A spider, more gnomes, a masquerade party & why I shouldn't be allowed near a computer...

How is that for a nice horror beginning?! I can tell you my heart just about stopped two nights ago when I went to close the curtain & found that thing lurking there....! I would have been a shrieking mess if it were on this side of the glass....!! It was there again yesterday but we had crazy winds last night & I suspect he was blown away... (...that is what I am telling myself anyway, especially when a nasty little voice in my head suggests that he might have found shelter... inside....)

Now on to why I should be banned from the Internet... it is just not good for someone like me... queen of procrastination, to have unfettered access to a myriad of crafty ideas, pictures, sites... not only do I spend way too long actually on the computer trawling for such things, but when I find something that takes my fancy I am off on my latest fad, leaving all other projects, works in progress and household duties in the dust.

My new "thing" is ATCs. Artists Trading Cards. I found this site a few days ago & signed up to a couple of swaps straight off the bat. I did know about ATCs before this week, or more precisely, ACEOs (Artists Card Editions & Originals), I had seen, and lusted after, a few on Etsy, but being the eternally poor mamma that I am, I never got around to getting any. I think they are an absolutely fantastic idea, an affordable way to collect original art, as well as, when trading with other artists, foster new friendships & fuel the creative fires.

Already I have been pushed to work super hard on my swap submissions, just from seeing what others are contributing.

What are ATCs or ACEOs? ATCs are cards created by artists solely for the purpose of trading with other artists, and are not sold. ACEOs are pretty much the same, but made for sale to collectors. Each card is 3.5" by 2.5" and can be on many different bases, Bristol board, canvas, playing cards, even fabric! The sky is the limit as to what you do with it, as long as it is that standard size...!

So, I scrounged around for a while & came up with a pack of playing cards the right size & gesso'd them up;

When they were dry I stuck 2 cards together for a sturdier card, using matte medium, and got painting!!

Bellow are my submissions for the 'Fantasy Masquerade' swap.

And, when I saw an open swap for GNOME ATCs... well... how could I resist shrinking down my gnomies into card form.....?!

As excited as I am about this great new hobby, especially the part about getting some lovely cards back in the mail, I can see it eating up a bunch of my time - especially since I can't bare the thought of sending out sub-standard cards!

I need to get a calender out in the craft room - I have so many things to do by the end of the month I am sure to forget & just focus on lots of little pieces of art....! Luckily, I am half way through completing my swap for Crafty Mamas, a pamper box for the lovely Gilly, I am aiming to get that sent before the end of the month.... really I am....!

Procrastinating...

...it's what I do. That's just as well, you know, that I DO SOMETHING, because I most certainly don not clean.

More painting instead!!

Aaargh!! Monsters!! Mixed media on canvas board.

The owl(s) below are works in progress....

Gnomes, Gnomes, Gnomes!!

I woke up this morning & decided I was going to paint.

Instead, I went shopping.

I had to go grocery shopping (yuck), but before that I got to go op shopping (yay). I am, officially, a greedy op shopper. Something happens to me when I enter one of these dens of musty, eccentric, second hand goodness, my heartbeat quickens, my eyes dart furtively about & I will every other shopper out of the store. I don't like lots of people around when I'm op shopping. Other stores, sure, no problem, the more the merrier, but op shopping is an entirely different story. There is a finite number of precious things for the finding in any given op shop & I want to be the one to find them. In a "regular" store, if you see someone trudging by with something you just have to have, you can generally be assured that there is more to be had, but not in an oppy. Unfortunately my Jedi mind skills are sorely lacking & everyone just keeps on shopping, no matter how much I wish otherwise, so I have to get stuck straight in to the business at hand; fossicking. I zone out - I don't look up from whichever rack, shelf or basket I am perusing, for fear of seeing someone picking up some grand vintage find that would ignite insane jealousy.... what I don't know, can't hurt me.

Today, I had a great score..... Gnomes!!

If you're getting old, like me ;) You may remember these books, first published in the mid 80s, then the 90s. There are heaps of them, perhaps someone could enlighten me to just how many exactly, but today I had the good fortune to find the "Around The World with the Gnomes" set. I already had a couple of odd ones at home but couldn't remember which, so I just bought them all, at the hefty price of 10 cents each.

Finding these today reminded me about some paintings I finished a few weeks ago, a Gnome triptych, they've just been sitting out in my craft area, gathering dust. I thought I'd dig them out & show them some love, since I don't rightly know at the moment exactly what it is I'm going to do with them.

They are mixed media (acrylic, water colour pencil & permanent ink) on stretched canvas.