Folded Artist Trading Card

On the Art-Ventures group Carol suggested a folded ATC Swap, which is a bit different than normal folded ATC's and the idea is based on the ones in Bernie Berlin's  Artist Trading Cards book in the section titled Ultra Cards. For this swap we can do any kind of folds, but it must end up being folded down to fit in an ATC sleeve.

I love the Umbrella Man stamp by Tim Holtz and decided to use it on the front of my ATC, and I guess the theme is a journey or seeking something.

I cut a piece of white cardstock measuring 7.5" X 3.5" and folded it in three to measure 2.5"X3.5" when closed.  I coloured the front with green shades of fluid chalk inks and stamped the TH stamp in Versafine onyx black, added some grass and a vine.

 I cut around the top half of the image and left a portion at the bottom the would fold over.  The right side fold was done in the green tones and I stamped the Hill scene (A stamp in the Hand), the people and the Tim Holtz saying.

The inside portions are all coloured in purple. At this point I was finding that the Umbrella part was a bit wobbly so I stamped it again and added it on the back, but was not happy with how it looked. I was trying to think of a way to make it sturdy and still look good, so I stamped the image again on the wrong (rough) side of a transparency with Stazon ink, making it a mirror image; cut it out and glued it on the backside of the cut out piece; stamped the grass again along with a Tim Holtz word stamp.

The centre inside panel was stamped with a Magenta scenic stamp and the Stampscapes people. The right panel is the grass stamp, another Stampscapes stamp and a Tim Holtz stamp.
 
This is the ATC folded up and ready to mail once the partners are announced.

Altered Sardine Can

Another swap that I joined is to alter a sardine can. I actually had no idea what I was going to do for this swap until I came across a free vintage picture of a lifeguard on Robin's blog while surfing for something else. I decided to resize the image and use it for my project.

I started by painting the outside of the can, then added some K & company paper to the bottom inside. I have a booklet of travel images from Hot off the Press so I cut them out the compass and signs, stamped a little sandcastle and added Judikins Diamond Glaze over them.

While these were drying I put Antique distress powder and embossed it around the inside edge of the can to look like sand. I attached shells at the bottom of the can, coloured a toothpick and attached it to the water sign; added the other images.

I coloured the lifeguard with distress inks and a paintbrush, then added multiple layers of double-sided foam tape to the back to make him raised enough to stand on top of the shells.

I found the beach sign in my stash and coloured it with alcohol inks, placed some tiny screw brads in the holes and attached it to the top with hot glue. Unfortunately this is not the best picture as the scanner has a picked up a glare on the signs that were covered with the diamond glaze.

Birdcage Tags

On AFTCM I am participating in a tag swap, where we are to make two different tags featuring bird cages.

The first tag was done on glossy cardstock. I stamped a Stampscapes image with  watermark stamp pad and brayered over it with Big N Juicy ink.  Stamped the Crafty Secrets bird cage and the branch and embossed them. I stamped the little birds, cut them out and attached them to the bird cage with double-sided foam tape.

I stamped and embossed the saying then added an additional piece of cardstock at the bottom.

The second tag is the one I did for the Ezee Pzee design team. The little circle had come loose and in my quest for a good glue I used a new one that I had purchased. Unfortunately, I used too much and had set a heavy object on top of the circle for it to dry. Not a good idea as the glue oozed out...great glue but should have been more thrifty with the amount!! Another disaster as when I removed the circle with the glue I also managed to pull of the top of the birdcage.

Since I did not want to redo the whole tag I had to improvise. I used a mini washer for the top of the cage, added the wire back, stuck a paper flower over it and attached the circle again, using jewellery glue this time. Actually I think this is one of those "mistakes being a creative moment" since I think it looks better now.

Steampunk Watch

The AFTCM group is running a swap for an altered Steampunk Pocket Watch and as usual I jumped in with both feet and joined.

The watch I bought is quite small so I had a hard time finding things to place inside. I used a small cog, a spiral circle, a star  stamp, square embellishment, a washer, a small spinner and a page pebble that had words underneath. I coloured some cardstock and stamped and embossed some script in copper embossing powder and glued it to the watch back.

I coloured the washer with some Perfect Pearls and the cog with alcohol inks. I glued all the pieces to the cardstock. To finish the piece I added a little bird charm to the outside.

The spinner and the bird kept falling off even though I tried almost every type of glue. I even tried super glue which was a bit of a disaster. The bird still fell off and left residue all over the top of the glass piece. I tried rubbing alcohol and Goo-Gone but no luck. Since the glue bottle suggest soaking your fingers in hot water if they get stuck together, I decided to place the watch in water. Again, another disaster!! It removed the glue but also removed most of the finish. Sot this is "what not to do" when creating!

I do hope my partner will not be disappointed with the watch and will think of the outside as being well loved, used and worn.

February Ezee Pzee Design Team Projects

The February kit came filled with all kinds of goodies, the main one being a bird house that we had to decorate and "build".

I started by painting all the pieces of the bird house in nice bright colours. For the front I took an old plastic doily and applied embossing paste, then when it dried I highlighted it with yellow paint.

For the flower on top I coloured it with Smooch ink and added a little pearl as the centre. The little birds were stamped and attached with foam tape.

For the next project I took an acrylic tag and embossed it in my Cuttlebug and inked it with green Stazon, then highlighte some of the areas with copper Goldfinger wax. I covered the Ezee Pzee flowers with some book text and coloured it them with Distress Ink. I painted some  washers and painted them with  copper paint and glued them to the centre.   The  Ezee Pzee bird was painted with copper, crackle finish and red acrylic paint.

The next project is a little chipboard square that I had in my stash that was painted and covered with various embossing powders.  I coloured the Ezee Pzee flower with orange paint and Perfect Pearls, and added a pearl to the centre. The Ezee Pzee  butterfly was coloured with orange and green Perfect Pearls. The letters were originally pewter so I coloured them with a gold Krylon leafing pen.

The second Ezee Pzee butterfly was covered with Be Creative tape, then I cut around it
and removed the backing. I punched out some flowers from the backing tape and placed them on the butterfly. I covered the whole piece with Glitter Ritz, then removed the flower pieces and added a second colour of Glitter Ritz. To complete it I added some gems and a piece of copper wire for the "feelers"

For the last Ezee Pzee butterfly and flower, I decided to make an Artist Trading Card. I took a piece of a worksheet that I had used to spray Smooch Spritz on previous projects and attached it to an ATC blank. I stamped a Magenta image first in black ink then with Brilliance Silver, and edged it with a silver Krylon leafing pen. The flower was coloured with Smooch Ink and some Perfect Pearls. The butterfly is coloured with Pearlex. I aded some micro beads for the body and a piece of black tie down for the "feelers". I coloured a little saying embellishment with the Smooch Ink.

The Kit also included an acrylic piece with a bird on it. I chose to incorporate this into a card. I coloured the background with pigment inks and stamped the Impression Obsession  cover the page stamp in Versafine ink and edged it with a marker. I added circle coloured in orange and attached it to simulate the sun. The acrylic piece was coloured with alcohol inks and attached over the "sun".  I then stamped the Hero Arts saying on another piece of cardstock and edged it with the marker. I placed a scrap piece of the background on the card and attached the saying; adhered the panel to the card.

The final piece is the last Ezee Pzee bird I decided to do a tag for an upcoming swap in my AFTCM group. I started by inking the background with a Magenta stamp using Cathie Allan's stamp smoosh technique using 3 different colours of fluid chalk inks.

I stamped the Diamond stamp (Hero Arts) in a darker blue at the top and bottom of the tag.

I had some wooden birdcages by Kaisercraft and took one of them and painted and embossed it using a technique by Shelly Hickox from her blog which has a tutorial on it.

I coloured the Ezee Pzee bird with the lighter and darker blue fluid chalk inks and stamped a text stamp over it with Versafine onyx black, then embossed it with clear embossing powder. I added some Judikins Diamond Glaze to the branch.

The little Ezee Pzee circle was coloured with a dark blue pigment ink. I coloured a piece of cardstock, stamped the Crafty Secrets word sing then placed it on the circle and embossed it in clear ink and embossing powder.

Prior to attaching all the elements, I edged the tag with a blue marker.

Vintage Love Letters Postcard

I signed up for a postcard swap on AFTCM. I coloured the background in yellow, red and creamy brown fluid chalks. I then stamped the couple, masked it then stamped the text stamp over the top. I then stamped all the other images to fill up the postcard. All the stamps are by Non Sequitor.

This is ready to be mailed to my partner.

Mad Hatter

On AFTCM we did a Mad Hatter swap as a continuation of the apperal shapes.

I coloured the background with fluid chalk inks and added a piece of velvet ribbon on the brim.

I printed off some images from a website that allows the use of the Disney images for personal use. I printed off a little watch face face and added a page pebble over the top. Using my labeler machine I printed off "I'm Late" twice. Printed the ticket stub and added some Vintage Photo distress ink to it. Added the key with some fibre attached to it.