ATCs made for an Orange Theme Swap

You will have to take my word that this looks so much better in reality.

A painted background which is a softer muted orange than this shows. Ditto the stamped wording which has been aged and distressed with chalks and inks - so looks much more subtle and muted too.

The stamped image is also softer - the darker orange has been painted and embossed to give a nice and dimpled and shiny texture to it

Again, it looks so much softer in 'real life'

ATCs made for an Orange Theme Swap

Something completely different for me.

I painted the backing paper - took ages doing several layers. A stamped fairy which I altered, and water coloured. Stamped 'Imagine' quotes which were embossed with distressed embossing powders - and then randon embossing to the ATC - shiny wings, and lettering etc.

The scan doesn't really show up the true colours.

Inches x 13 The theme: Flowers

I didn't know what I was taking on when I took up the challenge of creating little works of art 1" x 1" - I thought ATCs were hard enough at 3.5" x 2.5".

All except the dried flowers have been embossed so they look like little shiny tiles - but it does not show up in the scan very well.

And these are magnified far bigger than the size they actually are!


One of my favourite flowers - Pink Echinacea



Oriental Style


Gazania



Daisy


Fuschias


Red Dahlia - where the light patches are,is where there is no embossing - looks fine though - but funny in this scan


Marigold centre - again shiny and embossed



Yellow echinacea - embossed and shiny - the bee does not look so prominent in real life - these are only 1" x 1" so very much enlarged on here.


Daisy - embossed and shiny


Morning Glory - Embossed and shiny



Layers of cut up poppy leaves on painted paper.



Stained glass - stamped and coloured, the bits drawn on it, the embossed all over




This is a tiny stem of Alchemilla Mollis which I have coloured red with chalks, mounted it on 'angels hair' paper then painted over it in gold

Just for Fun

For the backing I made my own design using alcohol inks and metallics

The chicken I copied from part of a Victorian painting, and then painted it with watercolours, then cut it out and stuck it on.

I think I have made him look rather evil - inadvertantly - with that eye of his.

Lady in Red ATC

Lady in Red - once again - not photographed very straight is it?

The stamped backing paper I coloured with chalks. I then enhanced a Victorian print, using water colours for her and chalks for her background, and I stamped an outline in red of a heart and painted that.

A simple design but it took me two hours to make - just for fun

A Greek Style Artifact

This took me a very very long time to do - but I loved experimenting with it.

Oops I photographed this a bit wonky! It is the right size and shape really.



Firstly I aged some backing paper with chalks and kept coloring it until I got the shade I liked.

I stamped the face onto another sheet of paper, and using inks, coloured it in different shades of green.

Next I did the edging - using Tim Holtz distress embossing powders in different colours, and finally I did several layers of embossing on the face leaving some spaces to highlight. On the backing sheet and on the face I did a light gold rub to give the overall effect of a slab of an aged gold artifact. I finished it off with a gold eyelet and embroidery cotton in different soft shades.

I love textures and this one feels really nice to the touch - and looks better in daylight.

Latest Experiments - Stamping

I haven't had much time to do any craft work this week, but did manage a few hours today when it was raining.

I am still experimenting with stamping.

One of my first efforts went in the bin - here is another one - on pale green paper with lettering. I wasn't too happy with this one so tried again.



The same paper as before - the whole thing is much darker in reality - it is the flashlight that makes it look pale.