Once Upon a Time...

...I was tagged by Valerie to post seven random facts about myself. Um.. here goes:

1. I love cheese.
2. I have collections of the following items: ACEOs, stamps, postcards, coins, and those pennies that you get pressed into an oval that imprints an image or something from the touristy place that you are at. (All these things are from around the world)
3. I love to travel and have been to Europe and Asia. My goal is to visit each continent. :)
4. I broke my ankle playing tennis about six years ago.
5. Growing up I never had any pets. Or a swingset.
6. I have a cat named Moby now. Still no swingset.
7. I've never had a cavity.
And a bonus: I've been in the same dang relationship for eight years! (not married, not engaged... *sigh*)
And a shameless promo: I have an Etsy store in which I sell bottlecap magnets that I make because I get bored! www.moxiecreations.etsy.com!

I would tag people if I had anybody to tag!

Meet Claire.

With all this 'free time' that I have lately, I've been trying to do productive things and have been trying to get into artwork more. I'm really fascinated by a genre of art called ACEOs, which stands for Art Cards, Editions, and Originals. The only "rule" is that this artwork be 2.5 inches by 3.5 inches, the size of a standard playing card (and many people actually do use a playing card as their canvas). Any medium can be used - paper, paint, wood, metal, fabric, anything, and they can also be originals, prints of originals, or photos.

This is actually the second ACEO I have done (the first one was blah). I used textured cardstock, a rubber stamp, ink, a flower sequin, and Swarovski crystals. The image of the girl is from an ad in a magazine I have from 1969 (I love the ads from that era!) - I did *not* draw her! .. I'm not that good. :)

So what do you do with these things? A lot of people collect them. I'm just starting my own collection, and you can buy baseball card binder inserts and keep them all in a binder. Or, there are picture frames this size that you can use to display them individually or in groups. You can also make a collage out of several of them and have it framed that way (which looks really cool).

Class dismissed.

:)

♥brandi

Another day, another year..

Seems odd that Burin was supposed to have started his new job in Long Beach today. :( Another month, I guess.

Some of my resolutions:
*Recycle more and generally be more environmentally friendly/conscious
*Read more (books, magazines, news)
*Do more art/learn new techniques
*Do/learn more about photography
*Learn another language (um, Thai)
*Live a more simple, clean, and clutter-free life

Happy new year, all.

♥brandi