk of stopping. 

I've been keeping my cards in these little boxes....right next to the cards from my 100 day project.  I've thumbed through them again and again.  

Like I mentioned yesterday I've been water doodling....and later this week I'll share my exchange with Emily. 

I had a lot of rejects...and scraps from making Becky and Brenda's card....and you know how I feel about scraps.  So rather than doing a new doodle....I embraced my scraps and trimmed edges and patched together my keeper card for round 18th.  

It's a little goofy....but I'm going with it!

Here are is Becky's card for round 18......

.....and here is Brenda's.  

Round 18  ✔

Happy Anniversary! 

Water Doodles

Remember the water ripples in the pool reflecting the light yesterday? I got a little addicted to this water doodling the last several weeks so it became the theme for round 18 of the 4 x 6 art card exchange.  It was inspired by my Goddaughter Emily who sent me a video of the artist's technique several weeks ago.  We decided to do an exchange....and that's what started my water doodling journey.  I will share more about our exchange next week when we get each others project.  In the meantime....these were a few of my side projects.

This was the card I made for  Becky a few weeks ago.....

...and if you look closely you can see that the base layer is gel print on a map.

I forgot to take process photos with Becky's....but I remembered for Brenda's....so I'll take you through the steps. 

Brenda's card started with a "not so great" gel print on a piece of sheet music. I drew some random shapes with an aqua Posca marker.......then filled in the negative space and rounded out all the corners.    

As an experiment on this one I outlined this first layer of shapes with black pen.  I wanted it subtle...so it's a very fine line. It not only framed the shapes a little bit...but I thought it was a bit of a nod to the lines in the sheet music.

I used the same technique with  layer of green.

I was pretty happy with the result....stay tuned next week for my exchange with Emily.

Tracie texted me this photo in response to my pool photo.....the sun's water doodles on Lake Superior!  Gotta' love Mother Nature! 

Surprises

I love when a day brings a few surprises.....today was one of those days.

Surprise #1

Another bud on the white rain lily was standing tall this morning.  Yesterday was a full day of rain....and here it is living up to its name again.  Now the countdown until it blooms.   

Surprise #2

My New Love shrub clematis is starting to bloom!  I moved a piece of it from Lexington....and it's doing better than ever in this new location.  It's a tidy handsome medium small shrub with subtle tiny purplish blue blooms tucked under the leaves.  

 

It's in the garden at the edge of the patio behind the pink rain lily pots....which by the way are taking a summer break right now.

Surprise #3

Brenda's 4 x 6 card came today! She used masking fluid and a watercolor wash to make this colorful summer card.  Masking fluid is not something I've ever used...but want to try sometime!  

Surprise #4

A "real, not perfect card" from Tracie. 

Tracie was inspired by my three piece collages I made from old art....and hers is just lovely!

Tracie wrote one of her favorite quotes inside...and it's resonating with me.  Life is about balance....moderation...and meeting in the middle.  It's little of this and a little of that....things partly done....other things good enough.  And I kind of like it that way.

And finally....surprise #5 was a chat with my dear friend Becky....who introduced me to Tracie years and years ago.  And....Becky introduced me to Brenda just last year. 

I love a day filled with surprises.

Funky Ribbons

"Sometimes I only need to stand wherever I am to be blessed."  Mary Oliver

This is the gift Mother Nature gave us last evening!  Paul and I just stood in the yard and stared until the mosquitos drove us in.

Becky got her 4 x 6 card today and she wondered how I did the great circles in the middle. I had to admit that I couldn't take any credit for them....it was just a piece funky ribbon.

I assembled Becky's card pretty much the same way I did Brenda's....with just a hint of restraint. 

I fused the parts onto a substrate and stitched fibers over the seams with invisible thread. This inspiration ribbon was much wider this time so ended up being more of a focal point.  

Here's my little collection of funky ribbons....I'm certain the top three are by fabric designed Kaffe Fassett.  I'm not so sure about the bottom one.  I bought them a while back thinking they were so much fun....and really haven't used them much yet. But now they are finding their way into this round of cards.

Next week I'm going to use this one as the inspiration for my keeper card. 

For those of you who many not know....I have been exchanging 4 x 6 art cards every week with two friends for almost a year.  You can read about how it started it here in this post: http://joyfulputtering.blogspot.com/2020/08/something-new.html

All the cards can be viewed by clicking on the "4 x 6 Exchange" label on the right of the blog....or using this link: http://joyfulputtering.blogspot.com/search/label/4x6%20Exchange

It occured to me as I was writing this post that this ribbon looks pretty good with the sunset photo from last night.  Maybe I'll just call this digital version good for my keeper card....or not.

I used a bit of the bottom ribbon in this simple art quilt for my "Unexpected Horizons" show back in 2016. Some of that wide circle ribbon I used on Becky's card would have been awesome on this piece. Maybe I'll need to make another one!

Ribbons and Fibers

The stitched edge is just what this card needed.....now it's finished.  I got a lot of good feedback about this project!  I guess sometimes magic happens in the mess....with just the scraps!

Blogger usually sends me a notification if there's a comment on a post and I ALWAYS respond. But I was only contacted about one comment today....and when I went to reply there were several there on yesterday's post.  And I looked back a little farther and there were several more on other posts.  Oops!  THANK YOU.....your comments and feedback are heartwarming and helpful and I'm sorry I didn't catch them sooner.  Welcome to those of you who are new to the blog!  I did go back and respond to all the comments I think I missed.  

Several weeks a blog reader contacted me about my collection of fibers. Margaret is a quilter....and a quilt judge actually....so has quite a fabric collection...but not many fibers. She asked if I had an online resource I could steer her to....and unfortunately my answer was no. I've collected them over a life time and have been the lucky recipient of dozens of people downsizing their stash.  The line people use is...."MaryAnn will take it".....and I usually do.

My fibers are everywhere at the moment because of Izzy's Seascape class....and the fact that I've been doing some sorting and organizing as I have time. So I decided to share.

Margaret just received a bag of rainbow fibers to play with....remember my wreath?  Most of the swatches are in her bag.

Then I decided to use some of the small fiber scraps for the next round of 4 x 6 cards.  I used the circle ribbon as my starting off point for Brenda's card this past week...and the inspiration for the color scheme. 

I fused strips of fabric onto a piece of interfacing cut a little larger than 4 x 6.. In the end the ribbon may have gotten a little lost with all the other patterns....but I do think it looks OK in person. 

Restraint is not one of my gifts. 

Using invisible thread...I stitched the fiber scraps in between all the seams.

I broke my rule and took this photo at night....the lighting is never good at night.  But I sealed it in the envelope before daylight....so this is what I have to share.  It actually looks kind of terrible...but I thought it looked better in person.  

The colors actually look better in the two photos above. It's a little wild....but also kind of fun.  This exchange project is all about experimenting and just rolling with it.

I finished Becky's card today...and will share it later in the week.  I was only slightly more restrained.

Little Scraps

"Sometimes it is enough just to listen to music and cut and paste little scraps of hand painted papers." Rebecca Sower 

Keeping with the round 16 theme for our 4 x 6 exchange I used some precious little scraps from my hand painted papers.  This time I created a very simple patchwork like piece inspired by the artist who taught the "Land and Sky" course, Rebecca Sower. 

When I was making these papers I mostly made blues....because it was hard to stop.  I realized when I made Brenda's landscape card last week I will really lacking in the greens and other colors so I'll have to get back to making more. I really like the not so perfect hand painted patterns and textured look.

 

Rebecca Sower is mixed media artist from Tennessee and I've been following her for quite some time on Instagram.  Her work is organic and beautiful...and I just love her simple style.  When I saw that she was teaching an online class called "Land and Sky" I got really excited.  But it was during a busy stretch back during the move.  I got as far as making papers....and hope to get back to the videos and lessons....thank goodness I have lifetime access.

My simple patchwork piece was inspired by this post on her Instagram page...and her caption was the quote at the top of this post: "Sometimes it is enough just to listen to music and cut and paste little scraps of hand painted papers."  I absolutely love her mix of papers....and her wonky stitched circle.

https://www.instagram.com/p/CNZ6qC8gEk3/

https://www.instagram.com/rebeccasower/

Just winging it....

Sometimes simple is the way to go....this is one of my favorite cards so far....and took about 15 minutes to make.  Lesson learned.

Becky's card came today.....so round 16 is a wrap!

Becky used more supplies from the "Art Box" gift from her kids....this time gelatos, Faber Castell pens, a water brush, and watercolor.  Doesn't it look like a soft summer day?

Round 16

Liz made it back to Denver safely....and I spent the day inching my way back into my routine. It's always good to change things up...but then there's nothing better than getting back to the familiar.  It's all good. 

I did get my keeper card done for round 16 of our 4 x 6 exchange today....but I'll write about that tomorrow. Today I'll catch up on the others.  My only theme this time was to use the hand painted textured papers I made a while back.  I made a seascape for Becky....which I already shared here....and this landscape for Brenda. 

I might have given this another go if I had time....but it was right before Liz came and I was busy puttering around the house. So this one had to do.

There are many things I would do differently....but I'll be playing around with landscapes again so I'll count this as a practice. 

I worked within a general 4 x 6 area...then cut it down.  It was much better in my head.....but I do love these textured papers...and I do know I need more a variety of greens and other colors.  This was the only photo I took part way through.

I think more hand embellishments would have helped....and I certainly second guessed the big sun swirl.

I still love this grassy art paper.....I use it sparingly as I haven't been able to find it again.

I just got Brenda's card a few days ago and think it's pretty clever.  She made a strip collage using magazine papers then used a cut stencil design in black cardstock for an overlay.  I think the stencil pattern is unique....and the papers showing through give it a nice effect.  Well done Brenda! I'm expecting Becky's card from last week anytime.