Rena Matus: By the Sea ATC swap

From Rena Matus in Connecticut (my home state) we have 6 ATCs and an extra one, so appreciated. My husband was already eyeing which one I should keep! I know Rena & her sister Dottie (also in our swap) from in-person mixed media classes I taught in CT. So nice to be in contact with them again and have their participation in this swap! 

Rena made some very cool and different fabric ATCs. She told me they were made from fabric, but they were so flexible and yet protected. I asked her how she made them....

"All I used was matte Mod Podge. I brushed a layer on the fabric, added a napkin design, brushed on more, added frontage fragment elements and glitter, then another quick brushing of more mod podge. I did a little bit of stamping on the fabric and added a few white lines. The trick was trying to add my info on the back without it showing through on the front. White gel pen on tissue paper worked the best."

These are definitely a creative response to the by the sea call. Including this one, Rena has now been in 17 creative swaps! So glad to have you in this one, Rena. Thank you! 

Rena Matus: bead swap!

From Rena in Connecticut, some lovely beads made from pre-cut strips Rena had on hand. She embossed them with clear ink and clear embossing powder and said the brightness of the colors toned down after that, but I would not have noticed myself looking at the finished product. Here are photos of her selection of 20 beads for the swap!

Thank you, Rena! I think your beads are grand!

Rena Matus: haiku ATC swap

Sent from my old home state of CT, Rena Matus has sent us 3 ATCs for the swap, plus she gifted an extra one for me, thank you.

Rena's ATCs are hand painted on fabric and were inspired by her first close up encounter with a hummingbird. I had the same experience myself about 10 years ago in CT. It is really quite something to see one up close. 

Thanks so much, Rena.

#47 Rena Matus - little book swap!

From my friend and student, Rena Matus in Connecticut, we have 2 lovely and unusual books! Rena recently took a class with Terrie Lightfoot (a CT artist I know & have exchanged with) and came up with these wonderful books for our swap. Rena writes, "The little books are made from acrylic squares that are backed with a gel medium transfer and scrapbook paper. The blank inside pages were colored with radiant rain by Luminarte." Rena so thoughtfully enclosed the absorbent papers she painted the pages on for me to play with. I  think they will be going right into my art journal, thank you! Take a look at her books, click for detail.

Book one

The back of book 1, below

The front of book 2

Thanks so much, Rena. They both look wonderful!

Rena Matus: Vintage Note Card Swap!

From Rena Matus, my friend and student in Connecticut, we have our last package for the swap and what a lovely selection it is!

I adore this card and envelope!!!

beautiful and dimensional -click to view
Rena used tiny micro beads.

wonderful envelopes

This card has chalk, tiny punched flowers
and something dimensional called flower soft

I am very impressed with  these cards, Rena. Thank you so much for your artistic efforts! Fantastic!!
I just checked and this makes at least 13 swaps Rena has done with me. I am sure it's more because she participated in many exchanges before I had this blog. Congratulations Rena, that's a lot of creative work and art!

Rena Matus: Mail ART swap!!

From Connecticut, where I used to live - 4 wonderful envelopes all on the same day from Rena Matus. I taught classes in my home studio and local stores in CT and Rena was often there! I do miss that and I'm glad that we can stay in touch through my creative swaps now. I see from the cancellation on Rena's envelopes that she mailed them in Glastonbury, one of the towns I grew up in. It also took only 4 days to travel to Florida; not bad! Rena's envelopes are very creative and they make me smile. I have scanned just one picture of them, showing the back of one as they are all similar. I love the stamp of the airplane and note on the back about them being empty. Thanks so much, Rena -these are great!!

Rena Matus: technique tag Book swap!

I received Rena Matus' tags today for our technique book swap. I love the soft colors and paint she used! Click on any scan for more detail.

Thank you, Rena! I miss seeing you at in-person classes in Connecticut, but am so glad you and your sister are still participating in my creative swaps. This makes Rena's 11th swap! 

Rena Matus: Alpha Stamps garden variety swap!

This is Rena Matus' 10th creative swap! I knew she had joined many of my swaps, but I did not know it was that many, wow! Rena participated in the very first ATC swap I hosted through this blog in 2007, and I am sure she participated in many others I hosted before that. Rena lives in Connecticut and used to partake in many of my in-person classes when I lived there too. It is with pleasure that I share her entries for the Alpha Stamps garden variety swap below!

I almost forgot. Rena so kindly wrote me a note describing the items that she used. There are so many wonderful Alpha Stamps products that this is so helpful. THANK you, Rena! Here is her list:

Collage sheet - Seed Catalog ATC's
Garden scrap sheet
Love story red flower mix
Steel blue mini floral dresden borders
Green sueded leaf ribbon  (I absolutely love this stuff and must buy more).
plus I have to tell you, I used the cardboard pieces that come with the Alpha Stamps order as my base, I've been collecting these and they do come in handy. (great idea!)

Tag Book Swap: Rena Matus, Connecticut

Rena Matus, my friend and student back in CT, has sent in these lovely tags created in loving memory of  her dog, Lovey. Even though Rena could not drop these off at my house at the last minute, she did well in getting them to me on time! thanks for the extras, Rena!

Row House Swap: Rena Matus ~ Connecticut

Wow, there is something about Rena's Row Houses with their large keys that is quite compelling! I really like these keys that Rena used when creating her pieces -it makes them look super! Thank you Rena, for your time and attention to this swap and looking forward to seeing you Sept. 27th for the collage class : ^ )

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!

Grimm fairytale 5x5 Collage swap: Rena Matus

Rena Matus lives very nearby in East Hartford, CT. She has been a student in many of my classes over the years, she came to my garage sale with her beautiful Great Dane, and her sister lives across the street from me! Rena almost always drops her swap pieces off instead of mailing them to me and it's always fun to see her!

Rena has created 2 sets of 4 collages plus an extra one for a total of 9, wow! Thank you, Rena. Her sister Dottie is also participating in this swap, so I need to remember NOT to swap their work with each other if possible, as they always make an extra to give to one another. : ) Some of Rena's collages include clay pieces she created herself -look a the fabulous shoe featured to the right or the letters below!





To see ALL of Rena's 5x5 collages for the Alpha Stamp Brother's Grimm fairytale collage swap -- GO HERE.

White Quilties! Rena Matus

Rena Matus does not live too far from me, so with prior arrangement she was able to DROP OFF her quilties on Saturday! Steven & I were working in the yard so we even got to say hi -that was fun! Rena has taken class from me in the past, and her sister Dottie - also a student and swap participant, lives very nearby me. I am hoping they will both drop by for my Tag sale (with lots of art items) on May 9th & 10th!

Rena's shades of white quilties are so lovely -with beading around a stamped saying, "A Snowflake is Winter's Butterfly" and a beautiful butterfly she made herself out of Fantasy Film . I recently found out that Rena made the butterflies-wow! She put a package of fantasy film in her package for me to try too, thank you! I love the way Rena labeled her quilties and I am not sure how she did it . . . printed on a ribbon? Rubber stamped? (Yes! Rena told me she stamped onto the ribbon). It looks fantastic. Here, take a look -click on the photo for more detail:

I also love the way the butterfly wings catch the light. Thanks, Rena!