Violet Eyes - ATC

Since I was making ATCs over the weekend, I thought I'd continue in that vein and make another one to add to my stash.  I want to have plenty of art to trade for my art weekend in January.

I started with a background of torn vintage text colored with distress inks and topped with some distressed line rub-ons.  I painted some punchinella (sequin waste) with white acrylic paint and stamped it on.  I ended up with a really cool background and then didn't know what to do with it!  After some contemplation I simply stamped the face on white cardstock, colored it with pencils to coordinate with the background, and framed it out with some Dresden trim.

Thanks for stopping by!

Supplies:
Cardstock ATC base; torn vintage text; peeled paint, dusty concord, and chipped sapphire distress inks; My Mind's Eye distressed rub-ons; punchinella (sequin waste); Adirondack silver and black acrylic paint dabber; face stamp by Hampton Art; Prismacolor Premier pencils; odorless mineral spirits; Dresden trim; Glossy Accents.

Two More "Batty" Found Poetry ATCs

Several people liked the first ATC I made with the bat image, so I created two more to trade.

Like with the first card, I started with a background of leftover Halloween-themed papers and then layered on acrylic paint, vintage German text, distress inks, stenciling, and rubber stamping.

Fortunately, I was able to find plenty of eerie words in my 1920s novel for these two additional cards.

I hope you have a great day.  To my friends and colleagues on the east coast who are gearing up for Hurricane Sandy:  Stay safe!

Supplies:
Cardstock ATC base; patterned papers by Authentique; German book text; English book text; white acrylic paint; a bunch of distress inks; alphabet stencil; Pitt black artist pen; white and black charcoal pencil; bat image from Oxford Impressions; post mark stamp by Stampa Rosa; Marvy marker (crimson lake); Adirondack black acrylic paint dabber.

Ghostly Jungles of Dead Eyes - ATC

I've never been into horror films and I don't believe in zombies, but a real, live bat?  Yuck!  So surprisingly, a bat is the focal image of this artist trading card I made for the Halloween and Autumn All-Types-of-Art-athon this weekend on the ATCs for All website.

I started with a background of paper scraps left over from my other Halloween projects, then layered on acrylic paint, vintage German text, distress inks, stenciling, and rubber stamping.  I stamped the bat from Oxford Impressions and trimmed it closely before adhering.  The English book text is my "found poetry" from a 1920s novel; I think it really contributes to the eerie feeling of this card.

I hope you're having a wonderful weekend!  Thanks for stopping by.

Supplies:
Cardstock ATC base; patterned papers by Authentique; German book text; English book text; white acrylic paint; peeled paint, dusty concord, black soot, vintage photo and frayed burlap distress inks; alphabet stencil; Pitt black artist pen; white and black charcoal pencil; bat image from Oxford Impressions; post mark stamp by Stampa Rosa; Marvy marker (crimson lake); Adirondack black acrylic paint dabber.

Apothecary Shop Halloween Card

I created this greeting card to accompany the treat boxes I made yesterday.  The card is 3.75 x 9.25 inches and fits into a number 10 envelope.  It's not a size I've made very often, but it's perfect for when you want to stack a bunch of images vertically.

The stamped images are from Oxford Impressions and the patterned papers are by Authentique. The bottle of witch hazel (colored with wild honey and rusty hinge distress inks) and the raven are mounted on pop-dots for added dimension.  Combined with the 2-5-7-10 treat boxes, this card will make a fun Halloween vignette for my mom to display at their winter digs.

Thanks for stopping by!

Supplies:
Black and orange cardstock by Bazzill; very vanilla cardstock by Stampin' Up; patterned papers by Authentique; stamps from Oxford Impressions; Stazon black ink; wild honey, rusty hinge, black soot, and vintage photo distress inks; punchinella (sequin waste); stipple brush; oval Nestabilities die-cut; Martha Stewart border punch; twine from Stampin' Up; pop-dots.

Apothecary Shop Treat Boxes

Look at these cute Halloween treat boxes I created to send to my parents using more new stamps from Oxford Impressions.  Each box holds about 5 or 6 small ("fun-sized") candy bars, are easy to make, and can be decorated a zillion ways.

You can find the tutorial for these 2-5-7-10 boxes at Splitcoaststampers.

  You'll want to use a heavy cardstock for the base (I used Stampin' Up's black).  The patterned papers are by Authentique.  The images were stamped on vanilla cardstock and colored with distress inks.  I think I'm in love with the skeleton, which has great detail yet is easy to cut out.

Have a great day!  Thanks for stopping by.

Supplies:
Black and very vanilla cardstock from Stampin' Up; orange cardstocks by Bazzill; patterned papers by Authentique; rubber stamps from Artistic Outpost; black Stazon ink; vintage photo, black soot, and rusty hinge distress ink; ribbon from Michaels.

When Swallows Homeward Fly - Gothic Arch

I decided to showcase some rubber stamp images on my latest Gothic arch.  The bird cage is from Oxford Impressions and the swallow is by Hampton Art.  The sheet music is from a 1920s music book that I recently purchased at an antique shop.



Thanks for stopping by!  I hope you're having a wonderful weekend.

Supplies:
Watercolor paper (140 lb.); patterned paper by My Mind's Eye; vintage sheet music; rubber stamps by Oxford Impressions (cage), Hampton Art Stamps (swallow and frame), Stampa Rosa (postmark) and unknown (south and destination); Versamark ink; black detail embossing powder; distress inks: fired brick, pumice stone, vintage photo, dusty concord, scattered straw, and frayed burlap; round and star-shaped sequin waste; Adirondack gold and black acrylic paint dabber; charcoal pencil.

Wander - Gothic Arch

Sixteen people have expressed interesting in making Gothic Arches to trade when we meet in January 2013, so I need to get cracking!  I wasn't expecting that many people to sign up, and I really hope to make a trade with everyone.

The theme for the arches is birds with book text or sheet music, so I thumbed through an old dictionary to find a bird illustration and used that as the base of my house.  The patterned papers are from a new My Mind's Eye paper pad collection called Traveler.

Have a great Monday!

Supplies:
Watercolor paper (140 lb.); patterned papers by My Mind's Eye; old sheet music and dictionary page from my stash; egg clipart from ArtChix Studio; flourish stamp by Inkadinkado; Colorbox black pigment ink; clear embossing powder; Tim Holtz mini mask; various distress inks; charcoal pencil.

Corsets to Fit All Forms - ATC

This is an idea for an artist trading card that I've had for quite a while.  I finally got around to making it last night; it didn't take long and it helped fill the time while I was waiting for another project to dry.

I stamped the background image by Magenta in black, then blended about three different distress inks to get the lovely variation in color (it's a little darker in real life).  The corset was stamped separately on cardstock, colored with distress inks, and trimmed closely.  The text came from a miniature reproduction Sears and Roebuck catalog.

I hope you're having a great weekend.  Thanks for dropping by.

Supplies:
Cardstock ATC base; very vanilla cardstock from Stampin' Up; background stamp by Magenta; corset stamp by Hampton Art Stamps; flourish stamp by Inkadinkado; black Stazon ink; spun sugar, picked raspberry, spiced marmalade, and vintage photo distress ink; black Stazon ink; text from an old book; charcoal pencil; Adirondack copper and black acrylic paint dabber.

Pepe Loves Halloween

This cute little tyke from Artistic Outpost reminds me of a friend's son, so I made this Halloween card to send to her.  I colored the main image with Prismacolor pencils.  The patterned papers are by Authentique.



Thanks for dropping by!

Supplies:
Black cardstock by Bazzill; very vanilla cardstock from Stampin' Up; patterned papers by Authentique; black Stazon ink; Prismacolor Premier pencils; odorless mineral spirits; EK Success border punch; pop-dots.