Frida Kahlo Gone Mad

 Meet Frida Kaho.  What nationality is Frida?  Mexican.  Frida, of course, is Mexican.  Frida fell in love and married one of Mexico's most famous artists.  Then she became an artist and did mostly self-portraits because "that's who I know best" she said. 

 These are some hand-drawn and hand-painted Frida collages.  I think she was a little wacko, but then ... who knows what people say about me?  (don't answer that)  I'm finding that there are lots of people out there who go bonkers over Frida stuff. 

I'm not enamoured by her life story.  But she is fun to collage.  I mean, it's a great way to put my she-art techniques to use in a new twist, yes?  And really, if we could ALL wear headbands and large flowers in our hair, we should - don't you think? 

Courage & Kindness Girls

Bye bye perfect.  Hello Courage.  I must admit that I try to be perfect a lot of the time.  Perfect wife, mom, friend, crafter, etc.  But I'm learning that we don't have to know what we're doing all the time.  We don't have to have immediate answers for everything.  We are allowed to lose inspiration and get off track for awhile.  We can be human and get annoyed by petty things.  We can be messy, chaotic, and courageous all at once.

Welcome to The Kindness Movement!  The idea is that kindness is contagious.  Ellen DeGeneres inspired the creation of The Kindness Movement.  At the end of her show she says "Be kind to one another."  I love that!  We all know that simple gestures speak loudly.  A door held open, a hearty thank you, offering up the closer parking space.  What simple little thing could you do today to offer up kindness?  Kindness does matter.  Uh huh.  En how.  Cha ching. 

Little House Swap

Meet my neighborhood.  This was my first swap ever on the AFA website.    I got through it with no hiccups.  I didn't break any swap laws or nothing!  You know how it goes, I just wanted to do everything "right" my first time around.  

 These little ATCs first went to Oregon.  They had a layover there.  Then, one of them stayed in Oregon with the swap host.  The rest split up and went to Texas, Illinois, and Michigan. 

 Most of the collage papers used for the houses were from my scrap bin.  I don't really remember how I got the idea to make a heart shaped balloon flying overhead, but I like it.  Can't say that I've ever had a heart shaped balloon fly over my own house, but there's always tomorrow!

Yes, I AM learning to listen to the quiet peace of my heart.  Inside my own little house.  In my own little scrap room.  Such a fun way to put one's art heart out into the world.  I received some beautiful little houses in return!  One of them says "Bless This House".  Well said!