New Year Swapping in January 2014

I am sending out two swaps today. Both of them have double partners. The first is a location swap where traders pick a state or sometimes a country to represent on the ATC. I always choose Utah, where I have lived for43 years, if it hasn't been snapped up by another. New Mexico, where I lived from 1949 to 1960, would be my second choice; then California where I lived from 1960 to 1970. When I do a Utah location trade, I pick Delicate Arch as the theme. If I were to do New Mexico, I would build the card around the Saint Francis of Assisi Church in Rancho de Taos. I have done several art pieces on that subject. I don't know what I would choose for a theme if I did California; probably something around Huntington Beach, maybe the auditorium and tower at old Huntington Beach High School. Now there's a thought!
The second swap is a simple silhouette on a background. I used a silhouette of Delicate Arch on two backgrounds made from extra ATCs I made a few years ago.
Location ATC card:

I made three of these, so I could keep one for my collection. I haven't hiked up to the arch in many years. My knees won't let me walk that far up hill (coming down is even worse). I am glad I took a lot of pictures.

Silhouette card with the two backgrounds:

Here is what I usually glue on the backs of the ATCs. If I run out of the contact papers with this design, I will put an address sticker on the back with the title, number, and date.

The design is from the title page of an old biographical encyclopedia published in 1888. I bought the book almost 50 years ago at Acers of Books in Long Beach, CA, one of my favorite places to browse when I was a student at Long beach State. I bought many books there that are now over 150 years old.

I also decorated the envelopes for sending the swaps. Here are three of the front sides and two of the backs. The paper was stained with inks in my "secret" process. I like to outline things with black. It must be my expressionistic side.