Quick Post

I will be doing a post on some of the items I've been making for the Yahoo! group I joined not so long ago, I've just been so busy with work lately that my few hours of free time are spent relaxing and falling asleep.

New Art Group

I joined a new art group on Yahoo. I felt I needed an outlet to making more art than just the one time per month for my CollageATCs group. I already joined 5 swaps, the earliest due on 9/20 and the latest due on 10/15. My plan was to join swaps that weren't due anytime soon as next week I will be starting work UBS for 3 weeks and working about 8 hours there everyday and the 3 hours at my other job every day, so I wouldn't be very energized to do anything in the evenings.
The other day I was in my art closet and decided to start on some anyway. OK, it really started at the event I was working at Hilton on Thursday when I was a little bored and started sketching out ideas for the upcoming swaps on my information sheet. One of the swaps I'm in is called a Ladies Vintage Wallet swap. Basically, we're creating a simple 'wallet' out of paper, decorating it and filling it with a few things that will be swapped out. We have to create, in addition to the wallet, 2 vintage decorated ATC's, 2 vintage decorated luggage tags, 1 vintage decorated calling card and 1 vintage decorated/written letter to ourselves, as if we were living in that time period. I had to scan an ATC I did for a sale on etsy, so thought I'd scan the finished (or so I thought) pieces I had for the swap.
These are the lugguge tags. I took the dimensions given (2" x 3"), cut the tags out, rubbed a Really Rust Stampin' Up ink pad on them, and then added images I thought made them look vintage. Clock: I found the clock image on a collage sheet, cut it out and wrinkled it up, I did the same with the two kids bicycling in the corner. The bead is a paper bead I did when I was younger. Leaves: The top leaf is a ginkgo leaf that was sprayed with ink and then pressed onto a piece of paper, the other is from a piece of patterned scrapbook paper, I then layered the button and brown flower embellishment in the corner. After scanning these, I added a green tinged image of a boy on top of the leaves and added a twine to the clock tag and a green yarn to the leaves tag.

These are the Vintage ATCs for the swap. The one on the left has an image I took out of a dictionary of the occult that I bought at a bookstore in New Orleans when I went there in 2003, I distressed it with the same rust ink pad as I did the background and the two luggage tags. I also wrinkled it up to make it appear older, it is mounted on a green paper and then onto the ATC. There is a piece of gold mesh across the corner with a tannish button and a green button on top. I decorated the wallet with the mesh and green so I was trying to tie those colors in. The card on the left has a napkin for a background. The lady image was stamped with bleach into some green paper, the "INSPIRE" was also stamped this way.

I'm still in the process of finishing the wallet and the calling card. I'm having a hard time figuring out what a letter to myself in the Victorian age would be.

The other swaps I joined are: a charm swap, I've never done charms but it sounded so neat, plus I'm psyched to see what other people did. For this swap, I wrapped some puzzle pieces in tissue paper and covered them with tacky glue, kinda decoupaging them and then stamped an interesting texture stamp into them. I need to paint/color them in something bright as they're stamped with black onto a darker teal and blue tissue papers. I had also planned on doing the Ultra Thick Embossing Enamel on some matboard, but I don't have the supplies, and I'm not sure how to keep the holes in the pieces as I'm making them. I might borrow the supplies from my mom, not like she's using them now anyway. This one's due on 9/20, I will receive as many charms back as I send (8 or 16) on a charm bracelet.

Tag swap: I'm supposed to make 5 tags ATC sized or ATCs with tags on them. I've already finished these, they're distressed with the same ink pad to paper technique as the above cards/tags.

Chain Swap: I have to make a paper chain of 3 people/animals/whatever and decorate as I wish. I found a really cute alien chain pattern online and did that decorating the head and legs. I then made a single one for me decorated the same way.

Queen of Hearts Swap: Basically I take 6 Queen of Hearts cards and alter them to whatever I want. I can also make my own cards. I'm having the hardest time on this one, but it's not due until 10/15, so I have some time.

I'll scan and post lengthier descriptions on the other projects soon.

I joined a new art group on Yahoo! called TheSumOfAllAtcs. I felt I needed an outlet to making more art than just the one time per month for my CollageATCs group. I've already joined 5 swaps.

Sparkly Gemstones Glittery July 2009

July's CollageAtcs theme was Sparkly/Glittery/Gemstones.
I thought I'd try to make my cards the same but different, a few of my group members do this, and I try but it's so much more fun to do them all different. I found a group of postage stamps in my stash and that's what sparked the cards. This month I succeeded in making the same but different, maybe I can do it again for August's theme of Flying things.
Pink card: I used the pink butterfly, the pink ribbon and the pink gem in the corner. Purple card: I used the purple cord (under the tree), and the purple gem in the corner.

Dark green Card: I used the 3 gold beads and the dark green gem in the corner. Silver card: I used the sequin trim (underneath the button), the silver tinsel (on top of the button) and the silver glittery paper. Brown Card: I used the glittery paper across the corner, and the black bead in the center of the card. Light Green Card: I used the glittery paper across the corner and the light green gem in the corner of the card.

Blue Card: I used the blue raffia along the edge of the card and there's a blue gem in the corner that doesn't really come out in the picture. Red Card: I used the background card with the crown on it, the red ribbon on the edge and the red gem in the middle. Purple card: I used the purple sequin trim underneath the butterfly, the butterfly, the clear gems on the edge and the clear bead in the middle. Red/yellow Card: I used the glittery paper in the corner, the red raffia on the edge and the yellow gem in the corner.

I always encourage my players to use more than one item on their cards just to see how they figure to use them together. I made sure I used at least 2 items on each of these cards.

Exciting announcement

I'm so excited, I finally got a return customer on one of my etsy stores. It was my supply store, not the art one. I can't wait until I get a return customer on my art etsy store. I plan to give my first return customer on the art store a 10% discount, like I did for my supply store.

I have also created fan pages for both stores on Facebook, I am hoping to bump up my promoting. Here's the supply store, and here's the art store.

Is it sad that I became a fan of both of them, just so it could say I had fans? I now have 2 fans on each page, me and someone else.

It was like lightening

The June swap for my CollageATCs Yahoo! Group was Body Parts. I sent out a packet of stamped faces, bone buttons, googly eyes, stamped lips, magazine cutouts, diecut people, stamped dress forms, diecut hands and lips, a plaster face, a vellum dress form clip art, a heart, stamped footprints, and yarn.
On this first photo, starting in the bottom left hand corner, going clockwise, I used: a stamped face, that I cut out to fit the flower. The googly eyes, and the lips. The stamped face in the flower and the bone button. The die cut person.

On this photo, starting in the bottom left hand corner, I used: the stamped face and the handprint sticker. The stamped doll parts and the die cut lips. The plaster face in the flower and the footprints stamp. The man's face in the flower and the die cut hands.

On this photo, left to right, I used: the face on the flower, the face on the flower.

A few ladies in my group make multiple versions of about the same card. Since I don't send out 20 of the same item, they can't make the exact same card, but they are all very similar, I like that approach and tried to do that with the June cards, as you can see they all have the flower head, but that's about as far as I got.

I'm thinking about doing fabric cards sometime in the future. I know they will require a little more thought and planning, but I think people would be very intrigued in them.

July's swap is Glitter/Sparkly/Gemstones. I sent out an ATC sized piece of wallpaper with glittery crowns on it, a piece of silvery glittery flower paper, two sequin trims in silver and pink, six different ribbons: red metallic, blue metallic, pink sparkly, silver tinsel, purple and gold ribbon, and a piece of gold ribbon; gold beads, clear and black metallic beads, safety pins, yellow, light green, dark green, pink, purple, red, blue and clear gemstones, purple stones, mirrors, purple and pink metallic butterflies, red, white and blue sparkly stars in two sizes, brown, orange and green glitter glue painted on paper, a piece of blue sparkly paper, and two pieces of metallicy raffia in blue and orange that I got from my friend Loretta. I can't wait to see what people produce with those items.

Come back in about a month, and I will have my July's cards posted.

Baby shower gifts

This weekend I went to my friend, Amanda's baby shower. I bought her a couple cute gifts at Walmart, but I also made her a Survival Kit for New Mothers, and the card below:
I love buttons, I like to buy the mixed button bags at Hobby Lobby, I've been trying to cut back lately, because not only do they have the cool buttons like I used in the card above, they also have a lot of boring ones. The pacifier, bib, rattle and stork are from one of those bags. Across the top I attached a "clothesline" with mini brown brads. On the bottom in the middle is a baby image from a piece of vintage baby wrapping paper I had. I also attached a tag in the corner with the words "Welcome, baby" stamped on it. Inside there is a stamped quote about babies being from heaven.

Survival Kit for New Mothers

I got this idea out of the book The Ultimate Paper Crafts Collection published by Primedia, the projects and ideas in the book came from Papercrafts & Stamp It magazines. I got the idea for the "bag" from here. I attached the black and white floral paper as accents on the front and back of the bag, as well as on the sides. For the handles, I found a piece of pink plastic mesh and attached it with some "studs" I took off of a belt I bought awhile back.
The tag sticking out of the bag says:

The New Mom's Survival Kit

Hershey Hugs - for you and the baby, because you both deserve them.

Clock - to remind you that time will pass by too quickly, enjoy every moment.

Mirror - to remind you that you are important, too.

Marbles - to replace the onew that you will lose.

Rubberband - to remind you that flexibilty is the key.

Lifesavers - to save you from one of those days.

Tissue - to dry those tears, the baby's and yours.

Lollipop - To lick all your problems away.

Eraser - t0 reminde you that every mom makes mistakes.

Puzzle Piece - Because you are an important piece in your child's journey through life.

I didn't have a clock, so I took a chipboard one, added some hands with a brad and layered it on a piece of matboard.

I also took a round mirror and framed it on matboard.

This is a downward view of the front of the bag.

This is the back of the bag.

Also, a question for everyone reading this, or just passing by. I noticed when I uploaded these photos, I'm apparently using 94% of my allotted space for photos. I find that kinda weird, as I have way more photos on my other blogs. Does anyone know if there's a way I can save my pictures on my computer, so they take up less space?

May Flowers

I chose flowers as May's theme.
Clockwise from lower left corner: This one was my favorite and I kept this card. I love how the colors work so well together, the rose is a plaster rose that I painted with black and silver paint, the leaves underneath it are a sequin, they are a dark green metallic color. I used the rose and sequin from my packet;
I've been hanging onto the yellow flower piece for awhile, looking for the right thing to use it in, and I finally found it. I used the purple paper in the corners from my packet;
This one didn't turn out as cute as I imagined it, but I still like it. The big blob of green is actually a lot of little tiny malachite (I think that's what they're called) stones, and in the middle is a 3D rose sticker. I used the rose sticker and the ribbon daisy in the corner from my packet;
This last one didn't quite work out like it was supposed to either, but it's still pretty cute. I had planned on having the daisy in the upper right corner encased in some diamond glaze in a watch body, but I didn't think about putting something behind it to actually encase it in the body, so the diamond glaze never really dried and when I flipped over the watch body it sorta oozed out, so I took it out and just glued the flower, with the brad center to the card. I also have a pretty cute little button as the center of the sunflower in the corner. I used the daisy, the sunflower and the purple vellum flower from my packet.

Clockwise starting in lower left corner: I accidentally put this card on sideways. I liked how the wallpaper flower looked behind the pumpkin and wanted to use that along with some more color on the card, so I colored the flowers in the corner and glued them on. I used the piece behind the pumpkin and the heart charm from my packet.
I love the simplicity of this one. The scalloped flower piece was in a collage packet I bought, it's a piece of old ledger paper, I glued the pink flower button on top of that. I used the purple mulberry paper in the background from my packet.
This one's really cute too, I felt the copper/blue piece needed something layered on it, so I found a silver button and brushed it with some copper ink and then sealed it with diamond glaze. I used the copper/blue piece from the packet.

I decided to make flowers in a field for this one. The two butterflies are from the same collage package as the scalloped piece above. They are also on some old paper. The blue and white flowers are ribbon, and the pink flower was a button. All three ribbon flowers had stems, so I punched holes in the background card and "planted" them in the field. I used the two flowers on the bottom from my packet.

This one was a nice old looking piece. The book paper is from an old book I had, the picture of the guy on a bicycle was from a clip art book, I distressed it with some brown ink. I needed a leaf for the calla lily, so I cut one out of some green paper that went nicely with the colors on the card. I used the calla lily (which is made out of clay) from my packet.