March Mail Art Swaps

Yesterday I was lamenting that I hadn't saved scans of the antique postcards I had sent to mail art participants to show the 'before' and 'after.' Well, duh, I had scanned some as I discovered this while going through past posts this morning. So many postcards, so much to remember:) Anyway, you've gotten some sneak peaks and seen some of these entries, including a couple from yesterday, but now here they all are, front and back. Pour a glass of wine or cup of tea and take time to be inspired and get ideas.
From Lois Lugg of Massachusettes
Lois Lugg took the anachronistic theme and ran with it, or should I say, flew?! The idea behind the swap was to create a 'time warp' piece of art, something from one century bearing the date from another century. Lois took it a step farther for dramatic results. And when you mix humor with a time warp, warped humor is inevitable, n'est-ce pas?

Here, an antique painting of a nude becomes a naked woman in front of a TV -- set up outside, no less. My question is: how did she ever get the remote from her husband? Her nudity may hint at the answer ... but let's move on to the next card ...:) And here's the back: Again, Lois paired items not just from different centuries, but from different eons, from this: to this ... And here's the back: The prehistoric time travel continued with Lois' third entry. I think her cave family around the fire was a bright idea for this challenging 'dark' postcard. LUV that mammoth -- a Colgate poster child if I ever saw one. The back side promised brighter days ahead:

From Antonella De Falco of New Jersey
The original postcard:

And here's her lush treatment of it: Here's the back: Once again, I'm so astonished and thrilled that Antonella's postcards arrived with all the embellishments! You just wanna touch it and feel all the textures ... And glitter on the back. I believe I'm correct in saying that Antonella must have asked that the card be stamped by hand and her request paid off. Note how bold and clear the 2011 postmark is on this postcard from the early 1900s. Someone in the future will surely be scratching their heads:) Here a sepia art print gets a colorful treatment. And here's the back. I'd like some of that decorative tape! From Brenda Meade of Maryland
Brenda's swaps illustrate the freedom you have in creating. If you don't like the image on the card, just gesso over it and start from scratch. All the extra stamps -- it's very French you know! That's how the packages I get from France are often decorated. And the crooked coffee pot is the piece de resistance! Sometimes the back of the card continues the theme from the front and sometimes not. Sometimes the backside is altered as elaborately as the front and sometimes not. Sometimes multiple stamps are used to enhance the whole college effect -- and sometimes not:) Brenda took a plain forest scene print and filled it with imagination, color, characters, charm -- and furniture! Guess who's laying claim to the pig? It shall be framed on my refridgerator. This perfume-toting porker won't deter me from eating but I'll burn calories from laughing. She makes me smile so:) Thank you, Brenda! From Camille Loraine of Oregon
Camille's swaps also exemplify that there are no rules. I sent her cards. She cut them up! And look at the dazzling results. She took a rather blaze equestrian sepia print and turned it into something bold and exciting. She retained postcard size on this creation .... ...but there was no holding her back on this one. Measuring 4 by 7 inches, this is a whopper of a swap. The original postcard was of a chair displayed at a museum. And this nude print has really been dressed up. It measures 4.5 by 6.5 inches. From Nancy Ellis of Oregon
Here's the original postcard: Nancy scanned the card and created her collage digitally, gluing the finished copy atop the original card. And here's the back: If I recall correctly, the original postcard was an art print of the woman and child. What took up the whole card, Nancy has reduced to a cameo, surrounded by beautiful layers, French text and multiple shades of blue. And here's the back: A former FrenchKissed freebie I need to get listed in my shop! (OK, I forgot I even had this image. I admit it!:) The tree is the only thing original. Everything else is Nancy's digital prowess and imagination. And here's the back: LUV those graphics:)

From Paula Meck of Texas
Here's the original card... And then Paula's magic: These scans don't do justice to the rich colors, the minute details and multiple layers. I wish you could touch this one! Lots of layers and detailed cutouts! On the backs of Paula's cards, I appreciated the way that she chose a stamp to coordinate with her collage color scheme! Paula makes collaging seem easy: all these separate pieces overlapping and coming together so beautifully! Merci beaucoup to all of you for participating! I will get these beauties mailed out to you within the next week! Some of the April swaps have already arrived. Keep 'em coming! There's still openings in the May Mirror Art Swap. For details on that swap, check out this blog post: http://frenchkissedpostcards.blogspot.com/2011/03/mirror-mirror.html