Thursday, July 31, 2008

Playing in the Scrap Box

All my scraps go into organized bins or containers depending on size. But there are always some odd shaped scraps that don't quite fit into any of the categories I have set up. So I put these odd scraps in their own bin. Sometimes this bin starts to over flow, so this is when I raid that scrap bin and use the scraps from it to make postcards. Below are some of the creations I have made this week with some of the scraps from the odd shaped scrap bin.

These Fish are for the ArtsNtheMail July Lottery. Do I feel lucky this month? The drawing for the winner should be done by tomorrow. There are lots of lovely cards posted in the ArtsNtheMail photo album for this month's lottery. If I win, I will get them all. If not, I will send my card to the winner. We shall see who the lucky one is this month.... (update 8/1/08 - I will be sending this card to Amy in CO)


I had lots of scraps with wonder under on the back. So I took those, cut them up into tiny scraps, and made another Bits and Scraps postcard. I do like these. This one is going to one of the ladies in my Art2Mail group.



These two were made from the brown scraps I had left over from the all brown postcards I made earlier in the year. This time, though, I added some blue stitches to accent the brown. These are also going to some ladies in my Art2Mail group.


I finished two more frog postcards this week as well. One is going to a friend who so kindly sent me an extra crazy quilt postcard, and the other is going to one of the ladies in PostCard Pizzazz for our 1 to 1 swap.

Friday, July 25, 2008

Green Delights

I have been working mostly green lately. Below are some green QTC's, (cutsies, or Quilters Trading Cards) that I made for Postcard Pizzaz group. Partners are not even assigned yet, but these are ready early. First time that has happened. I usually finsish my items the day before mail date is set. ;) But for these, I was using my machine to embroider lighthouses for another swap, (those will be posted later when I finish them) and needed something to do in between thread changes, so I did all these green QTC's by hand, except for the border. I did the border after the machine was done with all the embroidery I had set up for it.


I stitched down the green fleece trim with solid green beads. Then I added little leaves to make it look sort of like a vine. On all the polk a dots that were not too close to the edge, I added some transparent shiny green beads. All green. :)



This card is also for Postcard Pizzaz. It is for a 1 to 1 swap. I really like making these. This is my sixth one. But I have about 20 more ready for the hand embroidery to be added. Such fun. ;) I can't seem to just sit and watch TV, or movies, or play on the computer for that matter without some thing in my hands to work on. Just as an example, I finished this postcard while playing WOW last night during the down time in between arena ques. :)

July Creations

July has gone by faster than I anticipated. I have spent a good part of the month traveling and visiting relatives. But I did find time to get some postcards made for some of the swaps I am in.


This is my version of an "Underwater" swap. I picked a background fabric that reminded me of water and then printed out an underwater scene and ironed it on. Then added an orange starfish for more color and finally did some circle free motion quilting on the blue background. I like the way it makes the card feel with that type of quilting. I can feel little "bubbles" in the fabric.





I made these red flowery ones for an Art 2 Mail swap. These three fabrics are my three favorite out of my whole stash. :)






This card started out as a "Purple Haze" card for a swap earlier this year. I didn't like the way it was turning out though, so I let it sit. This month, I added some yellow stitches and a fancy yellow fabric edging and I must say I really like the way this one turned out. I wanted to keep it for myself, but I was a good swapper and mailed it out to it's destination. :)



I had some leftover hands punched out of blue fabric from a previous project and wondered what on earth I could do with them. I laid them on the post card in what seemed like hundreds of different layouts. I finally decided on this one, My version of an Inkblot. I like how it turned out.



This card was made for a flying Geese swap. I received some really great ones so far though that blew mine out of the water. They are pictured below. The first is from Vicky, the second is from Barbara. These women are great piecers.







I had a box full of rolls of ribbon that didn't have enough yardage to make much of anything with. Instead of throwing them out, I decided to make postcards out of them. I took all that extra bits of ribbon and wove them together. I had enough varieties to make 14 different cards. I sent them to the ladies in one of my Art 2 Mail groups, and of course kept one for me. :)




This is the latest card I have made. Its is for a July Mingle swap. July and Watermelons go great together, So I stitched out this Sunbonnet Sue and added some squiggly quilting around her. She is going all the way to Germany.