little somethin' somethins

when you are putting your swap package together for your partner, it's always nice to tuck in a few "somethin' somethins" as i like to call them! nice little extras to make the package a real treat for your partner. these things do not need to be expensive! i found all of these little goodies for under $2.50 each on etsy. most of them are things you can put together yourself by raiding your craft stash. just take some coordinating scrapbook paper and create some fun little items like decorative memo pads, post-it note covers, paper ornaments, to/from tags for gifts. the $1 bins at Michaels is a great place to find little somethin'somethins too. packets of christmas tea & hot chocolate are always appreciated. good quality copies of your favorite holiday images for her to use in her art would be a great tuck in. sooo many ideas...but you don't need to go overboard. several well-chosen or hand-made small items beats a whole box of junk anyday!

wrap it all up in pretty holiday tissue, tie with some great ribbon, place it in a bubble envelope or small box and it's ready to go! OH WAIT! don't forget the cabinet card! by the way, how is that coming along??

TGIF

i thought i'd end our animal week with this very...um...interesting lady in a horsey costume. was she in a play of some sort? (i'd say that she drew the short straw when the parts were casted.) maybe she just loves horses? i guess we can only imagine the story behind this one!

happy thursday!

a sweet girl and her dog. jill also made this one. she has the most delightful pictures of dogs on her flickr site! they will make your day! this one is altered so nicely- i love the sepia & black background...

don't ask

i don't even want to know what went on here... but i bet at some point there was a whole lot of squawking involved!

inspiration!

don't you just love this one? i found it here. this artist has some great stuff! it's wonderfully altered with paints & rubber stamping. brilliant color! love their hats! happy tuesday!

happy monday!

here's another good one. none of the animal cards are mine i'm sorry to say- i just found them on the web and thought they were too good not to share. what shall we name this pristine pooch?

felines...nothing more than felines...

since this swap began, i have had a great time finding cabinet cards to share with you. some of them are so funny! i also found quite a few featuring animals...i thought it would be fun to share some with you this week...

this is one of my favorites... i think he is singing his own version of the old song "feelings" ;)

May All of Your Halloween Dreams Come True!

"On Halloween Night, the Great Pumpkin rises out of the Pumpkin Patch. He flies through the air and brings toys to all the children of the world."

"There are three things I have learned never to discuss with people: religion, politics, and the Great Pumpkin."

Happy Halloween everyone!

moon girl's boyfriend eerie eddie

i found eddie back on Angie's flickr site and it is clear that he and moon girl from thursday's post are MFEO (Sleepless in Seattle fans know of course that's 'made for each other'!)

so what are YOU going to be for Halloween?

this guy is ready to go trick or treating! i found him here , along with some other beauifully inspiring collages and altered cabinet cards. this artist did a lot of fantastic freehanded drawing on this one. love love love his hair!

more spookiness...

i discovered this very talented artist/photographer's flickr site and was mesmorized for awhile this morning at her wonderful photos. she also made some fab altered halloween themed cabinet cards like this one! it'a a very simple, great design! the artist calls her "moon girl".

we have a winner!

Deb from Alaska is our winner! Even though it was a random drawing from all 14 people who commented on the post, I loved your "under construction" joke, Deb! Do let us know when you're finished working on it... so we can hear the rest ;) Deb will receive this witchy cabinet card and also a bag of Halloween surprises to go with it! I'm not sure that it will make it to Alaska by Saturday... gee I hope it does! Thanks to all who played...it was such fun! And your jokes were.. ahem...so clever!

trick or treat...

It is Halloween tradition in St Louis, that if you want a treat, you need to do a trick. So back in the day, when trick-or-treating, kids would sing a song, show a talent or tell a joke. Over the years, the songs & talents went by the wayside & now the custom is to tell a joke to get your Halloween treat. It's always fun to see what the kids come up with each year. Figuring out which joke you're going to tell is almost as important as deciding on a costume.

So I thought it would be fun to use this St. Louis tradition in our first giveaway for this swap! Want an Altered Cabinet Card Treat? All you have to do is be a participant in the Altered Cabinet Card Swap, and leave a comment on this post that includes your name and a joke (a clean one, of course!) and you will be eligible for a drawing for a special Halloween Altered Cabinet Card! Posts will be accepted beginning now... through Monday, October 26th. Everyone who leaves their name and a joke will be entered into the drawing. The winner will be announced on Tuesday morning, October 27th and the prize will be mailed so that it should be received in time for Halloween! I will post a picture of the prize on Tuesday when I announce the winner.

So...want to hear my Halloween joke? What did the snowman say to the other snowman?...........Do you smell carrots?? LOL!

saturday inspiration

Isn't this one gorgeous? The layering and the color is magnificent. Love this! I was blog browsing this morning, which led me here... to a lovely blog and a talented artist! Happy Saturday, everyone!

p.s. you might want to check back in sometime tomorrow...there could be news of a giveaway! just maybe...

Fab Friday Art

my friend becky altered this wonderful cabinet card for me last year for mother's day. 2 boys and a sister, just like my kids! i have it sitting on my desk at work and it makes me smile... becky is the queen b of altered cabinet cards! i attended a demo that becky did once at red lead and it was so great! i had never looked twice at a cabinet card before that day... until becky shared her wonderful altering techniques...now i can hardly pull myself away from them at antique shops & fleas. love love love

Another Fab-tastic Work of Art!

love this one! also appears to have been painted, collaged & stamped. I found it here. i LOVE the color, the boy's faces and hats, and it is so nicely finished off with the eyelets/tassels/dangle! Terrific Thursday Inspiration!

how cute is this one??

Take a look at this one! Lots of layers in this background. I'm not sure if the background colors are paint,watercolors or chalk. Can anyone tell by looking at it? But then it was collaged with papers, stamping, and some freehanded drawing & outlining. Wonderful techniques! Brilliant color! I can no longer find the link to the original site, so I send out a "thank you" to the artist for allowing us to admire her delightful work!
Happy Wednesday!

We are "Over The Top"!

Wow! One of my dearest cyber buddies, Linda from Lambsworld nominated me for this "Over The Top" award. Thank you so much for thinking of me! Lots of personal info in the quiz below...if any of you have been wondering about me...

And here are the rules for this award:

1.) Thank and post URL to the blog that gave the award.

2.) Pass the award along to 6 brilliantly over the top blogs (blogs you love!) Alert them so they know to receive the award.

3.) Copy and paste this quiz... Change the answers, ONE word only...feel free to fudge here!

4.) Have Fun

So, here goes...
Where is your cell phone? purse

Your hair? brown

Your mother? my best friend

Your father? funny

Your favorite food? are you kidding? PIZZA!

Your favorite drink? coffee with fat free hazelnut creamer

Your dream last night? I had a dream about some old grade school and high school friends last night! Why, I wonder?

Your dream/goal? healthy old age with lots of grandchildren

What room are you in? lower level family room, at my computer desk

Your hobby? estate sales with my husband, knitting

Your fear? losing loved ones

Where do you want to be in 6 years? happy & healthy & still doing my art!

Where were you last night? work

Something that you aren't? athletic

Muffin? cinnamon

Wish list item? more time!

Where did you grow up? St Louis

Last thing you did? got ready for work

What are you wearing? jeans & a sweater

Your TV? needs to be replaced

Your pets? Molly, our cock-a-poo (or "Spaniel-doodle" as we recently decided to call her!)

Friends? precious

Your life? blessed

Your mood? a little weary as I'm on my way to work

Missing someone? My mom...everyday

Vehicle? Mitsubishi Outlander, white

Something you aren't wearing? socks!

Your favorite store? Red Lead!

Favorite color? pink

When was the last time you laughed? last night after work, talking to my daughter

Last time you cried? can't remember

Your best friend? my sister Susie

One place you go to over and over? work

One person who emails you regularly? Susie

Favorite place to eat? anywhere, as long as my whole family is together


Now, here are 6 blogs I love to visit:

South City Hues...my sister's blog

Scrap For Joy... her posts are always a delight!

Cupcake DD ... always inspiring!

Chris Schwartz... Chris is my favorite artist and finally started her own blog after much urging!

Button Floozies... button inspiration a go-go

The Salvage Studio... always makes me wish I lived in the state of Washington!

A week of altered eye candy...

This week I will show some examples of cabinet cards that have been altered in a simple way, and some that are more complex and involved. Here is today's example. A very simple, yet tasteful design. I found it here. Just a few well placed embellishments turns this simple photo into a lovely piece of art. To give this a "Holiday" theme, a poinsettia or other Christmas motif could be used at the top and in place of the butterfly , and the buttons could be tied with red and green threads. Thank you to this artist for sharing her wonderful work.

Happy Tuesday, everyone!

Let The Swapping Begin!

Partners have been assigned. We have 32 swappers! If you did not get an email with your partner's info, please let me know.

Important: your partner's email address is in the heading of the email. I did not recopy the addresses into the body of the email. I am always afraid of copying it incorrectly, plus it takes more time. So you will want to save the email until the end of the swap.

Now the fun starts! I will be posting a whole bunch of altered cabinet cards this week and we'll talk about different ways to alter. SO check the blog daily if you can. PLUS... You never know when a giveaway will appear!

So...email your partner this week to say hello...and visit her if she has a blog...the best part of a swap is making a new friend!

As always, email me at aswapforallseasons.blogspot.com if you have any questions along the way! Linda

Hurry! Just 24 more hours!

to sign up, send an email to: aswapforallseasons@live.com with the information listed in the instructions in the margin>>>>>

Sign Ups Still Going On...

You have through Saturday, October 17th to sign up! See details below.

If you left a comment saying you would like to sign up, please send me an official email at : aswapforallseasons.blogspot.com to confirm that you do wish to participate.

So far we have 20+ swappers!

It's A "Holiday Altered Cabinet Card" Swap!

Each person will alter ONE ORIGINAL Cabinet Card with a Holiday theme to swap with a partner. It can be whimsical, traditional, religious or just "wintery" in nature- whatever your partner would most enjoy! Alter it with buttons, bows, paper, paint, fabrics, trims, charms... however the holiday spirit moves you!

We will mail our altered cabinet card creations (along with any little holiday goodies you'd like to include) to our partner on Tuesday, December 1st. That way she will have it to enjoy the entire Holiday Season!

Sign ups begin immediately and will end on Saturday, October 17th and partners will be assigned and emailed to you individually.

As always, along the way there will be plenty of Christmas spirit, holiday ideas, cabinet card eye candy, and of course... GAMES AND GIVEAWAYS!

Need more detailed information? Read the next post: "Tell Me More About This 'Altered Cabinet Card' Thing!"

Don't miss a minute of the fun! Sign up today! Details of how to sign up are in the margin over there >>>>>

Tell me more about this "Altered Cabinet Card" thing!

Where do I get a cabinet card and what size should it be? It should be an ORIGINAL, NOT A PHOTOCOPY. Approximately 4x6 or 5x7 (just not a small wallet sized one). You can find them a antique malls & flea markets & they cost anywhere from 50 cents to about 10 dollars! I try never to spend more than about $3 for one.

I've never altered a cabinet card before. How do I begin? You might try making several photocopies of your cabinet card first to practice with until you get the design you like, then alter the actual card. You can use lots of different techniques such as painting the background and then stamping & collaging. Or you can keep it very simple by just adding some buttons & trims. The sky is the limit! I will be posting examples on the blog as we go along for inpiration!

How do I finish it? You can finish it however you like. You can make it into a wall hanging using wire or ribbon, you can place it on an easle or frame of some sort, or you can just leave it as it is and let your partner decide how she'd like to use/display it. There's no right or wrong way.

Do I need to do anything to the back of it? Use your creative judgment here depending on what the back looks like and how you plan to do your finishing. I would at least make sure your name and the date are on it somewhere. I covered the back of mine with a flocked Christmas paper. Some cabinet cards have really interesting original information on the back and I'd hesitate to cover that up completely.

Any more questions? Just leave a comment on this post and I will answer them here.

Don't miss this one... just jump on in... it's going to be fun!