Mermaid Artist Trading Cards

I decided to try a few different things to make the Artist Trading Card for my swap group last month.  The theme was "Alliteration" and I didn't have any brilliant ideas to suit the theme.  I fell back on an old tongue twister, "She sells sea shells, down by the seashore."  (Yes, I know that it isn't fully alliterative...)

I found this lovely mermaid image in one of the free weekly Dover Publishing sampler collections.  (I highly recommend signing up for their emails).  I added a border and the phrase with a pink glow using the StoryBook Creator 4.0 software.  I sized the image at 2 1/4 x 3 1/4 inches so it could be placed on top of the standard 2 1/2 x 3 1/2 ATC card with a small border.  I printed out a sheet of images on matte photo paper using my home printer.

I wanted to create a shimmery effect over the entire card so I first tried some kaleidoscope embossing powder.  I didn't care for the result (I must have really disliked it since I didn't take a photo of it!).  To cover the entire front of the card, I applied Versamark embossing ink and sprinkled the powder all over the surface.  To make the card easier to handle, I adhered the card to a scrap piece of watercolor paper (you can see it to the right of the card in the photo).  This helps to keep my fingers away from the heat.

Since the kaleidoscope powder looked odd, I changed my mind and tried to make the card look slick like water.  I had some UTEE (ultra thick embossing enamel) on hand so I started over with that.  You can see in this photo how the grains are larger than those in regular embossing powder.

I took several tries to practice the technique and get smooth, shiny tops on all of the images.  You need to do at least two coats to get rid of any bumps.  The paper did curl up a bit when the cards cooled.

For the base cards, I used watercolor paper.  I sprayed it lightly with glimmer mist and then inked the edges with distress ink.  I did enough pieces to make the cards a double thickness to try to keep the enameled top image flat.

I adhered the enameled image to one layer of the inked watercolor paper.  You can see that there was still a slight curl.  When I added the back piece the cards flattened out even more.  To "train" them to stay flat, I put them under a heavy stack of magazines overnight.  This seemed to do the trick (I hope they don't curl up again before my trading partners receive them!).

It was a small group this time so I only made five cards.  The three layers and the overnight "pressing" seemed to work to create a nice thick and flat card.

I wanted to do something a bit different for the signature information on the backs.  I cut out some shells (from the Dreams Come True Cricut cartridge) and sprayed and inked them.  Then I wrote all of the details with a gold pen.

The final step was to adhere all of the shells to the backs of the cards.  I couldn't really capture the shine of the mist but they do look very pretty when they shimmer in the light.

We've tackled and completed two of the projects my sister had on her list.  I've got one more day to finish another project to send along for my soon-to-be-born great-niece!  When I get home, I'll try to get the simple scrapbook page challenge set up - I may even be able to find a few prizes to keep everyone motivated!

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Artist Trading Cards - Love

The February theme for my Artist Trading Card (ATC) group was "Love."  Sometimes when the theme is very broad it takes me longer to decide what to do - there are so many possibilities!   (Remember, the only rule for ATCs is that they must be 2 1/2 x 3 1/2 inches - the rest is up to you).

I decided I wanted to use some washi tape on my ATCs.  The hearts were an obvious choice and I added the red with the rows of dots and some elegant black and white damask tape.  This black and white tape was a gift from Tatum, who is a friend of Mandy at Scrappy-go-Lucky.  Tatum has started designing washi tape and selling it on her website Sawyer's Place (www.sawyersplace.com).  I'll be sharing more projects using her custom tape designs soon.

I added the three tapes to the base card with a ragged edge at the bottom - I tried to line up the torn edges to look like the tapes had been torn together (some worked out better than others!).

I knew that I wanted to use the idea of "falling" in love so I added three white hearts, which were actually the "leftovers" from this card design (click the image if you missed the post with these cards).

I wanted to add some texture to the card, so I punched some small hearts with a Martha Stewart border punch and cut the word "you" with the die from the Cuttlebug "Love Language" combo set.

I added the red heart and the fuzzy "you" in the white area at the bottom of the card.  Now all I needed to do was to add my phrase.

I typed the words "falling in love with" and printed them out on white paper.  I capitalized "LOVE" and made it red.  It is quite a challenge to keep track of the tiny bits of paper until they are adhered to the cards!

Here is my finished ATC.  They each look a little different since the pieces are so fiddly to work with - but that's fine.

I added one more tiny little red heart in the center of the back where all of the information identifying the card is added.

Here are all seven cards, just before I mailed six of them off to be swapped.

Today is the first full day of the conference and I expect it will be non-stop activity. 


I remember asking if some of you would like to participate in a "virtual" ATC swap - where you create an ATC based on a theme and upload your finished card to share with other blog readers.  I think I'll post the challenge shortly after I return from Nashville.  It will be fun to see what everyone creates (and much easier to do only one for the challenge instead of mailing out groups of cards).


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Snowmen Artist Trading Cards

The theme for December in my Artist Trading Card group was "snowmen."  I always think that ATCs should be, well, sort of "arty" rather than cute but mine don't always turn out that way.  There are so many cute snowmen cuts that I decided to just go with a lighthearted take on the subject.

This little fellow is from the 'Tis the Season cartridge.  Since ATCs are only 2 1/2 x 3 1/2 inches, I cut him at 2 inches.  This size worked out nicely for my card.

 

The snowman image is on the bottom row, fourth from the left and you use the regular and shift of the base and the layer1 keys.

There are four simple layers to assemble.  This image has the "reverse" style of layering so you don't have a lot of tiny eyes and buttons to glue to the snowman. 

I put together one card and then did the rest assembly line style.  There were only six in the swap this month so it was pretty quick and easy to assemble the figures.  The only small pieces are the scart (which is still large enough to handle easily) and the nose.

 I wasn't sure about having a hot pink scarf and nose but it ended up looking rather cute.  The nose and scarf were cut from the DCWV Dazzle cardstock, the two snowman layers are Core'dinations regular color core in dark green and gemstone for the white, snow layer.

The card base is a Martha Stewart heavyweight cardstock and the layers are Christmas papers from K and Company.  The "snow" border was punched with a Martha Stewart edge punch.

Here are the punches that I used.  I punched the edge of the 1 1/4 inch strip at the bottom of the card with the punch on the right and then trimmed the edges to fit the width of the layer.

I used the little snowman punch for the back of the ATC.  I often do the backs digitally, however, with only six in the group it didn't take too long to hand write the required information.

When I assembled the cards, I did not put adhesive along the top of the border punched strip.  This made a little spot to nestle the snowman in between the two snowflakes.

Here are all of the cards ready for mailing.

I turned the cards sideways to add all of the details on the back.  The little punched snowmen make it a bit less boring!

This little snowman is very cute but there are lots of snowmen that would work if you don't have this cartridge.  The 'Tis the Season cartridge does have a lot of great images and word art for the holidays.  If you are interested in this cartridge and you don't already have a CM consultant, I'd be happy to help you with your order.  You can place an order at any time on my CM personal website HERE.

We have several events to attend this weekend - and still more decorating, shopping, wrapping, etc. etc. to do.  The live tree is here but not yet up in the stand in the sunroom.  I hope that by the end of the weekend most of the holiday transformation of the house will be done.  I also have some new items that I ordered that I am eager to try - maybe I can squeeze in a bit of crafty time too!

If you all are still interested, I will post the ATC "virtual swap" in a couple of days and you will be able to start making and uploading your ATCs on inlinkz soon.  For the first round do you want a theme or a "free for all" where you make anything you like?  Let me know and I'll get things set up next week.

Have a great weekend!

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Fireworks ATCs

The November theme for my Artist Trading Card swap group was "Fireworks."  It may seem an odd theme for this month.  One of the members of the group is from England and we chose it in connection with Guy Fawkes Night which is celebrated on the 5th of November.  This Wikipedia article will give you lots of information about Guy Fawkes and the Gunpowder Plot.  In 1605, Guy Fawkes was part of a plot to assassinate King James I by blowing up the House of Lords.  The plot was foiled and he was arrested and the event is commemorated with bonfires and fireworks on November 5th.

There is a well-known poem about Guy Fawkes Day - here is the first verse

Remember, remember, the 5th of November
The Gunpowder Treason and plot ;
I know of no reason why Gunpowder Treason
Should ever be forgot.

I started with some photographs of fireworks that I took when our town had the 375th birthday celebration last year. You can see the photos in this post.

I chose three of my photos and layered them together in the Creative Memories StoryBook Creator program. Then I added some text (the first line of the poem) and a border of blue with the color sampled from the blue of the fireworks.

Then I softened the edges of the image and added a glitter effect to the blue border. I had set the size at 2 1/2 x 3 1/2 inches (the only requirement for an ATC is that it must be this size) and I could print eight on a sheet of letter sized matte photo paper.

I adhered the photo paper to dark blue cardstock. On the back of the card, I added a firework cut from the Stand and Salute Cricut cartridge cut in the Dazzle cardstock from DCWV (I am still enjoying this incredibly sparkly paper).

We were a very small group this month so I only needed to create five cards.

I haven't forgotten about the proposal to do a "virtual" ATC swap here on the blog. I'll be posting the details for the swap after Thanksgiving.

I hope you are having a nice weekend - we are enjoying our visit with Dad and admiring the cards that some of you sent him - thanks again for that!

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Autumn ATC Swap - the rest of the story...

Every so often I post an ATC (Artist Trading Card) that I have created for a swap.  I used to be in several active groups but now there is only one that is holding a swap each month.  The members can choose whether to participate each month so the number of cards to make can vary.  Lately it has only been about five or six for each swap.  I posted my card a while ago (here) and today I received all of the others in the mail (we mail to one person who swaps the cards and sends them back out to us).

This was my card.  I wove autumn colors of ribbon from our nephew's wedding celebration in a frame covered with leaf patterned paper.  I thought you might be curious to see what the others in the group made.  I am always amazed at how many ways the same theme can be interpreted and very impressed by the little works of art I receive at the end of a swap.  I need to get some of my more recent groups of cards into albums so they will be easier to look at from time to time.

The colors are great on this card and the font works very well - it makes me think of crunchy leaves.

 The drippy goo glitter strip at the top sets the mood for this Halloween card.  The pumpkins at the bottom are extremely sparkly and very pretty.

In our group of six people, three chose to make the card vertical and three made horizontal cards (technically, mine would work in either direction but I thought of it as a vertical card when I made it).

This stamped images is very cute and the flocking (or flower soft?) at the bottom adds texture like actual leaves.

The distressing on the edges of this photo give a slightly ghostly impression and I like the way it is placed on an angle.  The photo looks very similar to the scenery in our area.

I thought this card was very clever.  On the back it says "Winter? Spring...  No, Summer.  Wait!  Fall in Arizona."  I have always lived in areas that have four seasons but I suppose there isn't a lot of seasonal difference in Arizona.  If you look carefully you can see the the photo is punched with a leaf shape and layered for a very interesting 3D effect.

Thanks to all of my fellow swappers - I think you all did a great job (as always) and I look forward to the next swap with you.

The cards are fun to make because they are so small.  They are an easy way to experiment with new techniques and don't require a huge time commitment.  Keeping a group to ten or less helps prevent burn out from making multiples of the same card.


Have you ever made an Artist Trading Card?  The only rules are that the size must be 2 1/2 x 3 1/2 inches, they should be signed, numbered and dated and they are never sold - only traded.  There is usually but not always an agreed theme for each swap when you do a trading group.

If a lot of readers are interested in making an ATC, I could do a linkup party - I might even have a prize to offer (if I look around a bit!).  Please leave a comment on this post to let me know if you'd like to try this.  It wouldn't be a physical swap - just make a card and post a link so we could all be inspired by your work!

Have a great weekend!  The time sure is flying by - I hear Christmas music all over already...

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