LAST MONTH'S DIGITAL WHISPER CHALLENGE

This is actually three layers and then I embellished with Anika von Holt brushes

Another idea for a Steam Punk Tin Box for my new shop
This one has 4 layers

GOODIES FROM JANN

Jann was my swap partner in October. I received her beautiful card and lots of other goodies.
She made the cutest journal and other ATC's too. Thanks Jann

Don't forget today is the deadline for you to get your ATC's finished and out to your partner.
I will be having another swap for December next week.

Happy Creating !

CALL ME GREAT GRAMA !

After 18 hours of labor I became a Great Grandmother today.
Ava June was born at 5:13 pm Nov 29, 2010
She is beautiful and as soon as they send me pictures I will post them. This is a card I made for my Granddaughter for her baby shower. In the right corner is a photo of her. I cannot wait to see her.
I cannot explain the joy I feel .

AND THE WINNER IS ............

After over 40 suggestions and days of thought, I have chosen a name for my new Etsy Shop.
ALTERED STATE OF TIN

This suggestion came from Lori of Out Of The Mouth Your Heart Speaks.

Thank You Lori, you are the winner so pick the tin you want from the picture of my tins here under "Name That Shop" post and you can go to my current shop before the 1st of December and let me know which handmade greeting card and envelope you want and I will send them to you right away.
Very cleverly thought out. I love it!

Brenda, my friend and and Etsy Team colleague summed it up perfectly.
She said "Altered State of TIN"!!! What a perfect name. The name says to me, unique, quality, altered art, made of metal, artistic collage mind, and it is something I would click on if it was a list of names in a link!

That did it....the words I was waiting to hear. "SOMETHING I WOULD CLICK ON"

I will be opening my new Etsy Shop the first week in December.
I will be posting the link and the opening date soon.

HAPPY THANKSGIVING

Hope you all have a wonderful Thanksgiving. Be safe !!

ATC's FROM FRIENDS

I had two partners on Blissfull ATC Swap Swap this month

Wendy Aspinall Sent this pretty card in it's own cute little envelope :)

She also sent all of these goodies along with it.
Thanks Wendy

Leila West sent this lovely card

So cute and yes, I do believe :)


Leila also sent one of her digital artsy creations.
Well done Leila, I love it.

These cards are from my partner on my ATC SWAPPERS 2010
Vickie Coonfare of Whispers of Inspiration
She sent one mixed media and one of her beautiful digital ATC's

I love to swap. Let's do it again real soon!!

DECISIONS DECISIONS !

Okay I have narrowed it down to 10 choices. I had planned to just choose 5 but this is hard.
I had over 30 suggestions and they are ALL good. I still need your help.
Please help me by voting for one of these 10. Leave a comment on which one you are voting on and why you voted for it.

Unique Tins

PK Tin Designs (the pk are my initials)

Altergather Tinfabulous

Pat-Tin

Tin City

Tin Box Studio

Tin Box Alley

Altered State of Tin

The Altered Tin Box

Tin Box Magic

I will post my final decision the day after Thanksgiving.
Thanks to everyone who is helping me with this.

STEAM PUNK FAIRY

Just a little steam punk digital collage.

AN AUTHENTIC STEAM PUNK BOUQUET

Our Etsy Team Gift Exchange was this week.

I decided to try something out of the ordinary for me, so with "Steam Punk" in mind and an empty chili sauce jar I went a bit crazy.

At first I thought I would just make it a pencil holder.

The more I thought about it the more I added.

There are actually three of my collages on here.
This is the bottom of the piece.

Then I thought of making it a flower pot and adding flowers.......
used copper wiring works really good!

Adding some old washers and bolts....This is what I ended up with.

It was so much fun watching this evolve into an actual bouquet :)

I will be choosing a name for my new Etsy Shop this weekend.
I will pick 5 and then choose 3 out of 5 and post them here for my readers to vote on.
I have many to choose from and I thank all of you for your help.
The winner will be posted the day after Thanksgiving.

I have lots of work to do. A new shop means a new Icon with a new business card and then I have to go set up my shop.

Gotta get busy!

NAME THAT SHOP CONTEST

Another Steam Punk Collage

I am addicted !

Within the next couple of weeks I am going to close my current Etsy Shop
and open a new one.

I have had my current shop for over 4 years now.
I have all of my beautiful custom handmade greeting cards and a few collages in there at present.

Currently my Etsy name is pchickki and my shop of course is Treasure Barn which is confusing to most people. Does she sell chicks? What is a pchickki? Where are the barns?
I am sure most of you know where the name pchickki came from as it is posted here in my profile but a shopper usually does not look at your profile. They are drawn to what you have in your shop .

Also with all the time I put into my handmade cards and envelopes, I have to put a price on them that covers time and material making them not so attractive to people who do not understand this and those who do can probably make them their selves.

So my plan is to open a brand new Etsy Shop and have only altered tins in it. The possibilities are endless and I am going to give it a try. HERE IS WHERE I NEED YOUR HELP.

I am taking suggestions for the name for my new Etsy Shop.
Keep in mind I will be selling "Altered Tins Only" such as these.

The winner will be able to choose any tin of her choice and also will receive any one of my beautiful handmade greeting cards with handmade envelope FREE.

Please leave your suggestion here in a comment and if you could pass the word along on your blog that will give me lots of choices.
I will choose three of my favorites and then YOU get to vote on which one YOU like best.
That will be the name of my new Etsy Shop.

You can use the photo above of my first 7 tins when you post about it on your blog.

I will be opening my new blog as soon as I have a name for it.

THANK YOU MY FRIENDS
WISH ME LUCK

MY LATEST DIGITAL COLLAGE

I am caught up in Steam Punk...what do you think about Steam Punk?

Definition:

Steampunk is a sub-genre of science fiction, alternate history, and speculative fiction that came into prominence during the 1980s and early 1990s.^[1] Specifically, steampunk involves an era or world where steam power is still widely used—usually the 19th century and often Victorian era Britain—that incorporates prominent elements of either science fiction or fantasy. Works of steampunk often feature anachronistic technology or futuristic innovations as Victorians may have envisioned them; in other words, based on a Victorian perspective on fashion, culture, architectural style, art, etc. This technology may include such fictional machines as those found in the works of H. G. Wells and Jules Verne or real technologies like the computer but developed earlier in an alternate history.

Other examples of steampunk contain alternate history-style presentations of "the path not taken" for such technology as dirigibles, analog computers, or such digital mechanical computers as Charles Babbage's Analytical engine.

Steampunk is often associated with cyberpunk. They have considerable influence on each other and share a similar fan base, but steampunk developed as a separate movement. Apart from time period and level of technology, the main difference is that steampunk settings tend to be less dystopian.

Various modern utilitarian objects have been modded by individual artisans into a pseudo-Victorian mechanical "steampunk" style, and a number of visual and musical artists have been described as steampunk.

HANDMADE VICTORIAN PAPER DOLLS AND ORNAMENTS

Currently our Etsy Team is making decorations for our Victorian Steam Punk Christmas window display.
We will be setting this window display up the day after Thanksgiving.
Here are my decorations. Handmade Victorain Paper Dolls and Ornaments.

The plan for this display created by our team leader Brenda Salzano is going to be so cute. Can't wait to show you when we are all finished with it.

ATC SWAP PARTNERS

Okay ladies, here are your swap partners.

Lori Out Of The Mouth Your Heart Speaks - Mya elbows on my window sill

Patti Treasure Barn - Vickie Whispers of Inspiration

Dee Dee's Craft Spot - Sew Loquacious Angela

Bevie - Tiffiny (Email me for her email address)


Your ATC is due November 30th. There is no theme, anything goes.
If you are not going to be able to participate please let me know right away. It is really disappointing to send out your ATC and not receive one in return.

Contact your partner for her address. If you have any questions or if you need my help in getting in touch with her email me and I will be glad to help you. Have fun and Happy Creating :)
When you receive your swap partners card post it on your blog so all can see.

STEAMPUNK TINS, ATC SWAPPERS AND AN UPDATE ON MY SON

I have been working on some altered tins for the past 4 days. The theme is steam punk. They turned out really cute. They are all different inside and out.

I made 7 of them for a craft show that is this weekend. Lots of hours went in to them. Gesso, glue, paper, paint, trim, and the photoshop collage work. Whew!

This is the front of the tins
A closer look

Side view, see the trim?

This one has no trim just paint

Most of the bottoms look like this

This is the inside, each one is different

I had fun creating these :)


Speaking of creating, I have had several people ask me about my ATC Swappers 2010 Swap.

This is an ATC created by Debbie Searcy awhile back

This swap is open to anyone that wants to participate. I have moved this group from ZNE to my blog and will have a swap every month. There is no theme. Use your own creativity. I will be posting partners on Saturday so leave a comment and let me know if you want to swap.
Happy Creating!!!

PRAISE OUR LORD HE HEARD OUR PRAYERS

My Son went to the doctor today and he said the infection is contained and his fever is down to 99 . He said his leg will NEVER be right and he will ALWAYS have these flare ups and he has to treat it like a diabetic leg and not wear boots. He has been released to return to work when HE feels he can do his job. Thank you Jesus for containing the infection for now.

Now all we have to do is pray he still has a job. He will talk to his boss tomorrow. One step at a time right?

Keep praying for him. He still has a very serious financial problem ahead of him with all this time off work and he is still seriously depressed.

Thank you everyone

ATC SWAPPERS 2010

One of my ATC's from 2 years ago

For those of you who were not in my ATC SWAPPERS group over on the ZNE network, ZNE has closed its doors so I have brought the group over to my blog. I will have an ATC Swap once a month. I am not sure how many members will follow me here but if they do it will be great.

So sign up by leaving a comment here and your partner will posted here next week.
Lots of themes now it is the fall holiday season. Have fun and happy creating!

STILL PRAYING

Update on my Son is that he is a tiny bit better. The oral antibiotics will take longer to work than IV antibiotic. It has been 10 day since this started and he is making slow progress towards getting better.
Hang on to your insurance for dear life. This experience has shown us the difference treatment you receive without it.

He is depressed and feels hopeless with each day he cannot work.
Keep DAngelo in your prayers. He by far is not out of the woods.
Thanks everyone.

NOVEMBER BLESSINGS

Remember my son that has the flesh eating disease in his leg? Well it has rared it's ugly head again this year. Seems like every year at this time it flares up. I am worried sick about him this time. It is worse than when it first started over 10 years ago. Swollen and the red mark has traveled to his waist line.

The sad thing is that he lost his job 4 months ago and was out of work for two months. He just got a job 3 weeks ago and now he can't work because of his leg. Being so new on his job his insurance has not kicked in yet so he is without that and his IV's are $1000.00 per bag. That is not counting his hospital stay. You see when this monster flares up he has to be on IV's constantly for at least a week sometimes more. This in the past it was done at home by an in home nurse but because he has no insurance he has to have it done at the hospital so he will be admitted probably tomorrow for the IV treatment.

He left to work with his new job for three days from Anaheim to Oakland on Wednesday and his leg was just starting to bother him so as usual he started his antibiotic which usually stops it from getting really bad. Not this time. By Thursday evening he was in the ER hundreds of miles from home. He spent from Thursday until Sunday in the ER having IV's administered. They finally let him come home Sunday afternoon.

He is depressed and worried. Can't say I blame him, so am I and the rest of the people that love him.
I am asking for your prayers please. It is no better this evening. Tomorrow he will see the doctor again and probably be admitted for treatment.

I wonder what the American Indian would have done to cure this disease? They probably had a better remedy than some of these doctors today.

I am praying for a blessing this first day of November. To take the infection away from my Son's leg and heal him soon both spiritually and physically.

Thank You All