Insomnia = Productivity

So the past few nights I seriously can't fall asleep! I try everything (except drugs) to help me drift off to La La land and NADA!! I lay there thinking of all the ways to create art pieces and how to try new ways to hang my art and blah blah blah..last night I had it. I figured if Im going to be awake I might as well make the best of it so I plopped my butt down in my art room and went to town making envelopes and stationary and putting some swaps together. I was on a roll! Earlier in the day I had put together a few swaps and got to use my new stamps and tape..LOVE...I think it came out pretty cool. Whatcha' think? I put together a few more in my insomniac mode :)
I swear it kills me to send stuff to people and not decorate the envelope. 80% of the envelopes are recycled so it makes it that much better. Some people end up getting the same envie back that they sent to me...just a little reconstructed ^_^ Do any of you do that?
Here's a pic of all the stuff I took to the post office today. The lady that works there said that she loves looking at my envelopes teehee! Her name is Dixie, I  might make her a lil piece of art for being so nice and patient with me.

Getting back in the groove..

The end of last year drained me..I lost interest in a lot of things and sadly one was my swapping. I still wrote to my pen pals and did small swaps but full on swapping was sadly last on my priority list. (Moving from Southern California to South Carolina kind of put a pause in it as well.)
Swapping was something I found when I needed to fill up some time during the beginning part of my separation and divorce. I took comfort in the fact that I was meeting amazing new people from all over the globe and they didn't judge me at all. I found friends who enjoyed the same things as me and also had time to get to know me. I think its nice to make a connection with someone that you've never met and you can share the art of deco's, art journaling and other swapping items. Im an artist and because of the corporate job I had in California, I couldn't express myself...at all! Decorating my lil page in journals, decos and friendship books brought back the artist in me. Luckily,  I get to stay home now creating beautiful art for people and make a living off of it. So in part, swapping and pen-palling has really opened the flood gates of creativity back up for me and I love it.

This weekend I finally got my crap together and brought out all my crafting supplies. For a few weeks Ive been getting excess from people and getting labels to make things. Now I get to make my mark and send it off. ^_^
I shopped a lot! Like too much I think! I found a bunch of cute stuff at WalMart, TJ Maxx Hobby Lobby and this little store here called Tuesday Morning. Im a clearance isle pro! $ spent was under $30!! Some freakin' lady was on me like a hawk in TJ Maxx so I snatched up all the goodies I could find and let her have the rest. I usually look for neat paper and stickers to decorate with and fun stamps to create my own paper and cards. Look at all this great stuff!!

I stayed up kinda late putting together a few swaps. Nothing beats a cold rainy night than sipping yummy coffee, blaring music and crafting :)
Here's what I took to the post office today: 5 big envies (recycled of course) and 2 homers.

All in all a good day of shopping and swapping! Toodle Loo...