Out of The Box

Recently I've been making a few postcards again. I used to make them all the time, but for one reason and another fell out of the habit, I'm starting to remember why I enjoy them so much :) Here is one that I made for a recent private swap.

The theme was 'Out of the Box' I tried for ages to come up with something clever, but in the end went back to the obvious.  I found a jack in the box image on line and sketched it out in thread on some calico.

This then got coloured in using my Inktense pencils.  I haven't used them all that much since I got them a couple of years ago, but they do work really well on fabric.

Then it was time to think about the background for the card.  Have I shown you my new scrap storage system?  I found these fabulous tall preserve jars in a discount store.

My original plan was to piece the background from different blues but I found a piece of bubble print fabric in the scrap jar that I loved.  Making these small pieces for postcards really is a lot of fun!

Mermaid Postcard

Despite feeling a bit out of sorts - I think I might have a cold coming - I did manage to get a bit of stitching done yesterday in between bouts of laying around on the sofa not doing a lot

I finished this postcard for an 'all out' themed swap, the idea of the swap was to put plenty of effort in.  To be fair I always try and do this for any swap that I go in anyway.  But this is what I came up with for this one.  The Mermaid is fussy cut from commercial fabric but she is hand stitched down with gold thread and I've also done some beading on her.  The back ground is machine stitched.  She'll be making her way to my swap partner in Germany soon.

Going Places

If you have been at all wondering (though most likely not!) what I did with the little elephant embroideries that I've been working on well here is the answer. (sorry you'll have to twist your head a little as blogger won't put the photo on right again).
They were destined for some postcards that I made for a 3CS swap, called Going Places. I decided to choose India as my theme. All the cards were slight different as I built up the backgrounds using some silk scraps, but unusually for me I forgot to remember to take photos of them all - ironic huh? considering elephants are never supposed to forget!! I just have so much on my mind at the moment some days I spend in a total haze wondering whether I'm coming or going :)

Recycled and Reused

Finally I got round to making the last few recycled and reused postcards for the open swap that I've been in. I'm about 10 days late on finishing this one up due to my machine troubles but I got there in the end.

There are more postcards to come soon though as I signed up for a 'Going Places' swap with 3CS
It's a small swap but I'm having trouble narrowing down my ideas as soon as I settle on one another pops in to my head. I need to get to work soon though so I think I'm just going to have to pick one and run with it!

A post on postcards

With the end of the month coming up it seems about time that I start thinking about how far I've gotten with this months to do list. One of the things on the list was to make 10 recycled/reused postcards for a swap that I'm in due at the end of June.

Well I was ticking along on this one nicely until Jemimah started to blow up on me.
I've managed to get 8 done and the ninth is half way there - that was what I was working on when the machine gave up the ghost. It seems very unlikely that I'll have Jemimah back before the end of May so I'm going to fall just short of my target. But I'm not too worried as soon as she's back I'll get back on track.

Recycled and Reused

I really haven't had time for much the last couple of days, the cold I thought I had shaken off is back with avengeance. Even when I'm ill though I find it hard to sit idle for too long so I decided to sit and do a bit of mindless stitching at the machine.Do you remember that pile of postcards that I wanted to reuse? Well some of them were good to go as they were and just needed some new backing so that's what I did to keep me from going insane for an hour last night. Not very exciting I know but still every little helps, right? I just have 11 more cards to revamp and recycle and my swap is done :)

Recycle and Reuse.

Recently I have been having a really good sort out. I'm trying to take stock and remind myself of everything that I have in the craft room. I'm getting ready for an exciting new stitching adventure...but I'll tell you more about that another time.

I used to swap a LOT of fabric postcards. I have been organising and sorting and have finally managed to get all of the cards I received neatly filed away. I have plans to make a hanging a la Kate to get some of them up on display at some point soon. In the sorting process I came across many spare cards that I made for swaps which for one reason or another didn't get used. I had a search round a couple of yahoo groups and have found a big 18 card swap to join, which will help me reuse and recycle most of this lot.

Some of them are ready to post as is but quite a few need some extra work. Some were from my very early days of swapping and there isn't too much to them so I want to try and make some improvements before they go out in the mail, so there may be some before and after posts in the coming weeks. BUT I'm feeling really good about the fact that they will get used. I love being able to reuse and recycle.

And the winner is.......

Thank you to everyone who commented on my Valentine's post. Blogging has put me in touch with so many wonderful people who I probably otherwise would never get to meet.

The winner is

who said ....

'Your postcard is beautiful. The white fabric is the same I used for the Valentine's Hearts. - Thank you very much for your nice comment.

Have a nice day

Roswitha

Congratulations Roswitha, I will send you an email as soon as I can, if you can reply with your snail mail address I will get the card sent out to you.

A Heart felt giveaway

Happy Valentines Day to you all.

I hope that your day is filled with lots of love and laughter.

I figured that today would be the perfect day to spread a little love. So I'm having a little give away. I made this heart themed postcard and it's meant just for one of you ... my friends out there in blogland.
It's a little thank you for all of the lovely comments and visits that you make to my blog. I've been blogging for 5 years now and probably would have given up by now if it wasn't for all of the encouragement and support from all of you.

To be in with a chance of winning my postcard, just leave a comment. I'll draw a name at the end of the week.

Thanks once again. X