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Sunday, October 27, 2013

Life on Hold

No, not really anything dramatic, but I'm still focusing on my ATC's.  :)  Without further ado, here's my latest batch...

These three sets were for a pink-themed swap.  
ATC Titles: Let it Snow!, Bla Bla Bla, The  Butterfly
Title: Le Fleur
Title: Pink

Witch Shoes? was for a Halloween-themed swap using the colors Purple, Green & Orange.
Title: Witch Shoes?
These next three were outside the box for me.  The swap theme was Postage Stamp People.  I've never tried anything like this before but these ended up being a lot of fun to make.
Title: She Had a Taste for Adventure


Title: Verdi Was Hungry
 This one has silver tape around the edges but the lighting was goofy.

Title: We Could Have Danced All Night (I had this song stuck in my head all day after making this.)
My last offering for today is an ATC I made for a colored book page themed swap.  The criteria was to select a word/words and then surround them with the color green.  The page I chose was from an old Frog & Toad childrens' book.
Title: The Meadow




Thanks for stopping by today.

Sunday, October 20, 2013

Long time, no post!

I'm still here, I swear.  However, I'm still deep in the midst of my feverish ATC-making.  These little dudes are FUN to make.  Perhaps it's my need for immediate gratification, but I love working on these mini canvases.  Here's the latest installment...

 I don't claim to be an artist-artist AT ALL.  This was my attempt at capturing a photo in watercolors.  They eyes on this guy kind of freak me out.  Hope it didn't freak out the recipient too much.  I made this for her because she's totally into her dogs and likes the color purple.

 This one and the next were made for a swap with the theme "Something Orange".  The first one is inspired by the movie "A Clockwork Orange".  Talk about a trippy flick.
 I've got a nice little stash of googly eyes and quite the affinity for Halloween.  That's where this little dude came from.  Kind of have a fun, not-too-spooky, candy corn thing going on here.

 I made this one for a collector of sea life ATCs.  Again, my artistic talents are, uh, well let's say they're evolving, shall we?  What I especially like about this one is the shiny bits; they're from a gum wrapper that I insisted on keeping in spite of my family's protests.  :)

 My Strolling Seattle ATCs...the left one was for a Purple & Green swap where the recipient also liked umbrellas.  Unable to help myself I dug into my paper scraps and cut a few more umbrellas...
 La Calavera ATC.  Once up on a time my beloved and I were in Mexico sitting at a little outdoor cafe probably imbibing in a Corona or two.  A little boy came up to me and pointed at my shirt.  "Calaveras!  Calaveras!"  I was wearing a T-shirt that had dancing skeletons on it (I wonder whatever happened to that shirt.  It was really pretty cool).  This little guy was fascinated with my shirt and we ran into him a few more times.  Each time he would mention the calaveras.  I'm pretty sure he wasn't indicating that we were skeletal-like, but maybe I"m wrong.  I made this ATC for a Day of the Dead swap, which had nothing whatsoever to do with my story, but that's what I think of when I see this picture.
 Good ol' Warshington.  This ATC (I actually made 4 of them) was for a 50 state swap.  This is an ongoing swap and I'm hoping, at some point, to collect all the states.  That would be kinda cool to go along with my State Quarters collection.  (Yes.  I'm a little geeky at times.)
 I needed an extra ATC to swap with somebody.  She likes flowers and bright colors.  That's where this came from.  The stamp I used always reminds me of dandelions.  My daughter thinks I'm nuts. 
 These are for a Thanksgiving/Thankful swap.  I am most certainly thankful for all of these things.

Almost done!  Hang in there!  These last two are for a Book Page swap.  The background on both of these is from a book written in Japanese.

 This is not exactly what I had envisioned when I started.  I do really like the texture on it though.
This one was a bear.  I kept feeling like it needed something more.  I still think there's something missing on it, but for the life of me I don't know what I'd add.  Suggestions?

Are you still here?  Thanks for hanging in there.  What do you think of my ATC's?

Saturday, October 5, 2013

Garden ATC

Yesterday, I was invited to do a personal swap on SwapBot with a garden theme.  I woke up early this morning with a frenzy of ideas floating around my brain.  Had to get right to work before I lost it.

The Garden Artist ATC

I love the quote by Oscar de la Renta.  It seemed perfect for my swapping partner who is not only a gardener but a creator of some great looking art as well.

I knew I wanted multiple layers in greens.  The base is patterend paper that has a repeated pattern of lettuce in olive green.  Next came stencils: green dots (Distress paint), numbers (Distress ink), diamonds (Distress ink).  I'm going through a bit of a shiny phase and couldn't resist rubbing some green Stickles over the whole thing.

The flower was created using colored strips of a dictionary page which I glued onto cardstock.  Originally they were a blue, pink, purple mix but the color was too light so I added purple over the whole thing.  I held back and only applied a dab of purple Stickles on a the smaller flower dots.



On a slightly different note, total rookie maneuver yesterday.  I made a bunch of ATCs for a big swap and forgot to take pictures.  Totally bummed as I know I'll forget what I did later and they were all totally different.  C'est la vie...live and learn...yada yada yada.  But here are some that I haven't shared yet here.
Alone in The City ATC

Anonymous ATC

City Lights ATC

The Concrete Jungle ATC

Learn to Surf ATC

Call it Art ATC

Mushroom Mishap ATC
Boil & Bubble ATC (for Glittery Halloween swap)
Okay.  Time to step away from 2 1/2" x 3 1/2" pieces of paper.  My house is a mess.  My children barely recognize this crazed person with bits of glitter in her hair and ink-stained fingers. 

Thanks for stopping by today!