Remembering Oatie...

I made a special fibre postcard in honour of Oatis, a four year old miniature schnauzer that recently died because of a tragic misdiagnosis.  My friend, Donna and her husband were devastated by the loss of this little fur person, and this is just a little token to let them know that I'm thinking of them.

I altered this image in Lightroom and Photoshop to create the image for the postcard.

Some might say that he was "just a dog", but I get it Donna!








Linking up with Photo Art Friday for Bonnie's 'portrait' theme.

Artful Snail Mail Delivery...

In these days of
e-everything, about all we get in the mailbox are bills or packages of things we've purchased online.  But, occasionally there is a special little treasure that arrives.

Last week I posted about a postcard I was making for a postcard swap over on the Artists in Blogland site.

Well, yesterday I got the most beautiful card in the mail from Morag Archer.  I just love the fabulous texture that she has achieved in the hair.
Morag is an incredibly talented artist, and you can see more of her work on her blog.

Thank you Morag!  I'm so glad to have a piece of your art.

Artists in Blogland Postcard Swap

I'm participating in a postcard swap with a group of wonderfully talented folks that are part of the Artists in Blogland community.  I have participated in postcard swaps before, and I had three postcards left from a swap back in 2011 that I wasn't very happy with.  You can see what they looked like here.  Being as I can't seem to throw too much out, I decided I'd make some 'green' postcards for this swap by reworking these old leftovers.

The first step was to rip and cut to remove the original fabric from the card.  (I had used some Texture Magic for the water part, so I couldn't just paint over it.)

Then I painted the outside 'frame' green and painted the remaining Fast 2 Fuse layer with blue acrylic paint.

Once that was dry I used a stencil and did the white spirals.  After a little more drying time I added the red using a scrap of corrugated cardboard.

A bit of yellow splatter was added as the next layer...

I wish I had taken a shot of my desk while all this was being done, because between these steps, while paint dried, I continued working through my on-line course where I'm learning how to use Lightroom 4.  At one point the cat was up here too... Let's just say that I'm amazed my laptop doesn't have paint footprints on the keyboard!
 Anyway, back to the postcards.  After again waiting for paint to dry (sounds exciting doesn't it!), I added a few bits of my homemade washi tape.

Then I stamped some Queen Anne's lace and a quote on to tissue paper and added that using matte medium.

The final step (for the front of the card) was to use some Golden Fibre Paste, which I tinted using black paint and a bird stencil I made last week to add the bird.  The fibre paste gives it a great bit of texture and allowed me to stick a bead into it (for the eye) so that it would be secure when the paste dried.

I'm please with the transformation and I like how the raised fabric and stitching on the edge creates a nice frame for the piece.

Because I make custom backs for my postcards, it was also necessary to paint over the original backing which had text about the original postcard and was dated 2011.  I added some stencil work and a bird and then used a Pitt pen to add my name and blog details for the recipients.  It's a bit busy, but what the h_ _ _! (...heck fits...what were you thinking?)

Fibre Art Postcard

Today I received a beautiful piece of art in the mail...the perfect way to brighten up a dull, rainy day!   A big thank you to my cyber friend, Jean, who suggested we swap a fibre art postcard.  If you'd like to see more of Jean's wonderful work, check out her website, Uncommon Cloth, where you can see her gallery of fibre art and mixed-media work going back several years.  She also sells some beautiful cards in her Etsy shop (links on her webpage).

Aluminum Foil Postcard and ATCs

I've been playing with aluminum foil lately as I work through an online workshop called Inspired Surfaces on the Fibre in Form website.  Carol McFee and Lynda Monk are the instructors.  It's slow going since I have to read all of the instructions over several times to understand them (due to an acquired brain injury).  Fortunately there are lots of illustrations to help clarify the text!  Anyway, I've made a couple of ATCs and a postcard to showcase what I've managed to do so far.  I love working with new everyday materials that are readily available around the house.

And yes Donna, I put a bird on it!

  

Postcard Swap

I participate in a postcard swap organized by Vicki Welsh of 3 Creative Studios.  This months theme was 'Buried Treasure' which reminded me of wonderful childhood memories of playing on the beach with a pail and shovel.  Then later, as a mother, I remember digging for 'buried treasure' on the beach with my son.  He'd hide his little cars and other treasures and then he'd challenge me to find them.  Surprisingly, we never lost a car!

To the left you can see one of the postcards I made for the swap.  If you're interested in participating, check 3 Creative Studios' website for upcoming swaps.