Itty Bitty Collage swap: Lenna ~ CT!

Well, I ended up making 6 Itty bitty collages (3x3) myself for this swap! Only 4 of them ended up getting swapped with other participants . . . as my husband demanded one of them (smile) : ^ ) and I decided to keep another for myself. But I had a lot of fun making these little collages, using photos from one of our visits to Wolfe Island, in Ontario Canada. This place is what comes to my mind when I think of summer these days. I used scrapbook papers as a background in orange & red colours, and I added stamping, a bit of watercolour crayon and some metallic marker. The 3 x 3" size is really a small space to work on! Click on any photo for more detail.

See all of my itty bittys to the right -- THIS SWAP IS NOW FINALLY COMPLETE!! I mailed all the packages home today. Thank you for your patience - it took me longer to do than I expected, with vacation making it hard for me to catch up.


: ) Lenna

Itty Bitty Collage swap: Victoria Talcott Wormell ~ Connecticut

Amazingly, Victoria's yummy fabric Itty Bittys are the very last of the Itty Bitty 3x3 collages to be uploaded to this blog! Please Click HERE to see all of the ITTY Bitty posts. We had 28 swap participants complete the summer themed Itty Bitty collage swap - due in my hands on August 9th. In fact, Victoria drove to my house and delivered them to me on that day! I was happy about that, because Victoria has been busy with her family ~ her husband, 3 little children, plus she works as a goldsmith! I had not even seen her for about 3 years --and she has taken many of my classes in the past. So, it was great to catch up with Victoria and receive her swaps while her 2 year old reminded us she wanted "Juice!"

Being a fabric lover myself, Victoria's Itty Bittys are really appealing to me. When announcing this swap, I left it open to whether paper, fabric, or both were utilized to create your summer collages, and only a few of you used fabric, I think? Victoria's bright summer colors , stitching and the story she wrote about her summer (ants!) really won me over. Thank you, Victoria!!

Now that I have all the Itty Bittys posted to the blog I can work on swapping them out. They are nice and small, so it should not be too difficult. I will let you know when they fly to you -sometime next week. In the meantime, I have a few 'Row House' swaps and sunshine quilties to catch up with/post here - stay tuned!

* Fiona Brockie, Sue Lee & Donna Butcher - your packages arrived today! *

Itty Bitty Collage swap: Vickie Jones ~ South Dakota

Vickie Jones is a fairly new participant here at creative swaps, but she is creating wonderful things! Vickie wrote me an email describing her process for the Itty Bitty collage swap and I am going to quote her . . .

"I chose to do something a little different than the others...I took a recent photograph of Mt Rushmore and printed photos on vellum and other glossy print media. My embellishments were yarn, paper clay accented with metallic rub-on media, sticks and "grasses/weeds" plus some chalking to give a little more color or highlights to the pics. Some turned out neater looking than others. I enclosed an extra one for your collection. I chose this theme because our family has a "cabin in the Hills" so we spend as much of our summertime as we can in the Black Hills. Mount Rushmore is always on our agenda even if it is just a "drive-by look"...it is an amazing monument to our fore fathers, their creativity, beliefs and dreams! Thank you for hosting this swap...I look forward to being in others...I think I even have more "artsy people" from our area watching your site! It has been fun!"

It is my pleasure, Vickie, thank you!

I love Vickie's grasses, pine cones & alphabet beads! Did you print some of the images on fabric, Vickie? It feels like it! You can post your answer as a comment, if you wish. (Make sure to sign in when commenting, if you are new to this!)

~ click on any photo for more detail : )

Itty Bitty Collage swap: Shannon Sawyer ~ Arizona

To the right is a close-up of one of the Itty Bitty collages made by Shannon Sawyer. Wow! Click on any photo for more detail.

Shannon never ceases to amaze me with the extreamly dimensional pieces she creates ~simply wonderful and very inspiring. Shannon created 2 sets of 3"x 3" collages on a summer theme, plus some extras -thank you! I keep any extra pieces if I can, as I also use them to help make sure everybody get swapped a different piece of art. Thanks so much!









Shannon's envelopes (highly decorated) and cards are always a treat too!





Thank you, Shannon :^ )

Itty Bitty Collage swap: SallyAnn Arndt ~ Pennsylvania

SallyAnn Arndt from Hershey, PA has sent in some very sweet 3"x 3" Itty Bitty collages for our swap! On the back of each collage is a man and a woman smiling and hugging, with the words, "Chocolate Avenue ~ Hershey, Pennsylvania". I think this is what summer means to SallyAnn! : ) She has attached ribbons, a rosette and a dangle made out of beads/pearls plus a shell to each collage. Thank you SallyAnn, for making 2 sets!

Itty Bitty Collage swap: Rena Matus ~ Connecticut

Rena Matus is from CT, and she is a student and friend of mine! She sent in a very bright & colorful set of six 3"x 3" collages with lots of texture. Rena writes, "The inner square of my Itty Bittys is a tecchnique that my sister (Dottie Mucha) and I played with when I was over at her house in July. It is a combination of alcohol inks, thermo web and embossing powders/tinsel on glossy paper. We had a lot of fun with this and we really like the end results."

Rena, I am so pleased you experimented and played for this summer mini collage swap! Summer is certainly a great time to PLAY in CT -with warmer weather and longer days ; ^ ) I found it a little bit hard to capture the textured look of what Rena created, with my camera, but perhaps you will be lucky and receive one in person! Here's another try, above, showing off all of her Itty Bittys -click on the photo for more detail!

Itty Bitty Collage swap: Mary Bushnell Goodrow ~ Massachusetts

Mary Goodrow sent in 7 great Itty Bittys for our swap, which was due about a week ago, on August 9th. I am just getting caught up after getting back from vacation at the same time! I believe I have just 5 more participants' swap art to upload and then I can swap them out!

Thank you very much Mary, for the extra collage you sent. I know I will be hard-pressed on which one to choose . . . .
Mary used ARTchix Studio images, shells, Rhinstones, and she painted, used wallpaper and pretty paper with gold swirls. Very nice!

Itty Bitty Collage swap: Margaux Lashbrook ~ Scotland, UK

From Margaux Lashbrook in Scotland we have a travel-log Itty Bitty, one of my favorites.

Margaux shares her story of what summer means to her by writing on the back of each Itty Bitty and then also enclosing a typed version to make sure we can read it-thank you!!

She tells us about traveling to the south coast of England and hopping on a ferry to France! Great wine, mineral water, coffee . . . ooh la la! She has maps on the front of her collage, various French stamps, and even French ribbons. I am sure I missed something there is so much to look at!

Thank you, Margaux!

Click on any photo for more detail, as always!

Itty Bitty Collage swap: Lisa Mallette ~ Florida

Lisa Mallette has created some very pretty and romantic summer themed itty bittys for our swap, just look at these! Lisa wrote about making her collages on her own blog -please go and check it out!

Thanks so much fpr your kind words and beautiful art, lisa!

Itty Bitty Collage swap: Leslie Hanson ~ Oregon

From Leslie Hanson we have a set of sweet and delectable summer Itty Bittys -yum!

Each one is different and unique!
I love the variety ~ thanks, Leslie! I also adore the card you made me -it is much appreciated : ) lenna

Itty Bitty Collage swap: Linda Skeen ~ Wyoming

Linda Skeen has sent in 2 sets of Seashells and Sunshine Itty Bitty collages. She stamped and hand painted on watercolor paper, and added itty bitty shells added to the corner.
Thanks very much for participating, Linda!

Click on the photos for more detail.

Itty Bitty Collage swap: Joanie Hoffman ~ Maryland

Joanie Hoffman's Itty Bittys are really very creative, don't you agree? I have never seen any Itty Bittys like this before! Joanie created a grid on the back of her 3x3 collage that described what summer means to her. Then on the front, she illustrated her descriptions. My fave: "Something from the Chesapeake Bay" on the back and on the front, she has a shell or a rock from the bay, tied to her collage - ingenious! Joanie finished this by covering the front of the Itty Bitty with a piece of summer inspired fabric and tying it on loosely . . . very fab!

Thank you Joanie!

I am so very happy to have one to add to my collection!
You can view Joanie's post on her Itty Bittys on her own blog (which I just discovered) HERE.

Click on any photo for a closer view!

Itty Bitty Collage swap: Fiona Brockie ~Scotland, UK

From Fiona Brockie in Scotland, ooh la la!

Fiona's Itty Bittys are paper based with fabric sewn on top. Then, both paper and transparencies were sewn and glued on.

Thanks for creating an extra itty bitty for me, Fiona - I really love your art. I still have the "ascheupultel" ATC fiona gave me in the Grimm collage swap, on my desk : ^ )

Click on any photo for a closer view!

Itty Bitty Collage swap: Dottie Mucha ~ Connecticut

Here are the wonderful Itty Bittys made by Dottie Mucha, also a CT resident who lives so near me that I can drop her swap returns off! Dottie's swap pieces are layered bits of vellum and paper with a folded butterfly that opens to reveal Dottie's theme of summer beauty - click on the collages for more detail.

-just beautiful! Thank you, Dottie, for everything.

Itty Bitty Collage swap: Cynthia Zdanzukas ~Connecticut

Cynthia Zdanzukas from my own home state of CT, has provided us with some lovely fabric Itty Bittys. They are shades of blue with silk flowers and beads, and each one has a small message sewn on like "make time", "relax", "play, "love" and "smile". There are metal charms with words too. These are great words of wisdom to follow, especially in the summer! I will delight in keeping one. Thanks so much, Cynthia!

Click on any photo to see more detail.

Itty Bitty Collage swap: Connie Holso ~Wyoming

Connie Holso has sent in some amazing Itty Bittys. I did not even realize right away that the butterfly wings Connie made opened like this! They were shipped FLAT of course, and while unpacking them to photograph her pieces I noticed one of the larger sets of wings looked like it could move. Shortly thereafter, I found out they ALL opened -very cool. I have never seen anything quite like this on an Itty Bitty collage! Click on the photo for more.

Connie made an extra 3x3 collage for me and enclosed a couple of paper butterflies - Thank you!!!

I just found out that Connie has a wonderful blog! Follow this link to the post about her Itty Bittys.

Itty Bitty Collage swap: Barbara Roberts ~ Florida

Barbara sent in 2 different sets of Itty Bittys for our swap. For the first set, Barbara sent in this description: "These Itty Bitty are made using grunge board. I painted them with various Lumiere paints and then stamped script on them. I highlighted the swirls with Treasure Gold and edged them with embossing powder to finish the look -they feature images from ARTchix Studio. I used a painted paper towel and painted/stamped the watercolor paper behind the image. I used felt/paper flowers with a whimsical brad and fiber to finish the piece." WOW! these are spectacular. Click on any photo for more detail.


Barbara's second set of Itty Bittys (3"x 3" collages) were made in a crazy quilt fashion with various fabrics and trims. I'm sorry the photo is not more clear... these itty bittys are so lovely as well. Barbara has some better photos on her flickr account! Check them out with that link : ) She also included some wonderful snippets of fabrics, trims & cool paper flowers just like she used, in her package for me- thank you, barbara!!

Itty Bitty Collage swap: Jo~Ann Reichert

From Jo~Ann Reichert, my friend in art in PA, we have a set of 6 Itty Bitty collages & an extra one for me - thanks! Jo~Ann wrote and said I inspired her to paint more, I think through the on-line/email course (fabric stamping & painting) she took with me earlier this year -- and so, that is what she did for this swap! Jo~Ann says she created her Itty Bittys on cloth/paper canvas, I think similar to the kind I purchase in a large pad and cut down to size.

Jo~Ann used free motion stitching for the sun as well as clay, texture paint and acrylic paint. She says that Diamond Glaze makes the water shine and she added embellishments of shells and coins to add interest to her Itty Bittys. Here they all are -- and thanks for the extra Itty Bitty for me!

Itty Bitty Collage swap: Janice Perkin

We are lucky to have Janice from Warrington, UK joining us again. She created 6 wonderful Itty Bitty collages based on what summer means to her. I am also including a look at the back of her collages -- if you click on the photo you may be able to read some of the cool places in the UK Janice has visited in the summers!

Thanks, Janice : ^ )

Itty Bitty Collage swap: Cathy Johnson

Cathy Johnson, who leads the Fabric in Altered Art yahoo group, has joined us in another swap -hooray! Cathy has put together a favorite paper image with stitching to create her 3"x3" Itty Bitty collages, her first. Please go to her blog to read more about how she made them and learn about her yahoo group!