My 2-Page Spread In Lisa's Book For Her Altered Board Book Round-Robin:
I'm really not a swapping artist. "Oh yeah," you ask? "When was the last time you were completely swap-free?" "Well, let's see," I answer......"I think it was sometime back in 2007....just before I started blogging." And it is true. I don't consider myself much of a swapper simply because I like marching to the beat of my own drum and making artwork in my own way, with my own themes. So why am I constantly involved in swaps? Well, I love to share my work, and very basically, I am a social, artistic soul.
Because of this, I try very hard to put together things that I think the recipient(s) might like, as opposed to just creating something out of the depths of the top of my head. (Heh, heh, if you really knew me well, this would make sense. Someone once said that the portion off the top of my head was as deep as any well....I'm still wondering if that was an insult or a compliment, but I do see the truth in it!)
Joining swaps often leads me in directions that I would never go, left to my own devices. Sometimes I find the journey tedious, but most of the time it ends up delightful! And I always learn something new, taking away from the experience just as much as I put into it, and oftentimes, even more!
Which brings us to Lisa's book--with stripes (this week's Crazy Amigo theme) and flowers (this week's Created By Hand theme). I saw a couple of new papers from Webster's Pages that were beautiful enough to be left alone and framed. I collect papers, sometimes to cut-up, and other times just to use as inspiration pieces. Then I saw the red, fuzzy and flocked woodland animals, and the storybook theme rub-ons from Cosmo Cricket. I HAD to do something with all of these! This may not be an original piece that sprung from the depths of the top of my head, but it is one of the most delightful journeys into collage assembly that I have ever taken! Thank you Lisa, for giving me the opportunity to play with this stuff! This was so much fun to do!
And because of this, and all the great journaling pages and other wonderful artwork on her beautiful blog, I am nominating Lisa Cornelius of Simple Journeys for the *Makes My Heart Smile* award! Now there are rules attached to this award, but it wouldn't be fair to ask someone to follow rules that I'm not able to follow myself, so I'll leave it up to Lisa, whether or not she'd like to be simply honored by this, or if she'd like to actively participate. The "rules" say:
1. The winner of the Award places the logo on her blog.
2. She makes a link to the person who sent the award to her.
3. She nominates 10 blogs (one each day).
4. She links to these ten blogs.
5. She leaves a message on the blog of the nominees.
Follow the rules if you can, and if you wish, but know that I don't blog daily. I blog without obligation (even though I don't display the button), and while I have a wonderful time bestowing and receiving awards, I cringe at bestowing obligation. So, here it is--to honor you Lisa, and for you to pass along as you wish and as you see fit.
For my own part, from time to time as I make a blog post, I'm sure I'll get back to this award. And before the day (or at least the year 2010) is done, I will have passed it along to ten other deserving blogging artists. In the meantime, a HUGE thank you to
Rosie Rowe of Altered(T)Art And Stuff, my wonderful friend who bestowed this award upon me.
Right now I'm:
Listening to a howling wind and thinking, "There's no place like home...
Painting eggs--for a swap, of course
Happy with myself for cleaning-up my blog a bit
Enjoying a few days of random blog-hopping to broaden my horizons and find a few more kindred spirits
Getting ready to round-up Toto and call out, "Auntie Em, Auntie Em"...this wind is LOUD!
I'll be back to blogging a bit more regularly soon. It's not all wind and swaps around here...there are other things I'm up to, and lots and lots of paint is involved, so stay tuned!
Have a great day, Everyone!