Darkroom Door ATC Swap - Tied Up With String

The Darkroom Door ATC swap for February was themed "Tied Up With String" and we were to use string somehow in our ATCs.  I wanted to do a Valentine theme, so a cut some hearts from very thin chipboard and colored them with Neocolors.  I stamped the sentiment on the margins of some vintage sheet music, tore it out, and attached it to my hearts.  On the background I used a stamp from Art De Fleur Vol 2 (in brown) and the Flourish texture stamp (in blue).  I punched holes in the heart and the background and threaded some twine through in cross stitches.

Here they are all packaged up and ready for their journey...

Darkroom Door ATC Swap - Summer Lovin'

A new year of ATC swaps has begun at Darkroom Door, and this month's theme is Summer Lovin'.  As an antipodal swapper, I had fun with this one, since there is a snow-and-ice-covered landscape out my own window!

I used Darkroom Door's Seaside Vol 1 stamp set.  I watercolored the lighthouse background, and used Neocolors on the starfish and sand dollar. The seashell is colored with Copics.  A bit of distress-sprayed cheesecloth and a little photo from Darkroom Door's Seaside paper collection finish it off.

All ready to go.

Darkroom Door Neon/Fluoro ATC Swap

My ATCs for Darkroom Door's ATC Swap for August, which is to use Neon/Fluoro colors.  I used the Art de Fleur Vol 2 set for the feature image and tag, and the Roses Photo Stamp for the background.  Lots of the brightest Distress Inks and some Copic markers to define the edges.  Plus a little glittery sparkle for good measure.

RedLead Pocket Letter Swap Details

Back again with some details about my RedLead Seaside Summer Pocket Letter Art Swap.  The letter required three ATCs using RedLead stamps and/or collage images.  I chose to use two collage seashell stamps for two of my ATCs...

For the starfish collage I embossed in white over an alcohol ink background, then glued gold micro beads into the starfish shape. I stamped the image again on vintage text and cut out the starfish definition. The tiny starfish charm was from Alpha Stamps.

I used a similar technique for the seashell collage, then colored the text side with chalks and colored pencils. Added some wire and iridescent beads for accent.

The third ATC uses Stars of the Sea Ticket stamps, stamped on vintage text and colored with Copics (the text did better with the Copics than I had anticipated). The music was from another stamp set (Bird Watch). I also added some "raindrops", cheesecloth, micro beads, and a tiny shell charm.

The remainder of the pockets could be anything, really, but the guidelines suggested die cuts, ephemera, photos, a bit about ourselves, stamped art, etc. I did a little greeting and a short chat about myself inside a bifold ATC:

I used some Darkroom Door montage images and stamped images to fill in the glittery diecut.

I included another collage-style ATC using a free image from the RedLead website.....

And filled the rest of the pockets with goodies.... seam binding in seaside colors wrapped around a misted and stenciled tag, a set of diecut sanddollars and starfish with cut out words and cheesecloth inside a pocket with another collaged tag, some vintage clip art that I downloaded from The Graphics Fairy and resized to ATC size and altered a bit, and finally a vintage "Ocean Pearl" mother-of-pearl button card.  Oh and one more ATC from a while ago...

This swap was so much fun!  I can't wait to see what the others have done. 

RedLead Seaside Summer Pocket Letter Art Swap

I'm participating in the Red Lead Paperworks art swap for July/August, which is Pocket Letters.  This is the first pocket letter I've ever done, and I'm totally hooked!  You use a trading card sleeve and fill it with ATCs, tags, ephemera, crafty supplies, a letter to the recipient... pretty much anything goes.  The theme was seaside summer, which I love!   The three ATCs in the center row all use Red Lead art stamps.  I'll have more pics of the individual components when the sun cooperates for me.

Darkroom Door ATC Swap - Texture Stamps

The theme for the July Darkroom Door ATC swap is to use their Texture Stamps in some way on your ATCs.  I've used the Flourish stamp in my background, embossed in Ranger espresso powder.  I've added a stamped flower from Art De Fleur Vol. 2, along with small images from the Art De Fleur montage collection.  I added some more texture with cheesecloth, cardboard, and rock candy crackle on the montage images.  Lastly I snipped some flower quotes from a variety of old text pages.

Here they are ready to go - all the way to Australia!

A Chunky London Telegraph ATC

There's something about a chunky ATC that just makes me think "steampunk."  I guess it's because they're sturdy enough to hold all of the wonderful steampunk ephemera you can think of.  This little creation features Oxford Impressions' new London Telegraph plate.  I started out by painting the block brown and letting it dry.  I used an anti-static bag over the face of the block, then embossed the background image in white (with ultra fine embossing powder to capture some of the details, like the watchmaker's sign and buildings on the skyline).  I stamped and cut out the man with the hat, then cut his hat in half and hinged it with a brad, so that I could have the word banner coming out of his head.  The stamps on the side are from the same stamp plate.  After finishing the other sides, I glued on lots of fun hardware (using extra heavy gel medium - you don't even have to hold it in place, it's thick enough to hold everything together while it drys).

I have a few more chunky ATCs, and I'm itching to make a Valentine's theme.  Ya know, someday when I have that elusive "extra time."  ;)

A Rogue Mardi Gras Triptych

An ATC trio of sorts, this little set of Mardi Gras madness features the newest stamp set from Rogue Redhead Designs - Carnival Dreams.  I was going for a worn, washed look with these, so I started out by stamping the images on patterned paper with a faint vintage text print.  The first layer of color was done using colored pencils, mainly in shades of green, purple, and gold - the colors of Mardi Gras.  I wanted to keep a certain translucency to the coloring, so that you would still see the background (kind of like a fresco that had faded, showing the colors and textures of the plaster and stone beneath it, if that makes any sense to anyone but me, LOL!)  I kept adding layers of color, outlining the main couple in the center to make the image pop.  I then added in Distress Inks in Peeled Paint, Shabby Shutters, Seedless Preserves, and Concord Grape.  I finished the trio off with some dresden gold elements and a bit of fiber and ribbon.  Here's a closer look at each panel:

Rogue Redhead Rebel Challenge #3

Hello lovelies, I've finally gotten some time to play!  As some of you know, my kids go to a year-round school, and they have been tracked out for the last week..... you'll note, I haven't crafted in a week.  Coincidence?  I think not!  Anyway, I decided to play along with the Rebel Challenge over at Rogue Redhead Designs.  This time, the challenge is to "Think Outside the ATC."  We are to let some feature of our ATC break out of the 2.5 x 3.5 inch boundary. 

For my ATC, I used some Prima paper and the lovely little swinging children from the Relish Reading plate.  Colored them with Copics and let them "swing" from a diecut branch.  My "outside" element is the sun, which is an image from the Floriculture plate, punched out with a Martha Stewart punch that fits it perfectly.

I hope you'll have time to play along with Rebel Challenge #3.  You have until October 9th to link up your creation, you can use any products you'd like (you don't have to use Rogue Redhead stamps, but we'd love it if you have some!), and.... one lucky participant will win a $15.00 US voucher at the RRD Etsy store!  Oh yeah, some of this vintage goodness could be yours. Sounds fun, eh?  :)

(P.S..... special thanks to Linda of My Happy Place... I borrowed the cute little easel she sent me that usually holds her beautiful mini canvas on my desk.... it's perfect for taking photos of ATCs!  Thanks, Linda x!)

We Will Never Forget

I See the Moon.....

...and the Moon Sees Me

God Bless the Moon and 

God Bless Me!

Our ATC group is swapping Nursery Rhyme ATCs tonight, so I thought I'd go with something short and sweet and oh-so-comforting.  I started by stamping the girl image (from Crafty Secrets' Sweet Kids set) and the moon (called Senor Luna, a lovely little freebie tucked in with my Third Coast Rubber Stamps order).  I then masked them off and added a background using Distress Inks (Chipped Sapphire, Dusty Concord, Mustard Seed).  I colored the images with Copics and added a touch of sparkle to the hearts with Stickles.  I computer-generated the text and printed it onto Papertrey Ink's white sticky back paper, colored it with Distress Inks (Wild Honey and Mustard Seed), cut the lines of text into strips, then cut off the words as I peeled them off the backing paper.  I added a little Distress Stickles around the edge of this panel, then mounted the whole thing onto some pretty, nighttime-sky-looking patterned paper.  These sweet images were so much fun to play with.

Can't wait to see what the ladies have for us tonight.  If I think of it, I'll ask them if they mind if I post everyone's ATCs..... I always want to, but then I always forget to ask permission..... old noggin isn't what it used to be, LOL!

Beachy ATCs

A quick little post today, with some ATCs that I made with a gorgeous plate from I Brake For Stamps, called Beach Memoirs.  I had this set on my wishlist forever, then was lucky enough to win Blog Candy from sweet Della (thank you Della!!!).  I was thrilled to play with these stamps when they arrived.  For the backgrounds I used Glimmer Mists and a Tim Holtz compass rose mask.  I added a little tea-stained cheesecloth, and some punched sand dollars and starfish (Martha's). Nothing too fancy, just letting the stamps do the talkin'.

Happy Canada Day to all our Northern friends!

Vintage Fairy ATC

A little ATC project I've been working on... All of the stamped images (except the script) are Oxford Impressions - the fairy and the stars are from the Fairy Sweets set, and the flower swag (lovin' that little thing!!) is from The Fairest Flower set.  I just adore this little girl image.... colored her with Copics, as well as the Prima flower, and added a little glitteryness (hmmm.... computer says that's not a word - what does it know of crafting??).  The identification card and the air mail thingy are free ephemera images from Just Something I Made.

Hope you're all having a great Wednesday... my kids get out of school early on "Wacky Wednesdays" - so I'd better get crafting! ;)

Fairy ATC

A quick little post today.... I've made these little Artistic Outpost girls into fairies again, this time for our ATC club, where the theme was "Green." It was left open to interpretation whether this meant the color, or the whole "recycling" idea, so I did some of both.  The wings are clipart from Dover, with some Rock Candy Stickles that don't show up in the photo (of course!).  The background is a botanical that I sprayed with Glimmer Mist, and adhered to some old French text.  There's a little of 7 Gypsies' gaffer tape across the bottom.  Then I searched through a falling-apart edition of Little Women to find phrases that I could use with these gals.... this one was my favorite!  Hope you're having a great Monday!

Victorian ATCs

 

Some Victorian ATCs for my swap club.  The little children are all from a sheet of scrap that I had purchased years ago.  The background papers are from Webster's Pages and 7Gypsies.  We're bracing for a "major" winter storm to come through central North Carolina ("major" for us.... barely a sneeze for all you far northern folks)... but they tell us we are likely to lose power.  So..... if you don't see any new posts from me for a few days, that's why!!  Hopefully I'll get some time to craft in the daylight hours. :)  For all of you who have already experienced this storm sweeping the country - stay warm!! :)

Witches Brew ATC

A witchy little ATC for the Wednesday Stamper challenge, which this week is Halloween.  I need to make a batch of Halloween ATCs for my swap next week, so this is one of the things I might work up.  The witch image is by Crafty Secrets, and the "moon" is from NASA.  The stamps are Stampin' Up! and Little Yellow Bicycle.  Vintage German text in the background.

TMTA Architecture

It's been a while since I've participated in an ATC challenge, so since this is a lazy holiday Monday, I thought it was time. I made this ATC for the Think Monday, Think ATC challenge, which is architecture. The Venezia and Di Vinci stamps are from Stampington, the Corinthian column from Inkadinkado, and the Timeless from JustRite. I used a bunch of Distress Inks and StazOn on glossy, matte, and metallic papers for the backgrounds. The writing is on a blank page from a vintage textbook. Thanks for looking!

Vintage Bluebird ATCs

A tiny little piece for you today. I was making my ATCs yesterday for my club swap tonight and wanted to go vintage and blue. Our "theme" was to use paint somewhere on our cards, so here's what I did. I covered a piece of cardstock entirely with Ranger's Distress Crackle Paint in Picket Fence, and set it aside to let it dry. Now, if you try this, DON'T BE ALARMED when you come back and find your cardstock all curled up! It's okay - this paint is wonderfully bendable when dry, and won't flake off no matter how much you bend it to make it flat. I cut out a bunch of ovals using my old Creative Memories oval cutters. After that, I stamped the Tree Swallows Silhouette image from Cornish Heritage Farms with StazOn ink in Midnight Blue. (Okay, so technically they're not bluebirds, but if I stamp them in blue and call them bluebirds, then they're bluebirds! Right? Right? LOL!) I then distressed the image with Ranger Distress Inks in Antique Linen and Faded Jeans. For the card base, I used some Bazzill cardstock, some beautiful K and Company patterned paper from the Blue Awning line, and some pages from a vintage French school reader that I found in an antique store. I adhered the image, then had a little fun with some copper embossing powder. I took my Versamark pen and dabbled the edges of the card, then heat embossed with the copper. I was going for a worn gilded look.

Something was missing, though. I slept on it, waiting for inspiration to strike. Luckily, I got up this morning and saw Julia's Ways to Use It Challenge over on SCS. It came to me....add MORE vintage ephemera!! So I got out my vintage buttons and some tiny, rusted vintage keys (plus some newer key charms), and tied them on with some hemp cord. I think that's just what they needed. A tiny dot of K and Company craft glue keeps that knot from untying. I hope the ladies in my group like it tonight. :) Have a wonderful day!

The Birds and the Bees ATCs

Our local ATC club is meeting this week, and our theme was "Idioms." I have lots of bird and bee stamps, hence my idea for my cards. I realized after I had finished that one of my stamps that I used is in itself another idiom, "You make my heart sing!" So it's a two-for-one, I guess, LOL!!

I used German scrap for the main bird image. The stamps sets I used were Sweet Bee from Cornish Heritage Farms' The Rummage Bin, Bird Notes (Medium) from Crafty Secrets, and Bloomin' Beautiful from Stampin' Up. I colored in the images using Copics and a white Souffle pen (for the pussy willows and the bees' wings). The background paper is from Basic Grey's Porcelain collection, and the card base is SU!'s Kiwi Kiss. This project was so much fun!! I highly recommend this theme for all of you who have a regular swap club... you can find sites with tons of idioms just by Googling 'idioms.'

Thanks for looking and have a great day!!

TMTA Green Woman ATC

Perhaps you've heard of the Green Man, a mythical leafy creature born of the foliage? Or perhaps not! It was the theme for our local ATC swap, and it was one of those that was "love it" or "hate it" amongst our members (tee hee). I was on the "love it" side, mainly because I tweaked it to be able to use one of my favorite portrait stamps.... Stampington's Botanical Countess by Sandra Evertson. This also fits in with Think Monday, Think ATC's challenge, which is 'look into a face'. To me, this delightful lady looks perplexed by the fact that foliage has sprung up out of her! LOL! What a face! I used a mix of alcohol inks on glossy cardstock, blotted and stamped with leaf stamps, then stamped the countess with StazOn. I added a tiny copper dragonfly, and, in order to tweak it to fit the club's theme, I added the words "Behind every green man is a green woman." Hope that counts :) TFL!