MY FIRST GIVE AWAY

In the light of the interest shown in my last lot of Mermaid ATCs, (scroll down to see them) and the fact that some viewers would like to have one or another in their hot little hands, I have decided to have a LOTTERY for THIS latest ATC, shown HERE on the right. However, there is a WEE LITTLE catch to it...which I shall explain after giving you a description of the ATC....vbg.
She is another of Artchix Collage Sheet Mermaids which I modified by removing her original wings and adding mine, which are actually...wait for it...3D...LOL...and again "Blinging" her tail, and ample bosom, up with red Kindy Glitz.
She is reclining on the sandy bed of the ocean, watching the local population go by. The "sand-bed" is actually made up of those little silica beads that we find in packets in items that we buy. The BG paper has Stazon and embossed swirl stamping and the right edge is finished off with some German Scrap that I rubbed over with some Alcohol ink. Then an edge of Green Kindy Glitz finished this little lady off.
Now...on to the LOTTERY part of this exercise!...LOL.
Remember I said there will be conditions????
Well...here they are!

This afternoon I added to my blog a commentary about the general public leaving...or the lack of leaving...comments on people's blogs.

To be eligible to be in the LOTTERY, I would like you to read these words of Jessica Wesolek's and leave a comment THERE under her commentary BELOW THIS post, about YOUR thoughts on this matter AND THEN to leave one here under the MERMAID ATC.

I will draw a winner via RANDOM ORG on SATURDAY 4th JULY so please leave your email address along with your comments so I know where to post the MERMAID ATC to.

REMEMBER...you MUST leave a COMMENT AT both POSTINGS!
That is...one AT THIS post and one at the post BELOW here.
If you want to be in the lottery draw you will need to leave your contact information .
GOOD LUCK!!

WHY DON'T WE LEAVE COMMENTS?

GIVING BACK- BY JESSICA WESOLEK

This is a post on Jessica's blog which I found really interesting and worthwhile, so with her permission, I am posting it here. Go and have a look at her really interesting art and everyday life messages here:
http://web.me.com/jwesolek/cre8it/Blog/Blog.html

"Giving Back . . .
Communication fascinates me and always has. I really think it makes the world go around. So, it has always interested me that only 1 or 2 percent of readers ever leave Comments on a blog post, or have anything to say in a Yahoo Group.

It interested me enough that I have been asking friends why that is. Yes, I have a lot of lurker friends to ask. The answers were really interesting because they went something like this: I’m shy, nothing I say would be interesting to anybody, I’m probably the only one who hasn’t already thought of this, I’m too busy.

Do you pick up a theme there? Pretty one-sided, right? But what if leaving comments wasn’t all about you?

I have an interesting lesson to share. I used to have a very hard time accepting compliments, and like many of us do, I would pretty much throw the compliment back in the complimentor’s face, thinking I was practicing modesty instead of insult. They would say “you’re so good” and I would say “no I’m not”. Those are paraphrases, but you know what I mean. “What a pretty dress!” “Oh, this old thing?”

So one day, my brother asked me if I realized that I was insulting the other person. Whether I realized the complimenting process wasn’t only about me, but rather, a social interaction. What? Something that’s not only about me? How could that be?

But he was right. By arguing with a compliment, I was telling the other person they were wrong, and maybe their opinion didn’t matter much to me.
That was a big lesson, and ever after, I just say “Thank you”

There are lots of things that aren’t just about us, and the amazing plethora of treasure that is internet content is one - a gift that didn’t just get stuck in your computer with the hard drive. It is created and given by hardworking and generous-to-a-fault people just like you (blogs, Yahoo Groups, online zines, tutorials, product reviews, etc. - all free).

If someone brought all this in a box to your door, would you say “Thank you”? Of course you would. If someone at a party told you an amazing thing you never heard of before, or told you about a wonderful new store or book, or restaurant, would you stand there and stare at them silently like you didn’t hear them? Of course you wouldn’t.

Well, the web is not different than the world we live in anymore. It is a social place, and we must all take some social responsibility. I get a kick out of articles that talk about “Netiquette” and Web Etiquette. They mention not flaming somebody into ash, and not TYPING IN ALL CAPS because it means you are yelling.

But they don’t say: speak up and add your voice and your energy to this fantastic exchange so it can keep on rolling and become even better. So the folks who are giving all this don’t run out of gas and stall altogether. They should say that.

And just in case you are thinking this is all about me (Jessica), I think we do better here (cre8it blog) than most with Comments (especially when something free is being given away ;-), and I get so much gratitude in emails that it gives me lots of practice on my compliment Thank You’s! But it breaks my heart to see really good Yahoo Groups fade away because only three people are willing to keep talking, or wonderful blogs go away because the author feels she is hearing the sound of one hand clapping or worse, talking to herself in public.

I know lots of bloggers will say they are doing it “for themselves” and it doesn’t matter if anybody responds with a Comment, but a part of that is just bravado. If they were only doing it for themselves, they would do it in a closet - not on the internet.

So let these wonderful folks know you visited, and if you liked their tutorial, or if their technique gave you a valuable answer you’ve been searching for. Or just say “thanks for all you do,” like many of my wonderful readers do. It’s little but it goes a long way.

Give back - and it will only get better for everyone."

Placed here with permission from Jessica Wesolek.

WEEKEND PLAY

I don't know how it happened that I found time to "play" this weekend as I have a "patient" in the house...my hubby...with a cold!
How many men do you know that aren't sicker than the rest of us??? Why is this so? Can there be an answer for this? EVER!??
But...I digress... thanx to a friend in the Newcastle area,I was experimenting with a sheet of foiled card-stock, sold as temporary splash-backs for greasy areas, in one of our $2/el-cheapo shops for $2 a sheet, measuring 54cms by 75cms, so if it does what I want it to, it will be MORE than a bargain!
I ran a piece thru' the Cuttlebug to emboss it, then coloured it with Alcohol inks.
As I have said before, I always have "stuff" on my desk, so I made up a couple of ATCs using the inked foil as the background, using some of the "stuff".
The first one has gold Rub-ons, Gold German Scrap border, rubbed with Treasure Gold and I cut a gold, metal filigree embellishment in half for the halo. I used Kindy Glitz for the dots above the points.

The other inked foil BG made me think of water so, after adding some white (gesso) circles using a pen lid as a "stamp", I added an Artchix Collage Sheet mermaid and a fish images to it, then some wired plastic leaf trim, a piece of Gold German Scrap for her "crown", Kindy Glitz on her tail and bust, and for the stars on the wings, I used a white Gel pen.I went around the image shape with a metalic gold pen and used Gold Kindy Glitz around the edges of the ATC.

This third one came into being because I not only had another mermaid and a fish image handy, but I also had the BG with the fish on the right already on it, and some stamping done as well.
I Kindy Glitzed her tail and bosom and some of the stamped dots, then added a silver washer to the fish's eye.
The words for all came from a sheet of words,also at the ready .
And...I just realised that none of them have a 3D effect!!!... How unusual for me...amazing!LOL

More Postage People ATCs

I surprised myself in finding time to finish these ATCs over the weekend...something nearly always crops up that seems to put pay to my weekend arting, but other than the usual washing, ironing and cooking(some yummy egg and bacon pies for Sunday lunch)and playing wall tennis with my grand-daughter later in the afternoon, time was my own!


Oh....did I mention the 5 dozen scones I made for morning tea on Saturday for my hubby's staff member's ??.... they had a sale on so I thought I'd encourage them to sell more vehicles if they had something yummy in their tummies....I hope it worked!
Of course, it helped that we went to my daughter's for dinner Sunday night...saved me having to decide on what to get for it myself!
These Postage People ATs are such fun to make.


The first, and hardest part, is finding the stamps. Here in Australia, we don't have many "faces" stamps, although there has been a few of Movie Stars come out lately, but I was fortunate to have had a small number of them sent to me by a fellow swapper from over-seas last year.
Once I have the stamps sorted out, finding images is almost a full day's task for me....I have sooooo many images on my PC that I almost need a packed lunch and a thermos of green tea to get thru' them....LOL.
It also helps to have a stack of back-grounds at the ready...really handy for quick creating!


Finding the right embellishments is the next hard task...I like to try to use up stuff laying around on my desk-top...and there's ALWAYS heaps of THAT there...vbg.
Then I spend an hour or so going thru' the fonts in Publisher looking for the most suitable for each ATC....and sometimes do a search for better ones.
Scanning and editing the finished products take another stretch of time but it is soooo satisfactory to see them all eventually done and up for all to see.

TREE of LIFE

I have finally gotten around to up-dating here... where does the time go??? Monday comes around and before we know it, Friday has arrived!!
Of course, it doesn't help when your PC is not co-operating either!
I changed my Anti-virus application and it fouled up my modem, but eventually my nice providers helped me with it and we are back in action! When things like that happen it makes one realise just how much one relies on this monster!

This is an altered Papier Mache torso that I did for a swap. I used twigs from my Jacaranda tree for the "wings" and Sphagnum Moss for the nest. I applied Golden's Texture Paste for the grass, and the leaves are a type of satinny ( is there such a word..vbg)ribbon that I bought on-line somewhere....and wish I could remember where! I shaved the twigs ends to sit flat on the torso, then applied them with Golden's Heavy Gel. It is finished off with some copper coloured Rub-ons, which I outlined with dots, and then finally, a coat of Royal Coat Decoupage Sealer.

ANOTHER FABRIC BOOK PAGE

This page's theme was "Jeweled House".
Several years ago, I hand painted and stamped some calico and have had it sitting around waiting for a good reason to use it...and this is the reason!
For the houses I used Collection's chipboard house frames,covered in "Textiva" (fusible film). The two larger rooves are cut from cardboard. The front one is covered with dot stickers and the back page one is done with re-enforcing rings,then I coated them with Bronze Lumiere and rubbed over with Walnut Distress Ink, and the small one has gold star stickers, treated the same way, as I ran out of the dots and rings.
I then added the diamantes to them all.
I used various images of children,two of which are from "Collections", and added a piece of mica to the large front and back houses and wire mesh to the smaller one.Then a squiggle of green Kindy Glitz on the sides of the houses and more diamantes embedded into them with some larger flower embellishments to finish them off.
Then I added the Kaiser Rub-ons to the sides of the front houses to balance the layout.
The image in the house on the back is of a little girl with her dolly's pram and a bit of "serendipity" happened here... I didn't realise until after I finished the page entirely and was checking it out for faults (which I am sure to have made) that the application of the gold painted scrolls and flourishes actually make the dolly's pram look 3D!
I left the threads long and dangling when I ran some machine stitching around the edges and threaded some beads onto them to add more texture to the whole page.