From Cindi Bessent

'Wedding Chapel' by Cindi Bessent

Wendy sent me this gorgeous pen & wash postcard of a wedding chapel on Elkton Main Street.

Apparently Elkton was once known as the wedding capital of the East because of it's short waiting time of just 48 hours. In 1936 Elkton issued 11,791 marriage licenses and chapels lined Main Street. This is the last remining one.

It was such a wonderful bonus to have this snippet of history included with such a lovely painting.

Thank you Cindi.

To Margaret Hunt

Margaret sent me the most beautiful fabric postcard, hand stitched from back to front with tender care. My Dad does all my sewing, so a similar creation in reply was going to be a little difficult!
Then I remembered the quilt I sketched, from imagination, back in October 2007 and realised I could send Margaret my very own 'handstitched' postcard using a pen and a little coloured pencil.
Above is the result. A magical, imagination quilt that can take you anywhere you wish to be with one simple hug.

Enjoy Margaret!

From Margaret Hunt

This beautiful card arrived this morning from Margaret, completely covered in fabric and deep, luscious red!

It is just gorgeous Margaret, thank you so much!

To Lyn Feudner

'Sunset' by Anita Davies

It has taken me a while to create a reply card for Lyn, I had planned to return a landscaped sunset of my own to her but the weather has made it difficult, if not impossible.

Then today, while playing with a new idea in my sketchbooks, I finally came up with a compromise...My interpretation of a sunset in the female form.

I'll post it after the Easter break, hope you like it Lyn!

To Leslie Brasher

'Fresh & Juicy' by Anita Davies

When Leslie's card arrived the first word that popped into my mind was 'FRESH'.
As I caught sight of the fruit bowl, while watching a film with my youngest this weekend, the same thought passed through my mind and immediately knew what my subject would be for her reply. These pears looked so fresh and juicy that I couldn't wait to finish my painting so I could ravish one!

I used gouache in this piece with a flat brush and challenged myself to create a watercolour effect with them, working quickly and with very little preliminary pencil sketch.

I'm pleased with the result, hope you enjoy them Leslie.

From Leslie Brasher

Daffodils by Leslie Brasher

This beautiful, uplifting card arrived from Leslie this morning complete with cute little lady bugs surrounding it and crawling all over the reverse side. She folded it like a card, so I now have it siting proudly next to my jug of daffs on my sideboard.

I love it Leslie, thank you so much!

To Meinhild Selbach

'Afternoon Cuppa' by Anita Davies

Meinhild was very brave and used coffee to paint my postcard, so I decided I'd be brave too! I've used Sharpies for the whole piece here, first time I've done that and only my 2nd time using Sharpies at all.

I also decided to keep coffee in the theme and sketched my afternoon cuppa, complete with Lamy pen and Canson sketchbook.

Hope you like it Meinhild!

From Lyn Feudner

by Lyn Feudner

This wonderful sunset arrived from Lyn.

Lyn chose the scene after reading my column on The Fens and realised she too shared in the luxury of a huge sky and long vision, as well as many animal visitors.

I love it Lyn, Thank you!

From Meinhild Selbach

Meinhild's postcard(s) arrived and they are painted with COFFEE!
Not only are they painted in my favourite beverage but, just as I thought I might be tempted to lick them I realised Meinhild had attached my very own cuppa to the back of one.
How thoughtful is that?
It tasted wonderful, thank you so much!

I love the postcards, so personal and so very original, a truly unique addition to my growing collection.

To Menekse Guven

'Doddington Church' by Anita Davies

Menekse braved the outdoors through strong winds to send me a beautiful plein air, I wasn't as brave.

I did produce a plein air, of sorts, but I took refuge in my nice warm truck to sketch our local village church this morning after dropping Harry at school.

Hope you like it Menekse, I'll be popping it in the post in the morning!