Happy Mail and Some Encouragement

First of all let me just say a big WOO HOO!!!  I got some beautiful mail art today, from not one, but two lovely ladies!  Hooray!

First, from my darling Pamikins:

Two very awesome napkins, some really cool dress shaped paper (I think they must have been from a notepad?), and two AMAZING ATCs!  I love them both so much!  I love that Marilyn Monroe quote, especially that first line "Imperfection is beauty" (read on, because it applies to what I'll be talking about farther down).  And I love the WTF? ATC, that face... "Oh Lawd!"  I LOVE IT!!!  Thank you my dearest Pamikins!   

And from the fantastic Rose:

A fabulous bookmark (oh, I love these so much...I put my other one to good use right away, and, since I am a multiple books at once kind of reader, I will be doing the same with this one!), some really neat numbers (aren't they just too awesome???  I have been plotting with these since I opened the envelope...that 6 and the Paris napkin from my Pam are destined to be together I do believe!), a beautiful note card with butterflies (I love these so much, I don't know where she got them from, but I want to go to that place!) and then the Geisha and Crane piece, which I ADORE!  Thank you, wonderful Rose!

I am always so amazed by the creativity of the wonderful friends I've made online.  They are all so generous, kind and encouraging.  I am so fantastically lucky just to know each and every one of them!  Their kind words have made me so bold in taking chances and trying new things.  I know I would not have progressed as far as I have in so short a time without them cheering me on!

I had promised that I would share some of my beginning drawings with the ladies, and I decided to include them in this post too.  And I'm letting you see the horror that is my beginning drawings, because I want everybody to see that there is ZERO natural talent at work in me.  ZERO.  You won't believe it, but the following drawings aren't even the worst ones I did!  (I covered over the worst of them with gesso, hollered "DO-OVER!" and made art journal pages...so the following ones are the LEAST WORST...when you see them you won't think a person could do any worse, but trust me, there were worse...)

So here are a few of the (least) worst drawings I did when I was starting out:

Look at those hands...are they made out of straw?  Humongous head, little body.  Circular eyeballs.  Check out that nifty hair she's got going on there...look how flat her face is.  What nose has EVER looked like that?

Hand behind the back = I didn't have to attempt hands.  Two different sized legs.  Circle eyeballs again.  Who's hair looks like that?  What is up with those boobs?  It looks like one of her silicon implants is deflating...

So, you can't draw realistically?  Let's make some doll-like drawings then...good grief, how can you screw that up? Let's take note of just how you can screw it up: ..that hand situation...it looks like starfish and octopus tentacles...those are the fattest legs any ballerinas have ever had...do they have gout or something?  but look...eyeball improvement...they're no longer circles at least...  hair is clearly still an issue...  and proportion...

Check out that sweet pear shaped bod this gal's got going on...oh, and the one piece squiggle hair...who drew this stuff, a five year old?  Yuck.  

So, do you see what I mean?  NO NATURAL TALENT.  And the reason I want everybody to know that I have NO natural talent whatsoever, is so that they will know that they CAN draw (or paint or whatever).  All it takes is practice.  Talent is not needed.  Practice is the only thing you need.

Don't get me wrong, I know I am still, by far, NOT the best myself.  But, look at the above drawings, and then look at these: 

OK, she's definitely stylized, right?  But look at the 'before' doll-like drawings...disproportionate and terrible in general...  Now look at her, she's not perfect, but she's mostly in proportion.  The legs and arms do not look like disfigured sea creature appendages...  There is some sense to the hair as well...

OK, so what's going on here?  Still not perfect, right?  The wrong eyeball is bigger.  It looks like she got punched in the left cheek and it's swollen.  Mouth is still not right.  BUT, face has a face shape (it's not just a circle anymore!).  Same with the eyes.  The nose looks like it belongs on a human for once!

And then there's this girl, who I think is the best one I've done so far.  I still have hair issues, but I'm working on it...there is improvement.  Again, more realistic face shape, eyes, nose, mouth...more realistic everything!

I'm not showing you these because I want showered with praise...PLEASE DON'T!!!  I'm showing you because I want you to see that ANYBODY can get better with a little practice.  Again, I know that I've still got plenty of things I can do to improve, and I will keep practicing and practicing until I get to the point where I'm 100% satisfied (we all know that's imaginary...I bet no one is ever 100% satisfied...).  

I just want you all to see that you CAN draw (or paint or whatever), if you are willing to take the time and practice.  I've watched a lot of videos online, and did a lot of research, and I still am on the lookout for more and more.  I LOVE art, looking at it, practicing, reading about it, seeing what others do... I love everything about it and I do SOMETHING every single day.  

From the beginning drawings up above to the more recent ones down at the bottom, only about 6 months or so have passed.  When I look at these images, I can hardly believe that I've improved so much in that small amount of time!  It gets me so excited to think what I'll be able to do in another 6 months that I can't do now!

I guess the point I am trying to make is that six months from now, you can still be sitting there saying  "I wish I could..." or "I'll never be able to..." or you could be sitting there saying "Look how far I've come!"  I know you can do it if you really want to!  All you have to do is try and keep trying!  I KNOW YOU CAN!

OK, I'm getting down off my soapbox now...

Again, I just want to say a big THANK YOU to Rose and Pam for my GORGEOUS care packages!  (You ladies made my day a million times better!!! THANK YOU, THANK YOU, THANK YOU!!!)  And I want to add more big THANK YOU's to all the fantastic folks I am lucky enough to know!  Your words of encouragement are a big part of the reason I can sit here today and say "Look how far I've come!"  Thank you all!

Happy Mail Art and ICAD Day 4

What a happy surprise I found in the mail box today!  My lovely friend Anna sent me a surprise care package.  Thank you, Anna, for making my day!  

I thought I would show you the fabulousness that I was lucky enough to receive:

This is the back of the envelope.  I love this little guy so much!  He's just too cool.  His eyebrows are my favorite, I think, but his arm that's resting is a close second.  Such a cutie!

I'm sharing my favorite thing from what was inside the envelope first (I think that you're supposed to save the best for last, but I'm a rebel)  It's hard to pick a favorite thing,especially when everything is completely awesome, but I have admired Anna's lettering for so long now that I am absolutely sure that this is my favorite thing!  I love it, love it, LOVE IT!!!  I am so proud to be the recipient of this gorgeousness!  It will have a special place of honor in my craft room for sure!

I also got a beautiful ATC with its own envelope.  I love the brown toned hillside and the winged hearts, and am totally jealous of the ability to make something so cool in such a small space.  Teach me your ways, Anna, my darling!

And then there was this spectacular umbrella gal...I have a special place in my heart for all things umbrella...I wonder if my Anna secretly stalks me like I stalk her???  I am totally digging this gal's fashion sense too!  The skirt and tights, the color combo...this is what I would dress like if I were cooler than I am!  Who knows, with all my internal changes, could I be ready to make some external ones as well?  Maybe I'll be on a mission to find an awesome green skirt now!

Then I got this cute little charm in it's own special teeny envelope.  It says "You are my sunshine".  Why, thank you, thank you!!!  I think this is a scrapbook charm, but I am totally going to put it on a chain and wear it!  Maybe with an awesome green skirt?!?

And then there was this sweetness.  So beautiful!  I think this is just fabulous.   This is on kraft paper, and I am in love with the colors she got going on, especially how vibrant the red is!

I am not sure what to call this...I think they are called tryptics, but I'm not positive.  Maybe tri-fold envelope?  I don't know for sure, but either way, it is super groovy.  I love that paper!

When you open up the tryptic/tri-fold envelope, this is what's inside!  It says "Amaze yourself, dream big, love well, open your heart, sing along, fear not, zig zag, jump 4 joy!"  I am certainly doing several of those things right now...singing along (I've always got music going on in the background.), jumping 4 joy at all the awesome presents I got, and loving my amazing friend Anna...loving her well!!!  

So, aside from being super excited and squealing like a happy pig in mud, I did get my ICAD cards for today done as well.  The theme was "wallpaper".  This one was a little bit of a challenge for me, but after thinking about it for a little bit, I did some experimenting, and I ended up liking both cards quite a bit...what do you think?

The 3x5:

I experimented with masking on this one.  The background is a stamp I've had since 1922 and have never used until now...  I think it looks very wallpaper-y, don't you?  I used a piece of scrap paper I had and masked off the area where I wanted to paint my landscape picture.  I used a metallic Sharpie for the frame, drawing that first, then went in and painted the little picture.  Can I just say I am ridiculously proud of this?  I don't know why, but it made me feel like a darn genius when I thought of this...that's two flashes of genius in one week...I'm starting to get a little nervous about those!  

And here's the 4x6:

I have been admiring people's use of 'extra' colors in their pieces for a while now, but one of the other ladies in the ICAD group (Thanks Stephanie!)  had done a girl with 'extra' colors in her face, and it reminded me of my love for that technique.  Stephanie's piece (and others that I've drooled over) had much more boldly colors, but I got scared and went with more demure colors...which lent itself to a sad theme pretty well.  I used the gelatos along with watercolor for the details.  I couldn't get those quite right with the big stick of the gelatos.  I need to remember next time that I can use the gelatos like paint if I just water them down first...  But I do like the effect that the watercolor has over the texture of the gelatos.  I did this card first, and as I was having trouble with the wallpaper theme, I cheated a little and used it in the text instead.  I just made up the words and printed them out on regular computer paper.  Then I used alcohol inks (butterscotch and latte colors) to try to get a vintage paper color...I'm pretty happy with the result I got on that front.  I really would like to experiment with tea dying sometime soon...I have some berry tea that I had gotten forever ago and it got shoved to the back of the cabinet and forgotten about...and is therefore WAY out of date (we're talking like 3 or 4 years out of date...)...so that seems like a good thing to try dyeing with...as opposed to drinking it and end up dying in an entirely different way...  But I digress...  I am really digging the tears in the eye to the right and the highlights in the other eye...I think that's my favorite parts of this...and the text thingie too...I like that a lot!

I am really enjoying this index card a day challenge.  It's making me think outside of the box and try things I might not try otherwise.  I also love getting to see the creativity of all the other folks who are sharing their work on the ICAD Facebook page.  I am so grateful for the interaction on Facebook in general, because it means I've gotten to meet such interesting and creative people...who then send me fabulous care packages!  BWA-HA-HA!!!  (Thanks my darling, Anna!  I really do love all my amazing surprises!)  In all seriousness, the way these fellow artists support and encourage and inspire one another is such a beautiful thing.  I really don't know what I'd do without them!

I love the way you love me!

Woo!  Sorry I'm late on the posting!  I was so ready to blog on Sunday and share all the goodness that I received, but came home to find my internet wouldn't work!  It finally came back up this morning...otherwise I would be typing all this from my phone...which would take FOREVER as I have very poor phone typing skills...so hooray for working internet!

I'm so lucky to have met such amazing and creative ladies online, ones who I am proud to call my friends.  If it weren't for the internet, I would be a sad panda indeed.  

For example, my friend Boo.  Boo is one of the most insightful people I have had the privilege to get to know.  She always gives me something to think about, and what she says resonates with me in a special way.  When I talk about how I want to learn who I am and what I want, she always has the most helpful words!  I think that Boo and I are a similar path, she's just gotten farther than I have.  But I know she's ahead of me, encouraging me to keep going!  Her words of wisdom and understanding are just a small part of what makes her so very special to me.

Made for me by my friend Boo (who has a lovely blog you can find HERE)  I wish my phone would pick up the colors better, it is so bright and cheerful!  I just love it, especially the "b" and the "d"!  Thanks Boo for my beautiful card!  I love it very, very much!

And then there's my friend Pam.  Pam is funny and very kind.  I do believe she was my very first Facebook friend, and was also the one who introduced me to a whole new group of creative people.  She is so encouraging and always reminds me that, no matter what point I'm on in my life's journey, that there are people who care for me, just the way I am.  I love Pam because, despite my flaws, she makes me feel perfect.

The inside says: "NOBODY LOOKS THAT OLD!!!"  It made me laugh so hard!  And the look on the cow's face is just hilarious!  

Pam sent me a very unexpected care package!  The delicious looking paper on the right is an envelope that contained the seeds and the ATCs below.  I can't wait to use that glittery glue!

Four beautiful ATCs from Pam!  You may not know, but Amy is my alter-ego...you know, like Superman has Clark Kent (and Kal-El...yes, I am a dork, I know!)  Sweet Red Clover has Amy...it's just what the humans call me...

She also sent this beautiful handmade art journal!  I love it so much that I don't know if I can even use it!  It is so  very pretty!  I love the paper she used for the covers!  It is right up my alley.

There are a few quotes on the covers...this one is my favorite!  It sounds just like something Pam would say!  And check out that beaded flower!  Amazing!

Some of the pages have pockets, and there are bookmarks to use too!  Such a neat touch!  Don't you just love that bug paper?

Oh, the  ruffly lace!

A beaded bookmark that's attached to the journal and a sweet heart doily on one of the pages!  Pam even sent me a  cake and candle...a Pam-cake, which is her famous banana bread, which lived up to the hype and beyond!  Thank you Pam for my lovely surprise care package!

And then there's Rose.  Rose is a very talented lady from the mail art group I am a part of.  I love Rose's creativity!  She is very skilled at putting things together in ways I would never think of, and the end result is always so beautiful!  Rose might not know it, but I am sneakily learning from her fabulousness!  I am so happy to get to know Rose, in part, because her beautiful work inspires me to think outside the box.

The beautiful card that Rose sent me, along with an origami heart bookmark!  Isn't it super neat?  I love those colorful globes on the bookmark paper!  

My fabulous Rose original!  This ATC is so cool, it even has it's own ATC holder!  I love that image of the with the birds and the ladder!  The ATC is called "Curiosity" and it reminds me of a saying one of my teachers in grade school used to say: "Curiosity killed the cat, but super thinking brought it back!"  Thank you Rose for my awesome art!

I can't say enough good things about all the sweet, kind, encouraging people that I have gotten to know.  These ladies have made my life infinitely more fulfilling!  I just want to say a big thank you to all the ladies for letting me know they care.  I am over-whelmed with happiness!

I've Got Mail (Art)!

Saturday, I walked out to the mailbox and found something something really awesome: Mail Art!  I am EXCITED!

This is the first mail art I have gotten, and my lovely friend Cheryl actually sent me two separate things!  On Saturday, when I first opened the mail box, I saw this peeping out at me:

My band-aid collage from Cheryl!

I love the girl's face (I have a thing for faces...aka an obsession) and I really admire Cheryl's collages...she is one of the people who inspired me to try my own collage that I shared a few posts back!  The ephemera on this piece is so neat...it makes me wonder if Cheryl has a big huge room full of old magazines and newspapers...and then it made me wonder if I can go visit Cheryl and her room and swipe some good stuff! (ha ha)

And then, today when I came home from work, as I was looking through the the mail, I was super surprised to find another piece of mail art!  (She's so sneaky!  I didn't know there were going to be two!) I saw this beautiful diamond among the coal (aka a big stack of bills...boo for bills!):

An envelope busting at the seams with goodies!!!

So, I opened (extra carefully) the envelope (because it's so pretty, I want to keep it!) and check out all the neat things that it contained:

Some really great sheet music...I don't know what song this is, but if I remember music class correctly, I bet it's a peppy song...IF I remember right...just know that music class was a long time ago...

This sweet patchwork heart napkin!  I also sew a little, so this is very cool  on two levels!

This beautiful bird napkin (I can't wait to use it!)...I am really going to have to check out the napkin section next time I go to the store, because I am missing out on some really cool stuff it seems!

This wonderful ATC (artist trading card)...I love silhouettes!  And this one has just the perfect amount of sparkly goodness...I wish I was a better photographer so you could see just how perfect it is!

And this amazingly gorgeous ATC, which I love, love, LOVE!!!  There really aren't enough exclamation points or letters UPPER CASE enough for me to express how much I love this ATC!

I am so happy and excited about receiving such lovely art!  Thank you, Cheryl, so very much for making my day with your beautiful pieces and fun goodies too!  I sent my mail art to Cheryl this morning before work, and I was so excited, I actually forgot to take pictures!  I was literally skipping into the post office...for the record, when an adult skips into the post office, the man at the counter looks at her very oddly...and that's ok...I was too excited to care!  

So, in a few days, Cheryl will get my mail art to her, and I hope that she will like hers as much as I like mine! (Or at least close to as much, because I REALLY like mine, so she'll have to pass out from excitement to be able to like what she's getting more...and while I hope she likes it, I don't want her to pass out...hehehe!)

Thank you, thank you, THANK YOU, Cheryl!!!