ATCs and more ATCs ....

Well I've had one of the best ATC weeks since I started making and swapping these miniature artworks - I managed to increase my collection by 42 cards this week alone. I received an absolutely fantastic Corset ATC in the mail that I swapped with Valerie Brincheck through the ATC World Yahoo Group in America; I received a card from Sue Angell also in America that I didn't even know I was getting - a lovely surprise; I received 16 ATCs from Canada; I picked up the One Colour swap from the Scrapbook Cupboard; I attended the first live swap held at Addicted to Scrap in Southport and received some wonderful cards from there; not to mention that both Kerri and Sarah also gave me 2 ATCs each this week ... it was so exciting to have received so many cards.

Here's a picture of Valerie's Corset ATC, the picture really doesn't do the card justice at all, it's just beautiful in real life. Valerie posted the template, so I must have a go at making a corset card myself.

I finished my Tree ATCs today, which are due into the Scrapbook Cupboard by 14th June and I'm pretty happy with the result. I used kraft cardstock as the base, then patterned paper called Months & Season by Rusty Pickle, I then attached a transparency with eyelets and wire, which I printed with a picture of a tree that I found on google images.

This morning I picked up the completed puzzle from the Scrapbook Cupboard and must say that the majority of cards are absolutely fantastic. All I need to do now is sand a few pieces down to fit a bit better and glue all the pieces together and add to a frame. I may even add a few more embellishments to a few pieces just to add a bit more interest.

"The Grand essentials of happiness are:
something to do, something to love, and something to hope for."

~ Allan K Chalmers ~

Circle Journal & Puzzle Swap

Last Saturday I picked up my Circle Journal from the Scrapbook Cupboard and spent this week fixing it up a bit ... I added tabs to some of the pages, a few of the pages were slightly smaller than 8 x 8 so I added a scalloped edge and border, I stuck all the pages together and I also wrote a few words in a double page layout at the end of the journal to finish it off. I really love everyone's interpretation of my theme "Love Is ..." and what that means to them. This is truly a book to be treasured.

(1) Front Cover (2) My Layout (3) Last Layout

I've finally finished all the puzzle pieces to swap with 19 other people on Saturday, 31st May at the Scrapbook Cupboard. I thought scrapping puzzle pieces would be easy, but found it incredibly challenging to fit pictures and embellishments on some of those tiny pieces. I'm so happy that I've finally finished and have to say that I love what I've done with nearly all the pieces, there are a couple that I feel I could have done better, but hopefully the person that receives those pieces will be happy enough. If you're checking my blog and are a part of the puzzle swap, you will see your piece in the picture, but hopefully you'll still be surprised when you see it in the flesh.

I did a big clean up today and stored lots of bits and pieces in our shipping container and cleaned up my scrapping stuff. I also managed to find my photos from a trip I'd taken overseas in 2001 (finally). This is the next project that I'm planning to scrapbook ... if I find time in between my ATCs that is.

Happiness cannot be traveled to, owned, earned, worn or consumed.
Happiness is the spiritual experience of living every minute with love, grace and gratitude.
~ Denis Waitley ~

Stained Glass Window ATC

Here's my latest ATC creation that I will take to the Addicted to Scrap swap on 29th May. I've used the Collections range of chipboard windows painted black and inked with silver, and realise now that the card is quite thick and only just fits into a trading card plastic sleeve pocket ... I hope I'll be forgiven by the girls at the swap. The background is a transparency stamped with music notes and StazOn, then on the other side of the transparency I've painted with crackle medium, red acrylic paint & crackle medium again. It looks really cool when you hold it up to the light and can see straight through it. I've even painted the back of the girl black so it looks like a shadow from the back. Quite a time consuming ATC ... I'm quite happy with the result.

Our lives begin to end the day we become silent about things that matter.

~Martin Luther King, Jr., 1929-1968, American Civil Rights Leader and Nobel Prize Winner~

Birthday ATC for Kyla

I'm back from visiting the family in Sydney and had a lovely relaxing time. The weather ended up being beautiful and warm, around 20 degrees most days, and only a little chilly when the sun went down. We also managed to get a family photo of all of us together (except the 2 husbands) after our mother's day breakfast {I know, you'd think I'd be better at organising family photos being a scrapbooker, but I just keep forgetting}. Anyway, it's nice to be home again and back to creating puzzle pieces and ATCs.

It's Kyla's birthday tomorrow so we're doing the drive around town picking up cards that are ready from the Cupboard and the Hut ... I can't wait to see what everyone's created. I spent today at Scrapbooks Etc and created a birthday ATC for Kyla (instead of getting her a birthday card), it's so cute and one of a kind.

"Always, when you know what you don’t want, that’s when the rocket of desire is born of what you do want. That is the fruit of your experience. Now pluck it and savour it and enjoy it. Visualise it and find the feeling place of it, and live happily ever after, once you get the hang of this." Abraham-Hicks

Mermaids are ready to swim ...

(1) Card Closed, (2) Card Open

I've finished my Mermaid ATCs for the Yahoo Group PaperArts. I really liked the cards up until I added the rain dots to make the background look like water ... but they're on now and I'm not going to take them off, so they'll just have to do. Live and learn ...

Sylvia, Alexis and I are off to Sydney on Thursday, 8th May to visit mum & dad before they go overseas to Holland and also because it's mother's day, so this will probably be the last blog entry until I return on Tuesday, 13th May. I'm packing my winter woollies, apparently it's cold down there!

Until then ... be happy, have fun and laugh lots.

"You grow up the day you have your first real laugh at yourself."
Ethel Barrymore, 1879-1959, Academy Award Winning Actress

Me and Alexis ...

Here's a layout I completed last night with a recent photo of me and Alexis taken on my birthday in March. Alexis is now 20 months old and says loads of words ... only yesterday she copied a word I said - it wasn't a very good word (S-H-I-T) - and I've learnt how careful I need to be in what I say ... it was pretty funny, although I had to walk away to have a laugh. Until next time ...

"Our business in life is not to get ahead of others,
but to get ahead of ourselves to break our own records,
to outstrip our yesterday by our today."

~ Stewart B Johnson ~

Some Layouts Completed ...

I know you're probably really surprised (I know I am) that I actually completed a couple of layouts recently. The double page layout was a "Sketched" class I did at Scrapbooks Etc with photos from December 2005 and I finally finished it off with embellishments and journalling. The single page was a quick layout I did on a Scrapping Wednesday because I wasn't storing my photos very well and this picture from 1990 was starting to get crushed. All-in-all I'm pretty happy that in between my ATCs I managed to get a couple of layouts completed.

"Art Washes from the Soul the Dust of Everyday Life."
~ Picasso ~