And you, without question, know your first love is your last.

When Ria invited me to join a "Favorite Artist" post card swap, I jumped to say yes without an inkling of what I would create.

Then I started to panic.

I have a really hard time picking favorites.  Music has always played a huge role in my life and I have a million favorites.  How on earth could I select just one for a postcard?

After completely over thinking this for weeks, I decided to go back to my first and greatest love:  The Who.

As I contemplated my card, all I could picture was a silhouette of Pete Townshend's iconic "windmill" style of guitar playing.  How could I use this on a postcard when I really can't draw?

Clearly this was the perfect excuse to buy the heated stencil cutter I've been wanting:

I printed a picture from the internet, placed a transparency on top and traced Pete's outline.

The tool worked really well, even on all the little curvy parts.

I was positively giddy when I tested the stencil.

How awesome is that?

Here's my finished postcard - album covers in the background, the ubiquitous target symbol from their early years, white modeling paste pushed through another hand-carved stencil of the band's logo, and my beloved Pete stenciled over the top.

 This swap brought out my full-on, fan-girl geekiness.

It was incredibly satisfying.

 

I think Pete's going to find his way on to a lot of envelopes in the coming weeks.

I put him to good use on the envelope I sent to Ria.

'nuff said.