A couple more ATC swaps

 As you can tell from the short random posts, I'm trying to get caught up from my half-year hiatus.  Here are my contributions to a couple of ATC swaps I did for Paper Traders.  For the one above, the challenge was to use a postage stamp; the swap below was to use a silly take on a movie title... both were lots of fun!

Recent ATCs

Our Paper Traders group hosts a monthly ATC lottery.  Here are some recent ATCs I made for them.  Now, if I could just remember to get them sent off to the corresponding winners!

Creepy Cottages

For Halloween, our Paper Traders group had a Creepy Cottages swap.  This is my creation, featuring a cute birdie from ArtChix.

Out with the old... In with the new...

On the day before leaving town to visit my family for Thanksgiving, I managed to total my car.  The accident was my fault and an embarrassingly stupid move on my part.  Thankfully, no one was seriously injured - it could have been so much worse - but my subcompact 2004 Hyundai Accent didn't fare too well against a Dodge Ram pickup!  I finally got out of my rental and into a new (at least new to me) car - a 2010 Hyundai Elantra with power, cruise, and lots of nice little amenities I had been doing without.  Alas, they came with a car payment attached but at least I have something nice, newer, and reliable to get around in.

On a lighter note, I had a wonderful time visiting my family in Wyoming over the Thanksgiving holiday.  I arrived just in time for the traditional dinner, sacrificed sleep for some Black Friday shopping deals, had a Harry Potter movie marathon with my nieces, went to kindergarten with my youngest niece, watched another niece perform admirably at her swim meet, helped my mom rearrange her art studio, and managed to read a novel and complete an art piece in the process.  Not a very restful vacation but definitely a fun and special one!

This is the art piece I completed on my vacation.  It was my birdhouse-themed contribution for the Fifth Anniversary swap on Paper Traders.  The couples featured are my grandparents and great aunt & uncle  =)

Christmas Crafts

 These are two items I made for Christmas swaps on Paper Traders - some inchie ornaments (made with Tim Holtz fragments) and a paper ATC ornament.

Below are some handmade Christmas cards I made - and donated - for my women's church group...

Naked Postcards

I'll bet that caught your attention, huh?  Actually, it just refers to mailing art without an envelope - such as in the case of these postcards I made:

The theme for this Paper Traders swap was one "zetti" postcard and one "steampunk" postcard.  I'm not sure I quite captured the themes in their true intent but I'm not unhappy with the results.  A big thanks to Lorna for hosting this one - it was fun!

Asian Charms Box

Just wanted to quickly share a photo of the box I made for my 16 color charms...

The wooden frame that I used for the base was a dollar store find!