Say it With............

.......... hugs,
.......... flowers,
.......... an ATC...... & turn it into a card.


My initial steps in crafting & very flat non-dimensional colouring were in the realm of ATCs - back in May 2008; so when the Penny Black Reader Challenge theme for this week (the tenth week already) was announced as an ATC last Monday I decided to do some thinking around the subject & to incorporate my ATC into a larger project. With sorting out our Broadband - it turned out to be a corroded telephone wire 130m from our property which needed repairing - I've run out of time to do the second part but that just goes to show that the ATC is complete in itself. It has also worked to my advantage for a couple of challenges have been posted which I'd not have known about had I started earlier but which provided the catalyst for some unlooked for inspiration - but more about those in my card post which will follow in due course.


First things first. What is an ATC? This Penny Black post explains:


"A little about ATCs; Artist Trading Cards (or ATCs) are miniature works of art about the same size as modern baseball cards, 2 ½ X 3 ½ inches (63 mm X 89 mm), and small enough to fit inside standard card-collector pockets. The ATC movement developed out of the mail art movement and has its origins in Switzerland. Cards are produced in various media, including dry media (pencils, pens, markers, etc.), wet media (watercolor, acrylic paints, etc.), paper media (in the form of collage, papercuts, found objects, etc.) or even metals or cloth. The cards are usually traded or exchanged rather than sold. "


It is also customary to put the artist's name & contact details on the back together with the title or theme of the ATC plus the date.

ATC front

ATC back

close-up showing bow, heat embossed sentiment

& different textures of navy cardstock tags

close-up of focal image

angled photo to show dimension of 

glittered Flower Soft & flower

(click on images to enlrage)

Although I frequently shape punched butterflies & flowers using an embossing/ball tool with an embossing mat  I've not previously shaped small elements to 3D in the way that Debby does. However, I was particularly struck by her Hero Arts Poppy Card, so I decided to have a go at adding some physical dimension to the flower above my cuddling mice. I also wanted to give a furry texture to the flower head but as I only have Ivory & an unknown Mixed Pot I thought I'd add some Stickles Glitter Glue to the ivory to make it more interesting. 


ETA 11/4 - See my link in the sidebar or here for Kathy Racoosin's use of Flower Soft when it comes to flower centres, especially the post here on the Penny Black blog or  here on her own blog. In fact it was Kathy's use of Flower Soft over the past few days that reminded me how useful it can be. Although I had no idea of today's post I doubt I'd have thought of using it with glitter if I'd not seen her post here using brown.


Recipe
Stamps Penny Black 30-020 Hugs! (image & sentiment).
Inks Memento Tuxedo Black (image); Tumbled Glass Distress Ink (inking some cardstock edges); VersaMark watermark stamp pad with Stampendous Detail White Embossing Powder (sentiment).
Colouring Derwent Artists Pencils with paper stumps & Sansodor; Inkssentials White Opaque Pen & Uni-ball Eye Needle Point Black Pen; Ice Stickles Glitter Glue (Crystal ice) & Flower Soft (ivory).
Cardstock Textured navy (I've used the reverse smoother side for the small "hugs" tag) & pearlescent turquoise from stash.
Punches Woodware (large tag), Xcut (small tag), Fiskars (ornate corner).
The navy bow came out of a packet of pre-tied bows amongst my stash as did the floral gems.
The miniscule gem above "hugs" is Papermania.


Challenge Entered
Penny Black Weekly Reader Challenge 10 - Artist Trading Cards (see above)