Becky Sunderman: Vintage note card swap!

My mail box was brightened yesterday by an envelope from Becky S. in Arkansas. Besides her participation in creative swaps, I know Becky from fabric-related groups where she arranged for me to teach the group members. It is a pleasure to have her here in the Vintage note card swap. Her cards and envelopes are a little bit different (which I love) and so beautiful!

wonderful set

I love the red trim on this card

 matching envelopes, mmmm!

The netting is brilliant : ) It really adds to the Vintage appeal.

Wonderful!

Thanks so much, Becky!

Artful pages - A new workshop

Shame on me for not mentioning my new project on the creative swaps blog yet! It's a collaborative book arts class that will be taught online by 4 different artists, covering 4 different aspects of book arts. Can you guess that one of the collaborating artists is me?! This new workshop will be taught "live" from February 20th - March 18th with a Flickr group for sharing your art as you move through the lessons. The instructors and your fellow classmates can comment on the class work you upload and in my experience, this has been a friendly, caring, nurturing environment. I've always learned a lot and often been very inspired by what I saw in similarly organized classes by Mary Green of Green Paper. She is organizing this workshop too! The 4 artists 4 ways password protected blog used for distributing the lessons will stay open indefinitely, giving you plenty of time to work at your own pace. If this sounds like your cup of tea, go to Artful Pages - 4 artists 4 ways to learn more about what we will be offering and to sign up! I'll give you an idea, a sneak peak of some of the things covered in my lessons below. My portion will be 3 lessons (out of 12) on Artful Altered Books and I can't wait!

I will teach you about gel medium transfers -
this one was done directly in my sample book.

various page backgrounds for your artwork will be discussed
 -this is just one i will teach you!

And LOTs more!!

I hope to see you in this workshop!

I will leave the 4 artists 4 ways banner at the top of the blog for you.

Click on the banner or the link above to find out more! 

Frieda Oxenham: Vintage Note Card swap!

I received Frieda's note cards the other day and they are so delicious. The note cards and envelopes even smell good because she coffee dyed them! It did take Frieda's package about 3 weeks to travel from the Scottish Borders to Florida . . . so please make sure you plan accordingly, especially if you are mailing overseas. You have 5 weeks to get your note cards delivered to me! You'll see 4 sets below, as Frieda made an extra for me. Thank you so much, it will be difficult to choose . . .

beautiful envelope and card

back of card  : )

gorgeous fabric, lace and beading

a famous beauty in her day

Beautiful!! 

Read more about these cards including the images Frieda used, the coffee dying of the papers . . . here:
 http://friedaquilter.blogspot.com/2010/12/vintage-notecards.html

: ^)))))) thank you, Frieda!!

Joanna Urbani: vintage note card swap!

Joanna's note cards took a little while to get here from the UK, I think because of the huge amount of snow they had? Her package spent 11 or 12 days traveling instead of the usual 5-7. But what a delight when the cards arrived yesterday! I must share the mail art envelope Joanna sent them in, as I love it so much. Click for detail.

Thanks so much, Joanna!

And here are the lovely cards and envelopes that were wrapped up inside . . . .

The back of the envelopes and cards, below

I love the thumbprint seal on the back of the envelopes.
Joanna labeled her cards very nicely too. 

Beautiful Note Cards!

Joanna explains how she made her note cards and tells us some of the materials she used on her blog, Fiddlesnips! Go give her a visit : ^ )

Margriet van Schaik: vintage note card swap!

Wow, we have some beautiful note cards making their way to my mailbox already! These are from Margriet van Schaik and have traveled all the way from the Netherlands. Thanks soooooo much for joining us, Margriet! If you have a blog or a website please let me know and I will share it here.

A beautiful mix of paper and lace

I really like Margriet's handmade stamp
that she put on the back of each card

She decorated the envelopes and lined both
the envelope and the card

just gorgeous! the music page is such a great background.

I love all the buttons & lace

Thank you so much for the sweet goody pack,
not required, but very appreciated!

What a wonderful start to our Vintage note card swap. Between Susan, Marnie, Jo Ann, Donna, Nancy & Margriet we have a great variety of awesome cards already here and posted on the blog! Frieda & Joanna have sent theirs from the UK, but with the unusual amount of snow they are having, their parcels are still en route. Make sure to leave plenty of time for your cards to arrive BY February 26th!

Nancy Roberts: vintage note card swap!

Yesterday I also received a fantastic package from Nancy Roberts in Florida. This is her first creative swap, so we welcome you! I think you will love her cards. Nancy said she had a lot of fun making them . . . so much so that she created 2 sets, or 6 cards/envelopes in total. If you remember, I said this was perfectly okay as long as you either enclosed $2 for the extra postage or sent it via paypal, which Nancy did. She also enclosed for me a little bag of beads and tiny double-leaf gold charms, my favorite. Again, thanks so much Nancy!

so beautiful . . .

lovely lace & stitching! 

All the envelopes were embellished beautifully like this one 

I adore all the stitching on paper Nancy did -
before she added it to the front of the card!

I can't get enough of seeing the different ways
you are all presenting this woman.

Excellent job! I am sure your cards will be very well received! 

You can read more about them here on Nancy's blog: Quilting Potpourri.

There are 10 spots open in the vintage note card swap 

( if you are still thinking about joining! )

Due in my hands February 26th, 2011.

Donna Parker: Vintage note card swap!

I received a wonderful package yesterday for our vintage note card swap from Donna Parker, what a treat. For one thing, Donna is my first participant from Mexico! She got her cards to me early because she was not sure how long it would take and she really wanted to make the February 26th deadline and participate. She created 3 note card sets, made a beautiful envelope for me and also included a fabulous bag of collage goodies for me to play with. This is totally not necessary but is appreciated! Thank you, Donna. Click on each card below for a larger picture and more details

Donna was initially concerned when she joined the swap. She wrote me, 

"As you know, I live in Mexico, which is a developing country.  I can't go shopping and purchase anything I would be able to purchase in the North.  Consequently, there are no blank cards and envelopes, pretty papers --- you name it --- it's not here." Donna showed me a scan of one of the cards she was working on and wanted me to be frank about what I thought -would it fit the bill for the swap?? I told her most definitely, yes! I think having to work with what she had only fueled Donna's creativity. I really love her cards! You can see more of her cards on Art Helps me Breathe but please visit Donna's other blog, Flying Solo Traveling Light for more of her art.

While she did decide to Fed-Ex the cards to me, she enclosed them in this beautiful envelope she made, which you can now see featured above in the blog header.

Gorgeous!

As you can see in the blog header, I am still displaying all the wonderful envelopes I received hosting the mail art swap. I just can't put them away, they are too inspiring to look at. The bin next to them is holding the vintage note cards as they come in. Now go do something creative!! 

Jo Ann Reichert: vintage note card swap!

I received 2 envelopes full of vintage note cards the past few days and I am finally here to share them with you. I have been extra busy working on a collaborative online teaching project that will be announced next week! I'm very excited about it . . .  but now, let's look at our fantastic swap entries.

From Jo Ann Reichert in Pennsylvania we have 4 cards as Jo Ann made an extra one for me. This is not a requirement ~ 3 note cards are all you need to send. I will be playing in the swap myself with the sample cards I made and trading those for some in the exchange. But that being said, of course extra cards for me are welcomed and appreciated!! Take a look at what Jo Ann created, beautiful! Click for details.

click to see the sewing details -just gorgeous!

Thanks so much, Jo Ann - always glad to have you in a creative swap!

Jo Ann's Picture Trail is here where you can see more of her art : )

Marnie Blum: Vintage note card Swap!

I just received Marnie's wonderful vintage note cards yesterday, what a delight for me! Go to Marnie's blog, Otter Blue to read more about them and what materials she used to create them! Click on any image for a larger one.

I am really enjoying seeing all the different ways the image of the woman on the French postcard I sent all of you with your registration is being used! Beautiful note cards and envelopes, Marnie. Thanks so much for playing! 

The first swap entry has arrived for the first swap of 2011: Susan Stewart!

Oh how it made me smile to receive the first swap entry in the mail yesterday for the very first creative swap of the new year, Vintage note cards! The note cards and envelopes that came in are from my friend Susan Stewart, who lives in the same town as me! (We met at a local Zentangle ATC swap.) Susan's note cards are beautiful and oh, so delightful. Thank you so much for the gift of an extra one, Susan . . . . and I am so pleased to see you used some of the images I sent in the PDFs!

the front - gorgeous!!

back & matching envelope

front & matching envelope

Just beautiful! I love the metallic fibers you added
Steven likes the boat image!

wonderful! Steven likes this one the best : )
The old postcard turned out great!

Thanks for breaking the ice, Susan! 

I'm looking forward to receiving lots more sets. 

Happy creative new year to all of YOU!!