On and on...

Words can't really express my gratitude for all the kind and beautiful comments from yesterday's post.  Every single on of them made my heart swell  with love.  You can't imagine how much you all lift me up and make me want to just give you gigantic smooches and squishes.  Thank you all so very much.

I was thinking about all the kind comments I received yesterday while I was trying to work on the spread for my BOD (Book of Days) journal.  I also had some music going on in the background, as I always do.  There was this serendipitous moment where I stopped working and looked up at the computer, still having the comments from yesterday's post on the screen, and my eyes landed on my lovely Pamikins comment where she wrote: "please understand, your legacy will live on Your art speaks volumes, it will always live on" (What a HUGE compliment!)  and the song in the background was playing and the lyrics were "She's still got infinity ahead of her".  And I stopped in my tracks, poured some gesso over the page I had originally started and began working on this:

"She's still got infinity ahead of her..."  napkin, Dylusions, stencils, die cuts, Silks acrylic glazes, glittery border stickers, Aquamarkers, and shimmery (I wanted to call it pearlescent...but spell check is telling me that's either not a word or REALLY not spelled right) acrylic paint

Also a moment of awesomeness is that I used a napkin that my darling Pamikins had sent me in a care package...I didn't realize it till after I'd glued it down, but I do believe that paisley napkin came from her!  So Paminkins, you get a whole heap of credit today!

And, to a lesser extent, this song also gets some credit:

Really, all the comments from yesterday and every day before share the credit.  I know I wouldn't be where I'm at know if it weren't for the loving and the encouragement and the keep-at-it's that folks have been kind enough to bestow on me.  I guess what I'm saying is that it takes a village to raise a Sweet Red Clover...and you all are my village.

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!