Lost Touch

Some how I lost touch and pretty much any interest in working on my blog.  I got way more interested in doing the crafts that I was supposed to be posting on my blog.  I went back to work after having had a year off and then everything seem to just snowball.  So much has happened since I posted two years ago.  I have gotten more into my crafts, sold some items from my Etsy shop (which is totally empty right now), gone to several craft shows to hock my wares, and I became a grandmother.  Becoming a grandmother was so exciting because we really did't think it was going to happen at all.  So it really was the best thing ever to happen to our little family.  

This is Liam at two weeks old.  He is just a little over nine months old.  We are just over the moon about this little boy.  The part that is hard for us is that he currently lives in Germany with his mom and dad.  Soon they will be on their way back to the states to live in Colorado.  We are excited about that because that  means, hopefully, we will be able to see him more often. I now have to sell more things from Etsy (when I get them in there) and go to more shows so that I can save up plane fare to give him lots of hugs and kisses.

 I am going to try and blog more often about my art adventures.  I am hoping to get started on YouTube too.  YT might take me a while.  I want to buy a decent video camera and not use my cell phone.  Plus we can use the video camera to take videos of Liam.  Bonus!  So where do I start.  Too much time has lapsed for me to catch up on two years worth of photos and crafts adventures so I think present day will have to do.

Recently I stumbled on to Pocket Letters via watching a YouTube video.  It truly was a happy accident.  Along with making cards, making rolled paper ornaments, origami, and working on watercolors, I have really gotten into pocket letters.  It is the best of all the paper art world.  You get to do nine tiny pieces of art.  Pocket letters are put together using those nine pocket plastic baseball or collector card holders.  They fit in a three ringed binder.  

This is how I store my received pocket letters from swapping with other crazy people on a FB site.  I have already outgrown this binder and will have to find a larger one.  Which means I am going to have to have space on a bookshelf to store the binder.  That will be a larger problem in itself.  I think anywhere that crafts can be stored, is taken.  So that means cleaning out older craft items to make room for the new ones.  Thankfully fall craft shows will be starting soon so that means I might be losing some items!  That is the concept to a craft business right??

Most pocket letters have some kind of a theme.  I have joined seven themed swaps: sunflowers, black and white, gardening, ATC (artist trading cards), under the sea, butterflies, and the color orange.  The color orange theme won't start until September.  So that's a work in progress.  I will show some of the PLs (pocket letters) I have gotten over the last six weeks.  Some are still on their way and others I might not get here at all.  When you sign up for a swap it's a matter of total trust.  Some of us are trustworthy and then there are the "flakers".  Those are people who take your swap and never send one back like they are supposed to.  I think I have two flakers in my swaps.  One, I know already is a flaker and the second one I think one is about to not send her stuff.  So sometimes things just don't go the way they are supposed to.  I have created an Excel spreadsheet to keep track of what's going out and what is or is not coming in.

So now with the pictures so you get a better understanding of what I am talking about.

This is an example of a getting to know you pocket letter.  Each pocket holds a card cut to 2 1/2"X3 1/2" card stock or piece of paper.  I did water color painting, quilling and stamping techniques to create the cards.  The large sunflower is quilled and is a magnet she could use.

This is the backside of the same PL.  We were trying to get to know each other so I wrote a note on the back of every pocket explaining why I did the things on the front.  You are also supposed to include what is called a "goodie".  Goodies include cute buttons, magnets, die cuts, ribbons, washi tape, rubber stamps, tea bags, instant coffee samples, sequins, etc.  Anything that is small and can be used for another pocket letter down the road, is great.  

I have loads more photos of pocket letters but think this is enough for starters.  I will try to post at least once a week.  Keep your fingers crossed and thanks for visiting my blog again.