Some swaps

I joined a few swaps on one of my Yahoo groups, here's what I've completed so far.

These first ones are for an altered paintbrush swap. We were supposed to buy two 3" chip brushes and alter them in any way we wanted. This first one is actually a 2.5" brush that I started to play around with:

 I covered it with a mixture of pearl powder and mod podge that I made for another project. I had to layer it pretty heavily to get a good cover. I then added the metal piece and blue 'jewels' in a couple of the holes. I really love this.
This picture is the beginning of one for the swap:

 I ended up painting the brush orange and gluing the gear and compass piece on it, there's also a grey 'jewel' in the middle of the compass. I'm having a hard time figuring out what to put on the back. I'm thinking of some smaller gears, but I really don't have a lot of those.
This is my second one for the swap, this picture is the finished piece:

 I covered it with dictionary pages (my new favorite way to cover things), and then wrapped a piece of vintage trim over the metal part.
This next piece is an ATC for a swap that got cancelled:

It was for a rainbow swap, we were to use the seven colors of the rainbow or one for each card.

I also joined a ticket swap, which I am having the hardest time decorating, and a flowers swap, I can't get inspired for that one.

Remember this post? I got the return package in the mail today. And let me tell you, it made my day, I've been having a trying day at work, and this definitely helped.

Here's what was in the package: 

Some extra tags to use as I wish

 Starting at the left top corner, here's who these are from: Mags, Ragina Wells, Cheryl and Christal Gill

Teri Galen,  Cheryl Reese, no name, and Marlys.

 Suzanne Reese Cave

Stacy Boyd, Shelley, me and Mary.

There were also a bunch of quotes about art. There was a note in the package informing us that we could add to the ring throughout the year.

Very cool, thanks ladies.

Inspiration Rings Swap

On one of my Yahoo groups, I joined an Inspiration Ring Swap. We were sent 12 kraft paper rings that we were supposed to decoration in any way. Here are my rings:
I first glued them to various pieces of vintage paper, and then watercolored them, after that they all got different details.

Starting at the top left: Purple, I added a piece of ribbon and a circle cut out of some Egyptian money; Flowers, I love flowers and the brightness they add to things, so I used various forms of flowers on this one; Fabric, I love using fabric for my art, so I added a lace flower to this one.

Starting at the top left: Dress, this started with the dress, I added the head and some yarn for hair; Bling, this started with the adhesive jewels at the bottom, the bird is from a Valentine kit and I thought the heart just went with it; "Send a boy to camp", this one all started with the green stamp that says "Send a boy to camp", I then found other stamps that went with it; Bliss, everything on this one is rub-ons, I love the lady under her umbrella; Buttons, I love collecting and using buttons in my artwork, so I had to use some here, they're all vintage buttons.

Starting at the top left: Leaves, there are paper punches, a glittered plastic leaf, and a leaf button; Ribbons, this is my favorite (so much that I made an extra, so I could keep it), I layered some bright colored ribbons, a feather and some buttons; Birds, I used a dictionary bird, one out of wallpaper, and a sticker; Butterflies, I may add something 3D to this one, there are paper punches, a sticker and a plastic butterfly; Flower, I love the simplicity of this one, the flower sticker just goes so well with the yellow background.

These will be going out in the mail tomorrow, I hope everyone likes them. As I mentioned above, I couldn't part with Ribbons, so I created a 13th circle to send in. I seem to do that a lot with my work, when I make something I try to keep one for myself.