Ocean/Sunset ATCs: Sarah Boblit

Wow. This is Sarah's 12th creative swap with me! And remember, I took a break for 3 years, which makes it even more amazing she hooked up with me again!! If you fall in love with Sarah's ATCs and want to see more of her beautiful work, just go here.

Sarah's ATCs are made from FABRIC and are highly embellished. 

*Stitched and Beaded*

She did the backs in paper and included an extra ATC for me! 

My husband really loved these and asked if we could keep the one 

with the silver turtles, below right :)

I think they are all stunning! 

Remember this is a 6 for 6 swap. You certainly do not need 

to make an extra ATC for me. I am more wishing for

everyone's ATCs to be here by April 23rd!!

Enjoy the art as it comes in . . .

and get busy creating if you haven't yet!! xo

Steve & Lenna ❤

Ocean/Sunset ATCs: Marla Eklund

The ATCs are coming in for our swap! If you are just finding the creative swaps blog, this ATC swap is Full with 35 participants -and so it's closed to register. Due delivered to me by April 23rd -Bring 'em on! Today I have 2 more sets to share and the first one is from Marla Eklund in NY!

Here are the first three ATC: 2 ocean, 1 sunset, so nicely done on watercolor paper:

This shows 2 different ways Marla did the backs of her ATCs 

and an extra ATC she created for me (thank you!)

And three more gorgeous Ocean colors ATCs

I so appreciate you participating Marla 

and sending in early! 

Ocean/Sunset ATCs: Laura Hummel

Today I received a beautiful envelope filled with Laura Hummel's ATCs for the swap!
Isn't it great? Very much enjoyed, Laura -thanks SO much!

Enclosed were Laura's 6 ATCs done in Sunset Colors: 

I love her backgrounds, yum! 

And here is a close-up of the front and back of one of her ATCs:

You can see there are various ways to handle the back -do try to add your info, please! 

Looking forward to seeing YOUR ATCs - DUE IN MY HANDS

SATURDAY, APRIL 23rd, 2016 -no exceptions! 

Let me know if you have any questions . . . lenna

Ocean/Sunset ATCs: Angelika Westermann

From Germany, I have received 7 ATCs from Angelika Westermann! Our swap is a 6 for 6 ATC swap -so Angelika has sent an extra one for me, thank you! She did all of her ATCs in Sunset Colors . . . and the choice is really up to you. You can work with the hues of a sunset, or the colors of the Ocean, or create some of each! Just make sure you send them soon. April 23rd is less than a month away.

Angelika wrote that this swap was a challenge for her because she had never made paper ATCs before, only fabric ATCs. I think you will agree they are great! I am enjoying the variety so far from everyone. :o)

I really enjoyed the back of her ATCs and the titles! 

Here is the extra ATC - love it! 

Thank you Angelika for participating in my creative swaps once again.

I hope to see you back! 

I will have to start brainstorming what we might do next . . . 

Something with Fabric? Postcards? Small books?

Beads? Mail Art? hmmm . . . Ideas for me to entertain are welcome!

- reply to this post or send me an email -

Ocean/Sunset ATCs: Jane Reiter

Follow my blog with Bloglovin - From Michigan, we have some wonderful Ocean ATCs by Jane Reiter. Here they are!

So creative. The sequins really look like bubbles! 

And an extra ATC for me. Thanks so much Jane!

I hope these recent arrivals inspire you . . . 

If you have any questions, please let me know. My email is in the sidebar! 

Ocean/Sunset ATCs: Marion Bockelmann

Oh My!
We have 6 beautiful ATCs in Ocean and Sunset colors from Marion Bockelmann in Germany!
Take a look:

❤ I love Marion's art! Click on any photo for more detail.

Below is the back of one of Marion's ATCs (for ideas)

There are rubber stamps to help with this -or you can do your own thing.

Also - a gorgeous Ocean color Postcard for me - Thanks, Marion! 

I am displaying it in my kitchen now :0) 

Ocean/Sunset ATCs: Barbara DeLisle

We have another 6 Ocean ATCs from Florida! These are lovingly made by Barbara DeLisle . . .

I will share the extra one Barbara made for me first.

 Beautiful paint strokes in the background, click to see details. 

Below are the six Barbara created for the swap! 

Lovely! Thank you, Barbara.

Ocean/Sunset ATCs: Cynthia Jones

From Cynthia Jones in Florida we have 6 ATCs in lovely Ocean colors!

Below is the back of one of Cynthia's ATCs, just an idea of what you can do . . .

And also an "extra" ATC she sent for me, thank you.

Please note: This is NOT a requirement, this is a 6 for 6 swap! 

Cynthia also enclosed a note & asked if I had a distribution list so she could find out about any new ATC swaps and if I did, would I add her to the list. I do have a mailing list but it is not one I can manually add someone to, You need to sign up yourself.  It's through a service called Feedblitz. On the sidebar of the blog: http://creativeswaps.blogspot.com (in case you are not reading this on the blog, but via a feed instead) you will see "Receive Blog Posts by EMail". I have two mailings that Feedblitz sends out for creative swaps. This first subscription box you see where you can enter your email is for receiving an email summary with ALL of the blog posts I have recently published. This is for you if you would like to keep up with everyone's swap entries without having to remember to go to the blog. The second subscription box is for an announcement email ONLY. When I announce a new swap I send out 1-2 announcements via a Feedblitz Newsblast email. So, you need to sign up through Feedblitz (it's free) and that way you decide when you want to be subscribed and when you don't! The third box is if you want to sign up for both of these emails and announcements from my own website (I have a blog there too). Just check which lists you want! 

I hope that clears that up. Cynthia is new to Creative Swaps and I figure others are too.... or perhaps you read via a feed and never saw the mailing list options! 

Ocean/Sunset ATCs: Sabine Busch

Sabine Busch's envelope came in the other day, thank you for your patience, Sabine! It only took 1 week for it to get here from Germany and I am convinced it is because how she packaged it . . . Having been out of hosting for a while,  I am learning from her, the best way how to do this. To start with, she used a plain business size envelope. She put her ATCs is see-through sleeves, but she taped 3 ATCs in a row together with washi tape, which is easily removed. She had 2 rows of three ATCs that nicely fit flatly into the envelope! Let me show you.

Below I am showing you both "rows" of ATCs held in place 

with the washi tape so they don't move around in the envelope.

One row is lifted up to show you the washi tape on the back of the 2nd row!

This is just a helpful idea to save space, postage and time.

The simple flat envelopes will get to me quicker than padded ones. 

 Sabine included a postcard for me to that was a delight to receive
& also protected the ATCs.

Here is a close up of one of her wonderful ATCs!

Below are all 6 that she made -really fantastic! Sabine chose to do ALL Ocean colors -great!

Please do not delay, especially if you are overseas . . . April 23rd is the last day I can receive for this swap. I found 3 more sets of ATCs this afternoon from Marion Bockelmann, Cynthia Jones & Barbara DeLisle in my mailbox, yeeha! I will scan them & upload them soon - tomorrow is a pretty busy day for me so if I don't get to them tomorrow, I will aim for accomplishing that on Friday!

"Inspiration exists, but it has to find you working."

-Pablo Picasso

Ocean/Sunset ATCs: Peggy Gatto

We have our very first arrival for our Ocean/Sunset ATC swap! Peggy Gatto's Artist Trading Cards arrived a few days ago and I am just now getting them scanned and added to the blog. Thank you for your patience, Peggy. When the package arrived, I marked it as received on the Participant List - do check that out if you are wondering if your envelope has made it here yet! Once it is marked received on that list, it will not be too long before it is posted on the blog.

Peggy has created some beautiful ATCs for our swap. Mostly in wonderful "Ocean" colors . . . .

But she also created two in Sunset colors - so lovely, all of them! 

Peggy sent in 7 ATCs -which means she sent an extra one for me!

❤ This is a 6 for 6 ATC swap ❤ You only need to send 6!

So, sending an extra is NOT a requirement, but always appreciated.

I often get to keep extra ATCs, but there have been times when I needed 

to use them to make the swap work out.

Thank you so much, Peggy! 

The extra goodies you sent were a special treat for me too. 

You and I have been in exchanges together for such a long time, 

it is great to have you in this swap! 

Mark your Calendars: 

ALL swaps must be in my HANDS on or before 

APRIL 23rd, 2016

Mail EarLY!

 I can only swap what I have in my hands.

Please keep your swap envelopes simple.

Your ATCs should NOT be dimensional and thus should not need any padding. 

A plain business size envelope will do fine, tape the edges to protect if you like.

You do not need to wrap the ATCs individually - plain ATCs are fine, a piece of 

parchment paper or similar inbetween is good if you are worried about sticking! 

Please get in touch if you have ANY Questions . . . 

Have fun creating!! 

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