Winter white with sparkles part 2

Three from Judith:

 Four from Kathie:

A series from Lois:

A series from Nancy S:

Four from Patti:

Four from Rose:

Three from Sarah:

A series from Susan:

Cartoon/Comics postcards - due February 15th

Jan as back as guest host and has chosen the theme cartoons and comics.

Your mission: create up to four postcards featuring cartoon or comic strip characters.  You could create your own, you could artistically render your favorite, or you could incorporate printed images into your card.  Interpret this however you wish.

Get your cards in the mail by February 15th and send them to:

Important reminders for a successful swap:

It’s a sad thing when you put a ton of time and effort into creating your art for a swap and you don’t get something in return.  Our hosts are diligent about getting all the postcards back out in the mail to their new owners, but sometimes postal mishaps occur and items get lost in the mail.  There are several things YOU, the artist, can do to prevent this:

·     Put proper postage on your postcards before you send them to your host.  If you’re going to use a postcard stamp (currently $.35) you card must not be larger than 4”x6”. This is important - please don’t just estimate this.   Get out your ruler and measure your card.  If it’s bigger than 4”x6” you need a “forever” stamp ($.49)  Insufficient postage is a short road to the dead letter office.  Make sure your mail is deliverable and take the extra moment to measure your card size. (And if your card isn’t a rectangle -if it’s square or round or another funky shape - you’re going to need $.71 postage.  No joke.)  You can find all the US postage rules and a handy postal calculator here: http://postcalc.usps.gov/

When in doubt, add more postage! 

·       It’s incredibly helpful if you put your return address on the cards you create.  That way, should there be a postal mishap, your card will come back to you instead of being lost and undeliverable. 

·     Your host will send these postcards to their new homes “naked” (without an envelope) so make sure they are not too thick or lumpy and make sure everything is glued down securely.

·     Include address labels in the envelope you send to your host– these will be used to mail your new cards to you.  This way your host does not have to read your handwritten address and write it on the cards (increasing the possibility of an address error).  Plus, it saves your host a ton of time.

Zodiac Postcards – Due February 8th

Another brave soul volunteers to host!  Long time swapper, Phillip Lerche, is hosting a postcard swap with the theme “Zodiac”

Interpret the theme any way you wish, using any technique, style and materials.  The due date coincides with the start of the lunar new year (which happens to be the year of the Monkey.)

You may create up to 4 postcards for this swap.  Have fun with it, and get your cards in the mail by February 8^th

Important reminders for a successful swap:

It’s a sad thing when you put a ton of time and effort into creating your art for a swap and you don’t get something in return.  Our hosts are diligent about getting all the postcards back out in the mail to their new owners, but sometimes postal mishaps occur and items get lost in the mail.  There are several things YOU, the artist, can do to prevent this:

·     Put proper postage on your postcards before you send them to your host.  If you’re going to use a postcard stamp (currently $.35) you card must not be larger than 4”x6”. This is important - please don’t just estimate this.   Get out your ruler and measure your card.  If it’s bigger than 4”x6” you need a “forever” stamp ($.49)  Insufficient postage is a short road to the dead letter office.  Make sure your mail is deliverable and take the extra moment to measure your card size. (And if your card isn’t a rectangle -if it’s square or round or another funky shape - you’re going to need $.71 postage.  No joke.)  You can find all the US postage rules and a handy postal calculator here: http://postcalc.usps.gov/

When in doubt, add more postage! 

·       It’s incredibly helpful if you put your return address on the cards you create.  That way, should there be a postal mishap, your card will come back to you instead of being lost and undeliverable. 

·     Your host will send these postcards to their new homes “naked” (without an envelope) so make sure they are not too thick or lumpy and make sure everything is glued down securely.

·     Include address labels in the envelope you send to your host– these will be used to mail your new cards to you.  This way your host does not have to read your handwritten address and write it on the cards (increasing the possibility of an address error).  Plus, it saves your host a ton of time.

“It’s Reigning Cats and Dogs”collage postcards – Due February 1st

Hooray – more new hosts for 2016!  For this one, Davida and Flo are teaming up and have chosen the theme “It’s Reigning Cats and Dogs”

Create up to 4 postcards, interpreting this theme any way you wish, but you must create your art using collage

Get your postcards in the mail to Davida by February 1^st.

Important reminders for a successful swap:

It’s a sad thing when you put a ton of time and effort into creating your art for a swap and you don’t get something in return.  Our hosts are diligent about getting all the postcards back out in the mail to their new owners, but sometimes postal mishaps occur and items get lost in the mail.  There are several things YOU, the artist, can do to prevent this:

·     Put proper postage on your postcards before you send them to your host.  If you’re going to use a postcard stamp (currently $.35) you card must not be larger than 4”x6”. This is important - please don’t just estimate this.   Get out your ruler and measure your card.  If it’s bigger than 4”x6” you need a “forever” stamp ($.49)  Insufficient postage is a short road to the dead letter office.  Make sure your mail is deliverable and take the extra moment to measure your card size. (And if your card isn’t a rectangle -if it’s square or round or another funky shape - you’re going to need $.71 postage.  No joke.)  You can find all the US postage rules and a handy postal calculator here: http://postcalc.usps.gov/

When in doubt, add more postage! 

·       It’s incredibly helpful if you put your return address on the cards you create.  That way, should there be a postal mishap, your card will come back to you instead of being lost and undeliverable. 

·     Your host will send these postcards to their new homes “naked” (without an envelope) so make sure they are not too thick or lumpy and make sure everything is glued down securely.

·     Include address labels in the envelope you send to your host– these will be used to mail your new cards to you.  This way your host does not have to read your handwritten address and write it on the cards (increasing the possibility of an address error).  Plus, it saves your host a ton of time.

Stenciled Postcards – Due January 25th

Doris is hosting a fun swap that is wide open to interpretation and personal style:  Create a postcard using a stencil. 

It can be a store bought stencil, a hand-cut stencil, or a household object used as a stencil.

You can use any materials and create in any style.  The stencil can act as your background or your focal point (or both!)  Anything goes – just make sure to use a stencil for at least some part of your design.

Create as many as four postcards and get them in the mail to Doris by January 25^th:

Important reminders for a successful swap:

It’s a sad thing when you put a ton of time and effort into creating your art for a swap and you don’t get something in return.  Our hosts are diligent about getting all the postcards back out in the mail to their new owners, but sometimes postal mishaps occur and items get lost in the mail.  There are several things YOU, the artist, can do to prevent this:

·     Put proper postage on your postcards before you send them to your host.  If you’re going to use a postcard stamp (currently $.35) you card must not be larger than 4”x6”. This is important - please don’t just estimate this.   Get out your ruler and measure your card.  If it’s bigger than 4”x6” you need a “forever” stamp ($.49)  Insufficient postage is a short road to the dead letter office.  Make sure your mail is deliverable and take the extra moment to measure your card size. (And if your card isn’t a rectangle -if it’s square or round or another funky shape - you’re going to need $.71 postage.  No joke.)  You can find all the US postage rules and a handy postal calculator here: http://postcalc.usps.gov/

When in doubt, add more postage! 

·       It’s incredibly helpful if you put your return address on the cards you create.  That way, should there be a postal mishap, your card will come back to you instead of being lost and undeliverable. 

·     Your host will send these postcards to their new homes “naked” (without an envelope) so make sure they are not too thick or lumpy and make sure everything is glued down securely.

·     Include address labels in the envelope you send to your host– these will be used to mail your new cards to you.  This way your host does not have to read your handwritten address and write it on the cards (increasing the possibility of an address error).  Plus, it saves your host a ton of time.

Blind Contour selfies – due January 18th

Joanne has come up with a super fun challenge for us in January.

We’re going to create self portraits using the “blind contour drawing” technique.  If you are not familiar with this technique, you look at yourself in the mirror, plop the pen tip down on a blank piece of paper, and draw yourself without either looking at the paper, or lifting your pen from the page.  Here are some examples Joanne created:

In her words:  “These should go fairly quickly, and be enormously goofy, as I'm sure mine will show. In part, the results are about not taking either yourself or your art too seriously, but the end product can both look like the artist, and produce a fairly decent piece of art at the end. “

Read more about blind contour drawing:  https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Blind_contour_drawing

You can send the drawing as it is, or you can turn those drawings into mixed-media postcards like Joanne did here:

I decided to give this a try myself and the results were hilarious.  Picture me in my bathroom mirror at about 6:30 AM, stifling my giggles so I didn’t wake my sleeping teenager in the next room.  Here’s my favorite of the bunch.  I look very grouchy - perhaps because my face is falling off my head….

Your turn to try!

The cards can be anything as long as there is at least one element with a one-line, blind-contour selfie.  You can create as many as four cards and mail them to Joanne by January 18^th.

  

Important reminders for a successful swap:

It’s a sad thing when you put a ton of time and effort into creating your art for a swap and you don’t get something in return.  Our hosts are diligent about getting all the postcards back out in the mail to their new owners, but sometimes postal mishaps occur and items get lost in the mail.  There are several things YOU, the artist, can do to prevent this:

·      Put proper postage on your postcards before you send them to your host.  If you’re going to use a postcard stamp (currently $.35) you card must not be larger than 4”x6”. This is important - please don’t just estimate this.   Get out your ruler and measure your card.  If it’s bigger than 4”x6” you need a “forever” stamp ($.49)  Insufficient postage is a short road to the dead letter office.  Make sure your mail is deliverable and take the extra moment to measure your card size. (And if your card isn’t a rectangle -if it’s square or round or another funky shape - you’re going to need $.71 postage.  No joke.)  You can find all the US postage rules and a handy postal calculator here: http://postcalc.usps.gov/

When in doubt, add more postage! 

  

·      It’s incredibly helpful if you put your return address on the cards you create.  That way, should there be a postal mishap, your card will come back to you instead of being lost and undeliverable. 

  

·      Your host will send these postcards to their new homes “naked” (without an envelope) so make sure they are not too thick or lumpy and make sure everything is glued down securely.

  

·      Include address labels in the envelope you send to your host– these will be used to mail your new cards to you.  This way your host does not have to read your handwritten address and write it on the cards (increasing the possibility of an address error).  Plus, it saves your host a ton of time.

Stamp Head Postcards - Due January 11th

Happy New Year, dear swappers!

To kick off our 2016 swaps, Christie will be hosting a postcard swap featuring “Stamp-heads”

Your challenge:  Make up to 4 postcards incorporating a postage stamp as the head of a person/animal.  Here are some examples Christie made when we did this swap a few years ago.

(note:  these are actually pictures of ATCs, but we'll be making postcards for this swap)

There's really only one rule for this swap - you must use an actual postage stamp.  It can be new or vintage, cancelled or un-cancelled, US or not - as long as it’s an actual stamp and not a copy or print-out.

Create your postcards and get them in the mail by January 11th.  Send them to:

Important reminders for a successful swap:

It’s a sad thing when you put a ton of time and effort into creating your art for a swap and you don’t get something in return.  Our hosts are diligent about getting all the postcards back out in the mail to their new owners, but sometimes postal mishaps occur and items get lost in the mail.  There are several things YOU, the artist, can do to prevent this:

·     Put proper postage on your postcards before you send them to your host.  If you’re going to use a postcard stamp (currently $.35) you card must not be larger than 4”x6”. This is important - please don’t just estimate this.   Get out your ruler and measure your card.  If it’s bigger than 4”x6” you need a “forever” stamp ($.49)  Insufficient postage is a short road to the dead letter office.  Make sure your mail is deliverable and take the extra moment to measure your card size. (And if your card isn’t a rectangle -if it’s square or round or another funky shape - you’re going to need $.71 postage.  No joke.)  You can find all the US postage rules and a handy postal calculator here: http://postcalc.usps.gov/

When in doubt, add more postage! 

·       It’s incredibly helpful if you put your return address on the cards you create.  That way, should there be a postal mishap, your card will come back to you instead of being lost and undeliverable. 

·     Your host will send these postcards to their new homes “naked” (without an envelope) so make sure they are not too thick or lumpy and make sure everything is glued down securely.

·     Include address labels in the envelope you send to your host– these will be used to mail your new cards to you.  This way your host does not have to read your handwritten address and write it on the cards (increasing the possibility of an address error).  Plus, it saves your host a ton of time.

We have a great line-up of guest hosts for the first part of the year.  I'll be posting many more swaps in the coming days.  If you are interested in guest-hosting this year, send me an email!

iamrushmore@gmail.com

Looking forward to another great year of swaps.

-Karen