Postcards and pages…

I have received five postcards from Hanna’s postcard swap.  I’m showing four of them because the fifth one came after I’d taken the photo.  I’ll show it later.

Hanna sent me the first card from Sweden.

The second card came from Oregon and was sent by Diane.

Number three was sent by Cyndee.

The last card in the photo came from Fanie in Canada.

Here are two more pages in my Book of Days journal that has morphed into my “big journal.” The second page may not be finished…I was playing with Tombow markers and watercolors. It was an experiment and I’m thinking I’ll just move on

Final Note:  I did join Pinterest.  My user name there is Mary/joyfulploys…if you want to check out my pages.  I also received an email from Pinterest last week stating that they have changed their agreement terms and they are now clear that “selling content was never our intention.”  Some artists are leery about joining Pinterest for various reasons and that was one of them.

Postcards

I read Hunger Games by Suzanne Collins last week. I’m reading the second book in the trilogy.  If you are interested in fast-paced action adventures….then these books are a must read for you.  The books are actually written for young teens but people of all ages are reading them.  The movie Hunger Games will be out a week from this Friday.  I hope we can find a theater near us that will be showing the movie.

I finally finished my postcards yesterday for iHanna’s yearly postcard swap .  Last year I made cards with collage and acrylic paints.  I wanted to do something different this time.  The faces and giraffes were drawn with my non-dominant hand using a Pentel Pocket Brush Pen or an IDenti-pen(extra fine).  I used a Sharpie fine marker on most of the floral doodle cards.  I colored those with watercolors and Tombow Brush Pens.

 

Postcards again…

I have finally made it back.  Due to family obligations, etc., I have been unable to do any art for almost two weeks…except for yesterday.  I signed up to take part in Danielle’s post card swap and forgot about it.  But I did manage to get my cards finished before the deadline on Monday.  Danielle’s blog is: A Love Affair with Paper.  I decided to mix it a bit from my usual collaged postcards. 

This first card was completely doodled or zentangled with a Sharpie Pen.

This card started with an old map and book as a base and some painted papers collaged over it.

This card is a printer copy of a black and white doodle I did about a year ago or more. The printer ink didn’t print out as black so I just went with it. I re-doodled over it with my Sharpie Pen.  I like how it turned out.

For this last card, I used painted papers mixed with strip of black and white doodles.

Click on any of the photos to get a more detailed look.

Composition Journal #16

At first, I filled the whole page with collage pieces and added more paint and Caran d’Ache crayons. I outlined with my black and white Signo pens at the end. This very much pregnant lady showed up  after I glued down the collage pieces and I went with it….new life… new beginnings…spring.   Windows usually show up, too  

I have received two more postcards from participants in Hanna‘s swap. One from Brigitte in New York and the other from Tanja in Serbia.  I don’t know if either of these girls have a blog. Be sure and check out Hanna’s blog because she is showing her mother’s postcards and how she made them…so cute!

Composition Journal #15

…not my best effort.  I made a background by spreading acrylic paint via the credit card method.  I used purples, greens and blue.  Then I drew the face.  It was one of those can’t erase drawings…so,  it is what it is. 

I am getting excited….I have received three postcards from Hanna’s swap so far.  One from Regina in Arizona, her blog is Creative Kismet.   One from Danielle,   her blog is A Love Affair With Paper.   The third one is from Robyn in Illinois and she has an inspiring blog here.  Seven more to go!   Everyone have a great weekend!

 

…more postcards

I mailed out all my postcards yesterday for Hanna‘s Postcard Swap. I’m still making postcards…more about that later. It was a lot of fun and all of them are different.  Some, I doodled on, and some, I did not.  After doing a few with doodles, I decided that I liked the cards without better.  It was difficult to decide.  Here are they are…all ten of them:

I found out about a group that trades postcards. There are thousands in the group.  You can trade with people all over the world…this group is for anyone. It sounded like so much fun and a great way to get mail…other than bills…that I joined the group and have already sent out my first five postcards. The cards can be commercial cards…I sent out two of those and made three of my cards.  I used some cards that I bought at a yard sale last summer…one had the date 1989 on it and another had “made in the USA”…that tipped me off that they were made here.  I hope if I go looking for new cards they do not have “made in China” printed on them somewhere. If they do, I will not purchase them…I’ll make cards…ok, getting off the subject here.  If trading postcards with others world-wide sounds like something you would like to do, go to postcrossing to find out more about it. Here are four of the cards I sent out for that:

Working on Postcards

As I mentioned a few posts ago, Hanna is sponsoring a postcard swap. She said:  “280 people x 10 postcards equals 2800 postcards!”  

That’s a lot of postcards going off to various parts of the world.  I will be sending two to Sweden, one to Malaysia, Spain, Germany, UK,  and Canada.  Also, three, in the US.  I have five almost completed.  I think I will be doing some pen doodles over the cards.  I started with painted phone book pages that I tear into collage pieces and glue down on the postcard.  This time I am using precut watercolor paper by Strathmore.  Here are some photos of painted papers and the five postcards that are almost completed.  The first photo shows how I do the painted papers, the next one shows five cards in a semi finished state.  I hope to get my cards finished and mailed out by the first week in April. The deadline for sending them out is April 8. 

The next photo shows some quick sketches done with a dip pen and India Ink on pages from my old Gregg Shorthand book:

Fly a Kite – Composition#11

Earlier this week, I prepped three backgrounds in my composition book that I seem to go to again and again.   This page started with old painted phone book and magazine collage pieces. These are the shapes that appeared when I looked closely. I drew the shapes with a graphite pencil…added paint…and ended with some pen work.

If you have a Big Lots Store near you, check for artists canvas in various sizes. I found two per package,  4×6,  for $5.00 and one 11×14,  for $3.00.  They aren’t the ones with the wider sides but they have the staples on the back and look very well put together.

Here are some swaps going on this month and next.  The first one is “Feminine Frills,” a 6×6, girlie girl piece of art to trade one for one. It is being sponsored by Janet and Lee. Find out the particulars by going to either website.  

The second swap is rather ambitious.  It’s being sponsored by iHanna.  For this swap, you will need to make ten postcards.    4×6 inches is the most common size for postcards.  You will get postcards from ten different people from all over the world.  Hanna is in Sweden.  Check this out…they are to be sent out by April 8.