The man behind the throne...

And the final product!

Swap Carnage

Several people have asked me what it's like hostessing a swap. Well, I'll tell you, its alot of work, but it is rewarding in it's own ways. It's an honor to get to hold and touch and drool over so many pieces of art by so many talented artists. You make new friends, and you get to share the same passions that drew you to art in the first place with a ton of people who "get you"!

Here's a quick peek into this weekends binding marathon. Due to my arm injury, my sweet hubby jumped in and saved the day by punching when I couldn't do the repetitive motions. Mike is such a wonderful mate! Not only is he my best friend, but he'll jump in and help me with anything WITHOUT complaining! (He even acts mildly interested when appropriate!) He's very creative himself, and if I can't think of a way to fix it, or attach it, or pack it, he's sure to be able to. My Grandma always says I volunteer him out too much, but it's because I just KNOW he can fix it... and I'm so proud of him.

Come on in to the studio, and look at the carnage.

Final Flat Sissie Uploaded

Even more Flat Sissies

More Flat Sissies

Flat Sissies Fatbook Swap

Earlier this year, for the Sisters_of_the_Secret_Fatbook_Society yahoo group , I organized a fatbook swap called "Flat Sissies." I had in mind the best of both worlds, Paper Dolls and Fatbooks. Sixteen of the Sisters signed up, and I had them each mail their "character" in to be swapped and sent to the other players. Then each player dressed, and created scenes or adventures for everyone elses's character, as well as creating multiples of an intro page for their own character.

Now the pages have all come in, and the hullabaloo of swapping and binding has begun. The finished product is that each sister has an entire book of their own character, dressed by each of the other sisters, and a little story of what they did when they visited. They also have at the back of the book, a "friends" section, where a copy of each of the other players characters makes an appearance.

Each of the players did a wonderful job and took their "play" seriously. The resulting books are surprising, unique and wonderful.

The books are set to go in the mail on Monday morning, so I'm not spoiling any surprises by posting my pages today. These are the pages I created, starting with the intro page for my own character "Adelheid." I love old European advertising art, so each of my "sissies" I put into an ode to some of my favorite pieces. I tried to give the original artist credit by naming them or the title of the piece somewhere in the story. These are before I hand embellished them with glitter and jewelry and other bobeches.

I hope you enjoy!

Loot from my first charm swap!

Wow! I'd never joined a charm swap before, and I was a little unsure of what to expect. Although I've made many charms with many different materials, I still had never seen any like these talented gals brought to the table! Hosted by one of my art heroes Angela Hoffman of http://geminiangelsart.blogspot.com/, this was an exciting international swap! I'm going to definitely have to step up my game, although I did enjoy the polymer clay bubbles I made.