October Altered Trading Coins -- and purging

I've been "missing" for awhile. I spent a long weekend babysitting the grands in Albuquerque. Once home, I finally decided to tackle my art room. I've been putting it off for years and really haven't done much except add to the "stuff" since we moved into this house 13 years ago! Every time I start, I find all kinds of treasures and get side-tracked into working on projects.

I am starting with the six-foot standard closet in the room which is stuffed with sewing and needlework supplies. I figure that once that is cleaned out, I will have much more room to store my current mixed media supplies.

Most people don't know that I was an addicted needlepointer (and cross-stitcher) before moving to Texas 20 years ago. It was something portable I could do while my children were younger and still keep watch over them.  I became a needlepoint teacher and was certified by the National Embroiderers' Guild of America. I taught at seminars throughout the country and was even named "National Teacher of the Year" in 1996 by the EGA.  All this to say that I have a lot of supplies, personal as well as for all the class kits!

And, since I'm knee-deep in a huge mess, I haven't done much crafting. I did finish my altered trading coins for the October swap. The theme was "Fall is in the Air." They are very similar, except for the card stock layer. The background is heat-embossed leaf stamps with Distress ink sponged over. The heat embossing resists the color. Then I stamped and punched the sentiment from scraps of the same paper. Simple, but "fallish."



I hope to be back with more projects soon, but still have a long way to go before my art room is functional again!