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Response: Hi Chris ... glad you liked the houses in the village. :) The envelope was made using a gelli plate and someloosely woven textured raffia sheet (difficult to describe ... I think it was originally meant to make giant bows on gift baskets).
Response: Thanks, Lob ... it was a fun little project to work on ... :)
Response: Thanks! Glad you liked it. I went a bit mad with colulring the text and stuff, but I totally fell in love with those three colours while I was making it, and I couldn't stop myself. :)
Response: Thanks! Yes - I meant to send an extra set of stamps with, but forgot - d'oh! I'm in the middle of several big projects, but I will get back to making more eventually. Thanks for reminding me! :)
Response: Thanks Miss Pickle - I wasn't sure where it was heading when I started, but it all turned out okay in the end. :)
Response: You're welcome! Yes, the drawing is mine. Glad you like it. :)
Response: Thanks! Glad you like it. :)
Response: Hi Nancy, glad you liked it. It's the first time I've used my handwriting like this - I've been very very inspired by MissPickle, and lucky enough to get several of her minizines in this ongoing swap series.
Response: I was a real treat to make. Like I said I've been waiting for the *perfect* place to share the poems and I'm happy they've found a good home. My favourite part is the butter on the front. I think I actually giggled when I thought of that. :)
Response: Thanks Su ... I first heard about Lord Dunsany at a SciFi convention, and I've been hooked ever since - wanting to spread his stories around so more people discover him. For this project, it was either the Wonderful Window or The Hoard of the Gibbelins, but he has so many good stories that it was hard to choose. :)
Response: Thanks, Emika! I had a lot of fun thinking of it.
Response: You're welcome - now go wreck that minizine! :)
Response: Thanks! Have fun wrecking it. :)
I *love* hand-stitching zines - it's a good way to get a nice pop of colour with the binding thread.
Response: Thanks! It was great fun to make & I hope you love wrecking it. :)
Response: So glad to hear it arrived okay - & glad you like it. Thanks!
Response: I'm so sorry to hear it arrived broken - how terrible! I will try to make amends in some way. Thank you for appreciating the heart of my intent, even though your package arrived less than intact.
Response: Thanks! Glad you like it. Every time I go to their store I grab a few more postcards - just love love love those colours!
Response: Thanks, Betsy ... I figured my words looked nicer on the front - just like the six word memoir postcards I'd seen in the video. Sorry to confuse you. :)
Response: Yeah ... it's a cool place ... I was in there on the weekend, they just got in some really cool fabric that has a pattern of those old 3D viewfinder card circle thingies. Way cool - I had to buy some!
Response: You're welcome - I loved what you sent. :)
Response: So glad you liked them ... I just started drawing them and they had all these funny expressions and I knew I had to make buttons of them. :)
Response: Thanks, Anna. I hope to do more in the series ... it seems like I've been working in printing since the stone age! Not true, of course, but it feels that way compared to how fast we work today!
Response: Thanks! Bunny was definitely a step in a new direction for me - so glad you liked her. :) Working on future editions for the QWERTY series - I love your stick series so much it spurred me on to create more!
Response: Thanks Zoey! Had some fun creating it. :)
Response: Glad you liked it - you should see what I'm cooking up for the next one! I'm hoping everyone will like it as much as I do. :)
Response: You're welcome. :)
Response: Glad you liked it. It was fun going back in time and remembering typing class - funny how everyone types now and thinks nothing of it. :)
Response: I'm sooooo glad you like it! I've been dying to ask if you received it - I've never made anything like it and I was nervous if it would be okay. Thanks!
Response: You're very welcome ... thought you might like X marks the spot. :)
Response: You're so welcome - I had the sudden urge to combine paint and fabric and paper - and it worked. :)
Response: Thanks! I love the alphabet and X just seemed *so* mysterious ... :)
Response: You're most welcome - I love your stuff, too. :)
Response: Yeah, there's a funny story there ... I'd made one set of jokers, and then I thought - hey, that's pretty tame - let's do something a bit more *out there* - and so the second one was born. :)
Response: Do glad. The "red tape" is *real* typewriter ribbon - I've been saving it for ages - waiting for the right project. :)
Response: Yep, I had fun with this one, although it's very different from a style path I've been on lately. I had the *dickens* of a time finding the perfect little hand ... so glad you noticed. :)
Response: Thanks! I really like when I can put a new twist on a face card - they're already so full of colour and lines that they beg to be altered. :)
Response: Thanks, Miukki. Glad you liked them. The migration zine really *has* migrated - all the way around the world to you. :) - Pen
Response: Thanks, Mark. I'm so glad your name came up for this one - even as I was making it, I thought it your name didn't come up I would make you one anyway - since I thought you might like it. And (I assure you) the text was entirely inspired by the look in Jack's eyes and not any personal tragedy. I just thought he looked worried and I wondered what would worry him so much, et voila ~ psychotic break!
Response: Thanks, Miss Pickle ... "Migration" has been in my mind for quite awhile and I was glad to finally get the idea out on paper. I had planned to print on *real* maps, but then I got all controlling about where the birds would fall and I wanted white text boxes, and before I knew it I was deep into designing from scratch. Oh well. Yes - let's do a private swap soon - end of January? I'm in thick of year end reports at the moment. :)
Response: Thanks, Hannah! It's nice to know my work is appreciated. I love to send to people who love my stuff - it makes it all worthwhile. :)
Response: Thanks, Moose! As you can tell I had quite a lot of fun doing it. It was fun to think like a foreign wolf for awhile. :)
Response: You're welcome, Anne. Glad you liked them. :)
Response: Thanks, Mark. I am obviously stuck in *simple* mode at the minute. But sometimes minimal is good. :)
Response: Glad you liked it - I had fun doing it - I kept rearranging the diamonds in different patterns and then the iceberg jumped out at me. :)
Response: Thanks, Heidi. This was a bit out there for me ... not so much *pretty* as *quirky* I guess, but it just seemed the thing to do - so I did it. :)
Response: Thanks, Su. The funny thing is that I started off from a very different place with the project, especially with my idea for the *extra* - but once I started down the police report road, I felt compelled to provide evidence! :)
Response: Thanks, Sam. I was a bit nervous about how this one would be received - it's more abstract than I usually do, but it felt "right", so I decided not to re-do it and hope it met with approval. The checkmark seemed like the natural last step. :)
Response: This one pretty much popped into my head fully formed - I just had to locate the right compass stamp to get where I wanted to go. I love the background paper - it's from an Anahata Katkin notebook I got as a gift. I keep using the paper in my art instead ... more fun than just writing on it. :)
Response: Thanks, Katie. I had a lot of fun assembling all the bits and pieces for the layout, and I couldn't resist stamping all the red X's by hand. :)
Response: This was definitely a "less is more" approach to design. It just seemed like the right thing to do. Glad you liked it (and the extras) - always good to send to an appreciative audience. :)
Response: Thanks! It was fun to do all the research once I had the idea, and I loved adding all the stamping to add colour. :)
Response: You're welcome. Glad you like it. :)
Response: Nope, not digital ... just cut, paste, tear and then colouring pencils on top. The text was stamped on strips of paper then glued in place. Basically the old-fashioned way. I was so worried about messing it up that even though I thought it ought to be a little darker in places, I didn't change anything too much. I thought you'd like the fairy tales mini-zine. :)
Response: The originals are slightly more intense in colour .. I was hoping the edges wouldn't get smoothed out too much in the copying process, but I like how they turned out. Yes, I drew Octokali ... it was for Artfest a few years ago which had a sea monster theme. :)
Response: Thanks! I'm really pleased with how they turned out. And so happy to share them. :)
Response: Sorry about that! Rain rides the bus is page one. Flings its liquid bodies off is page 4. I guess I should have paperclipped them together. :)
Thanks for yours. :)
Response: Hi Mark ... glad you liked the 7 - I felt I wanted to make it different ... enjoy the shape of it. :)
The stamp is from Teesha Moore. She and her husband make rubber stamps from images they draw/collage in their journals. I love their stamps and their prices are very very reasonable. I highly recommend them!
Response: Yeah I had fun with the six ... I seem to be leaning towards clean graphic experimentation lately. Currently working on the 8, 9 and 10 and see them shaping up to be equally lean.
Response: You're welcome ... I'm obviously still stuck in the same colour scheme - hope to get out of it soon, or at least before I bore everyone. :)
Response: You're welcome. This one was a fun card to make ... I like the graphic cleanness of it - a new exploration for me - so I'm glad you liked it. :)
Response: It was fun to do ... I stamped the diamonds on with paint, then pulled in some red for fun. It's one of my favourites so far. :)
Response: Yep - it's very tactile. I got the idea from you and your pink cards. :)
Response: I was going through a painting on paper phase and my diamond stamp got too close to my cards, what can I say. :)
Response: Thanks, Sam! Yeah, this one was fun to do and fun to have - so tactile!
Response: I'm glad you liked the Cherub Club. It's an idea that I explored in an altered book a few years back and I was happy to rework it in a new format. :)
Response: Thanks Amy! The story (as you might guess) was a formative one from my childhood that I've been telling my friends whenever the topic of religion comes up, and it was good to get it down in "writing". As for the format, I wanted to see what would happen if you folded a page the other way to make it long & skinny - and it works! Glad you liked them. :)
Response: Thanks ... the story of Arboria grew out of a few lines I wrote for a nervousness.org ATC project years ago ... I've always wanted to expand on the idea and this gave me the perfect opportunity. I had fun making it. :)
Response: You're welcome! - I have to tell you that I dithered over what exactly she was Queen of ... Queen of the Jazz Clubs? Queen of the Night Clubs? Queen of the Blues Clubs? ... and then I realized that "Queen of the Clubs" covered it all - sometimes the simple answer is the best. :)
Response: I sometimes sell the securing a husband zine at zine fairs, and even if someone doesn't buy it - just watching them smile when they read it gives me the warm fuzzies. Glad you like it, too. :)
Response: The fairy tale zine was fun to do. Everyone I show it to laughs at it. The size of the religion zine is still a mini-zine - I just folded it the other direction to get long & skinny. I thought it made an interesting twist on the format. Glad you liked it. :) -
Response: Hi Betsy .. I've seen your name pop up in Su's mailings to me and I was hoping you'd turn up as a partner on one of these swaps. Glad you liked the stamps and the story. I had quite a lot of fun with the writing, as you can probably tell. The breakthrough for me on this project was the folder itself, which was made from wallpaper border. I seem to have figured out a new way of making pockets in folded paper signatures (well, new to me anyway). Hope we get to trade again - I'd love to see *your* work. :)
Response: Glad you liked them. I love making little books. Does it show? :)
Response: Thanks, Su. Writing the book was fun - I essentially spun the two or three lines from the back of the original ATC all those years ago out into a fully-fledged background story. Thanks for creating a project that made me revisit a much-loved concept and make it bigger. :)
Response: Thanks Mark! It just sort of came together in an interesting way - the position of the "J" just neatly fell over his eye. I love it when the materials make it easy. :)
Response: Thanks, Su. I've had lots of practice making little books and I never tire of the process of formatting everything - choosing the right font, the right paper, the right binding - but I was worried that it was too much writing and not enough art. Glad you liked it.
Response: Yep, this one is one of my favourites, too. Just the way it all came together. Glad you liked it.
Response: Yeah ... my work seems to be getting more graphic and simple ... not sure where it's heading next ... I'm letting the materials direct what happens. Glad you liked it. - P.
Response: No problem. :)
I like making little zines, and before swapbot, they were always in colour. I'm doing more B&W since coming here - so I'm sure it'll even out in the end. And yes - let's trade again!
Response: Thanks, Mark. I've gotten into the habit of using materials that just happen to land on my desk and consider it an extra challenge - and I like how graphic it turned out to be. Glad you like it so much. :)
Response: Sorry I was a bit scattered and didn't put more together for you - I was hoping to have a big impressive envelope for you and then prepping the studio took longer than I expected.! So glad you liked the patterned paper - at least I feel you got something good to work with. :)
Response: Thanks! I was so proud of it when I made it - working out how to get fingers on the hands, and making the body look like a real body, but so far it's only got lukewarm responses from people, so I'm glad someone likes it - it was feeling a bit unloved. :)
Response: This was in my favourite colours to work with so I think it's one of the most beautiful I've made so far. I was really pleased with how stenciling the tissue turned out. And I have more of the otherworld money - I'll send you more so you can use some of it up without feeling too bad. :)
Response: Gosh - I had such a hard time pinning down a quote to use, but I liked the idea that we are moving from a jungle of "not knowing" and laying down maps as we go. Glad you liked it. :)
Response: My "pointing finger" stamp is one of my favourites - so versatile. :)
Response: Thanks, Chris ... I had such an odd combination of materials on my desk at the time, and it just kind of fell together. Sometimes the simple things are best. :)
Response: Yeah, that one was a cool one to make - encaustic wax - I'm not very good, but that series turned out really well. Glad you liked it. :)
Response: Yep. sometimes the simple things are best. whenever I'm done with a project and there are "leftovers", I've gotten into the habit of pulling out my APC binder and doing the next set or two, and the red birds were from a red bird/black bird zine I was doing, and I'd had the numbers out to number the pages, so it just kind of came together. Glad you liked it, it's one of my favourites I've made so far.
Response: Glad you liked the OctoKali - just one of those weird ideas that came to me. I can't really draw, bit I think it turned out okay. And the 6 word stories are fun - you should try some. :)
Response: I love the pointing hand stamp - I have used it SOOOO many times I can't count - of course, not in the same way ... a pointing finger is very useful. :)
Response: It was fun to create. As you probably guessed, the book "spines" are actually bolts of fabric. The postcard is from one of our local fabric stores where you can go rent out sewing machines and tables, and their fabric collection is so wonderful - very retro and fun. Everytime I go there, they put a postcard in with my purchases - so I was glad to send it on ... with alterations, of course. :)
Response: Glad you liked it. He's been one of my inspirations for awhile, so I couldn't resist trying a few little drawings in his style. :)
Response: Glad you liked it. I was going to go a whole different direction, and then I saw that you're in Finland, and since I have a Finnish friend, I decided to go with something crisp in "Finnish" colours. :)
Response: You're welcome! Enjoy. :)
Response: Thanks, Jackie. I've been wanting to use my clown & balloons stamps for a project - and then I thought of the teeter-totter and the idea came to me. :)
Response: Thanks, Sam - I was so tickled when I realized that I had stamps of a sitting man AND a balloon - I couldn't resist putting them together on a teeter-totter. :)
Response: No problem. Glad you liked the card - I like yours, too. :)
Response: First time I've done something like this - glad it went into immediate use. :)
Response: Thanks, Chris! I had fun making it. :)
Response: Thanks so much for your kind words. I really enjoyed making this one. I've been trying to learn to be more spontaneous in my work, and this zine was the result. :)
Response: Thanks! I was especially pleased with this card. I made the background paper myself, and I've been doling it out in small quantities and I thought it would be perfect for this card. :)
Response: Glad you liked it, Sam. I've been trying to think of clever ways to include the number somehow in the design. The yellow circles with red printing come from a shop near where my ATC group meets called The Buddha Shop. Not sure what it's purpose it, I'll have to ask next time I go in there. Pretty stuff, hm? I've sent you a few more sheets with your next card. :)
Response: Thanks, Melissa. :) I always try to send something I'd like to receive, and I was very happy with how "books by the bed" turned out. Knowing that it makes you so happy makes me smile, too. Thanks! - P.
Response: Thanks, Mark. I know it's not obvious, but the paper in the background is from some texturing experiments I was doing with wax crayons and cuttlebug plates - I get a kick out of starting with blank paper and seeing what happens.
Response: Thanks, Rhea! It was a fun project to do and set me off on a whole series of "paper engineering" ideas. I love that there was room "under the bed" for a few little treats for you. :) I don't know about submitting it to Art-o-mat - it was pretty labour intensive. Although I suppose eventually I'd get "fast" at them!
Response: Thanks, Su. It was really fun to put the pages together ... I did all the collage bits and then wrote the text to fit - both space-wise and image-context-wise. Turned out ok - much to my relief!
Response: Thanks, Becky ... I have a whole file of moon-related collage stuff, so I knew this was the project for me. Glad you liked it! - P.
Response: Thanks! For these pages I did the collage first, then wrote the text accordingly. I like how they turned out - I managed to get quite a bit of stuff in a small space! - P.
Response: Thanks, Cheryl. I'm looking forward to seeing all the pages together - not to mention whatever future ideas Su has on a similar theme. :)
Response: Thanks, Mark. Sometimes the simple things are the most effective - and I enjoy the challenge of NOT overdoing it.
Response: Thanks, Anna - glad you liked everything. You're probably the first person in history to call Canada Post efficient! But maybe it goes faster once it's OUT of the country!
Response: Thanks, Heidi. I've been exploring spray paint and stencils lately. I found this great "artist" spray paint that dries almost instantly and comes in fabulous colours - so I couldn't resist using some sprayed paper on the cards.
Response: Thanks, Cheryl. :) It was a fun project to do.
Response: Thanks, Sigrid. The stamp is one of my favourites and I'm looking for "cool" ways to use it. Glad you liked it. :)
Response: This was a really fun project ... I thought I'd try folding the mini-zine the other direction for a change to make a tall, skinny zine. Glad you liked it. :)
Response: Thanks! It's just a simple little thing to stitch, the tricky part was centering everything - but where there's a will, there's a way!
Response: Yeah ... I thought I'd dig out the thread and go 3D for a change. :)
Response: Thanks, lulubiz! As you can see I can't stop at just one ATC. But I found working on such a small scale to be a real challenge, though. I'm glad they turned out so well.
Response: Yep - just couldn't let those ATCs go till they were in a mini-zine - it turned out even better than I'd hoped. Glad you like it. :)
Response: I'm so glad you liked them. A lot of the mini-size I make are ATC sizes because they start as ATCs & I love little books. :)
Response: Thanks! I had so much fun putting it together. It just all came together so perfectly. I always make one for myself & I WILL be showing it off, you can be sure. :)
Response: So glad you asked about the names ... they are (in alphabetical order): Alphonse, Bertrand, Charles, Duncan, Edward, Felix, Geoffrey, Harald, Ivan & Jacques. Not sure which one you have, though. I sent the extra bits of face cards in case you wanted to try and make your own. Not as easy as it looks - especially getting the thumbs on the hands in the right position! I was very glad to pull them out and share them with someone new. Thanks!
Response: Thanks! The lace stencil stuff is SO MUCH FUN - especially with spray paints - very addictive! I have about 10 different paper laces, but there are two that are my ABSOLUTE favourites and that's what I used for the samples in my zine. Have fun!
Response: You're welcome. I was glad to share them. :)
Response: This one was fun to do - I liked the challenge of taking a cool colour like blue, and making it work for the suit colour which was a warm (red). That's why I decided to put the word love in the text - to show her "heart".
Response: Thanks! I was going to copy it on white - but then I saw the tan paper and I couldn't resist. :)
Response: Thanks, Naddie! Enjoy. :)
Response: You're welcome! I was stuck until I started thinking up songs that had the word "Jack" in them. :)
Response: The book is amazing. Mine has practically fallen apart from reading. She doesn't do colours, but what she does write is very inspiring and made me see the world a new way. I hope you can find it. I've only met one other person who's heard of it!
Response: Ah, gesh ... a man of few words. Thanks for the heart. :)
Response: Thanks! It was a joy to make & I'm glad you like it. :)
Response: Thank you. Sometimes I write and poetry leaks out. :)
Response: This card was SO much fun to make - haven't dug out the sequins for YEARS. :)
Response: Glad you like it. I had fun doing it. :)
Response: Can't guarantee I'll always be able to work in the suit or the number, but when I get an idea that works, I do what I can. :)
Response: I first heard that line about 25 years ago at a folk festival - it was a line of a song by the Oysterband. As it happens ... I saw them play again a few months ago, and the lead singer said that he's often been quoted as coming up with the line, when it fact he read in a poem by a Canadian poet and included it in his song because it moved him so deeply. I know how he feels ... it's been something I've tried to live by in the 25 years since I first heard it. Nothing better to keep me going when things seem to be going badly awry in the world! I'm so glad you liked it. :)
Response: Well ... since we seem to be such a compact group - I think it's inevitable that you'll see more of mine & likewise I'll see more of yours. :)
Response: Thanks, Sam! I've been having a lot of fun doing these - thanks for hosting the swaps. :)
Response: So glad you liked it - I'm in love with the bird punch. I'm trying to see how many different ways I can use it. :)
Response: This card was so much fun to make! From finding the perfect background, to painting and tearing the lines of the quote to fitting it all together. I liked it so much I made one for me, too! Thanks for seeing all the detail - makes it all worth it. :)
Response: The eight petals was TOTALLY intentional - right down to the fact that the eighth petal has already been pulled out to start the "loves me, loves me not" process. Thanks for noticing - it's always a pleasure to do good work for people who appreciate it. :)
Response: I just LOVE making little books, and I find it's so much easier to stitch them rather than try to line up the stapler. I sent two 'cause they're so petite. :)
Response: I'm so glad you liked them. They are two of my favorites - which is why I sent them. :)
Response: Joined up writing is something I'd been playing with in my journal & the useless knowledge comes from a series of diagrams in a 1928 first aid book. :)
Response: Thanks, gesh. It's fun to watch people reading that one ... they look all serious ... and then they smile. :) Perfect!
Response: Thanks! They were fun to make & I'm glad you liked them. - Penelope :)