Handmade Envelopes

I started making envelopes to send to my partners in this swap. I've been able to use lots of cool good quality printed papers for the envelopes combined with some nice solid colored flaps and inner lining to make these.my first five out of eight I need to make for the swap.

music

I decided to mix up the orientation a bit on the middle one.

You can see more here.

A break from crafting for some traveling

Something clicked in me last week that I found it absolutely necessary to get out of town for the weekend, I believe the term is stir-crazy. Anyhow Saturday morning we found ourselves cruising above the clouds covering New Mexico towards an even cloudier destination. In the distance are the Sandias in New Mexico. As soon as we got above the clouds it was a really nice sunny day.
First of all, What the Hell!! that's a lake?!? Secondly, sadly, I think Chicago is the biggest city I've seen in the U.S. I was impressed. I feel like such a small-town girl.
Yaay! It's taller than two stories and it's not made of mud. Seriously I haven't left the southwest in ages, I forget that not every building is adobe.
and once again, what the hell, that's a lake?! There was no end to Lake Michigan, there was also no end to the winter in Milwaukee so I am really appreciating the 50 degree plus weather in New Mexico.

All in all getting out of town for the weekend (even if it was Milwaukee in February) helped provide some much needed fresh perspectives.

Vintage Family Photos

My Grandma Smith sent me these amazing photos of our family. I had a real hard time not including all of them. Each has so much information in them when studied closely. I'm fascinated by them... This is my great grandmother Minerva May Tutt. I have searched these photos over and over for resemblances to me and my family now. I can't say I've found many but there are several photos that resemble my Aunt Julie and cousins Erica and Christina.

I have no idea who this is but the series is so awesome. The look on the boy's face in each frame seems to be so telling of his character.

and another one I don't know who it is but I can see some similarities between my dad and this guy. Also, the reflection of the boat is lovely.

The rest of the photos and some of a very young "Smith Family" (circa 1983-1985) can be seen on my flickr page.

Sad Day...

1993-2008. Bully, we already miss you and your sweetness.

Almost Finished...

I don't know what I was complaining about in the last post. I got a serious bout of motivation and made 12 of the 13 cards on Sunday and Monday. Here are a few and as always check out my flickr page for more. Swap-bot Serial Collage 3 of 5

Swap-bot Serial Collage 4 of 5

Valentines Postcards

Here are a few more cards. Frustratingly I have slowed down quite a bit when it comes to making collages. I am feeling a little distracted by other things. Not a good thing being that I have to produce and send out 13 more cards in short order. I don't want to jeapordize quality for quantity... Luckily I have been leaning towards making less cluttered/more design oriented collages with more cohesive compositions lately which generally equates to less time.

I am pretty fond of these two valentines...Head over heels

Lookin' Good

Looking back on my last valentines post, I am not liking the ATC's I made... oh well that is a byproduct of the creative process is it not? I feel like they are a little too informed by what I think other people will like. When I make stuff with those parameters in mind I usually find it to be cheesier (for lack of a better description) than I prefer.