Mexican Loteria ATC

  Finished my latest ATC and sent it off yesterday. The theme was 'Mexican Loteria', and I chose to do card 39, the cactus. I bought a new outline pen that's sepia toned, and it was perfect for this project. Done in water color.

   I've received another three ATCs in the mail, and I get excited every time I see an envelope that isn't a bill in that mailbox. I love getting little surprises in the mail. I'm going back to work from maternity leave on Tuesday, so I'm going to have to take a little break for a couple of weeks, until I get used to the new routine and I'm able to figure out time to have to myself (hopefully).
 
   I've also finished my wooden people for the ongoing wish swap I joined. I'll take pictures once they're all dry. I made six; King, Queen, Princess, Knight, Dragon, and a skeleton (because the little guy they're for loves skeletons, so I had to sneak one in). I hope he likes them. Sometimes it's harder to please a kid than it is an adult.

 

Big day...

  Today was Tucker's first birthday!!! We had a dinosaur themed party and it went off without a hitch. He ate the crap out of a cupcake, met some new people, and had some cuddles from a bunch of different people. It was a dinosaur birthday! I made most of the decorations myself; I think my favourite part was the 'Tar Pit' table. It had a plate of "Dino Poop" on it (mixed chocolates).

  I can't believe it's already been a year since that little goober surprised us with his (10 week) early arrival. He hasn't stopped growing and learning since, and I'm so proud of him.



  I also received my first ATC in the mail today. It was a birthday card for tucker. I love it, and I'm so excited to start up a collection. I'm having so much fun making them, I totally forgot about how much fun it's going to be to receive them as well.



  When I went to the mailbox, another package was waiting for me...My first Ipsy GlamBag!

  I think it's a pretty good haul. I received...

Cargo Cosmetics mini lip gloss in Anguilla: I'm not usually a huge lip gloss gal, but I really like this product. Maybe I didn't like lip gloss before because I never found the right one. The shade is a soft, pale pink and it goes on nice and smooth. Doesn't feel as tacky as lots of the lip glosses I've tried before. When I first put it on, it looked super pale; almost white, but I just daubed a bit off and smoothed it around and it looked great. You don't need to put much on, that's for sure.

Luxie Beauty large angled brush 504: I love this brush. It's really soft and I've never used an angled brush like it before. Not only is it cute, but I think I'll be using it everyday.

Model Co. Blush in Cosmopolitan: I haven't experimented too much with different blushes, but this is definitely the smoothest blush I've ever used. I like the colour, too. It's super-pigmented, so you don't need a ton of it, and it blends nicely, too. Thumbs up!

NYX Cosmetics slim eye pencil in Silver Shimmer: This eye pencil is a light silver with sparkles in it. Not shimmer, sparkle. I'm not a sparkle wearer. Not a fan of this one. I might use it to smudge on top of my highlight shadow to add some sparkle if I'm going out at night, but not for anything other than that.

GlamGlow EyeMud treatment: I got two applications of this eye treatment in my bag. It's for dark circles, bags, swelling, etc. You put it on, wait three minutes, then wipe it off. Not usually something I'd use, but I'm gonna try it out.

Pink patterned makeup bag: I like this bag. I've seen some of the bags from previous months and this one is quite nice in comparison. I like that it's not just a flat colour. I think it will be my lipstick bag. I've got a bunch of tiny sticks of lipstick from Avon and they need a home.

  All in all, I'm really happy with my first Ipsy GlamBag. Looking forward to next month's already!

Two More ATCs

  Sent off two more ATCs yesterday.

  The first one's theme is Dr.Horrible's Sing-A-Long Blog. I was super excited to see this theme as an option; it gave me an excuse to watch it again. If you haven't seen it -- watch it. Now. Go now and watch it. I'll wait...
  I had a bunch of fun ideas, but I decided on a kind of mash-up of Dr.Horrible and Penny's characters. This was my first time doing a non-cartoony portrait. I think it turned out pretty good for my first go at it. It doesn't super duper look like Penny, but I'm still happy with it.
  For the background, I did different layers of colour and splatters of masking fluid, ending with some wet-on-wet splashes. I'm in love with masking fluid.

  The second's theme is The Walking Dead. As soon as I saw that theme, this idea popped into my head. It's an infected zombie bite, incase it wasn't obvious. I used some fun techniques with this one, including blowing on it with straws for the veins and some dry brush stippling. 

  For now, I'm mostly sticking with the watercolours for my ATCs. It's been fun trying new things with it. So far, I think it's my favourite medium. 

  I spent today baking cupcakes and finishing up some decorations for Tucker's birthday party Saturday. Only two days away, still much to do. Tomorrow will be busy. 

My first ATCs

I finished my first two ATCs. I'm pretty happy with them. I signed up for the Feburary swap as well, so I get to make some more.

The theme on this one was 'Positive Plus Size Imagery'. 

 The theme on this one was 'My Little Pony'. I chose to do a version of Twilight Sparkle's cute mark.

I wish I had an actual art space set up; I would've done more of a mixed media thing. It's a little harder when I have to go searching for what I have in a crowded closet. Both of these were done in water-colour with the use of some masking fluid and splattering wet-on-dry (the second) and wet-on-wet (the first). I'd never used masking fluid on large areas before, and it turns out it lifts a bit of the colour out. I had to do a little touching up, but they turned out pretty good, I think. I hope the receivers like them.