July ATC cards: Game Pieces, Body Parts & 'Shrooms

For July, I created three different cards. One for the first group I joined, the ATC group of Custom Impressions in Los Alamitos/ This group meets on the last Sunday of the month. And we do demos and trades with an optional theme. I also made two for a group where I trade by mail. This group is called ATCs Unleashed.

GAME PIECES
The July theme for the Custom Impressions group was game pieces. I decided to make cards that featured the game Clue (or Cluedo.) This card was a different style for me, because I used mostly images of the internet instead of stamps or scrapbook paper. I started by finding an image of the board you play on and combined it in Photoshop with an image from the Clue movie ethat showed the backs of all the suspects holding various weapons.  I printed this image at 3.5 x2.5 and it became my background for the ATC. Then I found and printed tiny game cards of the suspects, weapons & rooms from different versions of the game. I hand trimmed these and layered them with pop on to the background image so that each ATC  card had a different combo of suspect, room and weapon. On the backs, I altered the classic backs from the game and added my name and the date. They feel simpler than some of my other cards to me, but I think they are cute, fun and represent a game I have fone memories of playing.

BODY PARTS
For the ATC Unleashed group there are usually two themes. I choose to use the body parts theme for all seven of my main trades. I decided to do these in a multimedia / art journal style. (I am so obsessing on Dyan Reavely's style right now.)  So, I just HAD to use the Daddy Long Legs Dylusions stamp that I had just bought during So Cal Shop Hop.  So I had legs as the body part. For the background, I used more Dylusions with their inks, paints and stencils. I started by spraying the entire card (Strathmore multimedia paper cut to ATC size) with lemon peel yellow ink. I added lime green ink spray thru the small rectangles stencil over top; on the edges of the card I added the chocolate brown Dylusions paint with a blending tool. Over the background, I stamped a pair of stripe stocking-ed legs (in heels of course) with black Stazon ink.  I filled in any light or "bad" areas with a black pen using stripes or doodles. I  also doodled a bit on the corners.For a finishing touch, I hand wrote a quote from fashion guru Iris Aptel along the top of the leg. "Fashion can be bought, Style you possess."

'SHROOMS
The my second or bonus cards forATC Unleashed are always a free theme and only require two card to be submitted. These are sometimes the card I try new techniques or outlandish ideas for. And am adding step by step pictures. Since I was already enjoying the Dyan Reavely / Dylusions products so much m (and already had them out,) I used them again. I started the card backgrounds by spraying it with funky fuchsia and tangerine dream  inks. 

I blotted them with paper towels and let them dry a bit. I then used the Dylusions large circle stencil and sprayed plain water thru it.After letting the water sit for a few seconds, I blotted again. This created what Dyan calls ghosting, where the ink is removed where the water re-moistened it.

Then to create a very basic stencil, I stamped the mushroom image (a Dylusions stamp again)  on a blank piece of heavy weight paper. I cut around the mushroom image leaving a slight border to create a  stencil the  roughly the shape of the stamp. It didn't have to be exact, in fact, I wanted it to look handmade and slightly imperfect. 

Using the lime green Dylusions paint and a round Timmy blender, I painted the stencil on the left of all the cards and allowed them to dry thoroughly before moving on. I really like how the inks react and bleed into the paint letting you see the ghost circles beneath.

Now that the paint was fully dry, I stamped the mushrooms image on top of it with black Stazon ink. I tried to line it up with the stenciled area. On the right side  I added a quote from Lewis Carroll: "Its no use going back to YESTERDAY because I was a DIFFERENT person then."  I used a little of Tim Holtz Distress paint in picket fence to color in the circles on the mushrooms. And dotted a bit on or over the handwritten text. And as a last note, a tiny bit of bling.

I hope you liked seeing my cards for this month and learning a bit about my creative process. I will try and share a bit about my cards each month. Do you guys make ATC cards? If you are in Southern California, come join us some Sunday!

My Three ATCs for November

I created three ATCs for November, one for the Custom Impressions trade and two for the mail trade I joined last month. I used Twinkling H2O paints on all three cards. I haven't used these much and am starting to feel like ATCs are a fun opportunity to play and learn about my less used products.

For the CI group the theme was Gratitude. I decided to make two similar cards, representing two November holidays- Veteran's Day and Thanksgiving. 

For both versions, I used a stamp from The Greeting Farm Cheeky collection, one a soldier and one with a pie. The images were stamped in Stazon and colored with the H2Os. Most of the painting/coloring went well. I used two yellowy shades for the hair (Sunburst & Yellow Roses) on both images. For Cheeky Pie, I painted the dress blue (Bashful Blue) with accents of pink (Playful Peony) on her shoes and scarf. The pie was painted in Bronze, Pearl Gold and Copper for the pan.

 I had trouble at first with the green for the soldier since I didn't have a khaki or olive color. I eventually diluted a darker green (Emerald) with lots of water to create a wash of a lighter more transparent green and I think it looks good. I could even layer the color with the wash and create shadows and tone. (Yay learning.) I then added Bronze for the piping and bow.

 

 

 I also was unhappy with the skin tone for both. I used Baby's Breath and it was very pink until dry and the level of shimmer seemed some how wrong for skin.
 

The background coloring is a Viva Decor paint called Maya Gold in the shade Petrol. Due to accidental spillage, I applied the paint with my fingers. I added the words "thank you" along the edge. I cut these out with my Cricut from G45 Steampunk Spells paper. And added a few glitter paper punch outs to finish  the cards.
 
The ATC trade is the last Sunday of the Month at Custom Impressions. Please call ((562) 430-8100) for details and themes. Hope to see you next month!

 

The theme I choose for the seven mail in  ATCs was things with stripes or dots. I decided to use some stamps of moths and butterflies as my striped and dotted things. I once again used Stazon, because it works well with wet mediums like the H2Os. Instead of using any of the bright colors of paints, I decided to try out the set of pearl colors I had. These all look almost white and have an iridescent quality to them. I painted the stamps in Pearl Green, Pearl Violet and Pearl Gold. What was really cool and unexpected to me was that these paints changed the color of the ink not the paper. (More learning!) And it looks so different and interesting from different angles, with I thought looked just right on my winged buggies. 

For the background of the dot ATCs I painted the whole cards in a copper metallic paint. Once thst dried I added some Viva Decor Ferro in a dark gold shade thru a circle pattern mask. I finished off the cards with a few rhinestones.

The final card for November is my mail in bonus card. I only need to make three- two to trade and one to keep. And it is a free theme.

I used another TGF stamp, this time from the Magical collection. I stamped with Stazon and painted in the H2O.  I think I did WAY better with the painting this go round. (The learning paid off, yay!) I played more with the wash method of diluting the colors to create shading on the hair (Sugar Plum & Heavenly) and clothes (Lemongrass & Kiwi) And also to make the skin tone not only less pink, but slightly less sparkly by creating a light wash with the Baby's Breath pink. I added some pinkish (Playful Peony) and teal (Mystique) to the stats in her hair and the stamp was all colored in.

For the card background I used Primary Pigment powders in a few shades (Twilight, Bronze and Kiwi) and blended/rubbed them onto black chipboard. I then spritzed the cards with two coats of Goosebumps. This not only set the powder, but created a texture and sheen to the background. 

I used a Dyan Reavley phrase stamp-"a life without dreams would just be a life"- on the right corner in Pastel Violet Prima chalk and added dome multicolor bling gems to finish up the card.

Which card is your favorite? I think I like the bonus card best, my technique was getting pretty good by then. Have you tried Sparkling H20 paints? How do you use them? I would love to hear any new tips or techniques for next time.

G45 Secret Garden - Altered Book Art

A few months ago I joined an Altered Book and Mini Album group, I have been making a bunch of mini albums at the meetings, but this is my first altered book.  I decided to do a shadow box style book with the center of the pages cut out.  Because this is a new type of project for me, this post will probably be wordy so I make sure I explain what I did. Also If you know a better method or have a good source I can use to make this better in the future, please let me know. Thanks!

 

I started out by shopping around for the right book.  I wanted an older book with pages that were sewn in, not glued flat to the spine.  I also wanted a book with a certain depth and size so that it would fit a decent sized niche inside.  I finally found my book at an antique village near San Diego.

Now that I had the book, I had to figure out how turn it into a shadow box. After looking on the internet for more information, I found that using matte gel medium on the edges of the pages would glue the pages together without leaving a shiny lacquered finish.  I also found a suggestion to use clamps to hold the pages really tight while the glue dried.  My boyfriend took it to another level and suggested we also use wood the length of the book so the pressure would be even and the pages would not have a wavy appearance.

 So that is exactly what we did. Leaving the front cover and a couple pages out of clamp, I put two coats on all 3 edges, using a smaller brush to clean up globs. I left the book to dry for several hours. (If you know what paper you are using for the cover, it is good idea to skip it in before gluing book pages to back cover, I didn't think of this and had to cut thin, awkward strips.))

When the book was dry I drew the out line if my opening on the top pages. using a very sharp craft knife I began to cut away at my shadow box.. Once I got to about a quarter of an inch in depth, it became difficult to cut. At this point I applied a thin coat of gel medium to the inside edges, re-clamped the book at left it to dry over night.  The glued edges will now become a sort of guide to help you cut the rest of the pages. If the cuts get messy or hard to cut you can glue the inside to make it stiff and less problematic a second time.After  got the shadow bow to the depth I wanted I cleaned up edges and the corners as best I could.  Then I glued it one last time on the inside and out side and let it dry for 24 hours. When it was dry I started to decorate the book.

 For the cover I used the floral side of the 12x12 Secret Garden pattern with 8x8 Leafy tree tops trimmed to center panel and edged with brown. I put the yellow Pretty Primrose on the spine. I then covered the spine with two layers on vintage lace, one pink and one tea colored.

 On the back I cut out the "thistle" panel from the May Flowers paper and matted it on a yellow page from the 6x6 pad of coordinating papers. I fussy cut a second rose and decorated with with distress and regular Stickles. I attached this over the rose on card with pop dots and then I attached the card to the center of the back cover.

On the front cover I added Petaloo , Prima and other paper flowers and leaves to the upper right and lower left corners. (I pre-glued these to small triangles so i could get the shape and size correct before attaching.) I added some pink and blue ribbon next to the flowers.  To create a title, I used the G45 matching stamp of the words "Secret Garden" to emboss the green 6x6 paper in detail gold; I hand outlined the words in black ink. I then roughly fussy cut around the stamp and added it to a sheet of the purple and then the word patterned blue papers. (I inked the edges with matching chalk shades.) I attached the title to the cover.

I used a sheet of the striped Sunkissed paper on the inside cover and the text side of Seed Fairy opposite it.  Using my Cricut I made a "fancy" library style envelope with Coming Up Roses.I affixed a sticker with a quote to front and glittered the corners. I then created a tag using a sheet of the pink 6x6 paper and two of the the May Flowers panels and chalked the edges in brown. I added some pink ribbon and petaloo flowers to the tag.

On the opposite page, I placed the Secret Garden sticker with its border. around that is a border of lace that seemed to give it a three dimensional look.  Below that is a nine square piece of the Seed Fairy paper with a fussy cut and glittered/Stickled rose from one of the May Flowers panels on top of it.  In the corners I added some Prima pearl embellishments from their Divine line.

I used the Beautiful Blooms paper on the page opposite the shadow box.  In the center I added another panel from the May Flowers page matted on to a pink page from the 6x6 pad.  I "painted" over the birds, flowers and cage with Stickles. (The waterfall blue looks really nice on the blue birds and blue ribbons)

For the shadow box, I used the blue 8x8 April Showers with the white 6x6 paper with the same text. I hand ripped it to create a distressed edge where they overlapped.These were affixed to the back of the recess. I then fussy cut out portions of the flowery trees and girl by the fence from both the 12x12 and 8x8 pages of the Secret Garden sheet.

I colored in portions of the flowers, the birds, ribbons, keys and fence with regular and distress Stickles. Once the glitter was dry I began to layer in my pieces. I added one of the flowery tree parts to the very back. In the middle I added the girl and one side of the fence from 8x8 pad. I then added Primrose paper around the recess like a frame. On top of that I added the larger section of flowered trees with the birds and flower (so this is the top layer.)  On the bottom corner I added a small portion of the 12x12 fence so that it was bigger than the 8x8 below it. This increases the visual depth of the scene in the niche.  On the bottom edge I added some pink ribbon to match the ribbon and bow on paper.  I also tucked a few more paper flowers in the corner.

After I was finished decorating the book itself, I made a book mark with the Primrose paper that slide in to space behind the spine.  On it hang some of the Secret Garden chipboard tags, a prima embellishment and a key on a blue ribbon.  On the top is a big blue bow with a small paper flower on the back.

So that is my first Altered Art book. I had fun making it and learning a new process.  I have already chosen another book to work with  and think I may put a mini book in the recess this time. What do you think?


Materials Used:
Cricut: Artiste

Paper: Graphic 45 Secret Garden (12x12, 8x8, 6x6, stickers and chipboard tags)
 Inks, Glitter and Paints: Ranger Stickles (distress & regular), gold embossing powder, brown, blue and purple chacks.
Other: Prima lowers and embellishments, Petaloo flowers, Graphic 45 metal key, ribbons and lace

G45's Bird Song- An Altered Cigar Box

When Graphic 45's Bird Song collection was released, my boyfriend and I fell in love with it and wanted to use it to wallpaper our apartment.  This seemed like it might be both impractical and could possibly break our lease. So when I found cigar boxes for sale, I decided making an decorative altered box with Bird Song would be perfect.

 I started by measuring all the panels of the box, inside and out.I then made a simple diagram with the measurements to have a reference to follow. Having this information let me try to cut the paper so that it flowed smoothly from one panel to the next. When I started the box, one of my first steps was sealing it with decoupage medium. I used a quick speed decoupage and at first it looked like it was all bubbly and wrinkled when I saturated the paper. (I was so scared!) But after letting it dry thoroughly for 24 hours all the paper went back to flat and looked great. So don't stress like I did, just give it some time to dry and it should be ok.

I knew from the start I wanted to use the beige paper with the writing on it (Good Fortune) for the inside of the box. I cut the five pieces for the bottom and four internal sides tested that they all fit well before gluing it down.  For the inside of the lid I choose the dragon/text black and gold paper (Pearls of Wisdom.)  At this point I realized the lid would not close properly. The lid was so snug the thickness of the paper made it too tight. To fix this the edges of the lid were sanded carefully with a dremel tool.  After the adjustments were complete, I inked the exposed wood in a dark brown to match the original finish. I then proceeded to add the black pattern paper with the red circular pattern (Jasmine Dreams) to the outer sides of the box.

The top of the lid was covered with the 8x8 floral paper with the black background (Joy Luck.) To further decorate the sides of the box I fussy cut some of the birds and flowers from the  12x12 version of the floral paper and the page with tags on it (Tranquility). At this point I sealed the paper (including the fussy cuts) with decoupage.  After it dried I added the feet, which are round wood knobs about one and a quarter inches in diameter.  I dyed them with bround Chox and Tim Holtz distress stain in brass to try and give it a weathered, distressed look.

I decided to keep the sides simple and just added some Seven Gypsy metal photo corners in varying sizes to the upper corners. And small corner covers on the bottom corners.  For the top I started with a pair of vintage, enameled chopsticks and some bird printed ribbon.  I added a stamp from the matching G45 stamp set on the end of the ribbon in red On the front I added a pull to the lid with ribbon, a Prima embellishment of a bird and a jade colored bead.

Then I layered G45 Staples metal flowers with mother of pearl buttons and red beads. Also I put in some Recollections metal flowers and jade colored beads.  My final touch on the lid were some Asian coin shaped brads by Marah Johnson/Creative Imaginations.  I cut the pointy parts off as best I could and glued them at a slight angle.

I used the matching G45/Hampton Arts stamps with Color box chalk (Windsor blue) and G45 Decades inks (triumphant red, cashmere, photogenic) to stamp a cherry blossom filled fan and a twig of cherry blossoms. (I love the idea of the blank fan with the mix and match patterns.)  I added a small amount of yellow Stickles to the centers of the red cherry blossoms. I then fussy cut both stamped images out.  The fan was layered with one of the vintage painted ladies and two of the stickers from the Bird Song set. The fussy cut cherry blossoms were added to the top.  More metal flowers, mother of pearl buttons and beads were placed along the right side.  On the left I added another of the Asian coin brads. The last embellishment is my favorite, I tied dragon charm (from the DCWV booth at CHA) tied to a chipboard tag with a piece of maroon ribbon that I frayed.

This piece looks ah-maze-ing in our bedroom where it sits on a side table and holds the watch I gave my boyfriend and the necklace he bought me for Valentine's Day.


Materials used:

Papers: Graphic 45 Bird Song (12x12, 8x8, chipboard tags and stickers)
Inks/Glitters/Paints: Colorbox windsor blue chalk, Graphic 45 Decades Ink (triumphant red, cashmere, photogenic)
Other: Graphic 45 Staples metal flowers, Seven Gypsies metal corner covers and photo corners, Recollections metal roses, Marah Johnson/Creative Imaginations brads, Prima bird embellishment, DCWV dragon charm, ribbons, beads, vintage chopsticks

Multimedia Class- Splash of Color!

Yesterday I got to go to Splash of Color in Huntington Beach, CA and take a class taught by Marah Johnson.  Splash of Color is a merge of Creative Imaginations and Viva Decor.  The class was about multimedia techniques, particularly those using their new Silks acrylic glazes.  We made a collage board that can be used as a display for the items we used.  (I gave Rachel mine to put in the store.)

The Silks were pretty awesome.  The were sheer and iridescent, but were smooth and didn't make the paper go all wavy.  They also mixed well with gesso.  I also really liked the Inka Gold products.  It was so simple to add some shiny gold or other metallic to a project with just a swipe.  The Splash od color crackle was cool too- its like a paste not a paint, they also make a base for it.  The base lets it be sticky in the "cracks" so you can add Perfect Pearls or maybe glitter.

I had a really nice time and met alot of local Southern CA store owners.  It was also pretty cool to meet Marah Johnson, If you go back to my first post I think I used at least 2 of the Creative Imaginations papers she designed.

Now to get my havds on some gold crackle and a couple - few Silks and dress up my sketchbook cover.....

Better late than never, Rita's birthday card.

So I once again was late on sending out some one's birthday gifts and card.  I am so bad at that now that I live on the other side of the country! And it costs do darned much to over night stuff to Maryland. Grrr.

Anyway.  I made a cool card for my Step mom withe the cricut that I hope she will like.  I used the Art Nouveau cartridge, which she has liked in the past.

 

The card shape its self is made from a shadow shape on Art Nouveau as are the overlay and the dragon fly.  The "R" is from the Sophisticated font overlay. I used plain card stock in purples, teals, yellows and browns. I used brown and copper colored chalk/ink on the edges and in the negative space to make it look a wee bit distressed and vintage-y.  I probably used a combination of Tim Holtz distress inks and stains.  I applied Tim Holtz Clear Rock Candy Crackle to the wings of the dragon fly which gave it a cool stained glass look. And to bling it out a bit I added rhinestones to the "tail" and nect to the "R."  And to finish it up I added Viva Decor pearl pen dots on the tail and around the border of the card.

On the inside I used the Art Nouveau cartridge to add some pansy flowers which put a nice glitter shine on with Viva Decor Holographic colored glitter liner. I added "happy" in the upright font on the Opposites Attract cartridge and "birthday" in Plantin SchoolBook. (I added a line below it to make it easier to place the wording.)  I cut the word belated out of the background, so it shows up in "negative space."  I honestly cannot remeber what pattern paper I used. (Rita's birthday was back in late March.)  I know the grid one was out of DCWV pad I got at JoAnne's, the blue glitter was probably from Micheal's and the dot paper was out of a Mind's Eye 6x6 maybe.  I am really sorry.  If you really want to know the paper I can try and research it better just email me at laurel.and.maggie@gmail.com)

Rita did like her card and gift, so I did get a pass on missing the actual dat. Phew.

Product List:

• Cricut Cartridges: Art Nouveau, Sophisticated, Plantin SchoolBook and Opposites Attract
• Paper: Plain cardstock in teal, yellow, lilac, light freean and dark green.  Unknown DCWV pattern paper.
• Paints/Inks: Viva Decor Pearl Pen in copper, Viva Decor Glitter Liner in holographic, Tim Holtz Crackle Paint in clear rock candy and TH distress inks and stains.