Pieces Of My Life...

I made these two ATC's last night. I just got inspired to sit down and use the pieces of scrap paper that have been piling up in an endless sea on my craft table. My first real collages. They're so much fun, you start out with nothing in mind except maybe a color palette, then start gluing and see where your mind takes you. Each little piece of paper, scrap or mistake is now considered art. So, choosing from my stash, I glued away and these are the result. I then used Distress Crackle Paint in Rock Candy, a clear coat, to give it a cracked finish. I also used my Distress inks around the edges for a bit of added color. I used illustration board for the backing.

The first one is my favorite so far and also my first. It is titled "Pieces of my Life." The second one I made for a swap and it is titled "Words by Rumi." This one was inspired by the note card my partner sent along with a Poetry ATC swap. I liked how the ink looked on the brown paper and kept it, now the note card becomes something even more.

What a creative and inexpensive way to invent and recycle at the same time. So sit down get out your glue stick and scraps and play! Have fun, you never know where your mind's eye will take you. Happy crafting!

I Love Paris!

Today was a Parisian dream! These next few crafts were inspired by my love for all things French!

The first one is av available for trade but only for another Paris themed ATC that I think is "to die for." I really love this one and it is the first one ATC I have made using Distress Ink in Vintage Photo blended for the background. After that, I sprayed it lightly with Glimmer Mist in Olive Vine. The stamp is from the French Market collection by Tim Holtz for Stampers Anonymous, stamped in Distress Ink in Black Soot. The border on the left and other like fragments are the Nostalgia themed tissue tape by Tim Holtz. Then, the word fragments I made by tearing vintage book pages and staining them with Walnut Ink in Terra Cotta and Eucalyptus. The embellishments are a French postage stamp from my collection that was given to me in swap. An "E" made of grunge board from Tim Holtz's line that I stained with Vintage Photo ink and then covered with Distress Stickles also in Vintage Photo and a bit of black lace held in place with a brad by Lost and Found. The stamped flourishes on the top and left are stamped in Cosmic Copper from the "Brilliance" set of Dew Drops ink pads. I hope this information will help you create your own Paris ATC's and give you lots of new ideas!

The second ATC is traded as I made it to angel a swap on Swap-bot, titled "Where I Want To Live." Of course where else would I want to live, but Paris. Again, I used the same type of "E" for the word Eiffel and inked it with the Vintage Photo but then I took a cotton swab and dipped it into my Glimmer Mist in Olive Vine and dabbed it onto the "E" for a strong wash of shimmer. The background is from land of Nod studio, check them out on Flickr, lots of free awesome stuff like this to use. Over the background I then used a fabulous red sticker, and purple postage stamp. the Eiffel tower image is from a collage by Norma Frances, also on Flickr. I then added tissue tape along the bottom, and the used a label from a French wine and a Fleur de Lis I cut using a punch from Martha Stewart's line. So much fun, and words change the lettering, just remember to always have fun if trying this!

The last one is a postcard I made for an upcoming private swap. Using Distress Inks in Broken China, Vintage Photo and Black Soot I am blended them to make the background, then added the images and embellishments to complete. The crown on the left side I made using a "mini-mask" by Tim Holtz. Isn't it fun!? Bye for now...

Well, this is my latest post out of many, many more to follow soon! Happy crafting!

Poetry ATC Revisited...

I had a request to make this ATC again from a Flickr contact. I found a yummy Marie-Antoinette skinny by her, and she would trade the skinny for another skinny in return. So, I thought I could make the ATC she wanted from me into a skinny and make everyone happy, and that is exactly what happened! If you did not see my Moon Poetry ATC before in the previous post I will add it here for comparison. I wrote the brief verse on the card myself.

I tried to keep the composition as close as I could to the original without adding unwanted elements just to make it look balanced and then I found the lace and it all came together so nicely! I thought the ATC translated over well into a skinny and have now found another passion in skinny's as well! Happy swapping!

Vintage Variety

These are some ATC's I have made for Flickr and one I had a request to re-create, which is the first one shown. I love trading my ATC's on Flickr now, I had never traded that way before and it is quickly becoming addictive as well!

The first two ATC's are titled "Dream Vacation One" and "Dream Vacation Two," respectively. I love Paris, doesn't matter what, I love the museums, the language, the culture and food! So these were inspired by the lovely Eiffel tower image by Norma Frances, check out her photostream on Flickr she does amazing work and has a "free to use" digital collage set. They are stunning!

The third ATC I made from another Norma Frances background but layered heavily with all sorts of lush embellishments and lace. I loved the image and knew I had to do something gorgeous with it.

The fourth one titled "The Wonder Years" is simple, elegant and fun! This marks my first time using twine on an ATC, I loved the feel and texture it gave to the card.

The last one was sent as a thank you to a new friend on Flickr. I wanted a classic vintage ATC and had never used an image quite as dour as this one, no one ever looks happy in these pics, do they! But it was fun to make anyway! Well, I hope you like my latest ATC's! Feel free to peruse and hopefully take a little inspiration from them! Until next we meet, happy crafting!

"Opposites" Angel

Hello all! Welcome back to my blog where I am crafting once again! I have been very busy on the bot and now on Flickr as well. But today I have something I have never done before. I am sure others have tried this idea, but for me I came up with it to angel the "Opposites ATC" swap for AutumnRain.

I wanted something unique yet striking, so I thought about an angel and a demon, but I wanted the images to be pleasing as well. These are the ATC's I made for her. I divided the background papers, stamped and heat embossed the background and used a marker to help finish the edges. After adding the images and adding pieces of book pages I stained and highlighting the angel on each ATC with Glimmer Mist, they were ready. I really like how they look, simple yet there is something to them. Light and dark, angel and demon and even their composition is opposite the other. Until next time dear friends!

A Ghostly ATC...

This ATC was a sudden jolt of inspiration. I was cleaning my rubber stamps with my stamp conditioner and blotting them dry with a Viva paper towel. Well, it looked so pretty I thought, "I wish that were an ATC background," then I thought to myself, I will use it just for that, paper towel or no! So, I dried it out with my Ranger heating tool and glued it to an ATC back. I didn't want to use marker around the edges like I normally do so I took my Encore ink pad in metallic purple and pressed the edges of the card lightly on the ink pad. I then found the images and words I wanted and made them up staining the paper with my trusty Walnut Inks, as I also did with the torn book pages.

I just love the result! The French actually says "ghost script," because of the handwriting on the background that is fading. You have to be a bit careful in handling the ATC while working with it as any glue on your fingers will stick to the background. So cleanliness counts when working with this method.

Thanks guys! This was fun and I hope it gave you some ideas of your own! Happy crafting!

About Anne...

Anne Boleyn, my favorite wife to Henry VIII and mother of Elizabeth. I am in a group on swap-bot it's The Tudor Exchange and we are currently having a wonderful ATC series of The Six Wives of Henry VIII, these therefore, are the ATC's I made of Anne, second wife to King Henry.

I worked almost the entire morning yesterday on these two ATC's and I loved the way they turned out. The first one I loved the image so much I knew I wanted it to pop and be rich and vibrant with colour. I stamped the paper I chose for the background and used vintage book pages I tore and then stained with Walnut Ink. I then used a stamped the make the border on the right hand side and the letter "A" as an embellishment made from grunge board stained with a Distress ink pad and sprayed with Glimmer Mist in gold. I then highlighted Anne's attire with a silver gel pen.

The second ATC was very different for me and I wanted to make another "interactive" ATC, as I am trying new things along that line. If you notice the "wings" are cut out and made from the high ruff collar that Anne was wearing in this portrait, the tiara on her head I made from the trim on the bodice of her gown. The wings move and fold in to meet ATC size.

I do hope you enjoy these ATC's, may they inspire you as well. Happy crafting everyone, good-night for now!

Whowillloveme Harry Potter?

Can you believe I've never made a Harry Potter ATC before this tag? I am a fan it's true, and I have made Twilight ATC's, Buffy ATC's, even Serenity ATC's but NO Harry Potter! Shame on me, I hope this makes up for it and that this tag will be the start of a new Harry Potter crafting experience for me.

So, this is a tag on Swap-bot for 2 ATC's, a bookmark and a postcard. Well, as you can see I made 2 extra ATC's as I got inspired and was crafting like a mad-woman. I hope the recipient, whowillloveme is as excited to receive it as I am in sending.

I chose my fave character, Sirius Black and my most despised villain, Bellatrix Lestrange as choices for 2 of the ATC's and the bookmark. The other set of ATC's I chose my fave teachers, the ones who make me smile every time I see them! For the postcard I choose Fawkes, because, well...Fawkes is awesome and has saved the day more than once. I think most people forget the brave animal friends in the series, so here I am giving credit where it is due.

Overall, I am fairly proud of this little tag and I hope it brings a smile, that is after all why I swap. :-)

In Friendship & Thanks...

I bought some die-cuts yesterday, I don't normally work with them or like them but these were nice, they were a K & Co. brand which is a good one, so I thought I would try them. I found the center piece image and thought I would make a postcard for my friend Mona! Not only does she give the best swaps but she is an RAK queen and I thought it was my turn!

So here is the result of me trying a little something new, I really wanted it it pink and sweet! The back is simple as it is supposed to be a postcard, although this one is too fancy to ever be mailed naked. I do hope she likes it! Thank you all for stopping by today, I am now off to create a fun and awesome Harry Potter package for a tag I am in! Until later, happy crafting!

My First Skinny!

Here now is a picture of my first Skinny for a swap for our Vintage Swappers group on Swap-bot! Marie-Antoinette was our theme and this one is titled "Springtime with Marie."

I used Vintage sheet music and books pages, a lovely pressed flower, along with some stickers, brads and images to create the background. For the picture of Marie I used Glimmer Mist in Pearl and Smooch! metallic ink in Olive Twist to gild the edge. I then added a paper flower and a pearl earring to make her very fancy indeed! I raised up the portrait with foam mounting stickers as she is above all else in her world. I love Marie and had so much fun making this Skinny! I hope you enjoy it too!

Winner Keeps All!

Below are some of the offerings I made for the winner-take-all for my group Keepers of Avalon on Swap-bot! I made a postcard, two ATC's and a bookmark. I also included my "Magic Herb Guide" mini-zine!

The first ATC I made is titled "Nostalgia." I used tissue tape, a torn vintage book page, stamps, and stickers to create the background. I used an image I thought would be beautiful and show off the vintage theme of the ATC. Next I used a piece of filmstrip ribbon on one side and I added an antique style key embellishment and a jeweled brad in a light brown hue for the final touches.

The second ATC is titled "Lost and Found" and I really liked making this one, I used images, sticker, gears, handmade paper, and a brad to get the feel of items lost in time, this one is my favorite.

I really enjoyed putting this package together, I like trying new items and new looks. Thanks for stopping by and happy swapping!

Not Too Shabby!

I am in a scavenger hunt swap and some of the items can be handmade. I decided to make two of the five items and here they are, a set of two ATC's and a set of 4 tags in a French theme.

The two ATC's I made using stamps, brads, a gel pen, markers and Glimmer Mists. The tags I made by staining plain white tags with Walnut Inks, wiping the surface of them with a paper towel to smear the ink around for a more aged look and them decorating them as seen with stamps, stickers, images and old book pages. Then I tied a piece of cream colored string to each of them to complete the tags. I also went around the edges of the tags lightly with a colored sharpie to give them a more finished look.

I hope my partner enjoys them and will use them proudly. As for the rest of the swap I sent a pretty handkerchief, a set of two small doilies, two vintage French postcards, and a set of decorated papers and a Victorian style greeting card.

This swap is for the Shabby Chateau group and I must say this one is not too Shabby at all! Happy swapping everyone!

Postcards for Jane...

These two postcards are inspired by Jane Austen. The first one is for an angel for a swap in the All About Austen! group on Swap-bot. And the second postcard if for a WTA on the same site.

I love the quote by fashion designer Lady Duff Gordon and of course the quote by Jane from Pride and Prejudice. Simple yet elegant these postcards will hopefully light up their recipients faces!

I hope you enjoy viewing them. I will have more posts soon as today was a very crafty day for me indeed! I made 5 ATC's, 2 postcards and 4 gift tags. A very productive Sunday! Until later, happy crafting!

September = Zines!

Here again for this month is my latest mini-zine! It is themed for a Tudor style and content book of hours. This lovely little treasure has verses and poetry from Queen Elizabeth I, Tudor period nursery rhymes/poetry and even some political poetry/commentary of the day!

I started out like the other zine with staining the paper with Walnut Inks, and using Glimmer Mist in Olive Vine around the edges of the paper. I used stickers, tissue tape, die-cuts, and stamped images in various inks for the background. I then printed out my verse on tea-stained paper and glued them as you see.

This is a 6 page zine made from an 8in x 11.5 in sheet of paper which I then had photo copied onto a nice weight of color printer paper and folded.

I made this mini-zine for the group The Tudor Exchange on Swap-bot. If you are interested there is still time to sign up should you like to join the group and have a love for all thing Tudor just send me a request!

Well, time to go for now there will be many more new posts coming soon as I have lots of crafts to make today and all this week! Until then happy crafting and swapping to you all!

The First Zine of Mine!

Today I was inspired to try making my first zine. I have heard of them, seen several swaps for them, and read about them but not before today have I ever wanted to make my own. Now, I am thrilled I did! I love them! Yet another way to be crafty and have fun!

My apologies in advance for the slight shine on the pics, they were printed on laser paper so if the flash hit them they turned out with slightly bright spots, so here they are with a little shine...

I started with a plain piece of white paper, used Walnut Inks to slightly stain it, added a variety of stamped images in various ink pad colors. A few stickers as embellishments, tissue tape, small images and the text which I glued to the paper and it was complete! Once it was proofread and finished I made copies and folded them into little zines!

These are so much fun to make and they have so many uses!

I hope this will inspire you to try your own! There are websites that offer tutorials, with so many available I know you will find one that works for you or you can make your template out of paper like I did and add your own personal touch!

Until next time I think of something swappy, odd or just plain weird, I wish you a pleasant day and many blessings. Have a crafty happy day!!