Cards!

I'm a couple days past my self-imposed deadline for posting at least every two weeks, so naturally, I have a couple things to talk about! Above you can see the latest card I made for my mom. Her birthday was at the end of January, and I very much enjoyed making this card. It started when a fabric scrap and 2 paper scraps found themselves lying near each other on my desk. The two paper scraps kind of looked like an L and an O. What better thing to think about on someone's birthday than love? And so a card was born. My mom is one of my hugest fans, and on a recent visit to her house, I noticed that she'd hung up "a selection" of cards I've made her in the past. It was really cool to revisit all the ideas I've had over the years and see how my art has developed. Thanks, Mom, for your support of me and my art. :)


I mentioned the birth of young Bronwyn in my last post and well, of course I had to make her a card. This is in the form of the postcards I posted in January, 5x7 inches, with a mix of paper, ribbon, fabric, a tag frame, and a few brads. I thought to myself, A few years down the line, what would I most like to see in my baby book if I was a little kid? Bright colors and lots of fun things to touch.


Finally, the time has come for the "6 Degrees of HLM International Card Swap!" Last year in February I organized this swap, and everyone had such fun that I decided it should be an annual thing. Above is a selection of the cards from last year, for your inspiration. (Click on the picture to get a closer view.) Here's how it works:

1. After I collect names of those who would like to participate, I will let all participants know a number of cards to make. I expect it to be between 5 and 15.

2. A deadline will be set for when the cards will need to be completed, for example around 4-6 weeks from now.

3. Then you make (if ten people participate, for example) 10 cards exactly the same (or with minor differences) by that deadline and send them all to me in the mail, with 10 envelopes. There are no limits to what you can do. Use fabric, paper, the computer, photos, buttons, beads, stitching, glitter, anything that inspires you. Just make sure that the finished card will fit inside an envelope that can be mailed in the post.

4. I do the logistics: sorting them so that each person gets one of each of the other people's cards, totaling the number of cards you sent in. Then I send them back to you in a bunch!

5. Cost would be small: however much you spend on making the set number of cards (if I use all brand new high quality paper bought from the scrapbook store, I total about $6-8 for 15 cards), plus cost of postage to and from Fort Collins. Your investment will yield as many cards as you make, all for you to use whenever you want to send someone you love a card.

If you would like to participate, please email me or post a comment below by next Monday, March 2.

If you know someone else who might love this, feel free to let them know! If they respond to me, we'll count them in. If our number of participants starts getting too high, I'll adjust the rules a little and keep you informed. (I know that making even 15 cards is a lot of work--any more isn't very fun!)

Thanks for visiting today and happy arting!