With Love From Friends! 2013

Happy Valentine's Day!!!

For the past three years I have been delighted to volunteer for With Love From Friends (WLFF) by making Valentine's Day cards for people who are without family or friends to remember them. 

The fabulous Eve Elzenga developed and coordinates this project. WLFF is such a wonderful program. I adore Eve and her work. I'm not alone... Eve was the recipient of a Jefferson Award in 2011 for her public service for WLFF! 

Eve strives to have high quality cards made with great materials and by artists in our community. She really wants the cards to be well made as the people who get them really do cherish them and deserve nice cards created by adults for adults. In years passed she opened her home for all of January so people could come over and make cards. Her collection of high quality supplies, papers  embellishments, ribbons, and little gorgeous what-nots were made available to artists to pick up and use this year. She collects Valentine art supplies all year round. 

As someone who has been lucky enough to spend a lot of time with my grandparents and great grandparents, I appreciate and value my elders. Now that they are gone, as well as my beloved father - who will always be my first Valentine - I felt like their memory needed to be honored, especially on a day all about love. So in memory of my loved ones passed, I made ten cards for With Love From Friends. 

"You Are Loved"
acrylic monoprint, paper, mixed media
4.25" x 5.5"
© 2013 Victoria Porter

My cards started as Artist Trading Card sized (2.5" x 3.5") original monoprints made on my Gelli Plate. I added red and pink cardstock mats behind and stitched them together. The heart is crumbled red cardstock inked to add some dimension. Don't you love the tiny staples?! Everything but the straight lines on the mats behind the monoprint are all hand cut by me. The words are all hand stamped. The wings are my design and took a long time to cut out. (I do not even own a die cutting machine. I do it old school!)

Each card I made is a one-of-a-kind piece of artwork as all of the monoprinted backgrounds are different. 

Every card donated to WLFF is stamped with "With Love From Friends" on the inside. Did someone say 1500 cards need to be stamped?!?!?! I am so on that. My mother and I spent many hours stamping the inside of cards last week. We had a ball hanging out with Eve and her partner! 

This year WLFF is in need of a Sizzix Big Shot Die Cutting Machine, Valentine themed cutting dies, and cash gifts so they can update their website. Supporting Eve in her efforts pays off in ways you can't even imagine. Hop on over to WLFF and see how you can help for next year! 

- Vickie

"Courage" for A Cause

Our greater Rochester community suffered a tragic event on Christmas Eve 2012. While not on the scale of the recent tragedy at Sandy Hook Elementary School, it certainly brings those memories and images too close to home, especially since this occurred only 10 days after Sandy Hook.

The Story: A man set fire to a house up by Lake Ontario, then opened fire on the first responders. Two firefighters, nineteen-year-old Tomasz Kaczowka and Michael Chiapperini, were killed in the ambush and Joseph Hofstetter and Theodore Scardino were injured. One police officer had minor injuries related to a bullet-shattered windshield. The gunman fled the scene so the burning homes could not be secured. The fire spread and eventually seven homes burned to the ground and two more have been deemed uninhabitable. The gunman was found dead a few hours later from suicide. His sister was later found dead inside the shooter's home. 

The killed and injured firefighters were from the West Webster Fire Department. Many, many fundraisers have been started to aid the families of the deceased, injured, and those who lost everything in the fires. 

You know me... I can't sit back and do nothing when people are suffering from senseless violence like this. So I sat down and created this piece of artwork to donate to this cause: Fundraising Raffle for the Families of the West Webster Firefighters.

The fundraising event is tonight - sorry for the short notice. You can still buy $5 raffle tickets at the door from 5:00 - 5:45 pm at the Applebee's on Empire Blvd. in Webster. Please contact Walter MacDonald IV at 585-269-4761 for information.

"Courage"
acrylic monoprint on paper, ink, collage
4" x 6"
© 2013 Victoria Porter

I wanted to honor the fallen as well as those who keep our community safe everyday. It is  their COURAGE that make them special. 

This piece started as a monoprint made with my Gelli Printing Plate. I used stencils,  some store-bought and some of my own design, and lots and lots of layers of paint, which created this texture that I'm in looooove with. 

The lettering was stamped and altered a bit to make it thicker. The stars, hearts, hand, and wings are paper and were collaged onto the piece after I did all the drawings on it. Then I went back and outlined things in white to make them pop. 

I worked on this piece here and there over the course of the past few weeks. The work has fit in nicely with my {be creative everyday} practice. 

Of course, I would have liked to post this sooner, but it took me a few extra days to complete as I had to do my own framing. I drew right to the edges of the 4"x6" paper so a traditional standard mat for a piece this size would have covered the edges. That left me with a fussy sized mat window to cut. I got it right on my first try! I wanted to keep the frame size small so the organizers weren't storing and transporting large glass pieces. Plus I knew the Rochester Artisans would be donating a lot of work (62 pieces in total thanks to Stefani Tadio!).

I can only hope my work brings some measure of peace to this community and to those directly affected by this event.   

- Vickie

Paper Roses Have No Thorns

My mom's birthday was last week. I always like to decorate her gifts so she knows how special she is to me. Plus she then gets some of my art! 

I made these roses out of plain copy paper soaked liberally with spray inks - I haven't figured out these spray inks yet. The edges of the roses have a little glitter on them. The color from the spray inks lifted when I put the wet glitter glue on, which resulted in the glitter colors matching exactly to the rose colors. Happy accident!

I added some loose fake leaves I had around, twisted them together in the back, and made curly-Qs with the stem ends. A little sparkly, sheer ribbon added a nice touch and allowed for tying the decoration to the gift.

To be honest, I was not expecting the reaction I got from my mother and twin sister about these roses. They LOVED them! The two of them immediately imagined many uses for them - from hair clips to wreaths. How lucky am I that I have the two best cheerleaders ever in my family for my work?!

(We were all gathered for The December Birthday Bash where we celebrate mom's birthday as well as my and my twin sister's birthday at one party. December just gets too busy with that many birthdays to party for.)

Mom has asked me to sew a little felt piece and a pin back to her gift decoration so she can wear it as a brooch!

Then my nieces (5 & 8) wanted some! They insisted on coloring their own if I would cut the roses and roll them. How could I say no - even though it was about 10 minutes to bedtime? 

The roses below were made by my youngest niece. The yellow yarn was her idea as she wanted to wear the roses in her hair. A heavier cardstock was used for these roses and you can see they end up a bit larger and fuller. 

The roses are rather fun to make, and I imagine I will be developing a line of art to use them on. Maybe even some hair accessories and what-not. I'm intrigued by where these will take me!

- Vickie

Holiday Craft Show Schedule 2012

Time to get your handmade holiday shopping done! I'm here to help with Tiny Works of Awesome from In My Head Studios! 

Want to know where I will be vending? Here is a handy list! Or you can print the above image to keep in your calendar, pocket, purse, or file of awesome things to not miss out on. 

Since I don't have a lot of work listed in my Etsy shop, these shows are the only places to get your Tiny Works of Awesome this season! Don't miss out!

I will update these listings as Facebook event pages become active so you can invite your pals.

Next week kicks it all off! See you at St. Rita's!

Saturday, October 20, 2012

St. Rita School Craft Sale

9:00 AM – 3:15 PM

St. Rita School

1008 Maple Drive, Webster, NY 14580

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Thursday, November 1, 2012

Holidays in the Vineyard

10:00 AM – 7:00 PM

* Plenty of time to shop after work! *

Casa Larga Winery

2287 Turk Hill Road, Fairport, NY 14450

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Saturday, November 3, 2012

Mayday Underground!

10:00 AM – 4:00 PM

Main Street Armory

900 East Main Street, Rochester, NY 14605

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Saturday, November 24, 2012

Irondequoit High School Craft Sale

10:00 AM – 4:00 PM

Irondequoit High School

260 Cooper Road, Irondequoit, NY 14617

- Vickie

Midsummer Mini Mayday Craft + Art Show

Did you hear?! It's time for a Midsummer Mini Mayday Craft + Art Show! Yippee!

The creators of the now famous Mayday Underground Craft + Art shows here in Rochester decided November was waaaay too long to wait to bring you more indie crafty goodness. 

Say "Yay for Midsummer Mini Mayday!" 

No, really. Say it. It rhymes. :)

If you are one of the 20 first shoppers through the door you get a FREE swag bag filled with goodies from the fantastic vendors! 

There is swag from me at In My Head Studios! I made handmade, tiny, original paper collage domino keychains! How cute are these?!

They are truly one-of-a-kind and Tiny Works of Awesome! I made them with my own handmade stamps, handpainted paper, and words from books. Right now only 20 of these exist so snagging some swag from me will be special!

Here are the details:
Midsummer Mini Mayday!Saturday, July 28, 201210 AM - 4 PMThe Decibel Lounge45 Euclid StreetRochester, NY 14604Plenty of free parking!!
Just over 20 of the most creative, indie artists and designers in Rochester will be there! I'm excited to see my crafty pals! 
I better see YOU there, too! 
Happy Saturday! 

- Vickie

Happy Father's Day : A Card

We are so blessed to have Mr. M's father in our lives. Father's Day has been hard these past two years since I lost my dad. But Mr. M's dad is such a wonderful guy that I'm grateful for the opportunity to celebrate him! 

Most of the time when I start working on something I really don't have the "Finished Piece" visualized in my head. There may be parts of it or just a color scheme to begin with. For this card I was reaching toward handsome and manly. Mr. M's dad is an outdoorsman and enjoys fishing. So I went with earthy tones and unusual textures. 

I started with a blank piece of ivory cardstock, cut it in half, and folded it to make the card part. Using a foam blending tool I inked the edges of the card with some brown inks. Using two shades adds a lot of dimension and is worth taking the little bit of extra time to do so. 

Next up was my choice of papers. Pretty much went all out brown on this one. Using that large of an area of bold vertical stripes was stepping out of my comfort zone. I like swirly backgrounds. But for a guy simple and stylish is the way to go. I distressed the edges heavily. Even tore some off to make it look really tattered. Then I inked the distressed edges to, once again, add more dimension. 

At this point a plan does need to begin forming. I pulled out a couple scraps of paper and moved them around the face of the card until it looked pleasing, and I could decide where I was going. Eventually I chose a strip of map paper, a dark brown cardstock, paper that looks like burlap, and the sentiment printed from my computer that I designed in a font that looks like tire treads meets tweed meets stenciled lettering. How manly is that?!

I wanted a layered look so I put the strip of map paper between the two mats for the sentiment. That helps tie the elements together. 

When deciding to use my sewing machine on cards I find that if I don't really have a solid plan from here I mess the stitching up. Or sew the card itself shut. (Come on. Don't act like that never happened to you.) 

First I adhered the map strip to the dark brown cardstock with the dark brown behind the map paper. Then I adhered that to the card. Time for the sewing machine! 

I stitched all the way around the card twice and then ran border stitches along the map strip edges. On cards like this where distress is good neatness doesn't count. I wobble the line a bit. It's more interesting. 

I glued the sentiment to the burlap paper and then glued that down over the map strip and stitching. See how planning ahead on the stitching prevented me from sewing through the sentiment? :) 

(Can you tell I'm not a seamstress? 99% of the material put through my sewing machine is paper. I think the only fabric I stitched was my craft show tablecloth hem.)

I love using buttons on cards, and for guys it's especially appropriate. I chose an assortment of brown buttons from my extensive stash. Whenever I use buttons I pretty much always add thread through the holes so it looks like it is stitched to the card. Buttons on my cards without thread look "unfinished" to me. Again since I was going for a distressed look neatness didn't count and I left some straggly threads hanging on. 

I adhered the buttons to the card using Glossy Accents. I did so because it is wicked strong at holding 3D embellishments, and it dries quickly. Regular white craft glue would take hours to dry in that situation. This took 15 minutes. Joy! 

I thought at this point I might be done, but there was this big blankness in the bottom right corner. It looked unbalanced. I had to come up with something to put there. Digging through the piles of paper options on my messy work table I came across a coffee shop cardboard cup sleeve that had been striped down to the corrugated inside part. Texture! And brown! Perfect!

I'm in love with bunting and banners of any sort right now. I thought this corrugate would make a cute flag. I trimmed it down to size and clipped the end to make points. The edges were inked in a dark brown and a little black. A tiny voice in my head wondered what this would do if I ran it through the sewing machine. Hmmmmm. Tiny Voice, you may have a good idea! 

I tested it on a small bit of scrap corrugate. The heavy flattening power of the sewing machine foot smushed the wavy texture down. But it was usable by bending it back into shape. Then I stitched the one for the card. 

The card still didn't seem finished at this point yet. Hmmmmm. What to do? What to do? 

DYMO! A solid go-to when stuck! I punched out the word "hero" and then used a regular 1/4" hole punch to pop out the letters so they would fit my flag. I glued them on lined up with the stitching. 

I have a thing for using odd numbers of items in my design. "Hero" is four letters. Gah! It had to be balanced out so I added the three hearts. Ahhh. My OCD is calmed.

The spot where the flag met the seintiment mats looked stark. Another solid go-to for masculine cards is raffia. It's a good, natural material to get away with making a bow not look too foofoo. And, yes, I did ink the raffia a bit to make it look old. Once again, the Glossy Accents is the glue to use for sticking raffia bows to cards.

I'm wishing ALL the daddies out there a very Happy Father's Day!! I don't care how tough and gruff you are. If a two year-old hands you a toy phone, you answer it! :) xoxo

For the rest of you, have a shiny, sparkle filled Sunday!

- Vickie

St. Rita's Craft Sale: This Saturday

What a busy week! I am gearing up for this Saturday's show - the first one of my season. I always get a little nervous about the holiday craft show season. It means I have to leave my studio and talk to people. I'm just a tiny bit socially awkward. Shhhhhh... don't tell anyone. That's between you and me. 

So if you want to find some of the best handmade around, you can find it St. Rita's Craft Sale - where you will also find me being socially awkward behind my table. :)

Saturday, October 22, 2011
27th Annual St. Rita School Craft Sale

9:00 am – 3:15 pm
St. Rita School
1008 Maple Drive, Webster, New York 14580

** Our booth is located in a classroom, Room 14, this year (not the gym) so be sure to check out the classrooms, too! **

 

Now more than ever, I believe that supporting local small businesses (that includes artists and crafters) this holiday season is that can help our community become stronger economically. 

Your dollars could be making a day job out of a part-time art gig. That, in turn, not only makes the dreams of an artist come true, it helps families in our community to pay for food, housing, or medicine. It also creates jobs for your neighbors, family, friends, and maybe even you. And right now, Rochester needs you. 

Please think about how spending your holiday shopping dollars at the big box chain stores or the big online shopping sites means those dollars won't be supporting the "little guy" in our community.

A handmade gift, even if it wasn't handmade by you, is always a classy, gracious, and generous way to go. It means so much more to the recipient when you give handmade, especially these days where gift cards and electronic gadgets rule. Yes, that new gadget may say "I love you!" to your loved one, but wouldn't a handmade gadget case be a great choice to go with it? 

Giving handmade is giving love. Love to your loved one, and love from the artist who put their hard work, time, and energy into the creation of something out of nothing. With your purchase of handmade you are also spreading joy to the artist so they may keep spreading joy and love in an immeasurable way. 

See? It's not just about money. 

See you at St. Rita's!  

- Vickie

Be In It To Win It

I am giving away this "Blooming Brightly" Fine Art Domino Pendant, truly a Tiny Work of Awesome *, at the Rochester NY Etsy Street Team blog this week!!
 

Created from my hand-painted and hand-cut papers, these bright and cheerful blooms seem to pop right off this lively domino pendant. Shiny little purple sparklies add a bit of twinkle to what is already a very glossy finish. The edges of some of the paper is distressed to add more dimension. The pips (dots) on the back of the domino are 2 and 3.

The artwork on a domino pendant measures about 1-1/2" x 3/4". That's smaller than the size of 1/4 of a business card. Even the tiniest pieces in my collages are hand cut!

The winner (it could be you!) will get her/his choice of necklace length in either black waxed cotton cord or silver-colored base-metal ball chain (pictures shown with black waxed cotton cord). The domino pendant hangs on a silver-plated bail.  

* What is a "Tiny Work of Awesome"? It's a one-of-a-kind, teeny, tiny, original piece of mixed media collage that I create on various very small objects like dominoes, Scrabble tiles, and other game pieces and surfaces.

Head on over to the Rochester NY Etsy Street Team blog to enter for your chance to win! 

You can earn up to SEVEN entries by commenting, liking, blogging, and tweeting! 

Hurry! You only have until Tuesday, October 11, 2011!

Open to US and Canada only. 

 - Vickie

Paper Flower

I made this paper flower tonight while watching Paula on UStream, which, sadly, was cut short because her interwebs stopped working. So sad!

I like watching her work. She's very talented, and I always learn such wonderful things from her. Catch her show on Saturday nights! The chat is also very lively!

- Vickie

Double Your Fun! : A Giveaway!

I am super thrilled to announce another event I’m doing with my local Etsy Team*, the Rochester New York Etsy Street Team (RNEST)! We are a group of artisans living in or around Rochester, NY, joined in a common cause, creating handmade items that we share with the world in our Etsy shops. This is a fantastic group of folks to work with. They are fun and knowledgeable about the business of handmade. Plus they are seriously generous! There is a giveaway on our team blog every week!

Michelle from The Quilted House and I decided to double-team y’all for the holidays. We are offering a great big giveaway! A full gift ensemble… wrapping included!

I am giving away a domino pendant in one of my favorite designs – the “Home Sweet Home Nesting Bird Collage” Altered Domino Fine Art Pendant.

The collage on this domino pendant is a print of a larger work of art that I made specifically for my domino jewelry. The original is 6” x 3”, about the same proportion as a domino but bigger. I sent the edge of the house layer through my sewing machine and am delighted that the detail of the stitching came through in the tiny print on the domino. The text “home sweet home” is itty bitty text cut out, backed with red cardstock, and glued to the little print. It has quite a lot of dimension for being so small.

The winner gets their choice of black waxed cotton cord, ball chain, or ribbon for the necklace as well as their choice of length for the necklace. Keep reading for the details about how to enter the contest.

Plus, through December 31st, entering the coupon code RNESTROCKS will net you 10% off everything in my Etsy shop! [Shipping deadline for Christmas is December 20, 2010] 

Michelle, as you can maybe tell from the name of her shop, The Quilted House, loves quilting. She loves to create useful quilted items such as qPouches for your music player, gorgeous notebook and journal covers,  and awesome stockings and ornaments that are beautiful and will make you smile every time you use them. Her shop is currently chock full of fun items for the holidays and beyond!


 

She is giving away a cute little quilted mini gift tote! This little quilted gem is the perfect size to hold a few truffles and a gift card, earrings, a ring box, or the fabulous domino pendant you just won. The recipient can then reuse it the next time a gift-giving occasion arises - the gift that keeps on giving! How cool is that?!

I can personally attest to the precision with which Michelle creates her works of quilted awesomeness. I’ve never seen such neat and tidy seams and hems! Don’t get me started about her folded corners on her line of jotters! Whoa! You cannot go wrong with purchasing a bevy of gifts from her shop!

The coupon code RNESTROCKS will give you a 10% discount in The Quilted House, too!

Ok! So you are saying, “Shut it already! How do I win this pot of gold??”

Go to the Rochester NY Etsy Street Team blog and get the details, which involve the usual things like hearting my shop, following the RNEST blog, and bonus entries for tweeting and blogging the giveaway. The winner will be chosen using the random number generator on Tuesday, December 14th and will be announced in the next Wednesday Wellspring on the RNEST blog on December 15th.

Good luck! I can't wait to see who wins! I get excited about giveaways! 

Happy Holidays!!

- Vickie


*What are Etsy Teams? They are an Etsy.com community feature where one can gather at the crossroads of the handmade marketplace and community, meet people with common interests, and collaborate. The Teams feature makes it easy for you to join an existing team or to create, maintain, and promote a new one. It's also a way for shoppers to browse by theme or location and find shops that might interest them.

What Is Black, White, and Red All Over?

Just had to share this stunning Etsy Twitter Team Treasury with you! Happy to be in such good company!

Click the image below to visit the Treasury and pass out some clicks and leave a comment.

Created by MostFavoriteAunt.etsy.com
Follow Her on Twitter: @MostFavorite

A Handmade Giveaway!

I want to thank everyone who has commented and/or emailed me about the piece Kathleen Landers did about me in The Examiner on Monday. So much crafty love coming my way! I’m delighted!

Now I get to spread the love to you! The Rochester NY Etsy Street Team (RNEST) is holding a giveaway on their blog for one of my new domino pendants! How cool is that?!

About the prize:

This altered domino pendant is part of a new line I have launched. I created several pieces of artwork in the same proportions as a domino but on a larger scale – about 6 inches tall. Then I do some pixel pushing magic and print the art very tiny to be put on a domino. An eclectic mixture of color and texture makes this particular domino pendant stylish, classy, and chic.

The wood domino measures 1 3/4 inches (4.4 cm) tall, 7/8 inch (2.2 cm) wide, and 5/16 inch (8 mm) thick.

The necklace:
• YOUR CHOICE of length of black cotton cord (i.e. 16” or 18” or any length you want!)
• Domino hangs on a silver-plated bail
• Necklace closes with a silver-plated lobster clasp

You can see a close up shot of the original artwork on my flickr site.

I love this process as it gives me the ability to create very meticulous work that keeps its detail when scaled down. You can even read the words from the text I used for the larger collage in the smaller print!

So head on over to the RNEST blog and make your comments for entries!

How the contest works:

ENTRY #1: Go to In My Head Studios’ Etsy shop, heart the shop, and then leave a comment on the RNEST blog telling Michelle your favorite item.

ENTRY #2: Become a follower of the RNEST blog and leave a comment there letting Michelle know - or if you follow already, leave a comment saying you're a loyal follower.

In addition, there are at least 6 other chances for extra entries such as answering a trivia question about me, becoming a follower on my blog, Twitter, and Facebook page.

The winner will be chosen using the random number generator on Tuesday, June 22nd and will be announced in the next “Wednesday Wellspring” post on the RNEST blog.


Many thanks go out to Michelle of The Quilted House for organizing the RNEST giveaway and blog post! I love our local Etsy Street Team! So much support and information gets shared in this group. The RNEST Team, in my opinion, is an indispensable resource for Rochester, NY Etsy sellers. If you are from the greater Rochester area please feel free to contact our leader Linda at her Etsy shop for more information on joining.

Happy Giveaway! Can't wait to see who wins!

Local Treasures From Rochester, NY

We have an amazing amount of art and culture in Rochester, NY for the size city we are. There is always something going on in the arts to go check out. We have world class museums and art galleries. We even have a Neighborhood of the Arts (NOTA)! A lot of galleries, artists’ studios, and cool little shops are part of the NOTA.

Because our city is so generous to the arts community we have a treasure trove of local talent to show off. I belong to the Rochester NY Etsy Street Team (RNEST). We are a group of local sellers from Etsy coming together to network and promote. RNEST has some amazing members. I made a Treasury to show you some of the handmade goodness!

It will bring our Treasury up in the rankings if you click each item in the Treasury. Then please leave a comment! Thanks!

Click the image to visit the Treasury!

Listen To Your Heart: Art Journal Page

This page started as a spot to lay down some leftover paint from another project. I glued down some random paper scraps with gel medium. Some stencils made nice shapes to draw with watercolor crayons. The crayons create a nice opaque color, even doing light drawing over a dark background. Very cool. Then I added the tag in the middle.

I wanted to lay down as much color on this page as I could. It’s a little busy but I think that’s my anxiety coming through from the other day. I really love using up my little paper scraps this way. I don’t like to see paper go to waste.

The watercolor crayons look so good to me that I think I’ll run out today and buy more colors at the art store, which, incidentally, is called "The Art Store". Need to pick up some more gel medium and either heavy body or fluid acrylic paint by Golden, too. They make the best paint. Right now I’m using the cheap craft paint, which is not very heavily pigmented and are a little dry. Oh, my art shopping list keeps getting longer. I want some different colored inks, too, for doing lettering with a brush. Maybe Erik will have to come with me to rein in my spending!

Postcard Swap 2010 Postcards

Long time no see, folks! I’ve been really ill with the migraines and we’re in the middle of trying something new for them. So far so good, I’m happy to report!

I finally got my 10 handmade postcards done for iHanna’s swap! Whew! So they are going out in the mail ASAP. But before I send them I made sure to scan and photograph them for you to enjoy! Here’s a peek:

The bases for the postcards are heavy watercolor papers. I cut them down to 4" x 6". Then I glued down random paper scraps with matte gel medium. After that dried I painted each card differently with craft acrylic paint. They still just needed something, you know? So I stamped the birds in black Archival Ink by Ranger. Great ink for stamping on things that are not porous. The little birdie above got her own crown as I added details with fine tip Sharpies markers.

I signed and dated the back of each card and wrote a special note to the mystery recipients. Some cards are going to Australia and Sweden! I've never sent mail there!

Click image above to go to flickr where you can see each postcard scanned individually. Tell me which is your favorite in the comments!

The postcard swap project was conceived at the Twitter party called #craftsocial. They have a website at CraftSocial.net. Read more about this Twitter party on their "About" page. It's a bunch of crafty tweeple chatting up artsy craftsy things on Twitter!

The next Craft Social will be on Saturday, February 20, 2010 from 3 – 5 PM, EST. The first hour of the event will be dedicated to craft #fails – they dare you to show your worst! See you on Twitter!

NEW! This Time of Year: Artist Cards, Editions & Originals

New in my Etsy shop! It's an Artist Card, Edition & Original (ACEO)! Isn't she a cutie-pie?!

This ACEO is an original, mixed media collage. It is made with paper, vintage lace, digital photos, machine sewing, a hand painted background, and text from a vintage book. The crown and wings have sparkly glitter on them. The card measures 2.5 inches by 3.5 inches - about the size of a baseball card.

This is one of one (1/1) in this set. You are getting an original, one of a kind ACEO. Signed by the artist, Victoria Porter (me!), on the back and dated 1/15/10. It will be shipped via USPS First Class in a protective sleeve with hard backing to prevent bending. The copyright symbols and letters do not appear on the actual card.


ACEOs are a fun and affordable way to collect art from your favorite artists. They are suitable for framing and make great gifts!

I'll be coming out with many more so stay tuned! I love making these!

I can make custom fairies from digital photos of your little sweeties if you like. Shoot me an an email at inmyheadstudios {at} gmail.com.

Listen to Your Heart ATC

Just goofing around in the studio late last night. Had the itch to make something – something at all – because I cannot manage to get started in my 2010 handmade art journal. It’s too pretty and neat and clean right now. I don’t want to ruin it! So I made this instead.

New Year, New Work: "Cohesion"

I enjoy the challenge of melding dissimilar shapes, colors, and patterns to make a single cohesive piece. I think because my personality feels a bit fragmented at times I’m drawn to designs that have many components and complex movement. Plus I’m kind of rotten at making decisions so I throw many mediums and elements into all my artwork because I cannot decide what to leave out.

This collage reminds me of glimpses of visions in dreams. Parts you cannot quite grasp before they are gone. Then you move on to the next possibly disjointed vision and so on until you are left with a mosaic of images and a sense of struggling to assemble them to uncover the meaning in it.

All of the individual rectangles were made separately and then brought back together. I wanted to stay with earthy tones, but some hot pink snuck in, and I think it worked out fine. Created in the proportion of a wood domino - only larger (measures 6” x 2 7/8”), I plan to scan it, shrink it down to domino size, print it, and use it to decorate the domino pendants. This way I can work in a larger format to make art for the dominoes.

Consequently, I then have an original piece of art to sell, too, and possibly sell prints, note cards, and calendars with the collage on them. I have not yet ventured into the world of selling original art online so there are some things I still need to work out before you see this one in my Etsy shop.

I am enjoying getting back to my collage roots and working in a bigger scale than the dominoes and the one-inch square glass slide pendants. This work may be sectioned into twenty-one pieces, but it’s making me feel more put back together than I have felt in a long time.

A larger version of the image

©2009 In My Head Studios

Evidence of Love: Artist Trading Card

I made this a few months ago and it got buried in the mess on my desk. Eeek!

It measures 3.5 inches by 2.5 inches. The ruler on the bottom is actually a vintage piece of measuring tape from one of those spools you have to crank back in manually. The spiral clip is an Italian paper clip. The woman image is a rubber stamp. I cut the paper for her to look like a Polaroid picture. The faux manila folder closures are just paper punch circles and eyelets. I used my sewing machine to sew around the edges in an uneven way. (Really, I *can* sew in a straight line!) The card is made on a piece of watercolor paper that I added some gel medium to so it looked like stucco.

I'm thinking I might put this up for sale in my Etsy shop for Valentine's Day. What do you think?

I hope you have a Happy New Year's Eve and a safe night!! Cheers!

Still Time to Ship for Christmas!

This Paris Postage Altered Domino Pendant is one of my very favorite designs. At the home jewelry show I did at my sister’s house it sold right off my neck. So I knew I had a winner! I made two more this past week. One sold out of my shop in less than four hours. Have not had that happen before! I went to go check on the views on it and it was gone! I still do the Happy Dance of Joy when I make a sale!

The comment the buyer wrote humbled me: “This is a gift for my mother -- she loves Paris and spent hours playing dominoes with my grandmother, who died last year at the holidays. So this is a perfect gift. Really need to have in time for Christmas! Thank you!”

The "perfect gift"! I love hearing things like that! (Do not worry! You will have it in time! I shipped it yesterday!)


There is still one in stock so if you want it, don't delay! The domino is very vintage. The dots on the back are nice and big and have a rich patina on the off-white color.

Right now through December 20th I’m offering free worldwide shipping! Deadline for orders to be shipped in the US in time for Christmas is December 20th so I can get it in the mail to you by the Post Office’s cut off of December 21st. It’s currently too late for on time delivery outside the US but a late gift is better than no gift! ☺

Etsy: Your place to buy & sell all things handmade inmyheadstudios.etsy.com