Adventures with Friendly Plastic: 365 ATCs, Day 3

365 ATCs, Day 3
Originally uploaded by Mixing-Katie

Yesterday I organized some of my supplies and came across some Friendly Plastic I'd found at the clearance row at Hobby Lobby. I tood a break from organizing to try making an ATC with the stuff. If I ever buy this stuff again, I will definitely make sure it's new!! Friendly Plastic doesn't stay friendly forever, and what I bought had passed it's prime. Two of the colors just crumbled up when I tried cutting them, which is why this card ended up having little pieces in it. Not sure if I'll try this again or not!!

ATC a Day: 2010 Project 365 ATC

365 ATCs, Days 1 and 2
Originally uploaded by Mixing-Katie

Robby at Naked Heart Art has started an ATC a Day project and is asking for others to join in. Here are my first two cards, for January 1 and January 2:

Soul Journalling

Crafting 365, Day 73
Originally uploaded by Mixing-Katie

I ran across the Soul Journalling prompts on Goatgoddess's blog, and I sure am glad I did! These prompts are a lot of fun to work on. I started a new journal to work on the prompts -- an old German textbook. It's over 400 pages, so I've got LOTS of space to work with. I've been gluing several pages together for sturdiness and ripping out pages as I go so that the book will stay closed. A fun activity to work on while watching TV!

From Russia with Love

Wooden dollies!
Originally uploaded by Mixing-Katie

Haven't posted in quite a while! The summer was kind of a blur -- trip to Russia, a new job, and moving back to the East Coast. Now that things have calmed down (comparatively), it's fall already! Hoping to get back into the swing of uploading pics and posting. I've been busy making things, so plenty of art to post about.

Here's a set of nesting dolls I found while in Russia this summer. I was on the lookout for blank dolls the whole trip, but didn't spot these till a few days before we left. The vendor only had one set or I would have bought more. When I was in Russia in 2004 I saw blank sets all over the place and never thought to buy one -- regretting that now! I'm still thinking on how to paint these.

Matrioshka: Create
Originally uploaded by Mixing-Katie

And I've got dollies on the brain lately. I'm hosting a doll swap on ATCsforAll and made lots of matrioshka ATCs. I've also started working on a 12"x12" painting with dolls.

I just can't get enough of these sweet dolls. I love how they open up - it's so much fun to play with them! I've purchased many sets while in Russia, but most

Crafting 365, Day 72
Originally uploaded by Mixing-Katie

ended up as gifts. I've got one set with fairy tale paintings on the tummies. It's a lovely set, five dolls together. Since I'm not sure when I'll be back in Russia to get more dollies, painting some is the next best thing!

Art For All 2009

IMG_7417
Originally uploaded by vintagepix

Last weekend I went to Indianapolis to meet up with people from ATCsforAll. It was so much fun! There was a lot of trading, a lot of creating, and a lot of laughing going on. This is a photo that Vintagepix took during a watercolor workshop. I'm on the right in purple. It was fantastic to meet people that I've only known online and wonderful to try out new techniques with friends. I have a lot of unpacking to do and need to catch up on a lot of sleep!

Lost and Found (again)

Crafting 365, Day 68
Originally uploaded by Mixing-Katie

Sometime last year I got a moleskine sketchbook. I was so nervous about doing anything in it that it stayed blank. Then I started a little drawing in it and a little magazine collaging. And then I took it with me when I visited my parents for the holidays and the poor hardly used journal ended up under some pillows and didn't get packed up when I left. I didn't notice for at least a week.

On an unexpected trip to my partents' place, I remembered to look for the moley and brought it back. It found a home under some dirty laundry. I came across it this week when I finally got around to washing some clothes. I recently got a shipment of twinkling h20 products (serendipity??) and decided to test out the radiant rain daubers on the sketchbook paper to see how much water the pages can take. (BTW, luminarte is having a HUGE sale through June 14) The page dried out nicely and is very nearly flat. I think keeping the book banded shut will straighten it out.

After I smeared on some of the radiant rain color -- of course, I had to try out four colors, why stick to just one?? --I doodled and wrote with india ink and gel pens. Then I decided to see how the gel pens and india ink would do on top of the magazine paper. The two pages don't really match, but they were fun to do. And I've done several more pages since these ones dried.

I'm also planning on making this sketchbook my handy dandy notebook to carry around in my purse and catch ideas.

Sharing Knife Books

Beguilement by Lois McMaster Bujold

My review

rating: 4 of 5 stars

I just finished the last book in Bujold's Sharing Knife series. I picked up the first book, Beguilement, after finishing her Vorkosigan series and wasn't sure if I'd get hooked on another one of her series or not. I could not put this book down once I got into it, and had to run off to the library to get the other three books.


If you like fantasy with a touch of romance, try this series!


View all my reviews.