SWAP-BOT SATURDAY: Altered Bingo Card, ATC, Chunky House

What? It's been a month since I blogged?! Oh, dear. Well, I'm going to try to get back into the swing of things, and I'll start with a Swap-Bot Saturday post.

These are the things I sent out this week. I enjoyed working on them, and am hoping their recipients like getting them in the mail.

This first one is an ATC (Artist Trading Card). The swap theme was "Altered Photograph". I had several to choose from, and was leaning toward a pretty child.

As I went through my little stash, this one grabbed my attention, as it does every time I see it, but I set it aside. I know my proclivity for the quirky and irreverent. It would be too easy to make fun of her, I thought, and I don't want to do that.  There's always been, for me, something compelling in this woman's face. I feel a little sad looking at her sometimes. Her name is Rebeccah. I look at her eyes and mouth, and think, She must have been beautiful as a young woman.

A little while later, I fixed a cup to tea to drink as I worked, and read what was on the teabag's tag. I knew instantly that I'd use Rebeccah's photo after all. The tag is on the ATC. (You may need to click on the picture to read it.)

 

Then came an Altered Bingo Card, my first. I thought at first that I'd do something vintage-y and frilly and feminine, but....

 

Last up, a Chunky House, with the assigned theme of "something to do with the sea". Here's my creation, with the "porthole" closed:

And then with it open:

In two days it will be Independence Day. Already the fireworks have begun. I love that part, everybody setting off firecrackers all over town, in spite of the fact that most of what I can see and hear are quite illegal here! I'm so glad Washington still lets people have big, loud, showy fireworks; what would Oregonians do, otherwise?!

SWAP-BOT SATURDAY: Mail Art, Tag, ATC

Shhh. Don't tell anyone, but it's really Sunday. I didn't get the photos taken early enough to do this yesterday, so I'm pretending. And Blogger is so cooperative that way--you can tell it to post something on just any date you want, and it will do it. What will they think of next? Time machines! I know it!

I got several lovelies this week, beginning with a piece of mail art:

Mail Art Envie by MegaMar

 Don't you love it? Let me tell you, I went right out and got myself a unicyclist rubber stamp. Lucky me, too, 'cause Michaels had one for a dollar. Yes!

I also got this awesome chunky tag, created with a coffee theme because, well, you know me and coffee. That made me smile big.

"One Cup Is Never Enough!" by Tootheri

And then this darling ATC, with a fairy theme, in a perfectly wonderful holder. I need to figure out how she did that, but she glued it, and I don't want to destroy it in the figuring. Maybe steam? Hmmm...

Pink Fairy by BeverlyBling

And then, because my little collection of ATCs is growing, I picked up a funky old photo album at Goodwill. (Another $1 wonder!) The sleeves hold photos that are 3.5" X 5", perfect for two ATCs.

It's not beautiful, which makes me think there's a project lurking, and the sleeves, oddly enough, work much better if you put the ATCs at the back instead of the front, but I like it, because it let's me flip through and see them easily. A person could put four in each sleeve, but doing just two lets you see the back of each one, and who created it.

Also, the fact that the sleeves are double-sized means that ATCs with extras can be slipped in sideways so nothing gets smushed. (Would you believe Blogger thinks 'smushed' isn't a real word? Honestly, that's just silly. Of course, it is!)

Time ATC by Veronica

What about you? Did you send or receive art this week?

SWAP-BOT SATURDAY: Mail Art

Yesterday, I got a piece of mail that was so wonderful on the outside, I forgot to actually open it! Seriously, I showed it off to my DH, took photos of it, laid it where I would admire and study it from time to time, and it was evening when I realized it was still unopened!

Isn't it wonderful?

Click on the pictures to see them full-size.

You know what I'm a tad concerned about? I think I'm supposed to send my own mail art to this artist. eeek. Well, my salvation is that I can't draw like that, and I know it, so mine will be completely different as to medium. Rescued by apples and oranges, maybe?