Archive for the ‘Art Cards’ Category
Swap-bot’s Huge Giveaway for ATC Lovers
Photo Source: Swap-bot
The creative folks over at Swap-bot have this cool giveaway for Swap-bot members: over $50 worth of to-die-for ATC goodies! These include a Revolving ATC Holder Carousel from 7 Gypsies, which comes with 20 blank ATC cards. A great way to display your ATC collection! Also included are 20 clear ATC sleeves, 20 black tab dividers for the carousel, and an ATC punch for making notches on cards to be hung on the the carousel. Gee, I wish all this stuff were mine! 
Read more about Swap-bot’s HUGE Giveaway for ATC Lovers here.
Tags: Art Cards, Artist Trading Cards, Giveaways, Supplies, Swap-bot, Tools
Guest Artist: Kathy Greene, Angel Kat Creations
Lavender Gold by Kathy Greene, Angel Kat Creations
Yipee! My first ATC arrived in the mail last week, much earlier than I expected! This one is “LavenderGold” by artist Kathy Greene of Angel Kat Creations. Kathy is currently a stay at home mom with five kids and three grandkids, and lives with husband Steve in Pendleton, SC, USA. Kathy enjoys paper crafts, crochet, knitting, cross stitch, plastic canvas, and needlepoint, to name a few.
Now this ATC is so pretty — it reminds me of a fresh, dew-filled Easter morning when everything’s in bloom. I just love the colors! Too bad I couldn’t capture the gold butterflies very well in the photo. I’ll have to work on that.
Anyway, I do hope you enjoy this ATC, even if it’s just the picture. I’m lucky because I got the real thing! Thanks again, Kathy!
Tags: Art Cards, Artist Trading Cards, Artists, ATCs, Crafts, Paper Crafts
Inchies with Wings
Inchies with Wings
OK, here’s the first batch of inchies I made for a swap. The theme is “Wings” so I decided on bugs, birds and angels. I snail mailed them today to my swap partner in Scotland, two days before the deadline. Whew!
I used a variety of materials and techniques here. Clockwise, from top:
Dream Butterfly inchie: Aluminum flash tape reverse-embossed and colored with permanent markers.
Angels inchie: Iron-on transfer on cheesecloth on a washi paper background, embellished with a bit of ribbon and gold dimensional paint.
Harmony Dragonflies inchie: Dragonflies and Chinese character stamped in black ink on red cotton, and dotted with a tiny bit of gold dimensional paint.
Ladybug inchie: Handmade paper with grass and petals serves as the background for a ladybug doodled on red paper and finished with a dome sticker. (Thanks to my sister Choi for showing me how to make ladybugs!)
Happiness Bird inchie: Iron-on transfer on cheesecloth plus a layer each of maroon and white tulle, all hand stitched together, with a hole cut in the tulle to reveal the image. Happiness stamped on a strip of handmade paper and stitched above the image.
All inchies are mounted on sturdy card. If you have questions about any of these techniques, feel free to drop me a line!
Tags: Angels, Birds, Bugs, Collage, Embossing, Handmade Paper, Inchies, Iron-on Transfers, Markers, Sewing, Stamps, Stitching, Wings
La chanson de la mer
ATC: la chanson de la mer
I made this ATC for a beginners’ swap over at Swap-bot.com. I’ll be snail-mailing this ATC soon to my swap partner in Argentina, and I hope she likes it!
This ATC uses a vintage image from Art E-zine’s Little Darlings collection printed on iron-on transfer and, well, transfered to a piece of cheesecloth.
The image inspired me to add the torn piece of sheet music and the title, “la chanson de la mer”, or Song of the Sea. It took me some time to find the right piece of lace, though (I had wanted to use this lovely scrap that looked partly like a fish net, but it was quite unwieldy and so it ended up as the background for the photo shoot!), and it took me just as long to decide whether or not the dainty lace and ribbon would contrast too much with the rough cheesecloth (which is mounted on some handmade paper). Well, I eventually decided to push through with the dainty stuff, and I’m glad everything turned out pretty well.
BTW, I had just as much fun shooting this card as making it! But I’ll probably save that for another post…
ATCs: Mini-Scrapbook Pages
The scrapbook page
It just occurred to me that ATCs are an excellent way to test themes and layouts for scrapbook pages, and vice versa. Of course the “page” dimensions may be different, but you can pull together different elements related to your chosen theme (say, Autumn) and see how they turn out.
I’ve done this with the “Dream” ATC and “Piper’s Dream” digital scrapbook page. Both use the same photo (though it’s not the main picture on the scrapbook page), dream theme, and color scheme, and the background of falling leaves is common to both, although done in slightly different ways.
The ATC
So the next time you have a theme or color scheme for a scrapbook page (whether traditional or digital), try a mini version of it on an ATC.
Also, if you have scrapbook page that you’re particularly fond of, try making a mini version of it on an ATC. You can even use the ATC as an added attraction to the scrapbook page by turning in into an embellishment!
Tags: Art Cards, Artist Trading Cards, ATCs, Autumn, Cats, Digital Scrapbooking, Scrapbooking
Dream
An ATC of my cat Piper sleeping on my computer monitor.
“Dream” is an ATC version of a scrapbook page I made titled “Piper’s Dream”. The leaves punched from vellum mirror the falling leaves used on the background paper, and emphasize the autumn scene in the picture.
A totally unplanned effect was the text. I used an inkjet to print on white vellum, and the edges of the text bled into the paper, adding further to the ethereal, dreamy effect. Talk about serendipity!
Tags: Art Cards, Artist Trading Cards, ATCs, Cats, Collage, Craft Punches, Digital Photography, Inkjet Printer, Vellum
Here be ATCs (and CATs)!
I just realized that most of my posts are on ATCs. You be the judge whether that’s good or bad, but it’s simply because I’ve made quite a few of them already since they’re quite easy (and fun!) to put together, compared to other pieces (like the parchment fans) that can take some time to finish.
You may have also noticed that many of the ATCs feature CATs (hey, nice anagram, huh!). Yeah, I love those furry feline friends of mine (more than a dozen at any given time!), and I’m wondering if I should spin off an ATC Cats blog, similar to Scrapbook Cats. Hmm. We’ll see.
Tags: Art Cards, Artist Trading Cards, ATCs, Cats, Digital Scrapbooking, Scrapbooking
Mother and Child
Mother and Child, Collage.
Perfect for Mother’s Day! I was lucky to catch Piper and her kitty Strider in this really “Aww, that’s so sweet” moment, and knew this photo had to be in a vintage sort of setting. I converted the photo to sepia, put it in a heart-shaped frame under a vellum sheet embossed around the edges to resemble lace, and added a pink satin bow.
The background paper, btw, is a vintage paper-backed foil giftwrap that reminded me so much of my mom - she had this ottoman upholstered in yellow leatherette with huge copper rose prints, plus recipe books covered with paper-backed foil giftwrap that was so popular at the time.
Anyway, going back to this ATC - I loved this picture so much that I made a digital scrapbbook page for it! Check it out at my other blog, Scrapbook Cats.
Tags: Art Cards, ATCs, Collage, Digital Scrapbooking, Embossing, Scrapbooking, Vellum, Vintage
Shoe Crazy
Faro is Shoe Crazy!
What is it with cats and shoes anyway? If they’re not commandeering your flip-flops, they’re turning your patent leather shoes into a scratching post, or locking your sneakers in a tight embrace.
Faro seemed to be loving my battered (and hopefully not smelly!) sneaker to pieces when I snapped this pic. A background of Post-Its, inkjet printed text (font: Girls are Weird), and some hearts cut out from foil completed the look.
Tags: Art Cards, Artist Trading Cards, ATCs, Cats, Collage
Bad Days
Fifi having a bad day.
Another excuse to use my latest find — dome alpha stickers! The background is actually metallic blue card (it doesn’t show up nicely in the pic) with a strip of vellum acting as a mat for the letters.
I only realized a day after taking her photo that Fifi wasn’t feeling quite well, hence the long face, so we made a quick trip to vet. We learned she was dehydrated, and had her confined. She quickly recovered, but ran off after a few months — my sister saw her at the sari-sari store down the block. Fifi looked contented with her new family, so we didn’t bother to get her back. I still see her strolling near the store once in a while, but she probably doesn’t know me anymore.
Tags: Art Cards, Artist Trading Cards, ATCs, Cats, Collage, Scrapbooking
