Vintage Tag ATC Swap

photo by nayski - used with permission

I received my vintage tag artist trading card (ATC) swap from nayski on Saturday. Isn’t it lovely? So sweet, so vintage, so pink! The butterfly is such a nice touch. I’m a sucker for paper lace, and this one has some at the bottom. Now I really need to string my line up to display my cards! This one is too wonderful to just leave sitting on my desk.

I should note for all you ATC traders out there: please put your cards in a plastic bag or sleeve when you mail them. My mail got soaked from a bad rainstorm, and this card would have been ruined were it not for the plastic bag in which it was shipped. I just ordered some ATC sleeves that seal up for this reason.

Nayski included some extra goodies for me as well. She sent printed paper, little playing cards, a ticket, ribbon, and some words that are little brads. Joy! Thank you, nayski!!

The rest of nayski’s flickr photostream has some amazing artwork. Her paining style is unique, and I love it.

Dreamer by nayski

Take This Little Witch Home

Halloween is fast approaching. Get this little sweetie in time with a fabulous deal to boot. I am offering free USPS Priority shipping today only plus $5.00 off the purchase price. How cool is that?!

Time Flies ATC

The MAMMA theme this week is “black and white”. When I read it I thought, “There’s just no way I can nix color!!” But I did my best, and here is the result.



The clock face with wings was stamped on white cardstock with clear Versamark ink and then embossed clear over it. I colored in the image with a black marker to create the inverse effect. The rest of the card is lace, more stamping, eyelets, a bow, and words printed on my printer. Not too complicated, but on the whole I am happy with the overall effect.

Off to the MAMMA photo pool it goes and gets assigned a swap partner on Saturday!

First Swap Arrival!

My first Artist Trading Card (ATC) swap arrived today from the United Kingdom. shadfan66 created this card. I really like it! The theme was “home sweet home”. This swap was part of the Maggie’s Monday Musings (MAMMA) flickr group.

I was really honored today to discover that Maggie had given my vintage tag ATC an award! All of the entries this week were out of this world. The members of this group really shined.

I’m sending my vintage tag ATC to nayski. I already peeked at her photos to see the card I am going to get from her, but she entered two. I don’t know which one I’ll be getting. Looking up my swap partner’s card is killing the surprise for me, and I’m going to stop doing it!

Queen of Hats ATC

This is my MAMMA artist trading card (ATC) entry for this week’s theme of vintage tags.

I created the background with book pages torn and collaged with gel medium. Some rusty brown paints added “age” to it. The woman is from some flickr collage image group, if my memory serves me. Her hat is festooned with a lock of fancy yarn. Vintage lace and buttons adorn the bottom. A brass grommet holds the opening for all the frilly lace and ribbons at the top. The words were stamped using brown dye ink and steel letter punches.

I have not made a tag ATC before this one. The fluffy bits at the top make me happy. It makes the card seem more full.

I’m almost tempted to not trade this one, as I would really like to hang it in my studio. Maybe I’ll make myself one, too. I should just start making these in batches of two, one for me and one for the swap!

The Joy of Toys and Photographs Thereof

A few weeks ago I received a flickr-mail from someone who was interested in using one of my photos for inclusion on a website about a store in Austin, Texas, called Toy Joy. And today I got another flickr-mail from the same person telling me they are using my photo. Yay! I’ll be famous!

The website is called Schmap and the link to my photo is here. Hover your cursor over “Toy Joy” until you see my name, Victoria Porter, come up under one of the photos in the upper right corner. If you click it you will be sent hurtling to my flickr photostream under the guise of monkey123, my non-business flickr account.

I’m really excited about this. I guess it does not take much right now.

You may be asking yourself, “Hey, this chick lives in Rochester, NY. What was she doing taking pictures of toy stores in Austin, Texas?!” And to that I answer that I was visiting my best friend, Joolie, in Austin and she took me to the best toy store I’ve ever set foot in, Toy Joy. It truly is a place of joy. Toys are all over from floor to ceiling. No space in the place is wasted. They have some really cool things and very obscure items. They have so much to choose from that I cannot make up my mind what to buy and end up leaving empty handed or with just a few small trinkets. Then later I rue that I could not decide and I curse myself. It’s nice to know that Joolie is amenable to taking me there every time I visit!

Thanks, Schmap, for making my day!!

The Potential Value of Status Updates

Thanks to an Etsy forum post by redpandajewelry, I learned more about twitter and how to use it. Basically it’s just a whole lot of Facebook status updates, which I really enjoy already. You can post up to 140 characters. It’s kind of like little mini-blog posts for those of us who may not have a lot to say.

Redpandajewelry says she has gotten quite a few sales with some smart marketing strategies on twitter. For example, she sells chainmaille jewelry. On twitter she searched the word “chainmaille” and followed everyone who had made any mention of chainmaille. In this way she exposed potential customers to her Etsy shop. I’m not sure how this strategy might work for my particular product yet, but I am on my way to figuring it out. Plus it’s good to be socializing with other artists.

My feelings are “Oh, great. Something new to have to constantly update.” But it if helps my struggling business get its feet under it, then so be it. It only costs time, and I’m usually parked in front of my computer for much of the day anyway.

If you join you can find me at http://twitter.com/inmyheadstudios.

Home Sweet Home ATC

On flickr I happened upon a group called Maggie’s Monday Musings (MAMMA). Maggie posts a theme for the week and the group members answer the call in Artist Trading Card (ATC) format. Here’s my entry for the “home sweet home” challenge.



Maggie posted a house template on her blog and I really liked the proportions of it so I used it for my ATC. I collaged scrapbook paper for the house background. Then I added some paper lace, a print of a bird and a nest, and some words from a vintage book. On my sewing machine I stitched the red thread border around the house. The blue sky background was collaged from book paper and gel medium. Then I painted the sky blue.

I’m looking forward to participating in my first ATC swap through this group. When I get my swap I’ll let you see it!

Pardon My Dust

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Art Journal: 10-4-08

rAnDoM aCtS

This page is an experiment in a larger format of something I was working with in a smaller format. I wanted to see if I could make a big one. It was easier than I thought it would be to create. Some new clear stamps made it home with me from the craft store (how did that happen again?!) so I wanted to incorporate them into the collage. I’m working on another one for a framed piece for an upcoming craft show.

As I had hoped, working in my art journal is giving me ideas for other pieces to do outside of the journal. It’s nice to be working like this again. Getting a page a week done right now is really hard as some things are going on that prevent me from working when I wish to be in the studio. But I consider getting anything done right now to be a major victory!

A Little Witchy

Halloween will soon be upon us. Don’t leave your neck out of the fun of holiday decorations! This little witch is so cute she’s almost scary! BOO!

Available for sale in my Etsy shop!