The ATC swap at the Grind on Sunday was fun. We had a good turnout, probably about 16 swappers, with several new-to-me faces. It was fun to attend again after having missed so many swaps over the last several months. One of the new people and I seemed to hit it off - very nice and very talented lady. It was nice to be able to visit with her and discover that we share a lot of the same interests. Last night we chatted on the phone for about a half hour and are planning to get together next week for coffee so I'm looking forward to that.

The last several days have flown by. Husband came home on Tuesday and it has been busy ever since. Funny how a third person in a house changes the dynamics and "busy-ness" that goes on there. I've now had to shift back into wife and homemaker mode - my selfish "artiste" hat is hungly firmlyin the closet for awhile.

I've been busy trying to finish up some art for a couple of swaps I joined over on CC Swaps. I had challenged myself to try to stretch some of my creative muscles this year; I think that, so far, I've been fairly successful at doing that. I've worked in 2 Chunky books this year, done some cool backgrounds and I am now working in a collaborative journal.

I'm also working on an altered canvas for a swap - another first for me! I think these little gems could become addictive! This picture is what the finished base looks like. The scan doesn't show it well, but there are also some gold highlights mixed in there. The gal I am sending to had stated a preference for green so I'm trying to accomodate her. I just hope the background isn't tooooooo green!

I'm please that I've been able to experiment with new techniques. I feel likeI'm finally growing as an artist and that's a good feeling!