Friday, November 9, 2012

AEDM2012: Day 8

Wednesday I felt a Sick coming on, so I crawled into bed around 7 pm with some tea and honey, the heating pad, and a bunch of books and knitting. I mainly ignored the books and knitting; I finished the tea and dozed on and off, crawling out of bed only to dispatch children to bed at their appointed times. I felt better on Thursday, so I suppose my proactive approach worked? But all I managed on Wednesday was a little bit of sketching.

So Thursday night, I headed downstairs to do a little daily art plus some. First, a map. I rarely go to my childhood neighborhood even in my head (never in person, anymore), but I decided to create this quick, childlike map in a sepia watercolor pencil, hoping for an old-time look.


You can click to make it bigger. If you lived in that neighborhood with me (hi, Jill!) you may not recognize what I chose to put here. The BIG HILL is of course not all that big; but it seemed that way. And I don't know if we always sledded down it--how could that be? didn't they plow streets in the 70s/early 80s?--but I remember doing it at least once. The "deep dark woods" was really just a patch of trees on a hill between streets, but I loved going there and pretending I was Far Away. The "pond" was probably just an exaggerated puddle in a swampy area, but I did fall into it once, when Michelle (whose house is at the top of the BIG HILL) dared me to walk out onto the ice, and I did. As I said, it was a puddle; I only got wet up to my knees or so when the ice broke, but the rocks--which were there as fill, because they built houses on that swamp the next year--all froze to my corduroys, and it was funny. And I marked the way to Stop & Shop because at five years old, I figured I'd have to live in my parents' neighborhood forever because at least I knew how to get to the supermarket from there.

Well. That's more childhood reminiscing than I am likely to do for the next year. And how about this --I realized a couple hours after I drew this that I signed it with my maiden initials, abc, rather than my current ones. I signed it with the initials of the person who lived there. Funny Brains.

Also last night, I made some postcards for iHanna's latest swap, which has a theme of "empowerment," which can be interpreted any number of ways. I chose simply. Here's my group of cards to choose from (we only need five):


I already had all these backgrounds ready, so it was just a matter of deciding what to do with them. I am partial to the "Grow" cards; I think I will have to keep one for myself.


 Also using the theme of trees and growth:
 

And finally, more of the compass rose from earlier in the month. It's not the best choice with these backgrounds, but I think these two hold up okay.


There's still plenty of time to sign up for the postcard swap, if you're interested--right here!

16 comments:

iHanna said...

thanks for the mention Amy, your cards look lovely. I think you should always keep one when doing a series, so much fun to have it later when you forgot what you sent...

Unknown said...

These came out awesome! I especially love the 2 map themed ones.

Jill said...

I love your map. It's perfect. In my childhood, there was a Big Hole across from your window; by the time you were noticing, there was a house in it I think. And that is totally a Big Hill, especially when you're standing at the top of it with a two-wheeler. I don't know, I remember sledding down it more than once. Maybe they plowed us late? But we definitely sledded on that hill a lot. Until we were old enough to walk to the golf course, in that window before the owners got all lawyery. Love that your brain signed it abc, too. You've got me thinking what would I put on a map of that neighborhood? xox

Cameron said...

I'm glad you're feeling better now! How funny what your brain did with your initials! Crazy :)

Love the cards...trees have always held a fascination for me.

Karen Isaacson said...

your map commentary cracked me up. YES - there was no plowing in the 70s. we were always able to sled right down the street. and I had a similar falling-through-the-ice-into-the-swamp experience (but no frozen rocks on my corduroys). Your post cards are lovely!

Donna Lee said...

You make the best postcards. they are always so inspiring.

bells said...

i adore trees so the tree postcards really appeal to me. Lovely.

bells said...

i adore trees so the tree postcards really appeal to me. Lovely.

Parabolic Muse said...

Lovely cards! I love trees and I love the earthy tones on these.

Sarah said...

love that tree!

Cynthia of Cynful Creations said...

Can't decide which style I like best, the trees and the compass designs are my favourites!

juicy*s said...

I love how it seems like you left room for the recipient to fill in the trees! They are just lovely! Very inspired.

She Who Doodles said...

my first postcard received, yours. thank you.

She Who Doodles said...

the first postcard i received was yours. love it. thank you.

Cynthia of Cynful Creations said...

Amy, thank you so much for the postcard! I was delighted to receive the blue compass design after admiring it here on your post!

Sarah said...

yay! looks like on Nov 21st I commented 'love that tree!' - and this weekend 'that tree' arrived in the post to me :) I love it when that happens :)

thank you for the gorgeous postcard, Sarah in England x