Love Can Make You Fly

My last post talked about re-joining the Artist Trading Card group that I have been absent from for a while.  I finished my four sweet cards that day and I really really love them, so I thought I'd share the final pieces.  Not sure how well you can see the quote, but it says:  "Love is how you earn your wings" by Karen Goldman.  I love the image of this because to me it means that once you truly love, you feel like you can fly, like you can do anything--whether it's the love of a spouse or a child.

Painting whimsical and cute birds along with words and quotes are a few of my favorite things to create.  I am personally inspired by words and phrases so I love to include them on my art--hopefully inspiring those around me as well when they see my creations.

Because I so enjoyed painting these, I also think it will be fitting to make all of my February blogposts about things I love, whether they are books, people, events or activities.  So stop by next week to read about all the things I love.  The dark, cold days of winter typically get me down, so I figure how can I be in a funk when I'm writing about things that are special to me, right?  

Love is in the Air...ATCs

I know it's still January, but I'm home recovering from the stomach flu and decided I could work a bit on my February ATCs in which the theme is love (of course, right?).  I haven't painted in a few days since I've been feeling miserable, but little doses today may speed the recovery, right?  Since the cards are tiny, I can work in tiny increments.

Here's a shot of the cards I did last year...

I've actually dropped by the wayside in participating in my ATC group for the past few months...November and December were busy so I sort of pushed this group aside.  Well, I feel a bit better after the holidays and I'm participating again in February, the month of love.  Since there is really no pressure to create to sell these little cards, they really are fun to make, especially since they are for my sweet and encouraging creative friends.  I see these as a little gift to them and the ones I get from them, I see as a gift to me.  A win-win situation, right:  creating a heartfelt gift and receiving a heartfelt gift!

This month I decided to use the quote "Love is how you earn your wings" by Karen Goldman on each of my trading cards.  I've only got the background painted so far, but I'm planning on painting a sweet little birdie on each one. Here's a little peek so far.

 I think it's a fitting quote because we met through a course that showed us how to use our wings to make "our creative businesses soar."   I must say, starting up again with this is really making me happy...I need to remember how much fun these really are to create!

Sweet Summertime - ATC Swap

Last year about this time if I saw the letters ATC I had no idea what they meant.  No clue.  Well, now they have been part of my life and my vocabulary for over 6 months I think.  An amazing group of artists whom I now call friends and I pick a theme each month and create little ATC's or artist trading cards and swap them with each other. Here are the four I created for the month of May "May flowers."  We typically create three to be traded and one extra for the sweet hostess.

Here are just a few from some past swaps that I've received from these friends from around the whole country.  They are sweet, inspirational and full of the heart of the person who made them - it's nice to have little keepsakes from these people who share a love of creating with me.

For July I'm the hostess and I picked the theme "sweet summertime" - I just love how those two words go together.  They make me think of lazy afternoons reading in a hammock under a shade tree...humid nights sitting outside in the dark watching the fireflies and the full moon...juicy watermelon...splashing in a pool...ice cold lemonade out on the patio...hearing the cicadas buzzing in the afternoon heat.  What is something that makes summer sweet to you?

I hope you're finding little ways to enjoy this season and have a sweet summertime too.

May Flower Challenge

I've been participating in Lori Moon's blog challenge for May which is all about flowers.  Mind you, I haven't posted everyday, but I'm doing it when I can, and I love stopping by to see some of the other participants' posts and what they are sharing in terms of flowers each day.  If you have a chance, stop by and check out their blogs, especially if you could use some uplifting flowers.  You can find all the other participants at the end of Lori's blogpost.

Today I'd like to share a picture of my May ATC (artist trading card) swap that I've been a part of since last fall.  A group of us that met through an online art business course have kept in touch and now create little cards every month based on a theme that we swap with each other.  May's theme was flowers of course!  Here are my cards which I have already sent to the hostess.  In return I will get three cards back from three different friends.  This is something we all look forward to getting in our mailboxes.  In July I will be the hostess and my theme is "sweet summertime."  

Thanks for stopping by to visit today!