May Hop with Craft Hoarders Anonymous

It's time once again for another hop

with the Ladies of Craft Hoarders Anonymous.

Every month on the 5th a group of us

will share projects and offer inspiration on ways

to use your hoard.

(Remember, use your hoard you get to buy more. 

It's a win -win!)

This month I made a group of 

4 Mixed Media ATC tags.

Sized at just 2.5 x 3.5 inches they go together super quick

and use up all the tidbits on my desk.

The "monsters" were stamped on to my

"underpapers" which I keep under whatever I am creating at the time.

I then used a variety of markers and pens to add a little

more color / details to them.

Then fussy cut and added to the backgrounds.

The backgrounds are a combinations of leftover paint,

stenciling, stamping,

and doodling with a Wite-Out pen.

Scraps of seam binding were machine stitched on.

Random machine stitching was added to the bottoms as well.

Word stickers from Tim Holtz

added the final touches.

Below is the list of Ladies who are hopping this month.

Make sure to visit them all and see how they are using their stash this month.

1. Gloria Stengel: http://gloriascraps.blogspot.com/

2. Donna Idlet: http://myblogidlet.blogspot.com/201...

3. Tracey Sabella http://gracescraps.blogspot.com/

4. Bonnie Garby: http://www.maketime2craft.com/

5. Debbie Seyer http://www.debbieseyer.com/my_weblo... (Debbie has a give way this month as well!)

6. Patti Hamil http://www.mypiecesoftime.blogspot.com/...

7. Teresa Horner http://www.victorianpaperqueen.blogspot.com/...

8. Jacquie Southas http://jacquiesouthas.blogspot.com/

9. Vicki Robertson http://www.validationofvicki.blogspot.com/...

10. Wendi Robinson - http://scrappydayinparadise.blogspot.com/...

11. Christy Houser - http://creatingwiththegirls.blogspot.com/...

12. Amber Milone- http://www.pinkchicpaperdesign.blogspot.com/...

Heart ATCs

I have been working on a lot of

different projects lately and in doing so have tons of little scraps leftover.

Since I tend to throw NOTHING away,

these become perfect tidbits for creating

ATCs.

These heart ones were all created for trading 

with others in an ATC group I belong to on Facebook.

I love the ATC's size. 2.5 x 3.5 inches means you can create quick

and use up even the tiniest scraps.

All of the hearts and backgrounds were from previous projects.

The words are all from various sticker sheets.

Black Soot Distress marker and a white Gel pen 

were used to outline the hearts.

Some stamping and splattered mist finished them off.

The size of these are also perfect when you don't have a lot of time 

or space to create.

Next time you have some leftovers from a project, 

try creating your own ATC.

But watch out...they can be addicting.

Thanks for stopping by and have a great day.

Craft Hoarders Anonymous December hop!

Welcome everyone to the December Hop

with the ladies of

Every month on the 5th we share ideas and inspiration on how to get creating

and use up your stash at the same time.

You should be coming to me from Marissa's blog.

After, head on back to visit Gloria's for the complete list of participants this month.

This month I created my very first pocket letter.

For those of you who are wondering what exactly is a pocket letter, let me show you.

I took a trading card sleeve and filled it with 9 winter themed ATCs.

The backs of the sleeves have goodies, chocolate, and a letter tucked into them.

Pocket letters are all the rage right now being traded all over the globe.

This one is heading out in the mail today to it's destination.

I kept an overall theme of blue, white, winter and snow throughout my cards.

Below I have closeups of a few.

Craft Hoarders Anonymous Blog Hop List:
Gloria Stengel 
Debbie Seyer
Ginny Nemchak
Pam Bray
Jacquie Southas
Glenda Brooks
Amber Milone
Donna Idlet
Bonnie Garby
Wendi Robinson
Teresa Horner
Kathy Clement
Barbara Rankin
Christy Houser

That is it for December's hop.

Thanks for stopping by and have a wonderful day.

ATCs for today

Just doing a quick share of some ATCs

I did up the last couple of days.

2.5 x 3.5 inches is perfect for this time strapped gal.

This one is painted and collaged book text on a card.

Washii tape & stamping added before the chipboard butterflies were colored with Dylusions and the Stickles for sparkle.

The background here was from an envelope of happy mail.

I repurposed it to become the background foe the butterfly 

diecut.

This started as a page I cleaned my brayer on.

Stamped random circles and painted them in with acrylic paint.

Added the ballon and words via rub ons.

Another background from a leftover piece.

Added the bird, ricrac and rub on.

There you have it,

little bits of art for the week.

Thanks for stopping by and have a great day.

A few mixed media pieces for the day....

Things have been a wee bit crazy around here.

Not much time is left to do large scale creating

but I have managed to knock out a few ATCs and a card.

The first share today is a 5x7 fall card.

The background is painted book text, covered with tape,

stamping and more paint through sequin waste.

The leaves and pumpkin were sent to me as extra goodies in another swap.

They were PERFECT for this card.

The next piece is an ATC.

I'm finding myself creating more and more of these.

The size 2.5x3.5 is perfect when time is in a crunch.

This one is acrylic paint background with some stamping.

The girl was stamped then colored with Distress Markers.

This ATC is created by collaging some painted and 

torn book text.

The butterfly was a college image and the words added are rub ons.

Last ATC.

This one is created using some of the same papers as the butterfly card.

Machine stitching around the edge

and then the addition of the bird.

While cleaning the other day I found a whole stack of these vintage bird images

so expect to see more birds popping up.

That's my quick share for the day.

Thanks for stopping by and have a great day!

Sharing some ATCs today...

I'm doing an ATC swap with a couple of crafty friends this week 

and thought I'd share what I made.

In case you are unsure

ATCs are 

Artist Trading Cards

and measure 2.5 x 3.5 inches.

You can work on the horizontally or vertically (I prefer vertical)

and artists trade them all over the world.

These are going to the US, Canada & Australia.

How cool is it to know that something YOU create is traveling all over.

Anyhoo…

On to the art.

This one is created using an old book page as the base.

Gel Medium used to attached cheesecloth & then misted with Glimmer Mist.

The Kaisercraft Die Cuts were layered on over it.

This one also uses and old book page & cheesecloth.

Then Distress Paints were rubbed over the whole thing.

Some Washii tape added to corners, a vintage image,

and the words from a piece of Graphic 45 paper.

Last but not least my bird escaping his cage.

The background was from a background swap 

(I'll pretty much swap anything to get happy mail lol)

to it I added my bird cage colored with Silks Acrylic Glaze,

and my bird covered with a piece of patterned paper scrap.

Off to the Post Office I go.

Watch the mail Ladies :)

Thanks for stopping by and have a great day.

A few ATCs for the day

Every once in a while I get into an ATC mood.

If you are wondering what exactly are ATCs well…

Artist Trading Cards.

They measure 2.5 x 3.5 inches and can be done either horizontally or vertically,

though you see I definitely prefer one direction over the other.

You can do them up and keep for yourself or trade with

Artists all over the world.

I am lucky to have albums filled art from around the globe

acquired all by trading.

The background on this one is created with Gel Medium, paper towels and Perfect Pearls.

The cage is from Kaisercraft painted with Silks and the bird is Prima

covered with a piece of scrap patterned paper.

Balance is created on a background using a magazine page, Elmers glue,

Nvr-Dul and Colorbox ink.

Circles stamped with StazOn and a doily edge added in spots.

2 small lace doilies create my flowers.

The stems are actually from the tree outside my craft room.

Hexagons were cut and inked before being glued to my background.

Next time you are looking to try something new…

how about an ATC.

The size is perfect to try new things, use up scraps

and create art quick.

Who knows…

you may get hooked.

Thanks for stopping by and have a great day.

ATCs, a Tag and a Card

Today I'm sharing several pieces which were recently seen in

Scrapbook News and Review.

While I tend to work on bigger things like scrapbook pages, art journal

pages and canvases, it's always fun to occasionally go down in size.

The first piece is a simple sympathy card.

The base is watercolor paper, layered with Washii tape and book text.

Colored with Lindy's Stamp Gang mist.

The chipboard is from Dusty Attic.

Next I have an ATC created on a Gelli print base.

I save all bits of leftover prints, and ATCs are a perfect way to use them up.

The stamp is from Hero Arts, stamped with StazOn ink and colored with Faber Castell Big Brush pens.

A white gel pen was used to add accents.

The next ATC is done on a base of pape rtowel leftover from cleaning my desk.

(yes I save EVERYTHING)

Stamped onto it with a script stamp.

Added the sentiment and a chipboard sticker from Pink Paislee. 

Here is a tag done on another Gelli print done over an old map.

I outlined the buildings and added more torn Gelli prints for the ground as a contrast.

Last but not least is my RED ATC

done for the color theme.

I just collected red items found on my desk and collaged them onto my base.

Thanks for stopping by and have a great day!

ATC tutorial

Today we are going small and creating an ATC.

I love doing these little pieces of art, measuring 2.5 x 3.5 inches you can pack a lot of punch onto a small size.

Perfect to pop in the mail for a friend, tuck in a lunchbox as a pick you up or swap with friends all over the world.

This is the ATC we are creating.

And here are the supplies you need.

Now remember the supplies are just a suggestion.

You can swap out the Shimmerz paints for regular acrylic paint, or even mists or ink. Make what you have work for you.

I am also working on sticky back canvas today because I love the texture.

Don't have any? No worries, paper works just as well.

Step one: Cut the canvas to the ATC size 2.5 x 3.5 inches.

Step Two: Cover most of the canvas with your first color.

Step three: add an accent color in spots and dry completely.

Step four: I used pieces of drywall tape in the upper & lower corners as a stencil.

Place modeling paste (if you want high texture) through the tape. If you don't have paste you can use white acrylic paint.

Step five: Remove the tape and let it dry.

Step six: while the paste is drying stamp a heart and wings onto a piece of paper. I used Shimmerz painted onto my stamp for the heart to make it sparkle but you can used whichever coloring medium you wish.

Cut out the heart and wings and ink the edges to hide any bits of the white paper.

Step seven: Once the paste is dry, paint it with a contrasting color to your background.

Add the wings and heart to the card as well as some text if you wish.

Your ATC is now ready to be displayed.

Thank you so much for joining me this month in creating.

Have a wonderful day.

ATCs, Inchies and Arches

Sharing a few pieces that have been recently published in

Scrapbook News and Review.

The first is an ATC created on a Gelli print.

The image is from a piece of 7 Gypsies paper.

Next is a Steampunk Gothic Arch.

Going really small for these inchies.

The backgrounds are tissue paper for texture then paints and mists for color.

and last but not least...

Another Gothic Arch

this one was inspired by a fortune from a recent visit to a Chinese food restaurant.

The background was another Gelli print

covered with some stamped and embossed images

                                        
    Thanks for stopping by and have a great day!