O' Canada

Happy to be here as Canada commemorates its 150th year.

I took part in an ATC trade, and used these fun images from Local King Rubber Stamps :

1. Happy Canada Day !!!

Second Chance

I found it quite difficult to create for an ATC trade where the challenge was 'Second Chance'. Finally the inspiration came and I created, using this adorable image by Aurora Wings, Flying kitten : 

Background is distress inks put onto my craft mat and spritzed with water. Then I used crackle molding paste through a star stencil. When it was dry I went around the stars with charcoal pencil and a blending stump. The atc was edged in metallic embossing powder. The kitten was coloured with copics and fussy cut. The words were typed on my typewriter. Final touch was to add a little sparkle with my clear wink of stellar pen to the wings and the words.

Thanks for stopping by x 

Colour themed atc trade, coral and turquoise

Using some vintage photos from the photo pack by Ranger, I made these ATCs for a colour themed trade :

I am not really a scrap booker, but I do admire this style of scrap booking, so thought I would start off with a smaller, more manageable version :) 

And a close up of my fave ATC : 

Thanks for stopping by, have a lovely day xxx

Friends ATCs

I took part in a 'friends' themed ATC trade. Here are my makes, featuring the awesome image from Art Impressions. They have the most awesome people stamps :

I am really diggin' purple at the moment, especially this bright Dylusions purple acrylic paint. The images are stamped in memento ink and coloured with copics. The hats are from Lost Coast Designs. Everything is fussy cut and glued onto the background.

I had fun looking for the quotes, so many funny sayings I found in google. These were my faves, I think they summarise the friendship experience pretty well :)

Hope my swap partners like them :) 

Thanks for stopping by x

The ocean is my home

It is no secret .... I am a big fan of Artist Trading Cards (ATC's), and wish all this cold weather here where I love, I thought I should create something warming, what could be more appropriate than a mermaid swimming in the ocean on a warm sunny day.  To create this ATC I used one of my current fave background stamps, Whitecaps, coupled with Star Mermaid with face from Lost Coast Designs.. Have you seen the awesome selection of mermaids, go check it out at Lost Coast Designs.

Here is my ATC : 

The card stock was painted with various blue acrylics, then I heat embossed the whitecaps with pearl white embossing powder, adding some white gel pen to accentuate the white caps. The mermaid is stamped and colored with copics and fussy cut. Her tail and the star she is holding are glittered and the pearl she is holding is dimensional, using liquid pearls. With a craft knife I cut across the waves and slipped part of her tail in. The wording is handwritten. I think she makes a very beautiful focal point in this background.

Reminder that there are monthly challenges at Lost Coast Designs, they start the first Monday of each month at our event and challenge blog. Hope to see you there :) Nikki x

Tacky / Gaudy Christmas

A fun challenge for our local ATC trade, tacky or gaudy Christmas .... Here is my make using Dina Wakeleys scribbly birds. Doesn't he look spiffing in his Christmas sweater :)

Background is die cut snowflakes glued into place on water color paper, then colored with water color paint in shades of blue and violet. I added a layer of satin varnish to seal it and merge the colors, and sprinkled on glass glitter when it was still wet. I did some white splashes and edged the ATC in white acrylic. 

The bird is stamped on vanilla card stock and colored with distress inks, white and black gel pen details added and diamond glaze to make the eye look beady. I stamped the bird onto the knitted pattered paper, fussy cut it and dressed him. I wanted an image on the front, so the snowman arrived :) Now this is a proper ugly Christmas sweater. LOL

I die cut a branch and glued that in place, stamped the bird onto the background in black versamark and clear embossed it. Then I glued my finished bird over the top, with a little sweater trim around the neck to keep him warm. 

Finally I typed 'Cheap Cheap' on my typewriter, punched each letter out with a small circle punch, edged them individually with blue copic and glued the letters down. Do you get the cheap cheap reference in relation to tacky and  gawdy? Its not a typo .. I know that birds really cheep .... LOL

Thanks for stopping by x

Harvest Moon ATC

A great September topic for our local ATC trade, Harvest Moon.

Here is my creation :

I created the background with Dylusions paints and a sponge, then edged it in black stazon ink and used my stencilling brush to add the white highlights across the centre of the ATC. The image is from a set by Stampscapes Symmetry Sheet Set #1, called 'Suns and Moons'. It is amongst my favourite stamp sets, but I am quite the fan of all things lunar.

I stamped the moon in navy blue ink, then sponged it lightly with wild honey distress ink, adding some tea dye around the edges. I lightly colored the lips with Victorian Velvet and used my white gel pen to whiten the eyes. I then embossed the moon in a couple of layers of clear gloss embossing powder and adhered it to the ATC front.

The wording 'Over the moon' is done with Tim's alpha stickers.

I really liked how this turned out, the flat matt background against the glossy moon is so great in real life.

Hope my recipients like them :) 

Thanks for stopping by x

Summer Skies ATC

I made a series of these ATC's for a local trade entitled 'Summer Skies', using a stamp CI-278 from Crafty Individuals :

I know its not all sky, but its the feeling and essence of summer I was trying to capture :)

This is glossy cardstock, stamped and clear embossed with a very fine swirly stamp. I then sponged with distress ink. The image is stamped on glossy paper in dark purple and clear embossed and colored with markers.

Bee Ware ATC's

I have been creating Artist Trading Cards again, they are small, 2.5" x 3.5". I have used the gorgeous chipboard honey comb, MIS-274. I have used this before, but its just something I keep coming back to and working on this smaller scale was really fun. Its so easy to cut the chipboard, so one size fits all :)

My three ATC's, all slightly different :

 There are a number of elements on my ATC's, including honey in the comb, this is made with gold acrylic paint and crystal effects. The gorgeous bee image is from SCACD, a steam punk bee called Bee Ware - isn't it great.

A close up of my favourite ATC of the three, you can clearly see the embossing, the cogs, honey, chipboard and flowers - also for sale by SRTC at events. The bee and sky are colored with copics. You will see the embossing around but not on the bee - I did this by making a diffuser and then running it through my big shot. Love creating the metallic feel, then adding some flowers to soften it up.

Thanks for stopping by, and hope you found some inspiration here :)

Lovers ...

What a fun title for an ATC, and especially during February, the month of loooooove. I had the Bare Naked Ladies song 'Lovers in a dangerous time' playing through my head - love that song, and I'd say it enhanced the experience :)

Anyway, here is the ATC I created :

The background is distress and craft ink. I fussy cut the free silhouette image I downloaded - yes, a labour of love there .... LOL. The silver sequins and 'love' sentiment added later. The ATC is matted onto black card stock. Simple and yet very effective in my opinion - but I am biaised. LOL.

Thanks for stopping by ...

'Words of Wisdom' ATC

'Words of Wisdom' was the title for this ATC trade. 

The famous Nike quote came to mind, 'Just Do It !' See the logo on his swim shorts ? LOL

This is an Art Impressions stamp called 'Jump In', colored with copics. His swim shorts are paper pieced and the image fussy cut. I added glossy accents to his goggles and a light application of versamark over his body, so that the clear embossing powder only stuck to certain areas, I wanted a wet look :) The background paper is stamped with some water drops by Designs by Ryn, so I thought I would enter this into Ryn's January challenge, something a little different with her stamps :)

Hope my swap partners like this motivational ATC :)

Some special gift tags

Using the beautiful deer wooden XMAS-456 embellishment from Southern Ridge Trading Co, I made up some gift tags. These are actually atc sized (3.5" x 2.5"). 

The deer is so perfect, I didn't want to add anything to it, but the background is created by swiping victorian velvet distress paint over a manilla tag leaving some areas clear. Then I added picket fence distress stain and the paint acts as a resist.  I added a layer of  distress crackle paint in clear rock candy. Look how gorgeous it is when dry, it highlights the deer beautifully :

I stamped the ground / postmark in baked brown sugar Stampin' Up! ink on top of the crackle paint and added the seam binding which was colored with the victorian velvet distress paint. I mounted the tag onto baked brown sugar card stock and  lightly edged it with Stampendous shabby pink embossing enamel.

I entered them into the Tag Along challenge this week #68 - its all about reindeer :)
Yay, got picked in the top 3 :)

I also used these as ATC's to trade, as part of the OK ATC trade I facilitate :)

Thanks for stopping by.

Natural Wonders atc

The title for this atc trade was Natural Wonders. 

I used a stamp from the gorgeous Stampscapes Symmetry sheet #1 Suns & Moons :

 I sponged the background in various colors of distress inks and then stamped over it with black ink on the stamp. I love how the various colors show through. For the wording 'Moonlight'. I stamped the word moonlight, clear embossed it and stamped over the whole word in black ink. The embossing powder acted as a resist so I was able to rub it off to reveal the color co-ordinated word beneath.

I added a layer of clear rock candy crackle paste to my atc, and when it was dry I added a layer of gloss gel medium. You can see the texture more clearly in this pic :

I think I am feeding my moon fetish as it seems to be growing !

'Wicked' atc

The title was 'Wicked' for one of the atc trades I facilitate. I know its October and all that, but I just didn't fancy doing a Halloween one. Plus, I love the surprise of making a totally unexpected atc. I hope the recipients like it ... always a risk I know .... LOL. So here she is, poor woman, had a wicked night out, and is feeling the effects of that today ....

I bought this Dina Wakley stamp set a while ago, but it is only just making its debut. My background is made with acrylic paints, then details in acrylic, grey lines and light circles. Then I stamped my image in black stazon and painted her with acrylics. She is a little grey around the gills (if you know that expression).. to put it mildly.

 After I painted out the detail with the acrylic paint I wanted to add it back in. Its so funny to make such a messy background etc, but then get the stamp-a-ma-jig out so I could align the images properly. I stamped her the second time in coffee archival ink.

 And her is the close up of her. She is just awesome :) Lets hope she is appreciated when she makes it to her new home ! 

Thanks for stopping by x

'Do not Disturb' atc

Had sooo much fun with this title, I love this atc, its the first one I haven't wanted to give away ... LOL. I normally make one for myself but in this case I did not, and yet its such a personal one. I really should have ... darn it. So here is my interpretation of 'Do not disturb' :

 The front door opens to reveal a totally bonkers image ... A Paper Artsy boy with a big fish ! I made this atc because in my crazy household, you really can not expect anything normal to happen. The unexpected and crazy madness is always around. So I am saying 'Do not disturb' because you never know what you may find going on here .... LOL. I added a little white detailing to the boy and the fish is actually sparkly - I use my wink of stella pen.

 Look at the detail of the front door panel, a house number - so cool. I did this using masked die cut numbers and Wendy Vecchi clear embossing paste.

 The back of the atc is also suitably decorated, with the second generations stamped image

Some lucky recipient of this atc .. I wonder who it will be ?

Wings atc

Wings was an interesting atc title, its so easy to think birds, butterflies, dragon flies etc. My mind wandered to fairies and Peter Pan. Tinkerbell being the ultimate in cool fairy :) I recently acquired a Stamping Bella stamp set, The Pixies set A. A set of 4 and they are soooo cute. 

My atc : 

I am just loving Victoria Velvet distress ink at the moment, everything I make seems to be pink ... LOL. 

I used Tsukineko all purpose ink on the wand and wings, when I tilted the atc to catch the light, you can see the shine :

Thanks for visiting :)

Summer lovin' atc

So the topic of this months local atc trade was Summer Lovin'. What sprung to mind immediately was the movie : Grease, starring John Travolta and Olivia Newton John.

So I made a mixed media background and gel medium image transfer. Now that was fun ! I wrote a couple of lines from the song 'Summer Lovin' along the profile of the images. And tadaarr ... finished.

 This was my background made with acrylic paints. I did a whole 8.5x11" sheet so have extra for other projects. I love doing that and its amazing how often these cut off pieces come in handy. Also it means I am doing it more randomly. Often if I am working in a set area, I seem to make everything fit, so its all matchy-matchy ! LOL Since mixed media arrived in my life, I don't like doing that.

 I found this free image online, resized it in word and printed on my ink jet printer. I fussy cut the images out.

Then I added a layer of gel medium to my image (not my background as I wanted to write on the background later). I firmly adhered my images to the background, using a brayer. If you miss even a little spot, there is no glue for the image to adhere to and you will have holes in your image. Sometimes you may actually want that though. Then I waited patiently (finger tapping, tap, tap, tap) until it all dried. When it was dry I took a damp cloth and started to rub away the backing paper.

You have to be careful, its very easy to wreck the image, especially as more of the paper is removed. The last layer of paper from the image can be removed very carefully with a wet finger.

And for the back of my atc, the T-Birds car, tire marks and my favourite line from the movie ...

Hope you find some inspiration and please leave me a comment x