Art of Mine

Hello Friends, This little ATC is going out to a dear friend of mine. Thought I would take a picture of it before it went out the door. I love making ATC's as you all can see lately. I wish you all a Delightful Day and a Mellow Evening, Susan xxoo                                                                                                        

 Hello All, I have no energy amd I'm feeling blahhhh... and thinking that it would be great to just take a break and take a Cruise to the Virgin Islands or catch a flight to see Paris. Go for a spa retreat, Yikes...anything!!! Well reality check is that it ain't gonna happen...any time soon that is...but, I can always dream.... So Dear Friends lets take a trip and tell me your dreams and where in the world You have Always wanted to go and Why....Would you go alone or with someone? Let your Imaginations run wild!! Bon Voyage..... Susan                                                                         

Hi to All! Have you ever asked for something and someone went over and beyond your wildest dreams?? Well it happened to me and I will tell you how it all began. Michele from her "Something Special blog" had posted some time back on her blog about Alice in Wonderland tags and I thought that I would like to makea tag or two on Alice. So I hunted for any Alice ephemera I could find but I just did not find much out there, so I came back to Michele and told her my dilemma and asked if she could steer me in the right direction. Sweet Michele said that she would send me some Alice things in the mail. Well that dear lady was good to her word and sent me a "few" things....oh my oh my.... I posted all the goodies here that she bestowed upon me!!  I have no excuse now but to make an Alice tag ...or an Alice book, well the imagination is spinning out of control!!  One of the nicest items were pictures she copied from an old vintage Alice book her Mom had had when she was a

Hi Friends, I wanted to share a sweet little pillow  with you that I had made for my mom this past Mothers Day. The Ribbon Roses on the pillow  are removable so that she could wear it as a corsage on her special day! I had scanned the photo of my mom and I and then copied it onto a fabric transfer sheet. I added some lace and pearls, added a little heart button and some pretty trim around the picture with a tiny pink rose. Mom loves it and has it on her bed all the time. Tell me what you have been up to today!!! Smiles and Hugs, Susan

Hello Dear Friends, Some of you may recall a post I did awhile back showing you a collage I was starting to make called Down by the Seashore. Well I finally finished it and wanted to show it to you. The two pictures in frames are my Grandmother Elsa in 1917 and the picture of the guys doing a Rockett kick is my Grandfather August third in from the right, this picture also taken in 1917. The Beauty Queen on the left is my Aunt Julia. She grew up in N.Y.C. and became one of the dancers with the Gertrude Hoffman Girls. Julia was also on Broadway with the Hoffman girls and did "A Night in Paris" in 1925. My Aunt Julia was also a contestant in many beauty pagents and this picture of her was taken when she was in a  Pagent in Atlantic City N.J. in the 1920's. I do not know if she ever won any pagents but "I"  think she was a "Winner" and gave her a crown anyway!! I think this is a nice way to honor your relatives and keep their memory alive!!! Love

Hi Sweet Friends, I wanted to share the ATC I received from my friend Lorna in England!! I had sent her my Georgia Peach and she made this beautiful hand stitched ATC for me. Lorna also included some lovely papers and bits of trim and lace. Thank you soooo much Lorna!! I am making an ATC holder at the moment for all of my ATC's which is a Grand total of four right now!!! Ha ha Love it!!! Have a Grand Day!!! Susan

Hello Dear Blogging Buddies, If you have not tried making an ATC yet  aka "Artist Trading Card"...You should!! They are little miniature works of art that you can whip up in no time flat. You can use any medium your hearts desire...well almost...all it is all contained in the regulation size of 2 1/2 x 3 1/2" in. If you would like to sign up to do a swap I would suggest going to the Blissfull ATC Swap hosted by Wendy and Debbie. We have a swap once a month and you have plenty of time to prepare and make a unique ATC that you will trade with someone else! Try it and I know you will LOVE it!!! My trading partner was Wendy this month and she made the most lovely orange themed ATC!!!  Don't you agree?? Thank you Wendy and just so you guy's know the September theme will be Leaves.....come on you will have FUN!! Love and Happy Hugs to ALL!!!                            Susan

Hi Dear Blogging Buddies!!! I wanted to share with you my newest ATC I made for a gal in England. We decided it would be cool to do a trade. I was thinking what I could come up with that would be rather unique to where I live here in Georgia. As I was thinking about it I was in my kitchen and saw some Peaches in a bowl that I had just bought from the the garden coop. I thought well a "Georgia Peach" would be wonderful to make but in what medium?? I recently downloaded an tutorial from Cloth Paper Scissors all about Needle-felted trading cards.....Mmmm I had bought a roving Kit last year from a gal in Colorado that lives on a farm and sells needle felting kits with different colored roving, two different size needles and the punching foam. I had never used it before...well I lie I made an orange felted round bead...thats all!! So I set a beautiful fresh peach in front of me as a giud and started to Felt.....punch, punch, punch. It was really fun although in the begining it

Hello All!! I had my Mother draw the winner and without further ado It's Michelle Palmer YAY!!!!! Thank you to All of my dear followers old and new who have participated in my first giveaway!!! All of your lovely comments and support has been so appreciated and I love all of you so much!! Thank for participating!! I have had so much fun that I am going to do another giveaway soon so stay tuned!!! Michelle please contact me with your mailing info!! Love and Blessings to all my Dear Friends Susan                                                                           

   Hi all! Just to remind all of you that my Giveaway will end tonight at Midnight Eastern Standard time!! This has been so enjoyable that I may just have to have another Giveaway soon!! I want to Thank each of you for entering the Giveaway and also Thank you to all of my new followers!! Good Luck To All!! Love and Blessings, Susan                            

Hi All! I wanted to share an ATC that I received from my friend Jan. I love this cute garden theme!! Jan also has been making tiny books and this cute little book was made out of magazine papers that were folded and each page has a cute little pocket. Jan added a lovely white feather on the outside and a beautiful picture of a Snowy Owl. It came complete with little bookmarks attached to string with beads! If you scroll down to my post called Evening Flight, that is the ATC I sent to Jan! Hope you day is going well!! Love and Blessings, Susan                                

Hi Blogging Friends, I wanted to share this lovely bouquet of flowers that was brought to my door this afternoon. My dear friend Maggie sent these to me for my birthday.....they are so Beautiful and Maggie is an absolute doll to think of me. I know we all talk about our friendships here in blogland that we have found, and I know we appreciate each other very much. My life has changed so much in the last 9 years. I have had many surgeries and things going wrong physically which limited me quite a bit. Since 2003 I have not been able to drive anymore and that in itself was a big blow to me. I inherited a rare disease of the corneas in which I have had multiple surgeries for over the years, hence no more driving. Well I can go on but I will stop there. The real point in all of this is I have been lonely and needed somehow to connect with people and then I discovered the World of Blogging!!  WOW...I never dreamed that I would meet such loving and caring folks. My cup runneth over...

My Dearest Blogging Friends, I can not find the words to express how much Joy and Happiness that each of you have brought into my life. I have found great friendships here in Blogland and I am so grateful for each and everyone of you for your lovely comments and support. My birthday is this coming Sunday the 8th. of August and I wanted to share it with All of you!! I love all of you and Thank you so much!! If you remember a few posts back I had shown you the Shabby Garden Flower I had made and told you there was more to come...well I made a very special Pillow that this flower is attached to.  I have also included a wonderful little Garden Chime that you will be amazed by it's beautiful sounds. I had also found this adorable Garden cup for you, I thought it was so cute! I also included a lovely little china dish with beautiful Blue Roses. To enter the Giveaway I will make it as simple as I can for you. You must be a follower or become one to enter. Please comment

scan0005 Originally uploaded by sjmcdowell Hi Dear Blogging Buddies!!! I entered another ATC for the second Blissful ATC Swap. This time my swap buddy was Wendy. Our swaps theme this time was "Orange"....Ughhh I thought...I really really don't like Orange!! I almost gave up and thought I would not be in the swap at all when I thought well "what" in the color of Orange do I like? The only thing I really like that is orange are Pumpkins....OR...the Japanese Koi Fish!!  I looked through my stash of stuff and found a picture of some Koi and then painted this litte fellow. I had painted the pond first  and then painted the cute little Koi on a seperate piece of paper, I then glued the little guy down on top of the water....and so there ya go!! I think he came out sooo cute!! Anyone want to name him??? Ok folks LISTEN up!! My first "GIVEAWAY" is happening very very soon!! So watch out and stay tuned....don't leave town or if you do a