Grounding Myself

Three trips to California in one month has definitely inspired me to re-focus and keep myself on the ground for a little while. On the second trip, I visited my dearest Jennifer, who, through energy, words, and angel cards, encouraged and empowered me to manifest working part time at my day job, for my sanity and my art. The day after I returned from that visit, I asked about it, and the wish was granted!! Starting in August, I'll work a day less a week and I can't believe it. I am so grateful and excited. Jennifer's was one of many omens I've seen and listened to regarding this. The time is now.

Below, a mother's day card and a birthday card made of the same materials. They were fun, and still lovely despite being so simple.


And now, let me introduce you to two VERY inspirational artists. Amanda Jean, at Crazy Mom Quilts, appears to be a homemaker who pumps out quilts at a rate I've never before imagined. I am amazed at how much she has made since I last visited her blog four weeks ago. And her designs are totally my style. Since that first visit to her blog, I haven't been able to get her designs out of my head. I love them! And she challenges herself in lots of ways, one way being not buying fabric when she already has so much! There was one post in which she stated she'd not bought fabric in 50-some days! I was so impressed!

The other artist is Two Inky Hands, actually a mother-daughter duo who make fantastic cards, bookmarks, collages, etc ALL OUT OF RECYCLED STUFF! I discovered them at the Salt Lake City Airport during a layover, and couldn't help but pay $8 each (OMG!) for two of their cards. Both cards used bubble wrap and they were so simple, and and entire card was made of reused items. Check out their website (click on their product line links to see some of their work), and be inspired yourself.

To ground myself, I plan to stay put till mid-July, my next plane trip. And I plan to make more art and write and eat from our garden and from the local farmer's market, where I'm off to now!

Garlic

I made this super fun card for the 2nd birthday of my young friend Sonia, who lives in Italy. It is a series of bright cardstocks, to which I stuck photos mostly of her and a short birthday message, and then covered in packaging tape for durability. I think what I love the most about it is that I feel it is a completely original creation, not something I've ever seen before, and totally personalized to her and her age. I am SO pleased with the outcome!



The best part was that Ambra (Sonia's mom) wrote to me in an email today:

"Sonia LOVES her card, and so do I! You truly made it for her, and that is soooo awesome. The fact that it's a book, which is a word she can say, and that it has all these photos in it, she just looks at it and looks at it. I almost got her to say, "Heather," but the best she could do in the moment was one of her newest words 'alio' which means garlic."

I totally laughed out loud!

Here are some close up views, the front and back:



Ever yours,
Garlic
:)

Wrap Up

Hey there everyone, here are a couple last photos of the apron swap (aside from the one I hope to receive from my swap partner, Jennifer, of her in the one I made). I thought you'd like to see the apron I received from Diane in California. If you go to the apron blog (click on the button to the right), you can read my entry about it. I am so inspired to create a white apron for myself now. Also, be sure to visit Ambra's blog to see what she made (and bonus: if you leave a comment on her latest post, you can enter to win a giveaway for Italian ephemera). Her apron is super cute.


(Just a side note: notice the tulips! One of my favorite things about spring, and how happy that I have a garden in which to grow them. This year we have tons of them.)

Below are pictures of the front and back of the accompanying potholder I sent to Jennifer with her apron. It is a little bigger than the standard hot pad, but it is made of all the scraps of fabric I had leftover, and you can stick your hand inside it. We were also asked to send a favorite recipe, so naturally I sent a pie recipe! Let me know if you'd like a good recipe for custard pie. Mmmm!




Off I go to make mother's day cards!

Flirty Apron Swap

So Tuesday I finally sent the apron to my swap partner, Jennifer, in Canada! I was very pleased with the final outcome, and I've asked her to send me a photo of her in it. Hopefully she'll oblige. Here is what I started with:


The rooster was the lucky find at the Goodwill. I went there hoping to find some sort of rooster image. Jennifer had indicated to me that her kitchen is decorated in a country/rooster theme. When I think "country," I think tans and dark reds and greens. So I started searching through all the linens and found 2 pillow cases, 3 sets of napkins, a table runner, and finally, at the very last minute, a lone placemat with a rooster on it! Hooray!


I wanted the apron to be "flirty" more than anything, and I feel I've achieved that. The stripes emulate feathers of a rooster to me.


A challenge for me was the size. Without a pattern, I've never made something for anyone else, and Jennifer indicated she was a size or two bigger than me, so I couldn't really use myself as a model. Luckily, I have a couple co-workers who were willing to model for me, and the apron looked so much better on them than it did on me. Nothing like clothes that fit!


This is the back, with extra long ties:


The apron swap has been a lot of fun. If you click on the button to the right, you can see all the other amazing creations that other women around the world made. There are some amazing ones and some well, interesting ones. But each one of them was made with love, and is a work of art in its own right.

Too, I've met a new online friend, Tara, through this swap! She is another artist in Fort Collins and I hope to have a chance to meet her in person at some point. Her blog is called Tinkerfrog, and at this very moment, she is having a really cool giveaway. Check out her blog and post a comment to be entered to win her excellent assortment of fabric. Do it soon, as her giveaway ends on April 30th!

Gettin' ready to swap

Tonight I have no final products to show you, but the workings of final products, indeed! This weekend was about getting down to business. Tuesday is the postmark deadline for our International Card Swap, and a week from Monday is the postmark deadline for the Flirty Apron Swap I'm participating in online (click on button to the right to learn more). So this weekend, I designed. After much experimenting, I finally came up with a card design I'm satisfied with. Rather than spoil the surprise entirely and post my prototype on the blog, I thought I'd post the ingredients, since today was all about making each one so that I can put them all together assembly line-like in the next couple days. One of my favorite things is that the base is fabric, cut from a second-hand pillow case I found at the Goodwill this weekend for a dollar. Fan-cy!


The Flirty Apron Swap is a challenge to make a fun apron for a complete stranger, re-using old linens. Thus the trip to Goodwill this weekend. Indeed, for only about $7, I found all my materials. Below is how I envision it:


That's all I'll say for now, though, just in case my partner happens upon my blog for some reason (it's supposed to be a secret from her until she receives it in the mail).

I look forward to showing you the final outcomes soon! Till then, check out my sister's new photography blog, A Journey in Photography, and take care.