Tales from a Wanabe Swapper

I joined my first ever mail swap this year. Lenna is hosting a wonderful exchange of Vintage Note Cards and thought I would like to participate. So with some trepidation I decided to take the plunge and have been working on my cards to send her. Along the way I learned some new things and thought I would share my tips (and of course the fruits of my labour!)

1. Respect your Glue...especially Super Glue. There is, after all, a reason why they put First Aid instructions on the label. I won't tell you what happened but suffice to say Miss Gwendoline got to watch me while I frantically tried to "unstick" two of my fingers for a few minutes. I think I need to teach her how to dial 911...
Card 1 - Vive Ste. Anne

…the patron saint of Seamstresses! Also a line of sewing machines. I have several vintage pictures showing young ladies posed as they sew. Don't know how they got any work done!

2. Simple is Better...yes it is REAL easy to over think what we do. After counting a possible whoping 16 embellishments for one card I decided to stop (yeesh, you could have used it for a paperweight!) and go back to basics (I like to think I learned SOMETHING from Mary's classes). So while they may seem relatively simple, I think the effect is better. Besides, the whole point is to have fun!

Card 2 - Friend
My friend Carol is an avid quilter AND blogger! The picture here is her Mom – Nan - and a best friend. She shares wonderful family pictures on her blog Pieces of the Past and was kind enough to let me use this one.

3. Check All Things in Daylight (ESPECIALLY before gluing) - Since I have a day job I often don't get to artsy things until the evenings - and these days it still gets dark early. Funny how the colours and shapes you put together late at night that you thought were SO brilliant don't stand up to the harsh reality of the sun. What I thought was a rich gold turned out to be a real pee yellow the next morning (seriously).
Card 3 - A Merry Frolic
I have several pictures of dancing couples from a friend who was on Flickr. This one always makes me laugh – don’t you love their Roller Skates! I think this is my favorite.

4. Beware the Post - While I would have loved to create an artist envelope to deliver these to Lenna, reality is I don't trust my Postman. Sadly a wonderful tag I recently sent over to Elizabeth at Creative Breathing never made it. That was a first for me and a hard lesson learned (especially as I thought I had done everything right). My precious pieces will be appropriately packaged and paid for to make their final destination (How much should I state for insurance purposes? $1,000 perhaps? They are vintage after all, LOL)

Anywho, I am really looking forward to seeing everyone elses cards - especially the three I will be recieving some time in March! Thanks so much Lenna for doing this (and answering all my newbie questions). It really was fun! Cheers, Jewels

(For the base card, I copied actual fabric on to cardstock. Where possible, original paper (Music, Sewing Pattern) were used. Stamps and gesso were also used on different cards. Embellishments are from my "stash".)