(not really) dear diary: part 12

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21/02/20
I must confess that I have failed in my commitment to keep a diary style blog and write things down as they occur. It has been 11 days since I bloggled anything. Now I have to work out what has happened since then. Here goes.
In my last blogpost I mentioned a fabric swap I took part in, and I received this fabric..

I wasted no time in using it by including some in the scarf I was making on the day it arrived, can you spot it?

I also took part in a swap to make 2 textile hearts, here’s what I sent… a heart brooch one of my handmade heart buttons on it..

and a difficult to photograph dangly heart..

I received these lovely items in the swap , they were made by Julie Waters.

In Swapbot news , a few of my postings have arrived with their recipients so I can share them. I had to make an Artist Trading Card (ATC) which is 2.5″ x 3.5″ , in black and white.
Here’s the front and back

I made this collaged postcard the theme was “sender’s choice” check out the fancy stamps..

Another postcard that was “senders choice”, again, fancy stampage..

The next one is the first of a year long monthly theme of “Facetime”, every month I will make a postcard featuring a portrait , and the postcard will be in “portrait” rather than “landscape ” orientation.
Here are the instructions, copied from Swapbot..

We will make a postcard each month that features a loose portrait or face predominately.
Wiki’s definition of portrait art is: “A portrait is a painting, photograph, sculpture, or other artistic representation of a person, in which the face and its expression is predominant. The intent is to display the likeness, personality, and even the mood of the person. For this reason, in photography a portrait is generally not a snapshot, but a composed image of a person in a still position. A portrait often shows a person looking directly at the painter or photographer, in order to most successfully engage the subject with the viewer.”
We will make a postcard each month that features a loose portrait, meaning it can be completely human, or animal, or creature, or some combo of the above…..just have the face you create as the predominant focus. Your eyes can be looking whatever way you choose, and do not have to be straight forward, though they can, if that’s what you choose. Feel free to paint, sew, bead, mixed media, pyrography, photograph, collage, weave, etc. The art is all up the you. You may use any art medium to make your postcards. “

Here is my January effort, I used a photo from a magazine and doodlebombed it with my Posca Paint Markers.

Here’s the card I recieved, I found the description of the technique used interesting..

For another Swapbot swap I sent this double sided heart for a “paper scrap heart” theme. I cheated on the paper bit and included one of the textile hearts I made previously..

I made this card for a swap with Donna Mulholland for her #postcardexchange2020
I collaged some paper I had painted and stencilled and then spent a happy couple of hours doodling upon it. That’s not my hand, by the way, in case you thought I’d stopped biting my nails, it’s Donna’s. I’m sure I took photos of the card before I posted it but I must have deleted them by mistake, or misfiled them, so Donna kindly sent me some when it arrived with her.

22/02/20
Another day, another postcard, I made this one for a swap on the theme “Monochromatic Red”, it’s a piece of heavily embossed wallpaper that I painted red. It reminds me of tenement buildings and The Snug in an old pub, although it would have been nicotine coloured rather than red, back in the day.

I have similar, but not so heavily embossed (or expensive) wallpaper in my hallway that I painted myself.

Another swap group I’m part of is Mail Me Some Art . I recently took part in my first swap on the theme of Asemic Writing which you can read about here . Here are the 4 cards I sent , it was the first time I had tried Asemic Writing and I think I got a bit carried away, but I enjoyed myself doing it.

Yesterday the postie delivered this handpainted envelope..

which contained these 4 postcards ..

I am now taking part in my second Mail Me Some Art swap, this time the theme is “Stamp Heads”. What’s a Stamp Head when it’s at home? Well , it’s a stamp used as a head, you can read about it here
https://mailmesomeart.blogspot.com/2020/01/stamp-heads-atc-swap-postmark-by_26.html
you can see some here
https://mailmesomeart.blogspot.com/2020/02/stamp-heads-atcs-part-1.html
and here
https://mailmesomeart.blogspot.com/2020/02/stamp-heads-part-2.html
and here
https://mailmesomeart.blogspot.com/2020/02/stamp-heads-part-3.html
I had great fun today making mine, here they are..

They are Artist Trading Cards and measure 2.5″ x 3.5″. I made 5 and I only need 4 for the swap, so there is one up for grabs, the first person to comment below “Stamp Head” can have it, I will post anywhere in the world. You can have your choice of the 5.

EDITED TO ADD: this has been claimed, giveaway closed 🙂

That’s all for now, I am going to re-commit to diary style blogging, it’s more fun for me than leaving it too long, having the memory of a hen.
See you next time