Old family letters

 Written in beautiful hand with what looks like a crowquill pen, these letters and envelopes go all the way back to 1891 and trail off into the early 1900s.  Sometimes my husband's obsession with saving everything brings forth some mighty interesting items. They are part of his family's history which started in Norway and ended in the farmlands of Southwestern Minnesota.

Don't I wish I could read these sweet letters, mostly written to Christi and Nels Bakke, whose family changed their names from Birkebakken when they came to the States.

Homage to Calder

I have collected postage stamps for years and love adding them to my ATCs.  Usually do that in the middle of my creating or, if a space needs to be filled toward the end, I can always plunk one there.

While digging around in one of my stamp boxes, I found three Alexander Calder stark and beautiful 32~centers.  Almost all my old stamps are cancelled but, with these, the cancellation stamping only added to the designs I thought.

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I hope Mr. Calder would be pleased with my interpretation of his artwork as Artist Trading Cards. 

Joined up!

I've joined a new ATC group on facebook.  These are my first two offerings ~

Not certain yet how this all will work out, but I have faith

Inchies and Twinchies!

A new kind of ATC swap.  Something different and so much fun!

The challenge was to create 2 sets each consisting of an ATC (2 1/2"x 3 1/2"), a twinchie (2"x 2") and an inchie (1"x 1") with matching themes.

These two sets went together easily, and I'm hoping for more of these swaps in the coming days.

ATC World Revisited

Lately, I have gotten back into the fun of making ATC's . . . JAMs and individual ones.  Colder weather gooses me into creativity!!

Here is one of the three Fall/Autumn cards I'm sending off today.  They will be distributed to other members and, in time, I will receive three ATCs in return.

How much do I love playing with my papers!

Kissing Frogs

On our October Craft Day, Kim dug out some tiny little frogs from a jar of minis I have on my desk. They struck a chord with her and she mentioned how much she liked them. 

Ever since that day, I have been rattling my brain to figure out a way to use them. I know if I just gave them to her, they would probably end up in a drawer somewhere. Having several small tins saved up to decorate, this is the result . . . 

 inside

(postage stamps,"Stardust Stack" scrapbooking papers, teeny tiny rubber frogs, kiss ribbon and more)

 top

 opening

(gimp braid, border sticker and a bit of old jewelry)

bottom

(more Stardust Stack along with leather buttons for feet)

Merry Christmas Kimmer!

mini Christmas ATC swap

This one is a little different.  Instead of a 2 1/2" x 3 1/2" artist trading card exchange, the challenge was to make a folded over tiny Christmas card, write a message inside and create an envelope to trade with three artists.

Always like to incorporate postage stamps whenever I'm able.  Luckily there were plenty of Christmas ones in my stash!  Camera couldn't pick up the sparkle in the papers I used.

Must say I enjoyed the tweak. So much that I couldn't wait to get to it and already have sent it off although it wasn't due until the first of December!

Fall Leaves ATC swap

Haven't done a swap in so long, but felt compelled to do a little artwork.  So here are my 3 for 3 offerings.

When I say little, I mean little.  Dimensions for ATCs are 2 1/2" x 3 1/2", and they are only to be traded . . . never sold!  Can't wait to see what I receive in return.

the theme was "book pages"

Another ATC swap produced these three fun projects . . .

Just so happened to have an old Courier & Ives book that had already been ripped up and abused.  So I took some pages that had lovely letters at the beginning of the paragraphs, colored them in the style of illuminated letters and adhered them to 2.5" x 3.5" boards.

Found some postage stamps with authors pictures on them, bits of pressed flora, this and that, etc.

Took a break from painting to create ATCs.  Variety is the spice of life!

Skookum Dolls

Known for their folded blanket wraps and sideways glances, the Skookum Indian Dolls were patented in 1914 by their designer Mary McAboy. Made until 1960 by the H.H. Tammen Company of Denver, the dolls represented nearly every American Indian tribe. Of the wonderful little folk dolls, no two are alike.

I have always treasured this small collection of Skookum dolls, but it is time to simplify my life.  Hopefully, by posting them in my etsy shop, they will go to a collector who will similarly fall in love with them, hold them for awhile and then pass them on to another who will appreciate their uniqueness.

These two papoose were originally meant as souvenirs to send in the mail.  One still has a partial tag attached.  Each are only a bit over three inches tall, have stuffed trade blankets as wraps and composite faces.

Artist's Choice

It has been raining steadily for a few days.   The puddles are spreading and there is an actual river running down our street.  Nothing to do but play indoors.  Found this challenge on my favorite ATC swap site today and went at it with a vengeance!!

It required us to send 2 for 2, 3 for 3, etc. to the moderator.  When she receives a bunch, she will distribute them to the ATC artists who joined in the swap.  I'm in it for 2 little pieces of artwork (2.5" x 3.5").

Here are my contributions . . .

 I like adding old cancelled postage stamps to my ATCs

 bling , ribbons, pressed flowers, stickers and anything else I can glean from my stash.

Art in Miniature!

Ever since my friend Pam started sending me new issue stamps from Canada, I've been searching for my huge collection of mostly 1950 and '60s stamps. My mother would cut or rip them from envelopes and, altho she was not a saver (like me), she put them in a drawer from which I absconded them a few years ago.

Well ... the other day, my sweet husband unearthed my ill~gotten goods in his collection of "things too good not to throw away".  Needless to say, I was delighted as they make great additions to collages and are very sweet in tiny frames.

I look on some of these little treasures as fine art prints.  Winslow Homer and Frederic Remington are among the art that graces some of these stamps.

And then there are the old Christmas stamps, the graphics so telling of their age.

Little engravings of dignataries, important people in our history and past presidents grace so many of the early stamps as they do today.

Here are a few international postage stamps plus some US stamps honoring other countries and their royalty.

   So many of the stamps commemorate states and important events across our country and hold so much history in such a small package.

Luckily all this postage has been struck through with cancellation stamps so I feel free to use it in any direction my imagination takes me.