A couple of little things after a long break

Hi everyone! At last I have come out from under my rock, tidied up my scrapping space and started creating again! I must say I needed the break though - work got hectic, life got in the way and I just couldn't think!

I started in a small way - first with some ATC's for a swap group I've been involved in for several years, and secondly with a mixed media embellishment experiment that I've been wanting to try.

First the ATC's.

The criteria for this swap are different every time, but are open to any interpretation you want - the sky's the limit. This time it was ''Fibre and Feathers'' and this is my slightly tropical contribution.

There are a whole lot of my2angels products here....first the ATC base itself - these ones are Inkssentials Kraft - with a simple gold heat embossed border. I used a swipe from my Emboss It Dabber and then dipped the wet edge of the card into some Zing Metallic Gold embossing powder (sadly out of stock right now, but I need some more soon, so I guess maybe Tracy will get some in ...please when the exchange rate gets better).

After adding a slightly smaller piece of background paper and stamping with a palm frond and Peeled Paint Distress Ink, I added a bit of something sandy with Ferro Metal Effect Texture Paint (gold again) pushed through a stencil and a scattering of Golden Crunch Sugar Beads.

The first of my ''fibres'' was the curly frayed bits you can pull off the edge of an old white elastic bandage...NEVER throw these things away LOL! 

The embellishment on top is made up of a few simple elements. A Mulberry Flower painted gold using metallic acrylic paint, a Frangapani Flower (slightly cut down to fit better on the card, a piece of raffia - tied and frayed - the second ''fibre'' I used - a small Green Mulbery flower and my nod to the ''feathers'', a silver Parrot on a Flower Swing charm. After I'd finished painting the gold flowers I watered down the remaining paint on my palette and flicked some gold spots around on the bottom of the card.

I hope the ladies in the swap will like them :)

After making these cards and sending them on their way in the post I sat down at the still tidy desk (!!!!) and had a play with altering some leaves. 

I used two Large Green Leaves with Cream Edges, several White Mulberry Paper leaves and a piece of an old Prima Vine that was hanging around in the bottom of my Flowers box. Later I added a metal flower made up of several Filigrees...available here.

First paint all the leaves with a base colour - I used blue. Don't forget the stems.

Add a very thick coat of Clear Crackle, some Blue Lemonade Sugar Beads and a scattering of Micro Beads - mine are Silver and Multi-Coloured.

Put more crackle over the beads and wait AGES for it to dry :)

Add a bit more crackle or beads if you like....wait AGES for it to dry.....again 

Use a dry brush and some metallic paint to highlight the edges and the cracks. Did you know that if you mix Inca Gold with a little bit of water you can thin it out a bit and use it just like a paint? As well as ordinary metallic acrylic paints I used various colours of Inca Gold - the bright Gold one on the leaves and also the Turquoise, Cobalt Blue, Steel Blue, and Aquamarine on the flower.  my2angels do have Kaisercraft Metallic Gold paint in stock which will work as well.  When the Aussie $ is more in line with the US$ Tracy will be doing a huge restock of products at the moment it just isn't worth her ordering anything as she will lose so much $$$

Here's how it all came out. I think they turned out to be really pretty and will definitely use them on a layout or card in the future.

Charms make ATC's a little bit special....

Hi there, 

Michele here again with another set of ATC's.

I regularly participate in an online ATC swap with a few other like-minded ladies. We swap our little pieces of art every two months, and each time there is a different theme. This time, for April/May the theme was Travel, and nothing adds a special touch to an ATC like a dangling charm.

As you can see, each one is slightly different, but the each is made part of a set by the use of the same elements. I made this set of four using Inkssentials ATC's Black Surfaces and the papers from the Kaisercrafts 75c Collection - the background from two sheets of mottled blue and cream paper from the 6.5'' Paper Pad and for the stamped images, a sheet of Pound. The stamping is done using Stazon Jet Black ink and Sepia Archival ink, and all are tied up with a piece of Charcoal Black and White Bakers Twine.

In the centre making my photo look pretty is an Antique Bronze Compass Charm

For ''Discover Life'' I used a Silver Clock Tower Charm and matching tiny photo of Big Ben,

for ''Gypsy'' a tiny Silver Passport on the background of the Eiffel Tower,

for ''Magical Adventure'' a Silver Eiffel Tower, again on top of a photo of itself, and

for ''Adventure'' a Silver Camera over Tower Bridge.

Here's hoping the ladies in the swap like them....I'm looking forward to seeing what they have done for me :)

Michele

Creamy Latte and Blue Lemonade ATC's

How better to decorate your tiny ATC's than with tiny, sparkly Sugar Beads!?

For this set of ATC's, which I made using Creative Imaginations Oceanside papers, Creamy Latte and Blue Lemonade Sugar Beads are the PERFECT match.

I made the base of my ATC's from a left over scrap of Navy Blue cardstock I found in my stash - about half a 12 x 12 sheet. The thing about ATC's, is that there are no rules, except that they have to be 2.5" x 3.5" in size, so when I make a set like these, I love the fact that they are all different. 

They have a lot of very similar elements, but the differences are what makes them fun.   :)

The background of each one is a different piece cut from a sheet of Del Mar paper - sadly now out of stock ... I wouldn't mind getting some more! There is a starfish, two different shells and a butterfly.

I popped a mask over the top and used an Ink Blending Tool and  Chipped Sapphire Distress ink to add the circle pattern to the cards.

On top of a few of the circles I applied Glossy Accents and then spooned over some Blue Lemonade Sugar Beads.

The Antique Bronze Spoon is just made to be a Sugar Bead tool!

Just shake off the excess and poke the beads around until you have the perfect fit.

Popped up on Dimensional Tape, the next layer is made by mounting a small rectangle of paper on more navy blue cardstock. Three of these pieces are from the varnished Seashells Paint It Paper, and I have inked them a bit with Chipped Sapphire to make the varnished pattern stand out. The other is cut from Del Mar.

To add the accents to this piece - on three of them I laid down two lines of Double Sided tape right next to each other. The tea-dyed muslin is twisted, frayed and laid onto the first piece of tape and Creamy Latte Sugar Beads  are stuck onto the second. The teeny, tiny micro beads stick really well to the tape, and a bit of  Glossy Accents added to the top makes a perfect bed for the larger beads.

On the other one I laid down the line of tape for the muslin as before, but added the Sugar Beads to the starfish shape revealed when I inked the  Seashells Paint It Paper. Glossy Accents is again the glue, this time just squeezed carefully onto the shape.

Finally, the stickers from the 12x12 Cardstock Stickers sheet that match the background paper are added to the top. These are also on Dimensional Tape - just reduce their stickiness by dusting with talcum powder - and all have had their edges inked with Chipped Sapphire.

Michele

Grungy Boy ATC's and NEW ARRIVALS

Grungy Boy ATC's

Michele here and it's my first week 
as a DT 'angel' (LOL!!) for Tracy at my2angels :) 

And what a great theme for me to begin with. I love boys layouts - I can grunge to my heart's content and make lots of mistakes and yet nobody knows the difference.

My project for week number one is a set of four grungy ATC's (Artist Trading Cards). 

I love making these, they are quick to make, easy to store and fun to swap with scrappy friends. For this set I used Kaisercraft’s new 'Attitude' collection - absolutely perfect for masculine layouts, and the smaller 6x6 papers are just as perfect for ATC's. 

The links here are all to the 12 x 12 version of these papers...much easier to see :)

First I spent a bit of time making the four background frames. I took an Inkssentials Black Cardstock ATC and glued two rows of string around the edge to create a border. When it was dry I painted the string with a thin coat of black acrylic paint. 

When this was done I cut four chipboard centres to fit inside the border and covered them all with Attitude's 'Whatever!' - I used the green reverse. 

The edges were all inked with Black Soot Distress Ink.

The next steps were different for each card, but the papers used are the same ones. 

Card #1

A distressed, torn and curled piece of 'Teenager', a fantastic graffiti'd pattern with a grungy rusty red and white number pattern on the reverse, has been punched and some eyelets inserted. A piece of string is laced across the tear and there is a Football Sports Boot charm dangling from the string. There are also a few staples scattered around. The football boot's pretty shine has been sadly rusted using Twiddleybitz Rusting Powder - I hope Tracy will forgive me ;) Behind the tear I have tucked a tiny piece of the reverse of 'Trouble' with an equally tiny piece of Black Mesh on top of it.

Also given the rusting powder treatment are the small chipboard cogs - in this case cut in half. On top of the rusting they have a little bit of Cinnamon Stickles smeared around them. This was dried using a heat tool to take off some of the prettiness of the glitter and leave the rough texture. There is an Ideaology Mini Gear just tucked under a punched and inked circle from the 'Individual' paper sheet. This small circle is popped up on Foam Mounting Tape (oos).

Card #2

  

All the components of this card are the same as for the first one - and the next two. This one has the addition of a Boys with Caps charm (again 'rusted') and a 'boyz' word strip added to the punched circle. This word was cut from the manufacturer's strip running along the bottom of the 'Rebel' paper and given an inky edge. There are also some Game Spinners added to the Ideaology Gears using the included long fasteners.

Card #3

 

The only thing on this card that differs from the others is the Boys Cap charm - the rust is the same. I love this charm, it's very cute, and if you shop at my2angels this month it is one of the free gifts you will receive with your first purchase. Lucky!

Card #4

  

On my final ATC I decided that I needed a banner, but of course could not leave it looking tidy, so the last flag is falling down :) On each of the flags I put a charm - two tiny Bike Charms and a Spanner/Wrench Charm all looking decidedly un-cared for and another tiny gear.

The small circle under the other small gear is cut from the 12x12 Sticker Sheet and popped up on Foam Mounting Tape (oos). 

So that was Week 1. I hope you enjoy my ATC's and are inspired to make some of your own.....maybe we can swap? I'll be back next week with my take on this month's sketch challenge - can't wait to get my hands dirty again ;)

MICHELE 

NEW ARRIVALS

Foam Stamens

available in 8 colours

$1.20 per bunch of 30 heads 

 LIMITED EDITION

Brown and White Mixed Mulberry Flower Packs

$6.00 for 20 flowers and 1 bunch of stamens

Pink 2cm Mulberry Paper Flowers

$1.60 for a bunch of 5

Large Silver Spoons

1 for $1.20

Measures approximately 60mm long x 15.5mm wide x 2mm thick

 

Antique Bronze Scissors

5 for $1.60

also many charms are back in stock

wishing you all a creative and fun weekend