"Can We Go Play Now?" ATC

 Hello!

I recently joined an ATC group on Facebook and in an effort to awaken The Muse posted a tic-tac-toe challenge (pick 3 prompts in a row).  I opted for "metal", "stamped image", and "vintage".

The look on their faces makes me chuckle.  I almost opted for the title, "My Dad Can Beat Up Your Dad."  I remember the boy across the street and I would get into an argument while playing and run to our own driveway and yell that to each other.  LOL...kids.  I digress...

The metal bits on this are the colored metal tape (hardware store item) and gold wire behind the girls.  I put the tape on a piece of cardstock, embossed it and then dabbed alcohol inks over it.  I decided to try ripping it since I'd never tried that before.  It worked!

The stamped images are those little circly bits that I stamped on purple tissue paper.  Glued that onto a piece of corrugated cardstock I found in my stash (the lighter purple).

The girls are vintage-y and come from the Tim Holtz paper dolls pack.

Bada bing, bada boom...challenge done!  Thanks for stopping by.

She is a Dreamer of Dreams ATC

Good morning!  So far 2019 has been a decently creative year.  I've been getting back into trading ATCs and making cards.  On my desk is a stack of papers ready to be turned into a Valentines Day mini album.  Now, it's been a REALLY long time since I've made a mini album; hopefully The Muse cooperates. 

But that's for another day.  Today my share is an ATC for a paper doll themed swap.  I love these Tim Holtz paper dolls. There's great variety in the pack.  Here she is...my little dreamer.

I started with gesso'd Bristol paper and then added some embossing paste through a stencil.  After that came some painting with glimmer mist, some splatters, digging into the stash of ancient patterned papers and a smidge of Distress ink...

I tried to capture some of the glimmery bits in the picture below.  I used both Winter Copper and Olive Vine - nice vintage-y colors.

Now it's sitting on my desk waiting to be shipped off.  What's on your desk today?

Shabby Chic ATCs

It's been a while since I"ve wandered into the world of shabby chic.  It is the theme of one of my swapping groups this month though so here goes...

I started by covering the bases with a dictionary page.  Next came some modeling paste, die cut swirls and a doily.  I covered everything with some watered down white acrylic paint.  From that point they diverged.

This first one came together quickly.  The green leafy piece had been sitting on my desk for several weeks and I thought it looked nice against the pink background.  I must have stamped the ruler piece on white paper months ago.  It was also in a pile.  First I just rubbed on some brown ink (the same as is on the edges) and then I thought of vintagey measuring tape and decided I should add some yellow to it.  I like the way it turned out.  I always forget I've got the Tim Holtz rub-ons but I happened to glance over at them and they were perfect to balance out the bottom part.

The second one I struggled with a bit.  I love the laurel wreath die and thought I would be using it with the bee that comes with it.  It just wasn't working for me though. I sprinkled on dots of Perfect Pearl Mist and some white paint and then let it sit there for a while so I could figure out what to do next. Tim Holtz products to the rescue again.  I remembered I had the silhouettes tucked away...somewhere (took me a while to track them down.  Time for a studio cleaning spree!).

One of the cool things about these cards is that they came about organically.  I mostly used stuff that had been sitting on my desk for a while.

The dictionary pages were leftovers from some gelli printing the night before.  The ruler, die cut swirls and leafy sprig were sitting in a pile on the desk for weeks.  I almost threw them away so many times.  (See, honey.  There's a good reason for me to 'hoard' all this stuff!).

Successful day.  :)

Checking a Project Off the To-Do List

That is such a great feeling, isn't it?  I've had a massive swap that I'd been putting off completing.  As the deadline neared though I got my gears going and finished them up.  25 ATCs later I'm ready to pack these babies up and send them on their way.

This was a PAT (Pick-a-Theme) swap and each card had to be different.  Here are some of my faves.

I like the texture on this guy.  I used glass bead gel and cheesecloth behind the seahorse.  The background stamp is one of my faves too, but I hardly ever use it.

This just makes me laugh. The theme is 'Bud Light'.

I was in a couple of vintage-themed groups and had fun browsing for images.

Ha ha!  Can't you just imagine these two dissing their fellow tea party attendees?  (The theme is 'tea' for this one.)

I pulled the pattern and images from the internet but I swear one of my older sisters made this dress for a high school dance.

I don't usually do frilly and sweet so this was a tricky one for me.

The theme for this was vintage kitchen/newlywed bloopers.  I think this works.

That's it for today.  I'll probably share some more faves in the next day or so.  Happy Valentines' Day!

A Smattering of ATCs

My muse has really been making me work lately - she's been no help at all.  I struggled mightily to come up with cards for my mixed media group themes - arrows and metallic/vintage/embossed.  While I've looked longlingly at several challenges the past couple of weeks I just haven't gotten the mojo going to participate.  Hopefully SOON.

I finally came up with these for the arrows theme:

I started with a base of crumpled tissue paper which I painted over with Distress paints.  I stenciled arrows over the top and then left them sitting there for two days.  Finally I pulled out some Tim Holtz masks (remember those??) and used Cupid with some black acrylic over the top.  They sat for a couple more days... Embossing paste was next (through a stencil) and then I painted over the pasty hearts with some Dylusions.  Eh...they're alright, but I keep thinking I missed something.

The next theme was to use embossing, vintage and metal on ATCs.  Easy, right?  It should be! I finally came up with these:

It is a little funny to me that my projects rarely turn out the way I initially envision them.  I never had a butterfly in mind when I made the gear background for instance.  I do love how the butterfly turned out though.

So that's it.  If you've been wondering where I've been you now know that I was sitting in my creative space willing myself to be creative.  ;)

Cheers!

ATC Newbie

I mentioned a while back that I've rediscovered swaps.  The thing I like about them is that not only do I get to try new techniques on a small scale but I also get to see what other creative types are doing.  I'm giving ATC's a whirl now.  If you're not familiar with them, ATC is short for Artist Trading Cards.  They have to be 2 1/2" x 3 1/2" but other than that the sky is the limit.  They can be made from any material and can be embellished as much or as little as the artist chooses.  Typically on the back the artist gives the card a title then signs and dates it.  The ones I've created were made for an SCS swap where the receiver picked the theme.

Title: Saddle Up
Theme: Colors - light blue, navy and silver

Title:  Big Fish, Little Fish
Theme: Vintage Sea Creatures

Title:  Naughty Spot
Theme: Vintage Dick & Jane

Title: Les Petites Chaussures
Theme: Vintage Shoes

I still have four more to make so back to work for moi.  Thanks for stopping by today!