Fire, Water, Air, and Earth

Mariah: (Love this little "secret")

A little glitch: the invitation reads like this: "password : Illu... " but I had to enter the password without the uppercase "i"....all lower case worked. You might want to "tweak" the invitation, if you forward it.

I'm very new to swaps, and I've never done an actual ATC, but I have purchased some basic supplies and was looking for one to try. Since this combines 2 of my favorite things (witchy-ness & single partner swaps), I'm going to give it my very very best.

Thanks for the invite. I've asked someone if they'd be interested (without giving away the show) and if they respond positively -- and aren't already here -- then I'll send you a PM after I give them the details.

Thanks for letting me in -- I am excited to do this one. It looks very challenging and also fun.

Thank you for the invite--I'm looking forward to participating :-D Finally got in--I, too, had problems, but it was a PICNIC (Problem In Chair, Not In Computer)I just needed to follow the advice above and enter it in lowercase letters, LOL!

Greetings...I am so happy that many of you have decided to join this group, and I am hopeful, that we will all enjoy this little adventure and come away from it with some interesting experiences, new friends, and unique artful pieces that we can have for our own personal magical systems.

Unfortunately many people turned down the chance to work in this group and the reasons were varied. But the one that surprised me the most and turned up frequently was that they were not comfortable working with ATCs ( Artist Trading Cards). My first thought was "Huh?" But if you have never done something, then well...I guess even the smallest of things can be intimidating.

So lets review what the ATCs are and are for....in this project at least...an artist trading card is always 2.5 x 3.5 in size just like the average business card. And the original purpose was for Artists to be able to trade their art, they were really never meant to be sold like we see today on Ebay and ETSY etc...They can be produce or constructed however you choose, they are your art..so that means digitally, hand drawn, painted, collaged, whatever INSPIRES you...

In this swap we are producing 4 (four) ATCs for your partner. One to represent each of the four elements that we consider sacred in life and magic...So that would be one for Fire, Earth, Air and Water. BTW we will add spirit later.

These will be sent to your partner and will most likely be called upon later in the game.

The second part of this swap is to share with your partner on a 6 x 6 cardstock type paper one of your "magical" experiences with one of the elements ...your choice.

And then also on a 6 x 6 cardstock share a spell from yur grimore or Book of Shadows that deals with one of the elements...again your choice.

I had requested that these be hand written...well that is because I believe that handwriting has alot to do with intention and magic.... but because of the handwriting it may limit the amount of information you are able to share...because 6 x 6 is only so big and you want to decorate or embellish these pages as well. So this is a challenge, please dont put too many dimensional embellishments. Because later as you collect more and more of these pages. This project will end up becoming a magical grimore of its own. So the 6 x 6 is very important, we will be doing more of them in the future...Do not feel like you have to go overboard with information, as this developes it will become clearer to you what you are creating

Here is an example:

Ok Lets say I choose to share with you about an experience I had while burning a candle...Fire...I might say something like..

" My home fills with bliss and peace when I burn a pink candle annointed with johoba oil and blessed with prayers of peace and tranquility. You can feel the air change as the wax melts away."

Then I might decorate it with drawings of pink candles burning and roses or something on a pink background, looking tranquil and peaceful... Do what inspires you and is true to yur experiences.

Or I might write down the recipe for an aphrodisiac fruit salad that I have..."Earth" and share the story of something that occurred after serving it...PG of course....lol

The third part of this swap is similar to the second..We all need to choose a spell for our personal grimores/BOS and write that down on a 6 x 6 and decorate it as well. Does not mean you have done it, maybe you have, maybe you haven't, you might just be keeping it because you think you might need it later, or maybe you have done it, but it is not necessary to share the results unless you want to....If you have taken this from a published work please credit the creator/author and where you found it...and please associate it with one of the four elements as with the others.

And the fourth part of the swap..include something from one of the elements such as a crystal...earth, a candle...fire, maybe an oil, something that corresponds to one of the groups as a gift to your partner. Again pick something that is inspiring to you. It does not have to be suited to anyones profile...We may do a wishlist later..

I hope that this email has helped to make things a little clearer as we are moving closer to the signup deadline, again..please feel free to invite someone if you know them to be of a magical nature, and much Thanks to Dixie Witch for her referrals.

Also if you have an idea for the group and its development I definately have an open door policy and would love to hear them. Thanks again....Mariah

Thank you so much for the clarification. I was thinking that maybe we had to do these things for all four elements and not just pick one.

Mariah, thanks so much for inviting me.

"Secret society"-I love it! It seems adults leave behind such fun things when we grow up, our loss.

I'm working 60-70 hour weeks right now, so I hope I can get this all done in time. Hopefully my hours will drop soon, but I will do my best either way.

It sounds like a great swap. Serious, yet fun.

cerwinrhiannon

Hi I was reminded by one of our members that an ATC is the size of an average trading card, not a business card. Business cards are actually a little smaller thatn an ATC (my bad)Just remember 2.5 x 3.5...Thanks Cad Lady

And I am hopeful that a months time is plenty to get this together and out, if there are delays or problems just let me and your partner know. I am sure it will be OK as long as we communicate between ourselves..Thanks M

Merry Meet All, I was extended an invitation from Dixiewitch and I really loved the idea of a "secret" swap community, and hope that I will be welcomed to join. I think the outline of the swap sounds really wonderful! I personally keep a "scrapbook of shadows" so all of these sorts of things will incorporate really well with what I already have going. Bright Blessings ~Barefoot Gypsy

How is everyone doing on this? I have 3 of the 4 ATCs made, and the element item picked out.

cr

I have the 4 element ATC's made, the item picked out, and I'm working on the two 6x6's now :-)

I am working on the two 6x6 as well, and I have realized what a challenge I made it to hand write your information. But I came up with a solution to my problem, I hand wrote the information and then I made a envelope to go on the back of the piece, so now I can completely decorate the front the way I want to. I hope everything is coming along well for every one. Thanks Mariah.

My stuff has been sent and received already!!! Just looking forward to receiving from my partner!

Dixie, you're making the rest of us look bad ;>

I'm having the writing problem too, Mariah. And my writing gets even worse when I make it small. So I will have to write veeerry slowwwly.

Anyway, I could use some suggestions. My spell is to turn back evil directed toward you. I'm drawing impaired, so I don't know what kind of images would be appropriate to use in the margins. Any thoughts?

Thanks-cr

I thought of brooms, and maybe the sign against the evil eye?

cr

Right!! for protection there are a multitude of symbols and signs. The most famous I can think of is the eye or hand, both of these are historically noted. Good luck, Mikki...you are too on the ball for me!! Hopefully when your partner recieves their package they will post pictures here on this site. Did you post them on your flicker account? .... I am going to go take a peek now!! M

cerwinrhiannon, how about the image of mirrors, shields, a boomerang?

Thanks for the help!

I'm finished, but have misplaced the envelope with the first 3 ATCs. Not to worry though-I'm a busy and disorganized person (very bad combination), so this happens a lot and they will most likely turn up in a day or 2.

My partner will get five ATCs.. I did one for the spirit as well.

Everyone who sees it seems to want it.

BB!

-Phoenyx

Hi Phoenyx!! Well you must be Ms Super Intuitive, because the ATC for Spirit is one of the next Swaps....lol Keep your eyes peeled. Mariah

I still haven't found the envelope, so I'm going to try to make them over. From now on I'm going to make a copy of my ATCs!

Of course I found them 2 days after I had mailed out!

I'm very sad to get flaked on this swap, since it's the start of a series :<

I haven't received anything either. Cerwinrhiannon, do you want to do a private swap?