wild gooseberry

Here are my latest ATCs. I’ve been ATCing my head off and I think I need a little break. It’s been fun, but I didn’t realize how many I made recently…

These next ones were for a “canceled postage stamp” ATC swap…

For this one, I used my Celtic rubber stamps…

These are called Zentangles. They are often randomly drawn shapes, filled in with different designs. They’re a lot of fun to do. These are my very first set!

I have more ATCs to share, but for now, please enjoy these ones. More will be posted soon!

Hello, dear family and friends.  Well, I have the computer for the weekend and then it goes to the computer doctor. So, I thought I’d share my latest ATC creations before it goes in for its checkup.

These were made for a Tree ATC swap, two partners to send to. As usual, the background and envelopes were made using old magazine pages. I’ve really been enjoying using the aluminum duct tape, too.

These next ones were for a Brown/Blue and Brown/Pink swap. The Brown/Pink is called “Strawberry Summer” and the Brown/Blue is “Night in Iraq”, from Joshua’s descriptions.

Here are some birdies (again, I’ve been having fun with the silvery duct tape!)

A quick little Wild Gooseberry Goose (or duck…not quite sure.)

I really enjoyed making this one of the moon over the ocean. It was from two full moons ago, when we went for a walk on Tybee Island at night. *happy sigh*
(for some reason, when I use acrylic paint, it sometimes tends to wash out when I post here. I tried to adjust the color back, but the moon was losing its silvery look (yes, that is the duct tape again!) I wanted to post a close-up as I had for the others, but please know that the picture with the envelope is closer to how dark the blue is in this ATC.)

This one is very different for me. I have a difficult time drawing people, so I tend not to. However, I signed up for a “Non-cutesy mermaid” ATC swap. (as in non-Disney or cartoon-y mermaids, because I have a hard time not being cute, hee hee!) I was very proud of how this ATC turned out, particularly given that I just don’t draw people, or people-esque characters. I do think she’s cute, but in a non-Disney kind of way (I am a fan of Disney, though.) The background is a “mistake” watercolor that I did a few months ago, which was perfect for now. The foil on the end of her tail and the green foil by the words are Hershey’s chocolate Kiss wrappers. The lovely shell on the rock she’s sitting on is a Paua shell from a dear, dear friend in New Zealand. Thank you, Lynn!

And finally, my most recent ATC. It was for a “Grandparent’s sayings” swap. My maternal grandmother (born and raised in Arkansas) had many sayings, some I can repeat and some I just remember her saying (ha!). This is one of my favorites. It was used as an answer to a complaint about a run in a stocking or a bad hair day or something like that. My mama used it for me, her mama used it for her, and I bet her mama used it for her. I called my mother to make sure it was “dark” and not “midnight” for the saying. She told me “dark”, because she wasn’t allowed out after midnight.

“No one’ll ever notice on a gallopin’ horse after dark anyway”. A quote by Sula McGrew, my mama’s mama.

It made me laugh to use a carrousel horse stamp for the gallopin’ horse. I used the page of a magazine article about vintage fabrics for the envelope. The prints made me think about Grandma’s quilts and aprons. I won’t even mention the duct tape…you know what you’re looking at.

Goodness! I hadn’t realized how busy I’ve been working on ATCs lately! Hope you’ve enjoyed looking at them as much as I’ve enjoyed making them.

Hello, dear family and friends. Yes, this time I actually did fall off the face of the earth and am happily back in place now.

I had a wonderful place to learn about and to trade ATCs (Artist Trading Cards.) Then, it turned into not such a great place for me and I left, aimlessly wandering the earth, looking for other friends to play with. Just when I thought it might not happen, I found an even more wonderful, welcoming place to make new friends and to trade ATCs! There, folks don’t have ten thousand rules that take the fun from it (and really, according to the originator of ATCs there are only two rules: That they are 2½ by 3½ inches and that they are traded, never sold.) And with this new place, I am currently making one for one, not 11, so it’s fitting in perfectly with the time I can give to creating. So, here are a few new ATCs made for recent swaps (and what I received in return are just wonderful!)

This first one was for a “Surprise!” swap. Whatever we wanted to do. I chose to make a Paper Queen with a cancelled stamp. The gold foil is from an organic chocolate bar, the button is just one I had and the words and envelope are from magazine pages. This was a lot of fun to come up with.

This one was for the theme “Tree of Life”. The tree trunk and branches are made of a box (corragated cardboard), the leaves and envelope are of magazine pages and the tiny bit of pink foil near the jewel is from a Hershey’s chocolate Kiss, hee hee. The base is cut from a camera box.

This next one is for a color-a-month swap, starting with April, which is the color green. Magazine picture and words are elements of this card (and of course a magazine page envelope!) Again, Hershey’s Kiss foil (this time green) make up the dragonfly wings. The cardboard base is from the back of a writing tablet.

Will you be my Valentine?

Actually, I do have a sweet Valentine…but I wish for all of you a lovely day. Whether you have a romantic love or not, it doesn’t matter. To me, Valentine’s Day is a day to remind everyone you love them.

With that in mind, this is an ATC I made for my parents who were my very first Valentines…I call it “Ruby Valentine”.

The delicate red foil the red heart is made of was far too pretty to leave on my husband’s beer bottle…so it was carefully saved and incorporated into a Valentine for my parents. he hee! Here is a picture with the little envelope…

23 years after I could have lost my mother, this little card arrived at their cozy house…to remind them that I’m so thankful and blessed to have them both in this beautiful world with me.

Enjoy this day everyone and know that a certain Wild Gooseberry loves you and appreciates the support and friendship you’ve shown by visiting here (and leaving comments!!!)

A little tribute to Paul Harvey in the title there.
Here are the rest of the ATCs, along with the little envelopes I made for them.

This one is “Pretty in Pink”. Lot of glitter, lots of pink, and pretty ribbon.

I just wasn’t sure about this one at all when I was working on it. I painted it and wanted to have the lace detail on it, but it didn’t quite work out like I had wanted. I almost just tossed it, when I kept at it and added some pretty ribbon (always fixes things!) and the perfect words. In the end, my boss said this one was her favorite! You just never know how things are going to turn out sometimes. I entitled this one “A Wonderful Way to Live.”

Again, Josh Groban was singing when I was creating this one. I went between “Mi Mancherai” and “Hymne A L’Amour”. I wanted an Old Paris look to this one, and I think I acheived it. In fact, “Old Paris” is it’s title.

This one was a lot of fun. The little horse from a Piñata fit perfectly! A bit of glitter and glitz and we have “Pink Pony.”

The last two both tie for my favorite. I loved how this little beary turned out. Another foamy little bear, this time a white one painted pink and a stripedy old greeting card form the main focus. That is a little Gooseberry face I drew and again the perfect words. I did look back at my other ATCs from the last swap and realized I used a brown foamy bear with the same words in that swap! Oh, well…probably will for next one, too. This one just makes me happy. I call this one “In the Pink.”

This one is the only one that stayed almost the same from concept to finished art. A BIG thank you and I love you to my mama for giving me tips on how to cut out an enclosed circle! I just really loved how this one turned out. Here are my “Rose Colored Glasses.”

Here are the little envelopes made out of magazine pages. It took some doing to find 11 pink pages!

It is customary to send a little gifty to the host or hostess of the ATC swap. I sent our lovely hostess this little envelope made out of a paper doiley and put some pretty ribbons in it for her to use in a future art project. Maybe even ATCs!

I really enjoyed this theme and how they all turned out. It was difficult letting them go, but I know I’ll get some lovely ones in return. I did learn a lot from this swap and I’m already looking forward to the next one!

The last ATC (Artist Trading Card) swap I was involved in had “monochromatic” as its theme. I could have been more adventuresome, I supposed, but I chose my favorite color as my theme color. Guess what  it is!  Actually, it did turn out to be more challenging than I thought. I knew more what I didn’t want rather than what I did want this theme. No Pepto-Bismol cards and not to be too frilly. The non-Pepto was easier than trying to curtail the femininity of the cards (after all,  they are pink.) A couple are very feminine, but in an Old Paris kind of way, which I love.

Come along with me to the land of ATCs and my very favorite color…pink! I also re-used many items I had around for the cards. I’ll let you know what some of the elements of the cards are.

Enjoy!

For some of my cards, I was lucky to have common sayings and phrases to lend me some inspiration. This one is entitled “When Pigs Fly.” The background is made of the cardstock paper that was in a package of stickers (for support of the package.) I already had the little pig confetties and ribbon. A few free-hand wings and eyes for the piggies, and we’re flying! The corners are photo corners, white which I painted pink. 

This next one uses paint, stationery and a magazine picture along with a sparkly heart. I worked particularly hard on the polka dots, so this one is called “Polka Pink”.

 I used an old piece of lightweight cardboard for this next one. My mother acquired it for me and there was writing on it. I think it the writing was notation for possibly a building project. The handwrting itself was just so pretty that I included it for “Love Note.”  The pretty rose paper was one of those mail-in postcards to receive a magazine and just bits and ends of ribbon I had. I really like how this turned out.

Music definitely influenced this one. I had in mind a playful, light little card, charicatures of the roses, actually. This is not how it turned out at all. This was the first card I made for this collection and it took the longest. I painted the background and roses and corners. What took so long was gluing down the mesh and finding the perfect words. I finally accomplished both. I made this while listening to Josh Groban’s “Mi Mancherai.” I give you “Soul of the Rose.”

This one turned out happy and light. More paint, more polka dots, an old doilie and bits and ends of ribbon. Oh…the pink foil heart in the middle? It’s made out of the foil off a Hershey’s Kiss.

This is about half of what I made for the swap. It’s getting late and I have to get up early tomorrow. So, enjoy these cards and the others will be following in the next day or two. (I’ll really try hard to get the rest up here tomorrow night.)

‘night!

ZZZzzzzZZZZZZzzzzz

Ta-da!!! Here is my first ever art video!!! (actually, the first video I’ve made of any kind!)

I’ve been wanting to get into Art Journaling for a while now. For some reason, it has been a little intimidating for me to just jump in. Lots of excuses “I don’t know how to do this”, “I don’t know what I’m doing”, “I don’t have an art journal.” Lots of “I don’t”s there. So, I thought “All I need to do is play!” and came up with an art journal that’s just all about play without any big expense.

Hope you enjoy it, and that it may help you find your own way to art (or creative) journaling.

You may have noticed a new pink button to the right under “Lovely Enjoyments.” I am part of a Creative Adventure, begun by a dear on-line friend, Andrea.  I signed up for the course but between work and life in general, it fell out of my slippery mind. I found it again, picked it up, dusted it off and am committed to finishing it and reaping the benefits it has to offer (h hee, hee…I meant I found the Creative Dream Adventure again, but I guess I also found my mind!)  So, here I truly begin the Creative Dreamer adventure, a little late, but here it goes.

Assignment #1: Create the Big Dream list for 2010. (not necessarily big dreams, but a big list, ha!)

1. Really get my art/sewing room organized and spend time in it every day, even if only for half and hour a day (more on the weekends!)

2. Get my greeting card line up and running.

3. Really have an Etsy store, with items for sale there!

4. Make paper from recycled paper at least twice a month.

5. Get my ATCs done for swaps at my leisure, and not in a rush because of procrastination (*blushy blushes*)

6. Make all my Christmas gifts this year.

7. Be brave enough to approach shop keepers in town about carrying my cards in their shops on consignment.

8. Write at least 5 paper letters a week to family and friends.

9. Post at least 2 articles a week here, on my Wild Gooseberry site.

10. Finish my quilt!!! (that’s for you, Mamacita.)

11. Take more long walks with my husband and dogs.

12. Go to the beach more.

13. Go to the Okefenokee Swamp!

14. Visit Helen, Ga.

15. See Autumn leaves in the mountains.

16. Visit Charleston, NC.

17. Take a dolphin watching trip!

18. Go out on artist dates with myself (from Julie Cameron’s “The Artist’s Way.”)

19. Get my mama some pretty beads for her own beading projects.

20. Reconnect with old friends.

21. Get to my ideal weight (I’ve already made a head start!)

22. Sit by the lake more often.

23. Play more board games with my sweet husband.

24. Read at least one book every quarter for pleasure.

25. Get my house really together and tidy, so anyone can drop by at any time.

26. That includes the garage.

27. Buy or make some really pretty clothes.

28. Buy a real ballet leotard and skirt.

29. Branch out into gifts for my Etsy shop and in-town set-up.

30. Get our backyard straightened out, grass, flowers, etc. to make it a lovely place to be.

31. Get Georgia Rose leash-trained.

32. Dress up for the Renaissance Faire this year!

33. Visit the Biltmore in Asheville, NC this year.

34. Visit my parents.

35. Visit my brother and sis-in-law at their home in Northeastern CA.

36. Actually use my art journal!

37. Visit the Robert C. Williams Paper Museum in Atlanta.

38. Attend Marilyn’s high school graduation.

39. Finish Leonie’s Creative Goddess Course!!!

40. Bake honey-sweetened cookies.

41. Take a tourist walk of Savannah.

42. Visit Savannah’s quirky little shops.

43. Get an article published in a magazine.

44. Send a children’s story to a publisher.

44. Write more poetry.

45. Get a professional pedicure and manicure (never have done this!)

46. Visit the mountains at least twice.

47. Go on picnics with my husband.

48. Make more friends here, in person.

49. Be confident enough to wear a swimsuit to the beach this summer!

50. Take an Adventure with my husband, just driving where the road takes us for the weekend.

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While I’m dreaming, here are some actual BIG dreams of mine…maybe not for this year, but for someday…

♥ Visit Prince Edward Island, Cananda.

♥ Visit the British Isles.

♥ Have a cottage on Tybee Island, GA. someday.

♥ See the Statue of Liberty.

♥ Live somewhere that has four seasons.

♥ Autumn in New England.

♥ Have my own little shop.

♥ Live closer to my family someday (or have them live closer to me!)

That’s it for now. I may add more to it…but already it is working out to be quite a year!

What would you put down in your own list? If you make one yourself, please let me know. If you’d like to join the Creative Dreams Adventure, just click the pink button to the left and follow your own heart.

Hello, dear friends (and that includes my Mama!)

I can’t believe how January went tripping right along, and here it is, almost to an end. I promised, quite a long while ago now, to share with you my ATCs (Artist trading cards) for the second swap I was involved in. Not that I forgot, but I didn’t remember to remember…until now!

Here are my cards for ATC swap #2: Freestyle! It was a little intimidating to not have more clear-cut guidelines…just whatever we wanted to do. In the end, it was a lot of fun.

I thought this was funny–I had the same little flowers that were featured on this magazine page that made up the background!

The little girl sticker came in a box of Japanese rice candy. The script is from the wrapper on my chopsticks at a Japanese restaurant and the background is again from a magazine.

The moon here is made of aluminum foil, although I still call it “tin”.

This was my favorite. The little bear is a foamy little bear that came in a big box of many other little foamy bears and hearts at the craft store (you just never know when you’ll need foamy hearts and bears.) The background is a magazine page (isn’t the little pincushion chair perfect?!) I also cut the face from a magazine. I just fell in love with that little face! The heart is made of aluminum duct tape painted with alcohol paints. You’ll see more aluminum duct tape work a bit later.

Another rice candy sticker! And an English lesson in progress, apparently.

More aluminum duct tape art. This is wonderful, amazing stuff. I love the look of metal art, but don’t have all the expensive equipment to do it. So…aluminum duct tape gives me the look, the enjoyment, but for a lot less money, and it’s really fun to work with.

I really enjoyed working with this medium…

I really did!

And now for the little envelopes made of magazine pages…

hee hee…I really like this one.

I love making art out of things I already have. The only thing I have bought specifically for ATCs are the alcohol inks to work with the aluminum duct tape. Other than that, it’s what’s on hand.

Pretty soon, I’ll be posting the pictures of the newest swap: Monochromatic.

I’ve written about Artist Trading Cards (ATCs) on the old gooseberry site but have neglected to share my new crop of lovelies here. For those of you unfamiliar with ATCs, there are only two rules:

*the size must be 2-1/2 inches x 3-1/2 inches.

*they must always be traded, never sold.

Within those two guidelines, the sky’s the limit for what you can do with them.

Recently, I was part of a Freestyle swap. Anything we wanted to do! The last swap was in the garden. I don’t think I’ve shared those with you before…so I will now!

Here is the set I made for “In the Garden” this Spring…

The one below is my favorite.

Can you guess why? hee hee

This one has a secret…

Here are the little envelopes I made out of magazine pages. So, it’s creativity and recycling together!

The next post, possibly later today, will be of the recent swap, the Freestyle!