It's Official

It's Official....I reached my goal of buying 500 pairs of underwear for Maine Needs  by offering Words of Encouragement. With money that just came in I was able to go back to Marden's and buy enough to get me to 500 including 5 extra pairs and get them delivered! 

What now? 

I'm going to slow down a bit and focus on some other things. 

But I'm ALSO going to keep making tags in between things and offer them individually or in kits. I want to continue to use my art as a way for me to purchase things for those in need.

Thank you to everyone who supported my project. I know of few donations that are still coming in the mail....and I will buy more underwear or something else that is desperately needed. It's heartwarming knowing that a simple idea can rally a community.

It was heartwarming when the cards came pouring in for Margie...and equally heartwarming when others supported a cause she would have been proud of.

From the bottom of my joyful heart.....Thank You! 

And it seems fitting that I used a few of my scraps for the last card for the Tiny Pages Art Exchange that I did with Brenda, Becky and Tracie. The last card got a little lost in the shuffle last fall...we all had major life events happening that rolled right into the holidays. 

The theme was patterns...and this last card was one to keep. I do love the pattern created by this mosaic bits of Margie's cards.

I had wondered if the scraps would be useful...and it's official...they are!

You can see all the cards in our Tiny Pages Art Exchange here using this link.

So for now...this last card will be displayed with this 

sweet little photo of Margie that I found in her stash.

Continuous Line

All kinds of life things slowed down our Tiny Pages Art Exchange...but we're almost done.

The second to last theme was a one line or continuous line drawing. Brenda just got my card so I can share it here.

I was inspired by an image I saw online....and drew this continuous line scribble tree....then added a little watercolor accent. 

I was going to add a little color to the background...but decided to leave it clean and simple. That's a little unlike me....but it's good.

I made the card during the Fabulous Free Motion class when there was a lesson on continuous stitch line....which is what free motion is mostly all about.

I had never used tear away stabilizer until this class....and I'm sold on it. I stitched the heart with a granite stitch using variegated thread on the stabiliser making sure I overlapped the stitches.

Then all I had to do was carefully tear away the stabilizer...

and I had a little continuous stitch line patch for the back of my card.

Brenda sent her sweet one line drawing to Tracie.

 

 And I'm catching up on the Creepy cards...this is what Becky send to Brenda.

Creepy Cool!

The latest Tiny Pages Art Exchange theme was "creepy"....just in time for Halloween.  

Tracie sent her card to me....and her dimensional haunted house is wonderful and the moonlight through the bare tree on back is just perfect!

Tracie used watercolor texturized with Saran Wrap for the background. Well done Tracie!  Creepy Cool!

My card went to Tracie.

I used acrylic inks to make the blotchy background. Then I plopped a couple black ink blobs on the card and pressed them out with a piece of flexible plastic. I used a skewer to drag the ink to create some hairs.  

And I thought this teeny tiny red maple spout was crazy cool!

Limelight

As I walked around the pond yesterday morning I was quite smitten with how this wabi-sabi branch glowed in the sun. It was most certainly in the limelight...in color and form.

There was a warm October glow everywhere...and today is a much needed rainy day. Our good friends Bob and Nancy from Minneapolis arrive this afternoon....and the chili is simmering.

And just today I got Brenda's changing seasons card in the mail....so I can share the other two Tiny Pages Art Exchange cards. I couldn't photograph in the backyard because of the rain...but I could stand in the natural light at the patio door....still better than artificial light inside.

Brenda used colored pencil to create fall to winter her card.  She was worried about the texture of the paper...but I think it's adds the essence of fall. 

And I'm pretty sure she knows how much I like ginkgo leaves!  Thanks Brenda!

Becky depicted all the seasons on her card she sent to Tracie. 

And I love her wreath of fall leaves on the back.  Well done Becky!

And there nothing better than the glow of a clean house....all ready for guests.

Changing Seasons

The theme for this week's Tiny Pages art Exchange is changing seasons.

Tracie's card went to Brenda.  She used a stiff credit type card to scrape on the tree trunks and sponged on watercolor for the leaves. 

The back is a watercolor leaf print. I love the effect on both and they certainly capture the wabi-sabi-ness of this changing season. Well done Tracie!   

My card went to Becky. The front was better in my head. I wanted to depict the four seasons in this little catalog fish scale design....but the color variation is a little too subtle. It's bright and cheery....and in the end maybe that is enough.

The back was a little more obvious. 

I did a little free motion stitch leaf on watercolor paper...painted it in and cut it out. Brenda's card is on its way to me....and I'll share Becky's card once Tracie has it.

Speaking of free motion stitching....I continue to work on homework for the Fabulous Free Motion class....but am squeezing into the nooks and crannies of my days. Here are a couple of recent assignments. The heart used some of the tutti frutti fabric I made from scraps.

Once I cut out the heart it already had fusible on the back so it was easy to attach to the background ready for free motion outlining. I LOVE this technique....it might be time for some fall leaves with scraps!

Just Do It!

This is the first day in a while that I didn't have and event or appointment on my calendar. I'm lucky to have a full and wonderful life......but it was also nice to have a free day to tackle some of the things that have been on my mind. It was a "just do it" kind of day....and I did several things!

This last week was a keeper week in our Tiny Pages Art Exchange....and I was the last one to get my card done. An idea has been in my head...and I finally sat down today and just did it. The theme this week was fruit.  

Speaking of fruit...is this fruit? It's the seed pod/berries of a dogwood tree in our neighborhood.  I've always loved these beautiful bumpy beauties!

I knew I wanted to create a bowl of cherries...and this is the quick little card I came up with this afternoon. I used catalog images and gel prints for the cherries...and I cut the bowl out of a cyanotype I did with a stencil. There are areas in the cherries that should have had a little more contrast.....but it's done!

The back is a little lackluster...but it's also done...and that's what matters today!

Becky created this incredibly detailed raspberry.  She makes a drink for me when I visit using crushed raspberries....so this takes me right back to that! And I LOVE her background shading. 

And the back is great...or should I say grape!

Brenda filled her tiny page with these sweet little blueberries. I love the variation and that she left a few of them white.

And Tracie's card is soft and pretty orange slices and the background is perfect!  Fruit week ✔  We have a few weeks to do our next one....and theme is "changing seasons."

Under The Sea

I got Becky's Under the Sea card today for our Tiny Pages Art Exchange....so all the cards are now with their new owners.

Becky used alcohol inks on yupo paper....which created a very oceany effect.   

The fish stickers work perfectly! Well done  Becky!     

 

I even got a little alcohol snippet to play with.

Brenda's starfish card went to Tracie.....and I love this yellow and teal color scheme.

Tracie's cute fish card went to Becky....and this is what she wrote in the text with the photos: The background is 2 shades of metallic watercolor (in the little travel packet you sent me) pressed under Saran Wrap. Fish are cut out watercolor embellished with a glitter pen Brenda gifted to me. And the tiny pages book is from Becky! Best art friends ever.

My card went to Brenda. I was going for abstract ocean layers...and I started with stitching lines.

I thought it was a great theme to play with watercolor and soap bubbles...and I had moderate success.

The stitching lines lended themselves to a quote for the back with some watercolor accents.

"The ocean stirs the heart and bring eternal joy to the soul." R. Wylan

This week we keep our cards...and the theme is fruit. We are going to do one more round....giving ourselves a little more time this round. That will take us to mid November...then we'll likely take a break around the holiday season then shift gears.