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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Skinny Cards

This card was made for a swap group.  The theme was "skinny cards" and we each had to choose a particular color combination.  I chose blue and green.  We needed to make a card 3 1/2 x 8 or 9 inches and use the colors we chose with the optional addition of black and white.


I immediately thought of Stretch Your Imagination  - one of my very first cartridges (it actually came with my machine when I bought it as a bundle at ACMoore).  The entire shift function is full of images that have been "stretched" and I was sure one of them would be a perfect fit.

This is the stylized flower that I chose to decorate the front of my card.  I decided to make a card that was 9 inches by 3 1/2 inches.

I was not planning to cut the card bases with the Cricut, however, I set up a rectangle in the correct size to represent the card front on the mat.  I always use guideline shapes like this to plan cards.  It makes it very easy to size all of the decorative cuts so you won't waste paper.  I set up a layer sized a 3 1/4 x 8 3/4 to use for previewing the design and to make sure that the cuts would fit.

 This preview show the card base (represented by the pink background) and the layer (dark green) with the flower and a sentiment added.

 I chose the "happy birthday" sentiment from the A Child's Year cartridge.  There is a layer for the word " happy" on the shift key.

I set up a mat with six sets of words placing green cardstock on the full phrase area and metallic blue cardstock on the "happy" layers.

After adding the layer the cut looked too plain, so I pulled out some lime green Stickles and glittered the word "birthday" on each cut.

 

I set up another page in the file to cut the flowers.  I could cut four at a time by nestling the shapes together.

 The flowers were cut in a dark navy blue and needed a bit of white pen stitching to brighten them up.  This is a simple way to add interest to the card.  I use a Signo White Gel Pen for pen stitching - it is very smooth and lasts a long time.

 The words did not contrast enough with the green and blue background paper layer I had chosen (from a big K & Company paper box) so I added a scalloped oval to help set them off.  The oval was cut with the second to the largest standard large scalloped oval Nestabilities die and embossed with the Swiss Dots Cuttlebug folder.  For the final card, I added a second layer to the card front to give a nice bright line of white around the edges.

 Here are all of the components for a single card.

I needed to create a dozen cards so there was quite a bit of pen stitching and stickling to do!  This photo shows all of the components ready to assemble the cards.

I enjoyed the challenge of making a different size and shape of card - I sometimes get stuck in an A2 card rut!

I did not post a file because I don't imagine that anyone else needs to cut twelve sets of these card elements.  If you need any help with setting up a file and cutting just the items that you need for one card, let me know and I can try to help.




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The End of an Era - Heritage ATCs

The final theme for my Cricut Message Board ATC (Artist Trading Card) swap group was "Heritage/Ancestors."  Here is the card I made.  The woman in the photo is my maternal grandmother, Cora, when she was 18 years old.

It is bittersweet to see this group coming to an end.  The swap group started back in May of 2008 (here is a LINK to the post with my very first ATC).  For the first round we had ten members - which made it easy to keep the ATCs organized in trading card sleeves by theme.  In the second round the group increased to 14 so we have been at it for two years.  It has been a fun way to experiment and try new techniques.  The best part is that the group is a fun and friendly assortment of crafters.   They all kept up the commitment to get things in on time each month.  Many thanks to Karen (KER) for hosting for two years!  If only my 1,000 Inchie Swap would have a happy ending like this one, sadly all of that work and expense was wasted since we never received anything back from the "hostess" (though what she is going to do with all of the inchies we sent is a mystery).  The moral of the story is to pick your swap group carefully and be prepared to cut your losses if things go wrong!

I used this element on the Heritage cartridge for the front of my cards.  I set the size at 3 1/4 inches to make it a bit smaller than the 3 1/2 x 2 1/2 inch base card for layering.

When set at 3.25 inches tall the width is only 1.836 inches which is out of proportion for the ATC.  I changed the width value to 2.25 in the Shape Properties box to get a perfectly sized layer.

I set up a mat with the adjusted image repeated 12 times (the most that would fit on a 12 x 12 paper).  I had to cut this twice to get enough for 14 ATCs (I cut the entire second mat and saved the extras for other projects).

I did the backs digitally and used an aged looking paper with a delicate "antique" looking font.

Here is my finished group of 14 just before mailing  I punched the photos with a 3/4 inch punch and added the one inch circle in gold cardstock behind each photos.  The edges of the photo and the gold circle were inked to conceal any white edges.  The circle is strategically placed to block out one swirl section.  I flipped the design to give the impression of a heart in the swirls.

I hope you aren't too tired of ATCs - I have one more to share in the next few days and then I will be all caught up for a while. 

PLEASE NOTE:  If you received an "odd" email from me on Wednesday I am sorry - it seems that for about ten minutes my email account went nuts and sent weird messages with odd subjects and links.  I suppose my account was hacked somehow (I was at the movies when this happened).  A friend asked me about the email she received and when I looked into it I found about three dozen of these bizarre messages that I did not send.  Please delete the message without clicking the link in case it is dangerous.  I have changed my email password in hopes that this will take care of the problem.  Why do people do things like this!

More Artist Trading Cards - Sewing

It was my month to choose the theme for my large ATC group in February.  We made the list when the swap started so those that wanted to could work ahead.  I don't work ahead usually - I prefer to have the time to experiment and try new techniques that I might use for a swap project.

At any rate, I did not do these early and then February turned out to be a month when I had a very hard time getting everything done due to our neighbor's house fire and illness.  For the first time, I had to ask to put this off until another month and I finally caught up and sent in my cards for February this month.  I chose the "Sewing" theme because I wanted to experiment with sewing paper in my crafting.  It was easy and fun - I don't know why I waited so long to try it!

The base of the card was the usual 3 1/2 by 2 1/2 inches and I cut a 3 by 2 inch layer to sew to the base.  I chose paper from the DCWV "Crafty" stack.  I did a simple zigzag stitch around the edges.  I need  more practice to keep everything straight and even - it is different than sewing on fabric.  I did like doing this and I think sewing will be something I'll start to do more of on my cards and layouts.

I wanted to add a sewing related cut to my card.  I chose this needle and thread from the Happily Every After cartridge.  The Disney Princess cartridges are fun to have - I don't make very many Princesses but I use them quite often for the great extras.

I used Design Studio to set up a mat with 14 of the spools and 14 of the thread layers.  I was able to conserve paper by flipping and alternating the rows.

I used the Core'dinations cardstock for both the spools and the thread.  The orange gemstone cardstock was a good match with the colors in the background "fabric" and the shine was perfect for the thread.  My mat was not very new and I have had the gemstone cardstock slip on occasion, so I used a bit of masking tape to make sure it stayed in position.

When I added the spools and thread layers I used my CM Precision Point Adhesive and let it dry to clear.  This made it easy to align the delicate thread cut.

I was happy to be able to do the backs digitally again.  I chose a gingham background paper from the Creative Memories "Recipe Book" digital kit. - Here is a LINK to the page on my CM site that shows this kit (you can click the image to see the full contents of the kit).

Here are all of the ATCs just before I got them ready to mail.  The color combination was a bit different for me but I really liked it.

It takes a while to sign and number the ATCs - it is so convenient to have most of the information printed for each back.

It was a very busy day.  We had a nice evening celebrating our neighbor's birthday and I spent a fair bit of time shopping and cooking to get ready for the party.  I have a lot to catch up with on email and questions and I hope to do that this weekend.  I noticed last week that my "follower" box has gone beyond 1,000 so I think another blog celebration is due - very soon.....

I hope you have a great weekend!

"D" is for... Artist Trading Cards

 

One of the swap groups I participate in does all sorts of projects - whatever our leader can dream up!  Last month, the project was to make an Artist Trading Card inspired by the initial of your first name.  The only rule for ATCs is that they must be 3.5 x 2.5 inches - the rest is up to you.

I had a little trouble with the very open ended theme and selected and rejected many potential ideas.  I finally settled on "D is for dots" and checked my paper stash for polka dotted papers.  I found a few in the American Crafts "Craft Fair" paper pack.

I used a multi-color large dot paper  for the wide strip (2 inches with the edges punched by a scallop edge punch) and a smaller, more regular polka dot, white on yellow, for the center one inch strip.  Not content to leave well enough alone, I added some white pen dots along  the sides.  I added the "D" which was cut with my ancient Sizzix Fun Serif dies in the same dark purple cardstock as the card base.  Something was still missing...so I added a "diamond" gem to each "D."

 

 

Here is the entire group of 18 ATCs just before I sent them off for swapping.

 

I usually do the backs of my ATCs digitally, however, these were done when I could not access my  digital scrapping program so I used a template provided by our group leader.  I photocopied it onto some blue patterned paper with yet another dot pattern.  I trimmed the 12 x 12 paper to 8 1/2 x 11 to fit my printer.

 

Here is a closer view of the back.

If you'd like to see what the rest of the group members made you can see all of the ATCs on Kay's blog.

This Thursday is Sweet Treat Thursday on the Cuttlebug Challenge Blogspot so be sure to check out all of the projects that the Cricut team has created.  The full details of my project will be on my blog Thursday morning.  Remember to check out the new Cricut Cake and go to the Cuttlebug Challenge blog to enter the great giveaway.