Listen to Your Heart ATC

Just goofing around in the studio late last night. Had the itch to make something – something at all – because I cannot manage to get started in my 2010 handmade art journal. It’s too pretty and neat and clean right now. I don’t want to ruin it! So I made this instead.

Evidence of Love: Artist Trading Card

I made this a few months ago and it got buried in the mess on my desk. Eeek!

It measures 3.5 inches by 2.5 inches. The ruler on the bottom is actually a vintage piece of measuring tape from one of those spools you have to crank back in manually. The spiral clip is an Italian paper clip. The woman image is a rubber stamp. I cut the paper for her to look like a Polaroid picture. The faux manila folder closures are just paper punch circles and eyelets. I used my sewing machine to sew around the edges in an uneven way. (Really, I *can* sew in a straight line!) The card is made on a piece of watercolor paper that I added some gel medium to so it looked like stucco.

I'm thinking I might put this up for sale in my Etsy shop for Valentine's Day. What do you think?

I hope you have a Happy New Year's Eve and a safe night!! Cheers!

French Woman Artist Trading Card

This is a new Artist Trading Card I made. The background was made using an embossing resist process learned in a class with Claudine Hellmuth. It started out as a variegated tan paper. I stamped with clear ink and clear embossing powder and then heated it to set the powder. Then I washed a light coat of gesso over it. The shiny embossing resists the paint and the paper underneath shows through. It’s really cool!

I added a stamped image of a woman. I’ve been toying with this stamp for a while and wondering what to do with her. Her dress was colored in with colored pencils. I also added some paper lace and vintage buttons. I got the fleur de lis paper punch at the Dollar Store!

I’m playing with the idea of making ACEOs to sell in my shop but I have no idea what to price them. Need to do a little research there.

Happy Thanksgiving!

I hope each and every one of you has a safe, healthy, and happy Thanksgiving!!

As for me, I will be at my mom’s place eating things with lots of butter in them.

Remembrance ATC

The MAMMA flickr group theme last week was “remembrance”. Preparations for my craft show took precedence, and I did not get my entry done in time for the swap. But I thought the theme was worth spending some time on.

My mom has all these great photo albums of my relatives, lots of neat antique photos. Looking through them reminds me of where I’ve come from. Both my maternal great grandparents came off the boat from Sicily. I hope someday to visit the place of my ancestors.

This photo of my mom’s parents reminds me of how much they loved each other. They were together for 64 years when my grandfather passed a few years ago. I miss both of them greatly. I like to do things to honor their memories. I made a big shadowbox collage about my maternal grandmother I’ll show you someday.

The background was made a few months ago with gel medium and acrylic paint. Then I stitched the border on my sewing machine in brown thread. The lace was a gift from my grandmother. I have a box of old buttons I like to draw from for my ATCs. The metallic element that says “parents” came from my hunt at the Dollar Store for collage items. Nice score, I think.

I’m not sure when this photo of my Grandma Ann and Grandpa Chris was taken. Maybe when he was on leave from Korea or just returning home or right before he left. Aren’t these two just beautiful?

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

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!

Felted Artist Trading Cards

I got this idea from a magazine that I now cannot remember the name of or I would link to it here. This woman made the loveliest Artist Trading Cards (ATCs) from felt and wool roving. So I decided to try it out as some of my work has leaned me toward fiber arts and felting. The ATC biz is something I’ve been interested in as well.

Pink Flowers

This is the first one I made. Needle felted simple round flowers with French knot details and embroidery on a purple felt base. “Hey,” I’m thinking to myself. “This isn’t as hard as I thought it was going to be!” 

House

Needle felted onto black craft felt. Embroidered with glass beads. I added the little bird because the house looked lonely.

Bird’s Nest

I got a little wild with this one. The brown roving nest needle felted onto the cream was boring to my eye. My mother gave me some brown sparkly eyelash yarn from a project she had done. I wasn’t sure if it would stick, but I tried it anyway. I’m really pleased with the results. The green leaves and other beads just makes this one pop. It’s my favorite so far. 

All of these still need a backing sewed onto them with my information for an ATC swap I might try. I just cannot decide what fabric to sew onto them. Plus getting out my sewing machine is hard when my studio is such a mess.