Swap-bot: Grammer Airs

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This one was a swap I really enjoyed! Being a former 8th grade English teacher, I have seen such horrors in grammar that would give any sane person nightmares. 

The back of the postcard must have a friendly greeting or anecdote, and be full of grammar errors ... phonetic spelling, punctuation, capitalization, etc.  As for the front of the postcard: anything goes. Senders choice.

Ooo, the former English teacher in me is going nuts right about now!!!  This reminds me of a few good books and one of my favorite bumper stickers.

I will now share with you some of my favorites. These first ones are books by Lynne Truss. The pics are from her website, go check it out!

The Girl's Like Spaghetti: Why, You Can't Manage Without Apostrophes!

Eats, Shoots & Leaves: Why, Commas Really Do Make a Difference! 

Twenty-Odd Ducks: Why, Every Punctuation Mark Counts!

Aaaand a bumper sticker, courtesy of facebook.

The card I sent, sadly, will not be depicted here because I'm moving and I forgot to scan it before sending it out.  Trust me, though, it had plenty of "grammer airs."

Here's what I got in return:

And the back:

It says:


Hi jenny-
   Sea that u were a farmer english teacher. I are sure u have many humerus storys from the daz in your classroom! Like most whom teach u could probably right a book.
   Do u mess teaching at all.
   This is a postcard I baught while on a mini-vacation with my honie last month over to the panhandle of florida along the golf of mexaco four a short stay of too nites. It was verry party!!
   This postcard is verry hard to right.
Sallie


Personally, I would have added more inappropriate uses of you're/your and more incomplete sentences, but this was pretty good. I found mine hard to write, as well. I kept messing up and writing properly!  Can't spot all the mistakes? Here, I'll help you out:

Hi jenny-

   Sea that u were a farmer english teacher. I are sure u have many humerus storys from the daze in your classroom! Like most whom teach u could probably right a book.

   Do u mess teaching at all.

   This is a postcard I baught while on a mini-vacation with my honie last month over to the panhandle of florida along the golf of mexaco four a short stay of too nites. It was verry party!!

   This postcard is verry hard to right.

Sallie

Not sure why some of them are wrong? Then you need to go back to 8th grade.  Here, let me translate for you:


Hi Jenny,
  I see that you were a former English teacher. I am sure you have many humorous stories from the days in your classroom!  Like most who teach, you could probably write a book.
  Do you miss teaching at all?
  This is a postcard I bought while on a mini-vacation with my honey last month, over to the panhandle of Florida, along the Gulf of Mexico for a short stay of two nights.  It was very pretty!
  This postcard is very hard to write.
Sallie


Just call me the Grammar Nazi! :)

Swap-bot: Postcard Swaparoo

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This one was along the same guidelines as USA: Then & Now swap.  

As a kickoff to the new school year, the Fletcher Library is hosting a program on August 13 entitled "Postcard Swaparoo." Children will come to the library to design and decorate postcards that will be sent by the library to those who sign up for this swap. Also, those who sign up should send one (1) postcard to the Fletcher Library, which will be distributed to the kids at the program. The postcards that are sent to the library should ideally represent where you live and say something cute and fun that the kids will enjoy. The kids should enjoy getting postcards from all over the world! Feel free to send multiple postcards - the more the better!

Hey, anything for the kids! *grin* I don't have any "Iowa" postcards, and the description said it could be handmade, so I made these two:

I sent the top one to the library kids, and the bottom one to my swap partner. I liked the map section card so much that I might make more!

Here's what I received in return:

Received July 29, 2010 from Anna in (probably) California. Not my fave, but who cares?

Swap-bot: Postcard Blizzard V - International

Here are the directions:

Send one postcard to each one of your 5 partners. Store bought only. Sender's choice, but send something nice, you yourself would like to receive.

Pretty straightforward.  After reading my assigned swapees' profiles, here are the five cards I sent:

Here's what I got in return:

Received July 26, 2010 from Schuyler in Colorado.

Received July 29, 2010 from Donna in (probably) Florida.

Received July 31, 2010 from Susan in Las Vegas, Nevada.

Received August 3, 2010 from France!

Received August 4, 2010. By far my favorite one.

Lesson learned: when it's sender's choice, they will send you their crap.  Sometimes their crap is awesome, sometimes not so awesome.

Swap-bot: TAG! You're it!

In Swap-bot I'm in this group called Not Your Usual Postcard. There's a forum topic that's pretty cool called Naked Postcard Tag*.  Here are the rules:

• List 3 or more PCs you can send.
• Someone will tag you for a PC and will PM you their address.
• You must send within 2 weeks after tagging

So when you post, you choose from one of several postcards the previous poster is offering, then you list the ones you are offering to the next person.  It sounds complicated, but it's really fun!

brittanyzick 4 days ago i'll take the michael jackson one! i offer: *awkward question kitten *awkward question puppy *crayola *dont mess with texas *cool houston photo

Jenny712 4 days ago I'll take crayola! I offer:  *Summer fun *Hot dog w/ toothpaste *Reproduction 1967/68 Republican National Committee pamphlet cover *Faux Comic Book Cover

maryhassound 11 hours ago I'll take the Faux Comic Book Cover, @Jenny712 I offer: A cartoon card from the Love Is... Comic (http://dailyrefresh.files.wordpress.com/2009/02/love-is-1.jpg like the link only in color) A black and white ugly Frankenstein's monster looking card A new but vintage looking card related to kissing A cartoon bird A Babysitter's Club postcard An Ad card of my choosing A photo I took-turned-postcard

Here's the Crayola postcard brittanyzick sent me:

Received July 22, 2010

And here's the Faux Comic Book Cover postcard maryhassound tagged me for:

I sent it July 15, 2010.

*In swap-bot terminology, Naked Postcards – A postcard which is sent directly in the mail with a stamp – NOT sent in an envelope. Handmade envelopes can also be described as being sent “naked,” which means they are NOT sent within another protective envelope.

Swap-bot: Artsy Postcards #3

Yep folks, it's just like Artsy Postcard Swap #2. Same rules.

Are you sick of tourist postcards? Are you looking for postcards that you can hang up on your wall or refrigerator that look cool and aren't plastered with state names or countries?  THEN...

Send artsy postcards from painters (contemporary, pollock, bacon, picasso, matisse, etc, any thing that is artistic,) or DIY and make your own postcard :) You can find art postcards online, at Art Museums, or random stores (I found a bunch of artistic postcards at Job Lot).

I still have a whole bunch of Monet postcards my grandma bought for me at the KC Art Museum, and I want to be rid of them, I signed up again.  This time, I'm quite sure which ones I sent out:

And here's what I got in return: 

Received July 26, 2010 from John in the UK.

Received July 31, 2010.

I think I got the short straw this time. Poop.

Swap-bot: Odd Indeed!

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Instructions:  Look for a postcard that is unusual, strange, peculiar, curious, or even confusing.  Swap with 2 partners.
Easy enough, since I have a gigantic box of McSweeney's postcards to go through.

Here are the cards I sent out:

This is what we do for fun in Iowa.  I sent them out on July 17, 2010.

Here's what I got in return:

I got this on July 21, 2010 from Katie via Swap-bot.  I heart her messages because they are always hilarious.  The printed title of this postcard is "Bad Day For Goose."  Here's what she has to say:

If I sat down and intentionally tried to develop an odd post-card, I'd ensure two things. Number One: It would feature Fabio. Number Two: The print job would be really crappy.  And, matter of fact, I'd likely call it something really relevant like, "Bad Day For Goose."  I don't know if there's a deeper meaning here, but damn I hope not. Ha! Ha!

Brilliant.


Here's the other one:

Received July 22, 2010 with a cute little message on the back.


I <3 Swap Bot!

Little Bit of Awesome: Killer Vegetables

Look what I found over on Vintagraph today:

Buahahahahah!

The ABC's of Jenny

Ok, I know these things are lame, but this is my blog and I felt like doing it. So there.

A - Age: 27 

B - Bed size: Queen

C - Chore you hate: Dishes

D - Dog's name: Hannah and Teddy 

E - Essential start your day: Diet Coke

F - Favorite color: Pink 

G - Gold or Silver: Silver 

H - Height: 5'10" 

I - Instruments you play(ed): Piano, flute, guitar (completely  rusty in all 3) 

J - Job title: Site Director 

K - Kid(s): just my doggies! 

L - Living arrangements: Duplex

M - Mom's name: Dawn 

N - Nickname: Jenny

O - Overnight hospital stay other than birth: Appendectomy (7 days); kidney stones (3 days)

P - Pet Peeve: Having to explain Celiac Disease to every single waiter/grocery store clerk/random stranger I meet 

Q - Quote from a movie: "A gun rack? You got me a gun rack? I don't even own a gun, let alone many guns to necessitate an entire rack. What am I gonna do with a gun rack?" --- bonus points if you can tell me what movie!----

R - Right or left handed: Right 

S - Siblings: Brian, Allie, Katie

T - Time you wake up: Lately, 7am

U- Underwear: what kind of quiz is this? 

V - Vegetable you dislike: asparagus. *shudder* thanks, grandma.

W - Ways you run late: My car is a nightmare on wheels

X - X-rays you've had: Honestly, I think every single part of my body has been x-rayed

Y- Yummy food you make: from scratch? uh, no. I make the hubs cook.

Z-Favorite zoo animal: Penguin

More Bow-tie Hair Clips

A while back, I posted a bow-tie hair clip tutorial for Pink Saturday.  It was such a hit, it even got me featured on Recycled Crafts! I wanted to make some more from different fabric. I couldn't find anything that was small enough to be a scrap, but cute enough to be a hair clip. Then I spotted this in my closet:

Oh yes, your eyes are really seeing a headkerchief from Old Navy circa 1998. So chic. 

Here's what it looks like from the front and back, all laid out.

I used my trusty stitch-picker to separate the panels. I kept the long tie thingy for later, and ended up with four super-cute bows.

A-freaking-dorable.

Swap-bot: Black & White PC Swap

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This is another handmade swap, by the same woman who hosted the butterfly handmade swap.

For this swap, you will send your 1 swap partner 1 4x6" postcard, with a theme of black and white....think black silhouettes on white paper, drawings with black ink on white paper, drawings with white ink on black paper, collages, anything goes, just keep it Black and White! Postcards will be sent without envelope.

I took a cardboard food package and cut a 4"x6" section out. I bought a bunch of mostly torn up sheet music from a thrift store for about $0.25 a while back, and it ended up being organ music for Easter.  It was sort of antiqued white rather than white white, but I figured that should count. I used mod podge to adhere the paper to the cardboard, then added the music notes with black sharpie.  When it was dry, I sprayed it all with acrylic sealer.

Here's the result:

That's a quarter rest on the top, and the other is a quarter C note.  I was so happy with it that I made one to keep:

This one is just a plain old quarter note. I rather like the one I sent better, which is why I sent it. The staffs look crooked, but that's just my scanner. I put them in wonky and was too lazy to open the photo editing software to straighten them properly. I hope I don't get marked "3" for not following the guidelines because it's not exactly white...

Here's what I got in return:

Received July 22, 2010 from Evelyn.  

It doesn't look handmade, but I'm pretty sure it is.  There are places you can get peel and stick postcard backing, and that looks like what this is, with a photo printed off. She doesn't describe who the people in the photo are. Left me wondering!  I didn't scan the back, but she did stamp it with this really neat "Postcard" emblem that makes it look almost professionally made.  Maybe someday when I am rich I will be that classy. Snort.

Tutorial: Decoupage with Sheet Music

I posted before about my pencil caddy from a tampon box, then wondered what it would look like covered in something better.  Behold:

I got the sheet music for a quarter from a thrift store because it was falling apart. It ended up being Easter organ music.  I think the hand-written notations add charm.

Price: $0.25
Supplies: 

• Old Sheet music
• Empty Tampax Tampon box
• Decoupage glue
• Foam brush
• White printer paper

Time: I did one side at a time, then let it dry for a few hours (or days, lol), so I have no idea. Probably a total of 1 hr or less.

1. Obtain the tampon box. Take out the inside boxes and hot glue the flaps to the inside.*

2. Using decoupage glue, adhere white paper to the boldest colored parts of the box. This step is not necessary if your sheet music is made of very thick paper.

3. Get your sheet music out and find the most interesting parts, to your eye.  Tear them out, or use the tears they already bear for an added touch.

4. Using decoupage glue, coat one side of the box.  Adhere strips or sections of sheet music. cover that with more decoupage. Make sure the sections are long enough to cover the inside flaps as well as the bottom edge.

Finished Product:

And here it is with all my writing utensils nice and neat. :)

If you make this project, be sure to link me up so I can see your wonderful creation!

*If some kind Blogger genius out there would like to show me how to get the dumb pics to show up side by side, I would be most grateful.