Liberate Your Art Postcard Swap

Kat Sloma from KatEye Studios is once again hosting the Liberate Your Art Postcard Swap.   See her website here   http://kateyestudio.com/   Kat's idea for the swap is to get people's artwork out into the world whether its photography, scrapbooking, quilting, mixed media or wherever your creativity leads you. 

Last year was the first year that Kat hosted this swap and she ended up with 170 people from 37 states and 13 countries participating.  She's hoping for 200 people to participate this time.  She allows lots of time to prepare the postcards and I found it very easy to do.  I was taking a class with Claudine Hellmuth and used artwork from that class for my postcard last year.I ended up with 8 postcards last year - 5 from the original swap, one from Kat and 2 from people that I sent my postcard too!   I'm looking forward to the postcard swap again this year.  Its a lot of fun!  Hope you'll join in!

For more information on the postcard swap and to sign up go here  http://kateyestudio.com/liberate-your-art-postcard-swap

One Little Word Blog Hop

'Illuminate'

My apologies -for the second month in a row I've not completed the month's prompt.  However, I didn't want to drop out of the Blog Hop two months in a row so I thought I would at least write a blog post about where I ran into trouble and my current progress. 
July's prompt really threw me for a loop.  We were asked to choose 9 songs that were meaningful right now..  Well, I love music, almost all kinds, but I can not tell you the name of a song to save my life!  Or who sings it.  Definitely not a candidate for that show Name That Tune!  I know other people did a variety of things but nothing came to me - my mind was a blank!  I did a search on my word 'Illuminate' to see what I found and the songs that came up were unfamilar to me.  Between dealing with a medical problem since January and working on Finding Photo Freedom I just didn't have it in me to do the prompt.
So along comes the August prompt and I'm thinking this is easy.  I can get this done this month.  Still had no idea what to do for July.  However, in August I'm finishing Finding Photo Freedom, starting MotherLOAD and preparing for surgery in early September! 
So, here is where things stand....the Finding Photo Freedom class is done and I can work on the remaining items a little bit at a time.   The marathon part of MotherLOAD  begins today, Sept. 1st but I already know that I won't be able to complete a layout every day of Sept. because of the surgery so I'll do as many as I can and not worry about the rest.  Whatever I complete is more than if I hadn't taken the class!  As for  One Little Word my plan is to complete both July & August as time allows.  I have an idea (FINALLY!) of what I want to do for July.  I'm going in a different direction than Ali but I think it will be fun and it still involves music.  And August won't take long to do its just deciding my take on it and what direction I want to go.  I want to take time with the process and have it be meaningful rather than just rushing through it to get it done. 
Thanks for reading through to the end. 
One other thing that I almost forgot to include.  In July & August I was also involved in the Liberate Your Art Postcard Swap and Blog Hop and the Big Idea Festival over at BPC one weekend in August.  If you're interested you can click on the links to the right for the Liberate Your Art Postcard Swap blog hop.  It officially was held this past weekend but the links still work.  The Liberate Your Art Postcard Swap will be held again in early 2012 so check out my blog post9the one before this) if you think you might want to particpate.
So to continue on the One Little Word Blog Hop visit

Lisa         at               http://backtoallen.com/writers_blog

Here are all of the September 1 OLW Blog Hop Participants

Margie                  http://xnomads.typepad.com/blog    

Monica B              http://questtoperfectimperfection.blogspot.com/

Julie Ann               http://julieannshahin2.blogspot.com

Jill                          http://jillconyers.typepad.com/

Cheri                     http://cheriandrews.blogspot.com/

Melissa                 http://blog.mshanhun.com/

Kathryn                 http://www.katlodesigns.com/

Amanda                http://scrappnbee.blogspot.com

Sam                       http://learncreatedo.wordpress.com/

Chrissy                  http://getcraftywithchrissy.blogspot.com/

Lynn                        http://www.crafty-creativity.blogspot.com/

Lisa                        http://backtoallen.com/writers_blog

Jen                         http://byjen.com

Nikki                       http://www.inkyart.com.au/

Cassie                   http://craftycassiescorner.blogspot.com/

Jamie                     http://jmpgirl.blogspot.com/

Cindy                       http://seriousplay.typepad.com/

Thanks for hopping by!

Liberate Your Art Postcard Swap Blog Hop

Welcome to the Liberate Your Art Postcard Swap Blog Hop!



Photo of the collage that was on my postcard.

 If you are not a regular on my blog you'll want to scroll down through the previous blog posts (the first Postcard Swap post is July 31st but there are only a few blog posts to go through that are not related to the Swap) to see the postcards I received.  Please feel free to leave comments as I love to read them!  While my postcard was a photo of a collage piece I made for Claudine Hellmuth's Compostion for Collage class all the postcards I received were from photographers.  I received a total of 7 postcards - 5 from Swap participants, one  from Cara who received one of my postcards and one from Kat the founder & organizer of the swap. 
The swap was relatively easy to do.  I took photos of my collage work, printed the photos and adhered them to a postcard.  I had in my stash of stuff the adhesive backed postcards so I didn't even need to purchase those!  I wrote a message on the back of each postcard and mailed my 5 postcards  & 5 address labels off to Kat prior to the deadline.  I think the hardest part was deciding what to put on the postcard - sending your art out into the world can be a little scary and intimidating but in the end it was a lot of fun.  Kat was extremely helpful when she set the swap up with resources and various ways you could approach the project. 
As I began to receive the postcards I emailed each person that provided their email to let them know I got their postcard and to thank them for participating in the swap.  Several of the people who sent me postcards also provided their blogs,website and/or etsy addresses as well.  So I checked those out too.  I found it very interesting to see what they were all working on.  I listed the blogs, website and etsy addresses in the posts with their postcards so you can check them out as well.
As people started to receive my postcards I received emails and blog comments from them. While I had provided 5 postcards I only heard back from 4 people.  I'm sure it was a matter of the postcard getting lost in the mail.  I was able to check their blogs/websites as well which I enjoyed. 
It was so much fun (kind of like your birthday!) to come home from work to find a postcard or email. 
Now that you see how easy it is I hope you'll join us for the next swap which is tentatively set to happen in early 2012. 

To follow the blog hop click on the icons located to the right underneath the Liberate Your Art Postcard Swap yellow badge. 
Make sure you sign up for the Postcard Swap newsletter while you are there if you want to be notified of the next swap.

Liberate Your Art Postcard Swap this weekend!

I wanted to give you a heads up that this weekend is the Blog Hop for the Liberate Your Art Postcard Swap that I participated in this year.  The Blog Hop is scheduled for Friday 8/26 through Sunday, 8/28.  I hope you'll check back.  My post will go through how simple it was to participate and will provide information on how to get on the list for the next Liberate Your Art Postcard Swap in early 2012.  There will be a link within the post to make your way along the Blog Hop. 

One last postcard for Liberate Your Art Postcard Swap

This postcard is from Kat of http://www.kateyesstudio.com/.  Kat is the organizer of the entire postcard swap (Yay, Kat!) and mailed all of the postcards out all over the world.  Had to be quite a job.  Thanks, Kat!
Check out her website for more of her photography and the classes she offers.

More postcards for Liberate Your Art Postcard Swap



http://www.imieiduebambini.com/



'stitch microscope'
http://www.naperie.wordpress.com/

                                                                                                
The top photo is from Cara who initially received one of my postcards and after emailing back & forth she sent me one of her postcards.  Her art is photography and if you look very closely at her photo you can see the reflection of Cara and her husband in the bubble!  Isn't that really cool?  My photo of her photo isn't the best but you can still see Cara quite well and her husband if you know where to look (to the right of Cara). 
The second photo is from Fiona, another photographer, originally from Scotland now living in the English Midlands. 
I hope you take the time to check out both of their websites.  Their work is great and its always fun to see what others are working on, struggling with and how they progress. 

Liberate Your Art Postcard Swap News!

From Joelle, Kent, OH



From Ashleigh, Washington

I've gotten 2 more postcards over the last several days.  I love the techniques used in both of them.  
I do not have any blog address or website for Joelle (top photo). 
I have a couple of sites for Ashleigh who is a natural light photographer.  Here they are:
http://www.bleuoiseauphotography.com/
http://www.bleuoiseau.etsy.com/
http://ashinbleu.wordpress.com/
I also received an email from Ann from Rochester, Kent, England saying that she received my postcard!  Her websites and blog can be found here:
http://annisik51.wordpress.com/
http://www.annisik.com/
http://www.annisikarts.com/
This is so much fun and there is so much creativity and talent in all these women! 
I hope you have a chance to check them out -really beautiful work!
One more postcard to arrive and one more person to hear from that they received my postcard!

Second postcard for Liberate Your Art Postcard Swap

My second postcard is from Steph in England (cool!). 
On the back of the postcard she continues with "Or in other words...proceed blindly and be happy!"
Check out Steph's website at http://www.thecreativeidentity.com/ and become immersed in her words.

I also heard from Cara who received one of my postcards today.  Her website is http://www.imieduebambini.com/ for some wonderful photography.

This is so much fun!!

Liberate Your Art Postcard Swap

I'm so excited!  I received my first postcard this past Friday for the Liberate Your Art Postcard Swap.  This postcard is from KC from Oregon!  My photo of the postcard does not do the postcard or KC's photo justice.  I had a hard time with the lighting and not getting my shadow in it!  KC took the photo at the Oregon Coast Aquarium and the background is such a vivid blue!  My favorite color!  KC has just started a blog and you can find her at http://kcscamera.blogspot.com/  She is currently taking an online photography class and you can find the info here http://www.kateyeview.com/p/find-your-eye-e-course.html
I've also received two emails from people who have received my postcards!  This is so much fun!

Angela was the first to let me know she received one of my postcards and her blog is here http://www.sassyangelac.com/

The second person that received one of my postcards was Marji from Seattle and her blog is here  http://www.sunbreaksintheforecast.blogspot.com/  I might actually get to meet Marji sometime in the future as my youngest son and his family live in the Seattle area.  That would be great!

I want to thank everyone that participated in the swap and especially Kat (www.kateyeview.com/p/liberate-your-art-postcard-swap.html  )  who organized the whole swap (can't imagine what a job that was!).  Hopefully I will get 4 more postcards and hear from 3 other people who got my postcards so I can share that with you as well. 
Hope you're having a great weekend - the weather here has been amazing!

A Week in the Life, Composition for Collage, Finding Photo Freedom, Mother LOAD



Horizontal compositional structure - Composition for Collage



Three full storage binders - Finding Photo Freedom

I thought this would be a good time to provide an update with where I am with the Big Picture classes that I am taking this summer along with some of my other projects.   Top photo is my horizontal compositional piece that I finally finished.  I just really laugh every time I see that piece.  Kind of my view of how life goes - your sailing along just fine and then a duck comes along blocking your way!  Hope you enjoy it and get a laugh from it as well!  Just a fun piece and trying not to take it all so seriously!  This Thursday is then end of Composition for Collage - I'll be working on a grid compositional structure piece between now and then. 
Bottom photo is the 3 storage binders I have filled (more in them then there should be).  I've ordered 3 more binders from scrapbook.com and they should be here Tuesday.  I'm not sure at this point but I may need to order 1-2 more.  These are Pioneer 3-up storage binders.  In Finding Photo Freedom (formerly Library of Memories) storage binders are where the photos you want to scrapbook in the future go.  This is after purging & rating.  I'll try to remember to take a photo of the inside and talk a little more about this in the future.  I'm just keeping my head above water with the two classes these last 4 weeks but I'll try to go into more detail in the next few blog posts.
I need to finish up my postcards this next week for the Liberate Your Art Postcard Swap - its due July 15th (where did June go?).  I'm trying to decide whether to use one of my compositional structure pieces from the Composition for Collage class or the piece I did for One Little Word this month.  Stay tuned!
Ali Edwards posted the code for this year's A Week in the Life if you want to pick that up for your blog.  Just go to http://www.aliedwards.com/ and check out her blog post for June 23rd.  She also posted links (same one I provided in my last blog post) to resources for A Week in the Life.  If you are thinking of doing Project Life in the future this is a great opportunity to see if you like this style of scrapbooking.  A Week in the Life is a more intense, in-depth type of Project Life. 
As Claudine Helmuth's Composition class ends, Lain Ehmann's MotherLOAD (Layout a Day) class will begin.  Very exciting!
Hope your finding creative time as summer swings into high gear!