Just one day late but...

I welcome you with open arms AUTUMN!!

(Photo taken by me a few years ago at the Newport News Fall Festival)

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!

Quilling on ATC's

What better way to practice quilling techniques than on ATC's (Artist Trading Cards).  I have been a member of Swap-bot for a few years now and I love trading ATC's.  I'm always looking for new techniques to try and ATC's are the perfect little size (2 1/2" X 3 1/2") to experiment with.

Paper quilling is the technique of taking strips of paper and manipulating them or "twirling" them to create beautiful objects.  There are three books that I love and refer back to often:
I Can't Believe I'm Quilling By Jane Cleveland
Paper Quilling For the First Time  By Alli Bartkowski
Thrilling Quilling By Elizabeth Moad

This swap was called 100 Hearts.  I used scrapbooking paper for the background, quilled the hearts and the little black dots are puffy paint. 

For my next one I wanted to try a new flower technique.  For my background I used a paint chip you can get at your local hardware store (trimmed to size).  Fringed my paper.  Twirled it around my quilling tool then glued each flower in place. 

 The next morning I opened them up and LOVED how they turned out:

 This swap was called Flower ATC but my partner's profile stated that she loves green butterflies so I wanted to incorporate both:

Owl ATC.  Again, another paint chip and then I painted the tree with acrylics.

This swap is called Ladybug ATC.  Shhhhhh... I haven't sent this one yet so my partner doesn't know what it looks like.

And here are some more that I've done in the past:

Lollipop, Lollipop... Oh Lolly... Lolly Lolly..

It starts with an idea...

I find that I love working with bright, bold colors

And usually end up with something fun and cheerful

  And this is my finished piece in my art studio