Sunday, September 26, 2010

Cindy McMath: Technique Tag Book Swap

Yes, I have moved and my scanner and computer are set up, hooray! Just the other day I received a wonderful package from Cindy McMath, who lives in beautiful Victoria, British Columbia. It was such a lovely experience to receive her package in my new mailbox. We have replaced the old, small box and installed a new especially large one, with receiving swap packages in mind! I look forward to yours.


You may have seen a glimpse of Cindy's tags and envelopes for our swap on her own blog already. She wrote a wonderful post about her techniques here: Pink Bird Studio - I encourage you to go check it out! Here are a couple of the envelopes and tags Cindy made. All 10 are done using the same technique, with variations in the images.

The envelopes with tags sticking out
The back and front of the tags - wonderful! 
 Also enclosed was a striking postcard for me, wishing us congratulations and happiness in our new home. This is the first piece of art I have hung up in my new studio, which is still totally unpacked! Now that the rest of the house is functioning, I plan to move on to my studio and all the decisions I will need to make. Not to worry, all of the swap packages received already have their own special spot in my studio claimed.


I love this card, Cindy. The imagery is perfect! thank you. 

Sunday, September 19, 2010

Sarah Boblit: Technique tag swap!

Sarah Boblit from Iowa has sent beautiful tags and techniques for our swap that are so rich in color and texture. Even though I ended up moving house in the middle of this swap, I do not regret hosting this swap one bit. I believe the technique books the participants will receive in return, with one of their own technique tags and 9 from the other participants, are going to be so awesome. I think they will really rock! I have been receiving such wonderful swap pieces already and I am really looking forward to putting them together into books. I am also glad I have extended the deadline to October 9th! Here are Sarah's wonderful techniques.

These tags show the paper bag technique

this tag uses metal tape - more info on sarah's description!

A Tissue paper technique

back with instructions

masking tape

crackle medium

metallic pens & ink

Sarah made an extra tag for me which was above and beyond! Thank you so much Sarah, I love what you have created for this swap and I will be hard pressed to decide which one to keep for my own technique tag book. 
Thanks again! 

Siri Opdal: Technique Tag Swap!

phew! The movers are coming tomorrow. We have been quite busy packing up here and moving a lot of things over to the new place ourselves. I will be glad to have everything over there in one place tomorrow. In the meantime though, I have received 2 packages for our technique swap. All of the packages I have received are already safely tucked into one of the cupboards in the studio at my new home, never fear. Packing & moving certainly is tedious. When I needed a break from that work, I sat down and scanned the new swaps that came in. All the way from Norway, Siri Hauge Opdal has sent us some lovely techniques that include fabric. I adore her tags!







Thank you so much for participating, Siri. I love when you say to me in a note you feel you have to do something with fabric for our exchanges. I always look forward to seeing your swap work, and what you have dreamed up. So Lovely! Thank you.

Thursday, September 16, 2010

moving september 20th

The family room transforms into my art studio!
We are moving things over and setting up house! The official moving day is Monday, September 20th. Our furniture will be moved then and we will be over there full-time, unpacking and settling in. What this means for everyone in the Technique Tag swap is: There will probably be a delay with my receiving your swap packages and also with me getting them uploaded here on the blog. In fact, I have asked the postmaster to forward any mail I receive now at my PO Box to my new address - as of today - to make things simpler during the move. We are at the new home everyday and will receive your packages . . . although it will take a few days longer because forwarding mail always does. But do not worry! I will let you know by updating the list on the blog sidebar as soon as I am able to. You can also send directly to my new addy. Thanks for your understanding. Back to packing, almost done!

Thursday, September 9, 2010

Barbara DeLisle: Technique tag Swap

My goodness, what a bountiful box I opened from Barbara DeLisle yesterday! She tried multiple techniques on different tags and they are all fabulous. I scanned a number of her Tag & Envelope pages, but truthfully I could not scan all of her work (too much to do!). This will give you a good taste of her tags and techniques. Some of you who receive Barbara's tag pages in your Technique book will be in for a wonderful surprise if you receive one not shown here, because they are all beauties! Here are some front and backs:

BarbaraDeLisle11a

BarbaraDeLisle22

BarbaraDeLisle44

BarbaraDeLisle33

BarbaraDeLisle55

BarbaraDeLisle66
Thanks so much, Barbara!!
I am off to start some heavy-duty packing up of my studio . . . some of the other rooms are finished and I have started in my studio, but as you might imagine, that is where the bulk of our move always is. The closing of our new home went off without a hitch on Tuesday. We are very happy. The old rugs in the bedrooms of the new house have been ripped up (yuck!) and Tile floor is being put down by Dave Cole. Cabinets are being delivered tomorrow for my studio - Steven will set them up so I have some place to store my art supplies in the Family Room/Studio. There is painting to do but Steven says he will do that while I will do most of the packing here. Do you think he might be trying to get out of packing boxes?? : ^ ) The moving truck comes to officially move us on the 20th, so don’t worry if I am out of touch. I will keep the side bar updated to when packages arrive and everything will be safe in my PO box until I can get to them. Those of you in this swap have my new address to send to after Sept 20 . . . just send me an email if you don’t and I will reply when I can. Remember the swap due date has been extended to October 9th, 2010. I’ll catch up again with new arrivals as I can!

Saturday, September 4, 2010

Lisa Mallette: Technique Tag Book swap

I always enjoy receiving a package from Lisa; she has a style with her artwork that really makes me smile.




Sooooo pretty!!
Lisa wrote an awesome post about making her Tags for the Technique Book swap. Please visit her blog, Studio Rose to see all 10 Tags she made, and in greater detail. Thank you Lisa! I look forward to receiving more packages from all of you in the next few weeks even though I will be in the process of moving. It will be a lovely distraction for me I think, when I get tired of packing or unpacking. There are 28 participants in the Technique Tag Book swap and I have 4 sets (of 10 tags) in my hands now. That means 24 more by September 30th October 9th . . . this will seem like a piece of cake after the 49 participants we had in our garden variety swap!  : ) Watch the sidebar for a note when your package has been received and I will do my best to do the uploading in a timely fashion & keep you updated!

Donna Butcher: Technique Tag Swap!

Donna's tags for our Technique tag book swap arrived here in Florida from California last week, but she kindly said she had no problem with me waiting until after the garden variety swap was over to post them. Thank you Donna!

back of tag (L) -Front of envelope page (R)
front of tag (L) - back of envelope page (R)
front of envelope (L) Back of envelope (R) with technique tag sticking out
front of envelope with technique tag sticking out, back of tag
This one is my favorite!!


Awesome job on these tags, Donna! Instructions are placed on both the back of the Tags and the back of the envelopes that will make the pages of the Technique book -great idea! I love that you included a variety of techniques here. Thanks too, for the gift of the lovely ribbons. I will tuck them away in a box to unpack and use in my new studio. :  )))

Thursday, September 2, 2010

Alpha Stamps Garden Variety Swap: animoto

If you do not see the video, go here.





A postcard and ATC swap (art exchange) using the summer garden collage materials from Alpha Stamps. This swap was hosted by Lenna Young Andrews in August 2010 on creativeswaps.blogspot.com. This video shares one swap piece from each of the 49 participants. They hailed from all over the the USA, plus Scotland and Germany - Wow!

Wednesday, September 1, 2010

All garden variety swaps are sent!!

ATC by Val Cowan
Just a quick note to let you know that ALL of the Alpha Stamps garden variety swap packages have been sent - phew! What a large swap this was! Never before did I have to make 4 trips to the post office to make sending swaps manageable, but I have never had 49 participants either! I hope you enjoy your swap returns, and as always I try to exchange pieces based on what I think you might like from looking at your own work. If you have a chance to leave a comment here or email the group that would be lovely, and of course so appreciated! If you need any emails to thank someone please drop me a note.
Inside your swap packages you'll find a mini card with my artwork on  the front. This is where I made them; Moo is highly recommended!

100 different cards