Archive for October, 2008
Best Buds
Best Buds, 16 March 2008. Collage.
One of my more recent ATCs. Note the happy, scrapbookish style. I assembled this when I was in one of my scrapbooking moods, and I was excited to try out my new heat gun, embossing powder and clear stamps.
This card commemorates the unique, though sadly short-lived friendship of Coal (in black fur) and Tubby (in white fur). Tubby passed away a few days after this was taken, a few hours into the New Year, due to some strange malady. 
Coal passed away last week of September this year due to some kidney ailment. Oh well, we’ll meet each other at the Rainbow Bridge…
Trivia: Yes, that’s a stainless steel mixing bowl they’re snuggled in!
Fun tip: Jewelry price tags are the perfect size for ATCs, and for scrapbooks as well!
Tags: Art Cards, ATCs, Cats, Collage, Embossing, Scrapbooking, Stamps
Drifting, Falling
Drifting, Falling, 1 May 2006. Collage
One of them quickie ATCs I made just to get over a “gotta make stuff” fit. I had just bought a pack of gem-like leaf embellishments and I needed an excuse to use them pronto! Handmade paper and vellum over patterned paper, topped off with a leaf embellishment and inkjet-printed text inspired by The Ocean Blue’s “Drifting, Falling”.
Via Mermail
Via Mermail, 1 May 2006. Collage.
Can you imagine what it would be like if you had a message from Atlantis? The old message-in-a-bottle route might work, but surely there must be a more efficient way of getting a message from the deep blue ocean to its intended recipient!
I was playing with the words “Mermaid” and “Email”, and quite naturally stumbled onto “Mermail”. I then knew just what kind of graphics I needed: an old world map, a sea monster of sorts, and a quite modern stamp from Singapore. The map, merman and text were inkjet printed on cardstock; the stamp was saved from some old business correspondence.
This is my first-ever ATC, heavily inspired by Nick Bantock’s “Urgent 2nd Class: Creating curious collage, dubious documents, and other art from ephemera”.
Tags: Art Cards, Artist Trading Cards, Artists, ATCs, Collage, Nick Bantock
ATCs: Artist Trading Cards
Artist Trading Cards, or ATCs, were first started by M. Vänçi Stirnemann, an artist from Zurich, in 1997, who based the idea of miniature artworks on the concept of traditional trading cards. ATCs are the same size as trading cards, 3.5 x 2.5 inches (64 x 89 mm), and are meant to be swapped — never sold.
ATCs are a great way to express your creativity. You can use whatever medium and technique you want and feature on whatever subject you want, as long as you follow these rules:
- The cards have to be 2.5 by 3.5 inches (64 x 89 mm) in size.
- The cards should be signed, dated, and numbered if they’re part of a series or edition. They should have your contact info as well.
- The cards should NEVER, EVER be sold. If you want to sell your cards, call them ACEOs - Art Cards, Editions and Originals. More on this next time.
If you want to know more about ATCs (and ACEOs) and participate in swaps, check out the ff sites:
Tags: Artist Trading Cards, ATCs, Collage, Mixed Media
Parchment fan v.2
Parchment fan, dry embossed and finished with peral paints and metallic gel ink. Design courtesy of Janet Wilson.
This fan was made from clear (colorless) vellum, then painted with pearl paints and a metallic gel pen. I used an eyelet to hold the sections together, but maybe I should have used a cord instead to soften the look.
Anyhow, this was designed by Janet Wilson, another of my favorite parchment craft gurus. You’ll find details of the project in her book “The Art of Parchment Craft”.
Tags: Embossing, Gel Pens, Janet Wilson, Paper Crafts, Parchment Crafts, Pearl Paints, Vellum
Parchment fan
Parchment fan, dry embossed. Design courtesy of Martha Ospina.
Yes, I’m a fan pf parchment craft, thank you. Sorry, couldn’t resist the pun.
Here’s a parchment fan I made years ago. I used cream vellum to capture the look of old lace, and finished it off with a matching ribbon and gold embroidery floss. The design is featured in Martha Ospina’s book “Pergamano Parchment Craft”. Check it out!
Tags: Embossing, Martha Ospina, Paper Crafts, Parchment Crafts, Pergamano, Vellum
Celtic bookplate
Celtic bookplate, gouache and gel ink on parchment
Here’s a copy of the bookplate I actually use. The original was done in gouache and gel ink on parchment paper at a much larger size (slightly smaller than an A4 sheet), and was scanned for printing at a reduced size. The first batch was output with a color laser on plain copy paper; succeeding batches were done on a color inkjet on sticker paper.
Note that the zoomorph — the graphical letter E — isn’t an original design. I downloaded it ages ago from some site I no longer remember, but if you do recognize where it’s from, please drop me a line so I can credit the website. Thanks!
Tags: Bookplates, Celtic, Crafts, Gel Pens, Gouache
The Mandatory Welcome Message
Hi! Welcome to my own little corner of cyberspace. Here’s where I share my passion about crafts — mostly paper crafts such as parchment crafts, paper pricking, quilling, card making, scrapbooking and book arts, but also rubber stamping, cross stitching, artist trading cards (ATCs), mixed media arts, and a whole lot of craft experiments!
I hope to fill up this site soon with my latest “Evil Experiments” — I mean, my latest projects 
— as well some crafting tips, product updates, and book reviews, to name a few, so please drop by every now and then, and make yourself at home!
Tags: Crafts
