AIR Barbie

You all have heard me talk about Swap-bot on here.  When I'm finding groups to join I usually look at the persons profile with whom I've swapped with before and see what groups they're in.  If we have the same interests chances are I will join the groups that they are in.

A few weeks ago I found a group called Altered Barbies.  FUN!!  In this group the coordinator has set up swaps to alter Barbie to represent the elements like fire, wind and the current one is Air.  How would you design a Barbie to represent air?

The first thing I thought was that trees and flowers need air to live.  So I found a Barbie:

And because this Barbie was a ballerina with jointed limbs I had to figure out how to stabilize them.  The closest thing I had was masking tape so I taped her up.  At this point I thought I may put a skirt on her and you won't see the tape but my ideas come as I'm creating, I'm not one to sit down and sketch something first:

Then I base coated her with primer:

Now I have a blank canvas to work with.  I popped her head back on then painted the sky on her entire body.  I added a tree going up one leg and flowers "growing" up the other leg.  I didn't want the tree to be the main focus plus I hadn't done anything with her hair yet.

I wanted the hair to be the main focus because, after all, I'm trying to represent "air".  So I took down her ponytail and decided paint would be good:

(this picture is a little light)

This was my sky without clouds AND this is my sky with clouds:

I still didn't like the tree so I found three different shades of green fabric and cut leaves to put on my tree and I also put rhinestones in the flowers

Front of her legs:

Back of her legs and torso:

I will probably add more pictures in the next few days.  It has been raining here all day so I couldn't go outside and take pictures of her.  I hope my swap partner likes it!

I Never Know What is Going To Inspire Me

I have started swapping again on Swap-bot because I've gotten back into ATC's (Artist Trading Cards) and this website is a great arena for swapping these.  While on there, looking at other swap groups, I stumbled upon a lady who was asking artists to "decorate" a fishing bobber for her father-in-law's birthday in October.  He collects them and she thought it would be fun to see what people came up with.  I love a challenge so I e-mailed her and said I'd love to do it.  There were no restrictions as to size or theme so at my local store 2" bobbers came two to a pack.  I rushed right home and base coated them:

After base coating I painted one black then remembered to take a picture for this blog.

I decided to do one in a Halloween theme because it is September.  And the other one I decided to do an underwater theme because it is, after all, a bobber.

And then my underwater theme:

Since it is September and my brain is already thinking Christmas... wouldn't these make great Christmas ornaments!  This is why I love art, because I never know when or where I'm going to be inspired but when I am it's like a whole new world opens up for me and I LOVE it!

Swap-bot Part 1

What is Swap-bot?
This is taken directly from their homepage (and I couldn't describe it any better than they did):
Do you like sending and receiving snail mail? Do you like writing letters, making crafts, or putting together fun packages? You should try swapping! Swap-bot is a online service that organizes group swaps and a community of creative individuals. Swap-bot takes the hassle out of participating in group swaps by organizing all of the participant information and doing all of the partner assignments. On Swap-bot, you can host swaps, join swaps, and chat with other swappers from all over the world. Give it a try!
http://www.swap-bot.com/
 

I've been a member for for about a year and a half now and I have to say that it is so much fun!  I go through spells where I'm not swapping but then I find a new hobby and check Swap-bot to see if there are any swaps pertaining to my latest art endeavor.  There is always some kind of swap going on that I am interested in.  That's why I've labeled this post part one because I know I won't be able to cover everything I've swapped in one post.

So I had to dig into my archives (yes swap-bot keeps track of everything you've ever swapped) and my first one was very easy.  It was entitled "Quick Swap - Just Because Card Swap".  I signed up for a few others like this just to get my feet wet.  I signed up for a few postcard swaps and button swaps.  Then I discovered ATC's.

ATC - Artist Trading Card.  It's usually made on heavy card stock and measures 2 1/2" x 3 1/2".    They measure the size of a baseball card and are usually but in sleeves of that size to ship.  I made and traded these for quite some time because it's like your own mini canvas.  You can paint, draw and doodle on them.  You can "scrapbook" on them.  You can make them out of other things such as fabric or felt.  I got the idea to "carve" out foam board and make a frame around mine and I loved the result.  (Those are real sea shells)

I have also made ATC's out of fabric, paint and flat marbles:

And aluminum foil, duck tape and paint:

For these I covered a piece of foam board with fabric then carved out the holes where I wanted the flat marbles to go, glued them in there and the put duck tape around the boarder.  Then used puffy paint to outline and decorate a little more.

When I was quilting I found swaps for fabric.  There were ones for fat quarters, charms, strips, scraps... you name it there is a swap for it.  There are even quilt swaps where you make a block and swap that.  I've done a lot of half-square triangle swaps, this way I can get a lot of styles of fabrics that I might not find in my area.  To date I haven't received any duplicate fabrics.

When you sign up for Swap-bot you fill out a profile, your likes and dislikes.  This way your partner gets to know a little bit about you.  Such as "I don't like anything with skulls on it" and "I love chocolate and black cats".  You can check out my user profile at 

 http://www.swap-bot.com/user:KimberlyJDC  where I'm known as KimberlyJDC