Swap: "Owl" ATC

Ah, yes, just doing some good old fashioned swapping. I realize it is a little weird, but that just makes me love swapping even more.

Abe is officially freaked out by me. He thinks I have lost my mind and threatens to put a parental block on our internet so I can't get on the swap-bot.com website. He says "Ryan, you are so busy, why are you doing this?" And I say "I'm so excited...I'm so excited...I'm...so scared!"

J/k. I actually say "Because it is hilarious. Duhhhh!" And then I dance around the kitchen with my ATC's and pick up my cat and talk about how he is going to live forever.

The theme of my most recent swap was "Owl" ATC. Here is the description as written by the host of the swap:

If you've noticed, owls are hanging around everywhere lately! I have become quite enamoured with the cute little hooters and really would love to do an ATC swap with just owls as the theme! I know this has probably been done fairly recently already, but I'm new and I want to participate too, so here it is! The rules: Newbies are, of course, welcome and I am going to ban recent no sends and any one with a rating lower than 4.3. This swap is international-so be aware that your partner may be out of the USA or your particular area! The only other rules are to include at least ONE owl on each of your cards. And please be creative--make cards that you are proud of!)! You will have two (2) partners and send two (2) ATCs to each of them for a total of four (4) ATCs.

And here are my finished products:

The ones on the left (above and below) are made mostly from a collage of security envelopes. I have started to keep all the security envelopes I get at work and every day I'm carrying a stack of them home. I am loving the patterns.

Sunday = I don't want the weekend to end!

Yesterday I spent the hours of 8am to 7pm working on my website. I only got one page done, but that's because I'm trying to do it the *right* way now and use CSS. Hopefully I'll be able to finish everything by the end of the week so I can post my new goods.

I needed a break last night so I went over to Black Rabbit and met up with a bunch of friends to play BINGO and drink some drinks. I love that bar because you can sit in a booth with doors and pretend you are in the Wild Wild West. There is even a service button to push and a light will glow on your booth so the server knows you need more alcohol ASAP.

Multi-tasking.


BINGO was hilarious. It was hosted by Bobby Tisdale and everytime someone won the whole bar sang a song. Brooke won, which was very exciting. Our table was rewarded with 4 lemon drop shots.

Brooke showing off her skillz.

Piper was so happy for Brooke.

He's Adorable.

New Item: Garden Trinkets - Little Birdie

Just because your potted plants live the life of an indoor cat doesn't mean they should be deprived of the great outdoors!

This series features is called Little Birdie. Each package comes with one bird perched on a stone. Place this little guy in a potted plant, or on a shelf among many potted plants. Just make sure you keep the bugger indoors and away from water - these birds don't like to get wet!

Each trinket is completely unique. I have a growing collection of stones found in my yard, on vacation, and even from flower arrangements sent to my office. I match together stones and birds based on their vibes. It's kind of like Millionaire Matchmaker except I'm working with inanimate objects and not rich men and blonde 20-something actress/models.

Each Little Birdie comes packaged in a re-useable box made from 100% re-used materials*. That's like re-used to the third power! Each package is crafted by hand and decorated with scrap paper and security envelopes (my new fave material). The box is secured with a button and string closure.

*note: I had to use new glue and tape for obvious reasons.

To buy one for your indoor garden go to my SUPERMARKETHQ store.
http://supermarkethq.com/designer/3389/products

Swap: Once Upon a Time

So, I have kind of gotten addicted to online swaps. It started out innocently enough....I was reading the Modish blog and saw an post for a Punk Rock Garden Swap. You just have to mention the word "garden" to me and you pretty much have my undivided attention.

Anyway, this swap sounded pretty fun: This swap is openly defined: you will send 3 goodies for gardening loosely based on the theme: Punk Rock Garden. You should spend less than $5 on your package--which means thrift stores and DIY are a great way to go! Plus, a couple months ago I did the Sassy Apron Swap and got the best apron in the world so I am definitely feeling good about the whole thing.

Well, in order to sign up for the Garden Swap I had to create an account with Swap-Bot.com and from there I entered the under belly of online swapping. This is a very strange world. I have gathered that there are a lot of bossy people and a lot of people getting very angry over people who flake. I have also had to learn a new vocabulary. An "Angel" is someone who will make an extra swap for a person whose partner flaked on them. An "ATC" is an Artist Trading Card and these are a very popular item to swap. It's the size of a playing card and features some sort of artwork. ATC swaps are all theme-based.

So once I got going I seriously developed a problem and I think Abe was a little weirded out. But, I have to say, it has really gotten my creative juices flowing! It's nice to have an assignment so that I have to sit down and accomplish artwork on a regular basis.

Sooooo, without further ado, I present to you my first ATC swap. The theme was "Once Upon a Time...."

Front side

Back side
The one on the left is kind of like an enchanted forest vibe and the bird is 3-D (he is hanging by fishing line). The one of the right is inspired by Rapunzel. I used glitter. Woo hoo!