My First Ever ATCs

Finally I am trying to catch up on my blog. What a busy summer!

This set of ATCs was made for The Artist Trading Club....Swap Til You Drop. The theme was "metal". What fun for me. And how exotic and exciting to be sending these off to England and then receiving different ones from "The Queen's Country". Chriss Rollins heads the show over there. Not only is she a talented artist but she is a wonderfully warm person with a great sense of humor! Do yourself a favor and check out the swap and her personal blog - The Paper Girls!

So much crafting and so little time!

Where did the month of August go?

I have barely stepped into my craft room (except to do laundry) during the month of August. Lots of traveling and visiting with family and friends. However I did make this birthday card for my father who turned 86 on August 15th. This card was inspired by the wheat fields in his hometown of Harvey, North Dakota and his love of baseball. A week after his birthday, my sister and I took a road trip with our dad to Harvey. We had never been to North Dakota and were delighted with the beautiful farmland - especially the sunflower fields! We also met some wonderful relatives who treated us to the warmest hospitality!

Portrait of a Jewel

Using a scrapbook kit from Manuela Zimmermann from http://www.scrapbookgraphics.com/

Happy Birthday to Lynn

This is a card I made for a dear friend with whom I make cards once a week. She and I, along with two other friends have been getting together every Wednesday for several years. Sometimes we don't get anything created but we always enjoy each other's company and design ideas! It is always a big task when one of our birthdays comes around, as we want to make sure whatever we make for each other is very special!

This year I "cheated" by copying the beautiful ruffled flower medallion card from Becca Feeken at http://www.amazingpapergrace.com/. Becca is an incredible card designer - she is an official designer for Spellbinders and works magic with their dies! She is also a very generous crafter who often takes the time to post detailed tutorials to which you will find a link on the left sidebar of her site. Give yourself a treat and take a look at her site!

Personal Projects....

I finally decided I had to take a break from online challenges and use Photoshop to work on some of my personal pictures. I bought a collage frame for my daughter and added these photos of last summer's trip to Kaui! I have actually been very busy but my blog does not reflect it!

The Fairy Door

We are moving on to the second challenge at The Three Muses - this one is "Doors". Congratulations, Bev, Ann and Marie, on such a successful new site where all art forms are welcome!

Mona Lisa Challenge from The Three Muses

The new challenge blog - The Three Muses is up and running with their first challenge! Here is my altered version of Mona Lisa....

Pinning Up the Moon

The Girl with the Cake on her Head

I wanted to participate in the last Mixed Media Monday challenge but this took me too long to accomplish so I just decided to post if for myself. I used my favorite subject - my darling daughter! I was working on two versions. The second is not completed but I was tickled my daughter liked it so much she said she was going to use it for her "Facebook" picture! Obviously, my daughter has a sense of humor!

Body is a "Fisher Girl" by Luna Girl and the flowers and feathers on the cake are Itkupilli.

Postage Stamp People

Here is my entry for Sunday Postcard Art - Postage Stamp People. This one was quite difficult!

SoArtful Cherub

Here is my take on the Saturday Soartful Challenge! June, I am glad to see you are back and making things a little easier for yourself by consolidating the Soartful and Art Freebies sites!

I am stepping out of my box on this one. With a cherub, I would normally design something very victorian. So I consider this a "stretching exercise". Hopefully, I have not pulled a design muscle!

ACF Challenge 26

Here is my challenge entry for Art Creations Friday - Challenge 26.

Art or Tart?

I have been accused of having an irreverent sense of humor. And with good reason....

Mother's Day Tribute

Here is my entry for the Artarazzi challenge 22.  Today is Mother's Day so I decided to make it a tribute to all you fellow mothers out there in blogland!  Thanks, Vron, for the beautiful background!

Can Can

Just having fun with some recently purchased images from Itkupilli!

Romance in the Ballroom

Here is another digital art piece using Itkupilli's background from her "Paris - Soft Pastels" collage sheet! Image of couple by Luna Girl and swirls from Katie Pertiet at Designer Digitals.

ACF Challenge 25

I can just hear Stevie Wonder singing, "isn't she lovely....." I think this is my favorite image from Art Creations Friday - she is lovely! For this challenge, I started out in Photoshop creating the base for my card. Notice Itkupilli's beautiful doorframe I just received in the free giveaway! Wonderful woman - Itkupilli! What do you think - should I have just stayed digital?

The Inspirational Hat

Here is my entry (at the final hour) for Theme Thursday - Hats. I have struggled all week with this theme - which is crazy because it is my favorite! Maybe I was trying too hard because I discarded several designs....or maybe I just needed the right hat for inspiration! Thanks for looking!

Nature's Girl - Artarazzi Challenge 20

This is my first time to take up a challenge at Artarazzi. Thank you, Femmy, for this lovely image!

Dancing her thoughts away...

I just had to use my new images from Itkupilli! What a talented designer and so generous with her work - she really brightens up the blog world with her lovely backgrounds!