Animals of the Alphabet A to D

Back in May, I joined an Animals of the Alphabet swap project on www.atcsforall.com . So far, we are up to G, and I've been enjoying some pretty exciting returns from around the world, including cards from England, New Zealand, and United States! For each swap, I draw four animals that start with the assigned letter, and receive three in return from different artists (the fourth card is a gift for the host).

Here are a few of the animals that I have drawn for A to D.

A is for Andean Short Faced Bear by smallgirl
Watercolour pencils on bamboo paper
The Andean Short Faced Bear, also known as the Spectacled Bear, is a small bear that lives in South America

B is for Black Bear by smallgirl
Watercolour pencils on bamboo paper
The black bear is a familiar sight here on the West Coast, but can be found throughout much of North America.

C is for Cuban tody by smallgirl
Watercolour pencils on textured paper
The Cuban tody is a small insect eating bird that lives in Cuba.
 

D is for Dall's porpoise by smallgirl
Watercolour pencils on textured paper
The Dall's porpoise is another familar West Coast creature that frequents our waters. Appallingly, this intelligent dolphin relative is slaughtered for food in Japan.

I will continue to post about this project, as well as some of my returns. In the meantime, if you like animals, check out my youngest cousin's new blog, CRAZY AMAZING ANIMALS!!

Teddy Forest Returns!

It has nearly been a year since my last visit to Teddy Forest I have been very busy with working, a bit of gardening,  a lot of ATC making, and playing in the forest. However, now bears and I are back to share the fun with you!

The Monthly West Coast Creature Feature will return shortly, but the Weekly Bear has been put on hold.

I hosted a Bear Swap - Beautiful Bears of the World on www.atcsforall.com and am currently working on an Animals of the Alphabet project (currently on G).

Swap Gallery for the Bear Swap:

ATCs by smallgirl, blueeyedlady76, deer blossom, Marryth, crisbear, GwennieJo, ferretgirl,  Jewels,  Tandy, donnacr, Sarnie, Elena, and spineofafish.
Cards were from Canada, USA, England, and Indonesia

Back Again

Hello. I am back again in Teddy Forest. Had a busy summer and am now feeling a bit blaugh. Here are some things from summer.

Blue Bear for a swap on www.atcsforall.com
Watercolour by smallgirl

Said it once and I'll say it again, I wish I was that little raccoon
"Campfire Friends" ATC by smallgirl

Hope I start to feel like this again soon.
Dancing in the Rain, atc by smallgirl

Have a Happy Wednesday!!

Another Weekly Bear...and some bees.

Ay!

"Oh Bother! Bees!" by smallgirl

I realize that my Teddy Forest posts are getting a little sporadic, and this trend may get worse as I am teaching this summer. However, here is another Weekly Bear, created for the My Sweet Honey Bees swap on www.atcsforall.com.

The rest of the cards in the set are bee themed.

Queen Bee by smallgirl

Fraser Valley Honey by smallgirl

Tricoloured bumblebee by smallgirl

Have a berutiful 

More Weekly Bears!!

So, I am really behind in the Weekly Bears. They are not so weekly anymore, more like "weeklyish." All the bears in Teddy Forest are disappointed in me, as they were all clamouring to have their portraits drawn. However, to make up for it, here are four bears for a swap on www.atcsforall.com.
The theme is Whimsical Critters at the Beach.

Whimsical Bears at the Beach by smallgirl

Have a beary nice day!

Weekly Bear #6-Dreaming of Spring

Weekly Bear #6-Dreaming of Spring

This polar bear wonders what spring is like in other lands. Done in watercolour pencil and gel pen with collage.

crocus by smallgirl

It's been gorgeous here on the West Coast (amid rain and wind storms) and the spring flowers are starting to bloom.

first daffodil by smallgirl

snowdrops by smallgirl

Wishing you sunshine and flowers!!

Weekly Bear #5- Postal Panda

Since this month celebrates the Lunar New Year festival, I thought I would continue with another panda.

Postal Panda by smallgirl

I made this panda ATC by recycling the insides of security envelopes, as well as a red envelope that contained a Year of the Snake mini-calendar. To trade with me, got to www.atcsforall.com and look for smallgirl.

I've also linked Postal Panda on Collage Obsession, where this week's theme is "Asian inspired" and Fun With ATCs, where the bi-weekly theme is "Something Red"

Happy Saturday!

SUCH a GOOD Mail Day!!

Such a great start to the week! Teddy Forest received wonderful ATCs and cards from three very talented artists!

"Little Red Owl" and "Hannah Hedgehog" by Tandy

"Sugar Glider", origami, and print by Melissa

"Pelicans a Pair" by Bonnie

Woot! Woot! I feel so lucky to be able to share with these friendly folks :)

Weekly Bear #4- Love Rules Without Rules Polar Bears

Happy Valentine's Day from Teddy Forest! For this week's Weekly Bear ATC, I offer two loving polar bears. As usual, if you would like to trade with me, please go to www.atcsforall.com and look for smallgirl.

Love Rules Without Rules ATC by smallgirl

I made this collage ATC using My Mind's Eye scrapbook paper, punched vellum and paper, and a picture of polar bears cut from Canadian Wildlife Federation stationary.

Happy Valentine's Day!! LOVE LOVE LOVE smallgirl and Teddy Forest

Weekly Bear #3- Gung Hay Fat Choy Panda

Gung Hay Fat Choy from Teddy Forest! It's Chinese New Year on Sunday, so my Weekly Bear is a Panda. If I get my act together, I hope to do some more Chinese New Year posting, but for now, please enjoy...THE GUNG HAY FAT CHOY PANDA!

Weekly Bear #3 by smallgirl

To trade, go to www.atcsforall.com and look for smallgirl

Weekly Bear #2- Midnight Sun Polar Bear

Midnight Sun Polar Bear ATC by smallgirl

This torn-paper "Midnight Sun Polar Bear" is my second ATC in the Weekly Bear ATC series. The design was inspired by the painting style of British-Canadian artist, Ted Harrison. Weekly Bear #1, Sebastian, is still available. Find both via www.atcsforall.com

West Coast Creature Feature- The Sweet Little Northern Saw-whet Owl

Snoopy, the northern saw-whet owl by smallgirl

The northern saw-whet owl is a wee little owl that lives in West Coast forests. This little fella was hit by a car and could not be released back to the wild by the wildlife rehabilitation group that found it, so he is now used to educate people about owls. Litter along roadsides attracts mice and rats, which in turn attracts owls, results in hundreds of owls being hit by car each year, so don't throw stuff out of your car windows folks!

Northern saw-whet owl ATC painted by smallgirl

Announcing...the Weekly Bear project at Teddy Forest

Here in Teddy Forest, I have decided to make one ATC with a bear on it each week and upload it to this blog. Hopefully, this will help me commit to blogging more regularly about bears (my favourite animal!), spread the word about how awesome bears are (real and teddy), and help me practice new artistic techniques.

If you would like to trade your ATCs for any of my Weekly Bears, please contact me through www.atcsforall.com, username "smallgirl".

Here is "Sebastian, the Hitchhiker" my first Weekly Bear ATC!


Sebastian, the hitchhiker by smallgirl
Weekly Bear #1

 Wish me luck with this :)

To begin 2013...finally

Happy New Year from Teddy Forest! It's already shaping up to be a pretty creative year, I hope! I figured out the photo issue: basically, my version of Blogger won't allow uploads from a computer anymore (so annoying).

I ended 2012 with creating a lot of ATCs and needlefelting this Cuban tody for my mom.

Cuban tody designed and needlefelted by smallgirl

Although I'm not much for resolutions, this year I hope to...

1. Finish needlefelting this Fantastic Mr. Fox.

2. Host an ATC swap
These birds were created for a Whimsical Bird Swap

3. See more birds!

Finally, I have a special project that will be the subject for my next post. Hint: it has to do with bears.
What are your hopes for 2013?

2013 begins with technical difficulties

Ms Funky Fish by smallgirl

Happy New Year! I've got lots of fun stuff to showcase here in Teddy Forest, but for whatever reason nothing will upload from my computer :( When I click the image icon on Blogger and go to Upload, nothing comes up except a message that says "You can upload JPG, GIF, or PNG files." No, actually, I really can't. So, I leave you with Ms. Funky Fish ATC, which is available for trade now at atcsforall.com.

After a long hiatus...a few ATCs to show

Hi! I have not been spending as much time in Teddy Forest as I would have liked in recent weeks, but I hope to share more of Teddy Forest with you soon, especially as I will be posting a fun tutorial soon (hopefully this weekend).

In the meantime, here are some owl ATCs I have made recently...

Airmail Owl by smallgirl

Pink faced Owl by smallgirl

Poetry Owl by smallgirl

Professor Hoot by smallgirl

I've been enamoured by owls since observing a beautiful barn owl hunt in the field near my home. Hint for my upcoming tutorial: it is also owl related.

Have a nice day!

My ATC collection is growing thanks to awesome AFA artists!

ATCs are such an addictive hobby!! Here are just a few of the cards I've traded for in the past month:

Rabbits are one of my favourite animals. "Benny the Rabbit" is a beautiful ATC handpainted by Australian artist Lyndell.
I searched for a blue tit when I was in the UK, but never did get to see one. This pretty birdie from Wil, a fibre artist in the Netherlands, is the next best thing. Visit her here: http://wilopiooguta.blogspot.com

Oscar Wilde is one of my favourite literary people, and here "But some of us are looking at the stars" is Utah artist Cynthia's fabulous interpretation. Cynthia also made the pretty butterfly card.

The fabulous "Disco Yeti" from Ontario artist Renée.

"God Smiled" is a wonderful and uplifting Noah's Ark card from Cat in Ohio.

Check out the ATCs page on this blog and visit www.atcsforall.com

Trade ATCs with Teddy Forest!

Below is Teddy Forest ATC Trading Animal Set Set 1, mixed media ATCs that I would love to trade with you! Trade one for one, or the set.

As of Sept 17, Polar Bear has been traded. Spotted Owl and Swift Fox still available.

Anyone can make ATCs, so even if you've never made them before, now you can try, then trade with me! Please leave a comment or email me at smallgirldesigns(at)gmail(dotcom) if you want to trade a card and we can exchange trading details :) Check out the ATC Page on the top of my blog for more details. Or, visit me at ATCs for All and search for smallgirl.

DIY Craft-How to recycle a bus ticket into an artist trading card

One crow sorrow, by smallgirl

The bears and I have been fascinated by artist trading cards lately and made some today out of all those used bus tickets sitting in my purse. Artist trading cards, or ATCs are tiny 2 1/2 inch by 3 1/2 inch works of art, traded by their makers with other makers, much like trading sports cards (does anyone do that anymore?).

What you need:
Scissors, Glue stick, Cardstock scraps, Ruler, Pen
Bus tickets
Paint, markers, sparkles, collage materials, etc for decorating

What to do:

1. Base coat your bus ticket with paint or colour it
2. ATCs must be 2.5 by 3.5 inches, so you will need to add a bit to your bus ticket.
3. Here's how: Cut some 2.5 and 3.5 inch strips from your cardstock

4. Glue the strips together to form either an "L" shape or a box shape. As long as you have cut with the right measurements, all you need to do is line up the corners of your strips. This is your frame.

5. Position your bus ticket over the frame until the edges are parallel and glue. You now have a card to work with.

6. Go wild! Create whatever cool images you want on your card and start trading.

Three crows a wedding, by smallgirl

Seven crows a secret, by smallgirl

Seven crows ATCs by smallgirl

Here, I've decorated a set of ATCs with the beautiful West Coast bird, the northwestern crow.
Let me know if you want to swap :)
Happy trading!
For more info on ATCs, go here: http://www.artist-trading-cards.ch/