There are some swaps I'd like to participate in, most especially the ones Lisa Vollrath does on swap-bot. But I need to have some experience on the site, so I went with a button swap - 5 buttons to each of 4 players. Pretty open and straightforward. Here's a button tag I am sending out tomorrow to my partners in Sweden, Portugal, Canada, and North Carolina.

Here's a quickpost before I go to bed: my goddess paperdolls for a swap on http://groups.yahoo.com/group/clothpaperstudio/
The base is the same tissue paper collage on watercolor paper with some stamping, coiled coppery wire, gold slick paint, and an inkjet transparency transfer (image from a poster by Linda Bergkvist .

I've been playing with collage backgrounds. Both of these started as 140 # watercolor paper with roughly torn orange, yellow, and gold tissue paper collaged on with Golden's Matte Medium. The 4" tag on the left has some coppery paper woven through slits at the top and a tag tied on with some chenille yarn.

The square on the right is the same base but with Golden's Clear Tar Gel slatered on. Then I dipped a bamboo skewer in som Carbon Black acrylic and swirled it through the wet tar gel. The piece dried with a glossy shine that isn't evident in this photo.

Nearly a year has passed...

and it is about time I revisit this blog!

This past weekend I experienced one of the best activities ever - taking a 2-day workshop (Exploring Fabric Books) with mixed media artist, Lesley Riley at the amazing Valley Ridge Art Studio in SW Wisconsin. I made a great start on three fabric books (photos to follow in a week or so as I complete the books.) Lesley is as inspiring, helpful, and generous as I imagined her to be. Kathy and Bill, owners of the studio ( a gem hidden away in the hills and valleys of scenic WI), are a gracious and fun-loving couple.

Two of the lovely women I met at the workshop are Beth and Laura. I hope to continue our associations (and perhaps visit with some of the Illinois contingent - Jane, Tricia, Sandy, Carol, and Deb!)