Recent ATCs

Here are some ATCs I've done recently. The first two photos show what I've sent out for a "Fall Fantasy" swap.

The set of three with leaves is done on a background made from one of my serendipity page experiments. I love these, because you've got a lot of the work done already and just need to add something to finish it off. The leaves are something I bought long ago, and thought they'd work well for this. They came pre-cut, colored & glittered, so all I had to do was glue them to the background. I included all three, since the backgrounds were slightly different.

The next photo shows one of a set of three for the same swap. For this background, I used the top layer of a decorative napkin, which I glued to a support underneath. I added another fall image, from the same batch as the leaves. I also added a strip of paper along the left that looks like gingham ribbon. Some text stamping over the top and it was done.

The final photo is an ATC I did as an experiment, not as part of a swap. I've got a lot of glossy photos on heavy weight paper which came from an unused social studies curriculum packet (yes, I had permission to take this stuff home). I stuck them in a misc. file, with no idea how to use them. A couple of weekends ago, I got the urge to find a way to use up all my cheap glitter glue, saving the good Ranger stuff. I pulled out these photo sheets, and began painting over them with glitter glue. I let that dry. Then I stamped an image on tissue paper, and glued that over the glittered photos. I colored the image with colored pencils, and added a fake jewel for the eye, and a small reproduction of a Scrabble tile at the bottom. I think it turned out just "okay", but that's what experiments are about!

Happy creating!
Immi

ATCs Received

Here are some ATCs I've received in swaps. The first photo shows ATCs from the Layers, Texture, Glazes swap. I posted my photos here: http://experimentsincreativity.blogspot.com/2008/07/more-atcs.html



The second photo shows ATCs from a Random swap - no particular theme. I didn't do a post for what I sent; mine were variations on cards I'd done before for other swaps.

Next week, the theme will be using up supplies on hand.



Till then,

Immi

Swap Goodies

Here are some photos of goodies I've received in the mail from recent swaps. The photo with all the papers is from an "Embellishment Swap". Looks like some fun stuff to play with.






The tea themed ATC is from the "Fair Trade" swap; the artist is Karen Fife.







The two ATCs with women and a scalloped edging are from Tammy Gray. She does these collages in Photoshop and then prints them on photo paper. These are from a "Sender's Choice" swap.















Finally, the ATC with the girl holding a bouquet is from Nancy Bailey. It also is from the "Sender's Choice" swap.
It's always interesting to see what kind of art others are doing.


Later, Immi

Still Making ATCs

Here are some ATCs I've recently completed for swaps. Next week I'll show you what I've been receiving in the mail.

The ATC with the purple background is one of a few I had left from a swap long ago. I used it this time for a "Sender's Choice" swap.
The ATC with the happy girl was also for the "Sender's Choice" swap. The background is from (again!) an old set of leftover ATCs. I did some inking over it to subdue it a little bit so it wouldn't compete with what I wanted to put on top. The girl I stamped in black; then I added color with markers, cut her out and mounted her on black cardstock. I felt that the card needed a little something else, and dug out some letter brads from my stash.

The next two cards were for a "Fair Trade" swap. The only rule was that the fair trade mark from a label had to be visible on the card. I did a background with letter stickers, masking tape and paint. Below is the link for the original post explaining this.(http://experimentsincreativity.blogspot.com/2008/07/atc-week-continues.html)
For one card I used a label from a small bar of fair trade chocolate. For the other, I used a label from fair trade coffee. Now all I have to do is eat the chocolate and drink the coffee!
Happy creating!
Immi

More ATCs

These are for a swap with the theme "Layers, Texture, Glazes". Each participant has the option to send one or two sets of three cards. I chose to do two sets.



The first photo has a piece of watercolor paper as the base. I had fun painting layers of acrylic paint mixed with glazing medium (awesome stuff!). When that was dry, I found a poem in Italian on the internet, and hand wrote it diagonally across the page in black Sharpie. Next I adhered a piece of tissue paper from an old pattern (the sewing kind) on top. I added a little more layering of glazes.

I cut the background down to size and added a little bit of ink stamped through some sequin waste in one corner. The strip of paper across the middle is from a neat envelope I got in the mail once, made from some kind of textured plastic. I painted over it with some Lumiere acrylic paint and cut strips with deckle edge scissors. The flower is one from a package I won in a drawing (thanks, Tim!), with a little acrylic bead called a dew drop on top.



The next photo is a piece of chipboard I used as the base for the other set of cards. Do you remember the post with the alphabet stickers on chipboard? I did one that really didn't thrill me at all. The stickers were very small (what a pain!!!), and a weird striped design (they were given to me; I certainly didn't buy them!). I thought I try using them up this way, but it was so blah and boring! But then I thought it might work to provide some texture.

I tore strips of masking tape and placed them randomly over the whole thing. Next came a layer of red glaze; pretty intense color, but it already looked more interesting than before. I thought I'd do a layer of yellow glaze next, but then I decided to try scraping the paint over rather than smoothly painting it. I loved the way it looked!

After cutting it down to size, I adhered a small piece of gauze for additional texture and interest. Then I dug out some odds and end, and glued those down. I had lots of fun experimenting with these!

Later,

Immi

ATC Week

This week's posts will all be about ATCs (Artist Trading Cards). I participate off and on in a couple of swap groups, and enjoy making ATCs according to a set theme to trade with others. I'm in a swapping phase right now, so I'll share some of what I've been doing.

ATCs are always 2.5 x 3.5; I store the ones I've received in a binder fitted with plastic sleeves designed to hold baseball cards. I got started in this years ago when I was a demonstrator for Stampin' Up! One year they held the convention in Minneapolis, and the idea was to bring a bunch of ATCs you'd made to trade with others. I enjoy seeing miniature art works from others. Sometimes people from around the world participate in these swaps.

The first swap I signed up for in this latest round was for a sunflower theme. I have a thing for sunflowers, and I've got quite a few sunflower stamps. I actually had some ATCs left over from a swap long ago that I'd done with sunflowers, so I pulled those out and decided to add a little bling for fun.

You can't really tell from the picture, but I painted a glaze over the top for shine. Then I added dots of a glitter product made by Ranger called Stickles. These are ready to go in the mail; I'll post pictures of what I receive when they come in.

Happy crafting!

Immi