Take Off

This week´s theme for the Sunday Postcard Art challenge is Butterflies, so I´ve used some new stamps that still lay on my desk - the detail below shows that this guy is really ready to take off!
The stamps I´ve used are from LaBlanche and Viva Las Vegas.

Postage People Revisited Blog Swap Update No. 15

As I´ve sent out all 21 envelopes for this swap on July 20, you might wonder what happened to them - well, on Thursday, August 6, the last one found his destination, so all our ATCs finally found a new home, none of the envelopes got lost this year.
Thanks again to all participants, and I hope you´ll continue making Postage People and will show them on your blogs for all to see. Me, I just can´t stop making them, so here are three more that I´ve made during the last weeks.

Cemetery Angels

I must confess that I have a faible for stone or cemetery angels - I love to take a walk on a cemetery and take some photos of these beauties, and of course I also own a few rubber stamps of angels. So I didn´t hesitate to join when I saw a cemetery angel ATC swap in one of my Yahoo groups ...

Some Mail Art

It´s been a while since I´ve had my last personal trade, so I´ve been happy about a request for a Postage People trade. There are 4 ATCs inside this envelope, two that I´ve already shown and the two below. Hope they´ll have a fast travel to Ohio!

Welcome to my Funny Farm!

It´s collaboration time at Mischief Circus again, and the latest collab theme is "Funny Farm"!
I´ve had so much fun with Marsha´s new Tumble Fish Studio kit Funny Farm, and I believe that you can see that fun in my four samples I have for you; Cool Seeds!, Language Lessons, Garden Farm, and Welcome.

Of course there´s also a Funny Farm kit from Crowabout StudioB, and I´ve made this digital collage with it with two Shakespeare quotes, "A Shakespeare Play":

There are so many lovely Funny Farm kits that you should keep in mind that of course there´s a free add-on kit as always:

Black and White

Usually, my cards are really colourful, but for a recent mail art project, I´ve made a black and white card that´s also my entry for this week´s Take A Word challenge themed "Black and White".

Strength

This week´s theme for the Sunday Postcard Art challenge is "Strong Women", and of course my first question was: What is strength? For me, it´s kind of an inner power, no matter if you look weak or if you´re small or shy or are underestimated by others. You may even be surprised to find out about your own power sometimes if you haven´t used it for a while ...
I´ve used images from Holliewood Studios and Marta van Eck for my collage.

Book Nerds

"Books" is this week´s theme for the Three Muses Challenge, and it´s one of my all time favourites. I´ve made these three reading themed Postage People ATCs after my blog swap was over.

Postage People Revisited Blog Swap Update No. 14 - All Swapped Out!

Today I have good news for all participants of my Postage People Revisited Blog Swap: Sandy´s cards finally arrived on Friday so that I could swap all cards on Saturday, pack and weigh them today and will get them all into the mail tomorrow!
- So watch your mail box and please don´t forget to let me know immediately when you received your envelope.
- And please send a short notice to the artists whose ATCs you received. If there´s no email addy on your ATC, you can just ask me and I´ll send you the address.
- I now have beautiful ATCs in my own Postage People collection from Marita, Liz, Gina, Judith, Sabine, Daniela, Trudi, Sandy, Peggy, Birgit, Lillian, Jo, Brandie, and Glenda, as I´ve traded a few ATCs myself and received some extra ATCs from you - thank you so much!
Thanks for playing everyone, let´s hope that all those beauties arrive at their new homes soon!

Go Messy!

No matter how organized we are and how clean our designs look like, sometimes we all need to go messy, I think - that´s why I invite you to pull out your paints, stencils, and gesso and do whatever comes to your mind for this week´s Sunday Postcard Art challenge.
For my sample card, I´ve used stencils and stamps from Red Lead, spray paints, acrylics, structure paint and a black pencil. Won´t you come and play with us this week?

Whatnot No. 2

Whatnot No. 2 is the name of the new Tumble Fish Studio kit, and I´ve had much fun playing with it. I´ve made two digital collages for you, but as always, the kit comes includes most images on printable collage sheets so that it can also be used for your cut and paste artwork

Postage People Revisited Blog Swap Update No. 13

After four weeks, the postal strike in Germany is over now, so I hope that Sandy´s ATCs will arrive in my mailbox soon (they´ve been sent on June 9).

Some of you have taken advantage of the additional waiting time by commenting on other participants´ entries - thank you!

All we need is a little patience before all envelopes will be here and I´ll be able to swap.

Ballyhoo - Mail Art Pack

Nancy from Crowabout StudioB at Mischief Circus came out with a lovely new kit today called "Ballyhoo - Mail Art Pack".
I´ve three cut and paste collages with the included collage sheets for you, the journal page "A Dog´s World" above, the collaged envelope "Silly" below, and the mail art envelope at the bottom. Hope you´ll feel inspired to make some collages and mail art yourself!

Roses

For this week´s Sunday Postcard Art challenge themed "Roses", I´ve made a card using a handpainted watercolour background, a door torn from a BoBunny pager, and three rubber stamps from Red Lead.

Postage People Revisited Blog Swap Update No. 12

It´s Wednesday today, and it´s July 1st - that means it´s time to have a final update as our swap ended yesterday.
In the meantime, I´ve been contacted by everyone who signed up. I´m waiting for the ATCs from Sandy and Daniela (which will be late because of the ongoing postal strike but both have been sent in time), and then I´ll swap out all cards according to your comments. (I think that Sandy and Lillian disabled the comment function on their blogs, so don´t worry if your comments don´t show up there. You´ll be able to leave comments on their cards on our Pinterest board instead.) There haven´t been as many comments as usual, so swapping will be a bit like a lottery this time.
I have some more links to finished ATCs for you today, so please have a look at the lovely ATCs from Glenda, Polly (at Facebook 1, 2, and 3 or on our Pinterest board), and Daniela, and leave them a nice comment if you like what you see.
Thanks to all of you for playing in the swap, I can´t wait to see all cards together!

Going Postal!

I´ve recently joined Nancy Baumiller´s creative team, and here are my first pieces for her Crowabout StudioB at Mischief Circus, all made with images from her new kit "Going Postal - Mail Art". I´ve had a lot of fun making Zetti styled cut and paste artwork with the collage sheets that come with her kit.
The first one above is a Moleskine journal page, the background is from Nancy´s kit "Flying Lessons".
The picture below shows a collage made on a mailing envelope with a background from her kit "Dress Up".

 And this third piece below is a Mail Art envelope, also made on a background from "Dress Up".

Inspired by Dr Seuss

If you´re from the U. S., you probably know Dr Seuss, but if you´re from Germany, you probably don´t - in spite of his German name. In fact, there are only four of his books available in German translations, but I´m sure that you know some of his characters like The Grinch, Lorax or Horton, the elephant.
Did you know that Dr Seuss (1904-1991) even appears in the lyrics of the REM song "The Sidewinder Sleeps Tonite" (with today´s U. S. pronunciation, though his name originally rhymed with "voice")?
Typically, Theodor Seuss Geisel used black and white with only one or two colours, many animal characters, and rhymed verses that are easy to read for beginners. And in contrary to a lot of German children´s books, his stories aren´t moralizing but celebrating fun. So what´s not to love about him? That´s the reason why I´ve picked "Inspired by Dr Seuss" as this week´s theme for the Sunday Postcard Art challenge: I ask you to capture the essence of his work but use your own images and not his - copyrighted! - images. Be inspired by his verses, quotes, characters and style! (Of course you can use those lovely U. S. postage stamps or even those few rubber stamps with his images, if you´re so lucky to own them.) Or just google his quotes and illustrate one of them - it´s up to you.
My sample card is a mixture of the above mentioned as I used one of his quotes, two of the postage stamps dedicated to him, and characters from his book "The Cat in the Hat" (in my own interpretation, using rubber stamps from Brett Weldele/Stampers Anonymous, PSX, My Favorite Things, Aladine/Stampo and Crafty Individuals and a hat image from Pixel Music), and I tried to use the same colours as this particular book.
I can´t wait to see your Dr Seuss cards this week!

Postage People Revisited Blog Swap Update No. 11

Our Postage People swap is coming to an end now with less than one week left before the due date.
Today I received another envelope with lovely ATCs from Polly, but I´m still waiting for her link as well as Glenda´s.
For those of you who are on Facebook, I have a link to Brandie´s ATC; if you´re not a member, it may be possible to have a look at it, but you can´t comment.
Yesterday, I´ve sent out personal emails to a few people who haven´t answered my previous emails, but without much effect. So if you read this, Melodee, Melissa, and Tarja, please contact me!
That´s all for today, hope you´re having a sunny week!

Love Can´t Be Measured

Usually, I don´t do scrapbooking, and usually, I avoid making any wedding themed artwork ... so this week´s challenge #410 at The Digi Dares was really challenging for me!
We´ve been asked to scrap a wedding, using something old, something new/shiny, something blue and the year of the wedding in numbers from an alpha. I decided to use my grandparents´ wedding photo again.
(credits: background from Roben Marie Smith, frame from Christina Renee, measure tapes from Manuela Zimmermann, scales from farfarhill, watch from ViVa Artistry, alpha from Miki Ferkul, numbers from Jen Reed)

Postage People Revisited Blog Swap Update No. 10

It´s time for my next swap update, and I must say I´m frustrated because of a lack of feedback to my swap reminder email that I´ve sent out two weeks ago (only to those of you who are concerned, of course). There are still 8 people who signed up for this swap many weeks ago but haven´t responded in any way since, and I have no idea why. With weekly updates, newsletters, reminders, and even posts on Facebook, I thought there were enough ways to follow this swap and to leave comments, send messages telling me about your problems with the swap or any other stuff - but obviously I´ve been wrong. I´ve never had less feedback for any of my swaps in the past from those who already signed up. If you have any suggestions for me how I could improve my "swap management", please let me know.

However, this swap will be finished in less than two weeks, and at least I´ve received 18 envelopes so far. I´ve sent out a second swap reminder today "to whom it may concern", and all I can do is to ask again for your response. So please have a look into your emails (you know who you are) and even into your spam folders, just in case ...
All cards have to be in my hands before June 30, so if you´re from Europe, you should put your envelope in the mail this week, and if you´re from overseas, you have to mail it NOW.
Even if you´re not able to mail your ATCs in time, please let me know!

But wait, there´s some good news today, too: During the last week, I didn´t receive any ATCs, but I have two links to wonderful finished ATCs for you from Sandy and Trisha - please have a look at their cards and leave them a nice comment if you like what you see!

I hope you enjoy the summer sunshine like I do, have a creative week!

Postage People Revisted Blog Swap Update No. 9

It´s Wednesday again, so it´s time for my next swap update.

Last week, I received envelopes from Trudi, Glenda and Brandie, but I only have the link to Trudi´s ATC for you, still waiting for some links to blog posts ... please don´t forget to share your links so that everyone can have a look at your artwork and leave a comment!
Right now I have 18 envelopes here (together with my own finished ATCs of course), but I´m still waiting for 9 more, 7 of them from outside Europe.

Please remember that all ATCs have to be in my hands in three weeks (before June 30).
We have a postal strike in Germany right now which will slow down everything, so I might wait a few days longer, but only if you´ve sent your ATCs in time: That means that you have to send your ATCs before June 15 if you´re from outside Europe and before June 23 if you´re from Europe but outside Germany.
If you won´t be able to meet these deadlines, please let me know and I´ll delete your name from the swap list.

So have a creative week, finish your cards and get your envelopes in the mail please.

At the Beach

When it comes to summer fun and a day at the beach, I tend to think that less is more, so I´ve kept my card for this week´s Sunday Postcard Art challenge very simple and clear. All images and stamps used here are from Red Lead.

Postage People Revisited Blog Swap Update No. 8

It´s time for my next update on our swap, and if you wonder about the ATC above - yes, the green Spanish stamp is a real one, the others are just printed on the background paper! The rubber stamped images are from Katzelkraft, MaVinci, VivaLasVegas, and Stampington.

Last week, I´ve received swap ATCs from Gina, Marita, Ulrike, and Trisha, and I´ve had one more sign-up for this swap.
Right now, we´re 29 artists in this swap, and I have received 15 envelopes. Almost all the others haven´t even posted their finished ATCs though all cards have to be in my hands in less than 4 weeks and almost all of them have to travel the long way from overseas ...
If you´re from outside Europe, please finish your ATCs soon and put them in the mail within the next 2 weeks. And don´t forget to scan and post them and then send me the link to your post so that I can pin your cards and share your link in my next update. I`ll send out a reminder to all participants who haven´t sent anything yet.

If you haven´t noticed the new ATCs on our swap board at Pinterest yet, please have a look at Ulrike´s lovely cards on her blog and leave her a comment if you like them.

This swap has reached its final month now, and I can´t wait to see the next results! Have fun creating!

Cassandra

Since my teenage days, I´ve been fascinated by the story of Cassandra, especially in the feminist version by German writer Christa Wolf, so I decided to use it for my postcard for this week´s Sunday Postcard Art challenge themed "Greek Mythology". I´ve used images from Finecrafted Designs and a texture from Nancy Donaldson for my digital collage.

Postage People Revisited Blog Swap Update No. 7

May I introduce you to Underwater Fred? He was made adding rubber stamps from Katzelkraft and Technique Tuesday, a few words from Catslife Press, and his best friend, the fish, is from Tumble Fish Studio.

Last week, I received the beautiful ATCs by Judith in my mailbox - please follow the link to have a look at them and maybe leave her a nice comment!

So now I have received 11 envelopes, which means that most participants haven´t sent theirs yet.
As so many international participants haven´t finished their ATCs yet and all cards have to be in my hands in less than five weeks, I´m getting a bit nervous now. If you´re from outside Europe, please keep in mind that your envelope will take about two weeks to find its way into my mailbox ...
I hope that you´re all still having fun with your creations but will finish them soon, then send me a link to your post and mail them to me in time.

Sirens of the Deep

Marsha from Tumble Fish Studio and Nancy from Crowabout Studio have both come out with a Sirens of the Deep kit today over at MischiefCircus.com, and of course it´s easy to combine them!
The collage above was made with Marsha´s kit only, but I´ve mixed the two kits for the collage below.
And if you prefer making journal pages, ATCs or any other cut and paste art, both kits come with printable collage sheets as well.

Spring Tag Book

A few weeks ago, there was a Spring Tag Book swap in one of my Yahoo groups. I didn´t have the time to make two of these in time, but I really had fun making just one for my sister´s birthday.
The accordion folded book is made of four tags, held together by tissue tape, then gessoed and inked before it´s decorated with lots of Spring themed stamps, then coloured with watercolours and embellished with Spring coloured ribbons. You can find the instructions for this project here.