scrapbooking2angels: Easy Masculine ATC Set

Saturday, September 8, 2012

Easy Masculine ATC Set

Hi everyone, Michele here.

Today I have a step by step for you - a set of four, easy to make ATC's with a masculine theme.

The only rule you need to follow when making ATC's (Artist Trading Cards), is to make sure that they measure 3.5 x 2.5 inches. That's it. The rest is up to you and the way you feel on the day :)

If you are making your ATC's for a swap, you may want to make them all the same - that way everyone involved in the swap will get an identical piece of your art, but for me, making them for you to look at here on the blog, the best way seems to be to choose some common elements and then put them together in different ways. That is what I have done with these.

I decided to make my ATC's using the criteria of this month's challenge. Black, White, with one other colour. Most men have one thing in common....they love to go to hardware stores and look at tools!! So I had a look in my stash and chose a few things ''toolish'' to use.

I chose to use four Inkssentials ATC's Black Surfaces. Tracy has these in White, White Gloss and Kraft as well and because they are exactly the right size, they save heaps of time measuring and cutting. Obviously these Hammer and Spanner/Wrench Charms were also the perfect final decoration for each ATC as well.

Next I consulted Google - ''Quotes about tools'' - and picked up four interesting quotes from various people about tools and those who use them. There are not many, but I managed to find enough for my set of four :)

I printed them on some glossy, Ranger Specialty Stamping paper and cut them into strips.

Then I went looking for a masculine stamp in my stash and came up with this one. Just quietly, it's the only ''Man'' stamp I have! Might need to do some shopping :)

I stamped it four times on the same sheet of Stamping paper with Jet Black Archival Ink (oos). This needed quite a bit of drying time to avoid smudging, so while I waited I started on the ''one other colour''. There is such a tiny bit of colour on each ATC that I was able to use some small offcuts from past projects for all of my colours. ATC's are also fantastic for using up your left-overs!

First, I inked the edges of my quote pieces with Black Soot Distress Ink and then mounted them on cardstock using X-Press It 6mm Double Sided Tape. I cut out each strip, leaving a very thin, coloured border - about 1mm wide.

Because my stamped image is about half an inch shorter than the necessary 3.5'', I also cut a strip of coloured cardstock to fill the space.

This I punched, inked with Black Soot and embellished with a tiny piece of Plasterer's mesh. I got this small roll from a friend who is in the trade, but you can also get it at any hardware store. It's slightly tacky on one side and is great for adding texture and interest.

When all my components were ready, I put them together like this:

The stamped image and the cardstock are stuck with X-Press It 6mm Double Sided Tape, the quote is popped up on Dimensional squares and the hammer is stuck on using a tiny bit of Glossy Accents. A 4mm Silver Rhinestone covers the hole in the Hammer Charm.

The next piece of scrap card I used was a deep wine red.

I mounted my quote in exactly the same way, and cut the extra space filling strip. This time, instead of punching the edge of this, I left it whole. The quote I chose for this one amused me and reminded me of the way my family behaves when putting together a jigsaw puzzle, so I punched two jigsaw pieces to add to it. For this I used some leftover pieces of Bo Bunny's Enchanted collection - all Black and White and the perfect papers for this challenge.

The second ATC went together like this:

I chose a light olive green base for the next one.

I had intended to use a piece of punched paper - again the Bo Bunny Enchanted - over the space filling cardstock, but in the end I was not happy with the way it looked. I left it off, punched the cardstock instead and created this: