Ticket to Fly

Dear Reader,

Do you love the little art known as Artist Trading Cards (ATC) as much as I do?  I have been participating in a monthly local trade for nearly 8 years now.  Each month we have two themes to choose from (or for the ambitious they can do both themes).  In January the theme I chose to sign up for was Make-Your-Own-Background.  I *love* making backgrounds.  I find it very therapeutic and calming as the mind wanders and the fingers do their magic.  I had no real idea of what I was doing for my background although I thought I could use a copy of two masterboards I made using some Hero Arts stamps, crayons and Adirondack Color Washes a while back. 

Here are the masterboards (it is a fun crayon resist):

That was when things got a bit crazy. 

I sprayed some of my Studio Calico Mister Huey's on the copy to mute the vibrant greens, oranges and yellows a bit (and to just play with them because they are fun!).  I added a strip of orange electrical tape bought at Home Depot last fall (with Halloween in mind).  Then I thought why not pull out one of my old Scarlet Lime kits and play with some of the cool elements I had in it?  So then I placed some alphabet stickers from Prima randomly all over each of the backgrounds.  Then I added a glittery lacy sticker border in the middle over the electrical tape.  Add some Glimmer Misted and stamped tickets (love, love my House of 3/Pink Paislee Parisian Anthology stamp set.  My recommendation: if you find this stamp set, snap it up!) attached with Tim Holtz's Tiny Attacher, misted bird punch mixed in with patterned paper punched pieces, a bling eye from Prima and there's the card.

Thanks for stopping by the Hall!

Happy creating,
Shay.

Alphabet Soup ATCs
Supplies:
Stamps: tree, bird & flourish in masterboards from Tree, Birds & Messages set (CL182), Hero Arts and damask and postal cancellation from Parisian Anthology set, House of Three/Pink Paislee;
Ink: chipped sapphire, Tim Holtz's Distress Inks by Ranger
Cardstock: white, Georgia-Pacific; golden orange scraps
Patterned Paper: GCD Studios
Punch: bird & twig, Stampin' Up!
Sprays: Mister Huey's Calico White, Studio Calico; denium blue glimmer mist, Tattered Angels; lettuce, Tim Holtz's Adriondack Color Wash by Ranger
Other: yellow alphabet stickers, Prima; green glitter paper lace; orange electrical tape; tiny attacher, Tim Holtz; clear jewel, Prima; tickets; crayons, Crayola; Crop A Dile Corner Chomper, We R Memory Keepers 

Time Warp: May Hero Arts Club

February 3, 2011 note: I found this post sitting within my draft posts.  It merely needed a picture added to be complete.  So I am posting it now.

From summer 2010:

I have been sucked into some sort of strange time warp.  Before I knew it several weeks had passed since I posted on this blog.  Whilst away I did make a couple offerings for May's Hero Arts Club challenge.  We were supposed to use the upper left hand image of this set to make something (one lady made wonderful labels using the frame for the delicious food she and her friend provided for the meeting..I wish I had thought to take a picture of it because the table was lovely!):

I decided to go with cards (huge surprise).  I began with my March 2009 Scarlet Lime kit for color inspiration and the idea of using the shape of the frame as a mask much like I did with the Daisy from April's Hero Arts Club Challenge.  This time I used some of my Glimmer Mist instead of ink to color the card base.  I also wanted to use the Friends cling set to fit into those masked frames (and they fit nearly perfectly).  At first I thought my colors would primarily be green and blue with a punch of orange and I colored in the frame with orange accordingly, but after my sister's rather unfavorable reaction to the colors I decided the orange frame must be the beginning of another card entirely.  This often happens to me as if even my creativity gets distracted and must work on more than one thing.  So I remained with green, blue and touches of a sandy grey (for the mask card and did another card with black and white and punches of orange and green that I decided would work for my aunt's graduation from medical school.

One last note, I realized I may be the world's worst bow maker (if possible it is worse than my photography).  I think I spent almost the same amount of time tieing the bow on the card as all the rest of the card...may be the reason I don't use ribbon as much as many other people.  This is probably explained by the fact that the only way I was able to learn to tie a bow when I was little was the the double loop system and it is only in the last couple of years that I have been able to tie a bow in the more common way.  I also learned how to jump rope by flipping the rope behind me then jumping rather than in front of me as it was the only way that I could physically do it at the time.  Go figure.

Here are the results:

Thanks for calling at the Hall!


Happy Birthday Card
Supplies:
Stamps: Three Floral Frames (CL384), Friends (CG106), Starburst (F5318) and Happy Birthday, Hero Arts
Inks: Pumice Stone, Shabby Shutters and Tumbled Glass (I think, but it could be Broken China), Tim Holtz Distress Inks by Ranger Industries
Mist/Spray: Green Meadows, Tattered Angels Glimmer Mist
Cardstock: Sand, Neenah Papers
Patterned Paper: Beach Caribe and Cantando (from Canta Collection), GCD Studios
Other: Crop-A-Dile Corner Chomper, We R Memory Keepers; Ribbon, Offray; Colored Pencils

For You Card
Supplies:
Stamps: Three Floral Frames (CL384), For You from Dolls (CL289), Hero Arts
Inks: Shabby Shutters and Peeled Paint, Tim Holtz Distress Inks by Ranger Industries
Patterned Paper: Beach Caribe and Cantando (from Canta Collection), GCD Studios
Other: Colored Pencils

Purple Haze

Firstly, I wanted to thank everyone who has commented recently due to the Papertrey Ink blog hop.  I have enjoyed reading everyone's comments and visiting your blogs and marvelling at the talent and cleverness!

Last Thursday night (April 22nd) found me needing to make a card for a college friend of mine.  I have been really remiss in sending out cards for ages now, but I have been trying hard to get out cards for birthdays this year.  So far I believe I am pretty much on target (with a few belated cards like this one).  My college friends have been sadly neglected and they really shouldn't be as they are special ladies. 

I had two directions when I began constructing this card: using my Kenner Road stamps again and incorporating purple.  Upon showing this card separately to my mom and sister they both asked if purple was my friend's favorite color and that is not the reason why I chose purple.  I think my college days have a purple haze around them...purple reminds me of my college friends and it just felt right. I searched through my Scarlet Lime kits (and some of my other kits) and came to the conclusion that purple isn't all that popular (having said that just yesterday I received my April kit from Kenner Road and it has a wonderful purple punch).  Still I found that the paper (Deep Black Patch from the Nancy Jane Collection by ADORNit - Carolee's Creations) I used from the April 2009 Scarlet Lime kit to make the Gypsy Bird Card has a touch of purple...I really am digging this paper (perhaps because it has black, white, aqua and limey green...colors that I go to over and over again).  Maybe it is a year old, but I have never been one to live completely in the moment as I always have a foot in the past (and a thought or two in the future).    And like the Gypsy Bird Card I again did the pleat using the strip of the paper I had punched because I dig that too.

Here is the purple card I made with pictures of the front, inside and back (as always please forgive my shameful photography):

And for those interested in seeing a picture of the paper:

Deep Black Patch from the Nancy Jane Collection by ADORNit - Carolee's Creations

I hope you have a joyous day and thanks for calling at the Hall!

Black & Purple Timely Birthday Card

Supplies:

Stamps: Cuckoo Clock, Home Sweet Home Frame, Vintage Seal, Yesterday Today Tomorrow and Embroidery Hoop, Kenner Road;  Wishing You a Happy Birthday (from Everyday Classics set), Papertrey Ink

Inks: Black Soot, Dusty Concord and Milled Lavender, Tim Holtz Distress Inks by Ranger Industries; Jet Black, Archival Ink, Ranger Industries

Cardstock: White, Georgia Pacific; Black, Stampin' Up!

Patterned Paper: Deep Black Patch (from Nancy Jane Collection), Adornit Carolee's Creations

Punches: Loop Border Punch, Martha Stewart Crafts; Modern Label, Stampin' Up!

Other: Transparency; Copic Marker; Black Ribbon, Offray; Foam Dimensional Adhesive

Using the Stockpile

This past week I created two cards I am pretty happy about.  I had a concept in my head for each and I was able to actualize it which isn't always how it works for me (I wish it was the norm!).  I set myself another challenge as well.  I have all these lovely kits I have stockpiled because I am a hoarding nut.  It is embarrassing to admit my problem, but isn't that the first step?  Hello my name is Shay and I am a hoarder of all craft supplies.  I decided enough is enough (plus I am running out of room), so I thought I would break into my Scarlet Lime kits and use those to create my cards. 

After looking through them I decided on a kit with lovely limes and turquoises for the wedding card and then I chose another with bright vibrant colors with a touch of black for my friend's birthday card.  I began on the wedding card on Sunday evening with a great idea to use my vintage boy and girl and the ampersand stamps from Studio Calico (sadly they are all retired now).  I was happily adding patterned paper and rub-ons from my Scarlet Lime kit (horrible hoarding admission time: that was the first time I had used a rub-on although I have bought more than a few over the years) when I decided my card-base was all wrong.  So Monday night I went with a more basic card-base and set the other aside for future use.  I think all turned out well with the card although it may be cleaner than my natural inclination. 

Last night I knew I had to make a card for a friend's birthday which is this upcoming weekend and needed to get in the mail pronto.  I knew I wanted to use some of my Kenner Road stamps for a vintage look (and they are gorgeous!).  I remembered seeing some wonderful projects that Katie Watson created whilst on the Kenner Road design team back in October 2009 and they proved to be an inspiration for the card I made.  The other inspiration for me is one of my favorite, favorite cardmakers of all time: Betsy Veldman. 

Now I didn't look at either of my inspirations when I was actually making the cards, but I know these were the visual references flashing in my head:

Katie Watson (birdhouse with stamped scallop--genius!)
Betsy Veldman (strip of background behind focal image which I began with and then because an empty card felt well empty I went for more and more!)

Here is the card I created (front and then lastly the inside):

A lucky choice of adding the buttons around the that adorable bird stamp makes it took a bit like a nest to me.  Another lucky choice was "ruffling" up a strip of punched patterned paper which just wasn't working before.  I learned the basic technique in a Basic Grey card class I took locally (you place a strip of adhesive on the backside of a long strip of paper and then pleat--fold--the paper onto itself which remains in place because of the adhesive.  The smaller the pleat, the longer the paper needs to be) and I thought why not try it with the patterned paper I had punched?  It worked out just right--adding interest, flair and some texture and I even like that a bit of the white from the back peeks through.

Thank you for calling at the Hall! I hope you enjoyed today's cards.

Boy & Girl Card

Supplies:

Stamps: Vintage Boy, Vintage Girl and Ampersand, Studio Calico; Banner (from Narrative Elements set), Inque Boutique; Congratulations (from Darcy collection), Anna Griffin

Inks: Walnut Stain, Peeling Paint and Broken China, Tim Holtz Distress Ink by Ranger Industries

Cardstock: Sand and Earthstone, Neenah Papers

Patterned Papers: Beach Caribe and Cantando (from Canta Collection), GCD Studios

Embossing Folder: Allegro, Cuttlebug by Provo Craft

Other: Crop-A-Dile Corner Chomper, We R Memory Keepers; 1/4" Ribbon, Offray; Dimensional Foam Adhesives; Cuttlebug, Provo Craft

Gypsy Bird Card

Supplies:

Stamps: Collage Bird, Vintage Seal, Today Circle and Button Card Trio, Kenner Road; Background Basics: Diamonds and Background Basics: Text Style, Papertrey Ink; Happy Birthday (from Greetings Peg Stamp Set), Inkadinkado

Inks: Black Soot, Vintage Photo, Broken China, Fired Brick, Spiced Marmalade and Worn Lipstick, Tim Holtz Distress Inks by Ranger Industries

Cardstock: White, Georgia-Pacific; Recycled 100 Natural White, Neenah Papers

Patterned Paper: Deep Black Patch (from Nancy Jane Collection), Adornit Carolee's Creations

Punch: Loop Border Punch, Martha Stewart

Other: Embroidery Floss, DMC; Buttons, from Scarlet Lime kits; Dimensional Foam Adhesives