"Creative Combos" ATC Swap

The theme of this month's Arts In The Cards swap was "Creative Combos".

The task was to choose one material and one medium from the following lists:
Materials:
cotton, metal or vellum
Mediums:
metallic paints, markers, pencils, inks

To assuage my continuing fascination with metal I chose the material metal and the medium metallic paints.  To make these cards I first embossed copper foil, torch brazed the foil and then glued it onto a heavy paper backing that I had first painted black. Next I added metallic paints in sage, barn red and lamp black that rubbed into the embossed metal with a soft cloth.  I added some Oriental themed papers topped them with an embossed matte black metal square to which I added a hand stamped brass tag. I am happy with the results and I am becoming more engrossed with metal. I'm planning to use similar techniques for some "Valentine themed" Inchies and ATC's for another group.

Unfortunately the very rainy, very dark weather as well as my own laziness in bringing out my light box afforded these relatively poor photos. Hopefully, you'll get the idea!

What Does Trash Mail and ATC's Have In Common?

I am slowly moving my artistic impedimenta to another, dare I say larger, table in the living room. Scurrying up the ladder to my 'creative space' is not as easy as it was pre-surgery so the entire house has bits and pieces of my tools and supplies scattered about at the moment.

There are two ATC groups that I always try to keep up with -I allow myself no excuses - so in between the effluvia I managed to make these ATC's during the holiday. The 'theme' was "Trash Talkin' The Mailman"..... using what things that would normally be classified as trash that arrives at your door by way of the mail. I don;t think that this was my best effort - but we try not to have 'do-overs' and so these are what I mailed off.

My favorite part of mail is stamps - and colored envelopes - so of course those two elements were the focus of my cards. I painted the ground with black acrylic - and experimented with Art Spectrum's Color Fix paper- which really did make a difference in the way the black paint covered the ground. I have to order some more when I next visit Mr. Blick's fabulous art emporium. "Mountains" made from envelope pieces, the "full moon"  fashioned from foil lids and the "stars" made from foil cat food lids. I added non-trash items too - the copper foil edges and glitter in the "night sky".

 I am always curious about different people approach their art making. Generally I have a faint 'seed' of an idea, but I don't know what will happen until I sit down and start working with the various bits and pieces. Most often I end up with something that is decidedly different from the original 'seed' thought. Very occasionally I sketch something out - but I don't seem to work well that way. I have to have the various bits and pieces in hand in order to plan a design. I know many people who are able to sketch out an idea and go with it. It would make life easier if I could do that I think - but it just doesn't work for me most of the time. How about you? How do you approach your art making?

This was a wonderful 'book' year. My friend Janet gave me a wonderful book from an author that I was unfamiliar with. It's a book that I would most likely have not bought for myself - but am loving. Patti Digh's "Creative is a Verb". Have a look at her blog for some inspiration!

Sarah gave me another excellent book that I had never heard of "The Daily Book Of Art" - some very good inspirations in the pages of this little gem! Maria sent "Anam Cara" - a book that had been on "must read" list for some time. It went along wonderfully with my calendar of choice for this year "Celtic Wisdom".  I think that my friends are hard pressed to surprise me with books - but these were indeed a wonderful surprise. 

Hopefully, by the next post my work space - and therefore my mind - will be a bit tidier. I wish I could afford to get some good organizational furniture and bookshelves - maybe this year I will save some money (ah! there's a good concept!). 

I wish you all a very Wonderful New Year - one that is filled with the solace of laughter and good health and the blessings of joy and peace - with prosperity thrown in for good measure!

What Became Of The Mystery Material?

Remember when I posted the mystery material shown in the first photo? The addition of gesso and acrylic and watercolor paint brought it to the next step in photo two. It's a base of very old cotton, tissue paper in white and light brown, cheesecloth and couched white yarn that is free motioned 'painted'. Photography in the dead of a Pacific Northwest winter is a challenge. I should have taken my light frame out to take the photographs but I was rushing to get these overdue cards enveloped and in the mail for this morning - so I took the lazy gal's way out. Sorry for the highlights !

One of the two ATC groups that I participate in used a "Typography" them for this month. So the rectangle of this fabric became those cards. I used Tim Holtz grunge board painted with Golden Fluid Marcasite paint to make the letters from a variety of shapes and sizes. Japanese text made from washi paper and then I added a metallic accent. The source of the metal is really fun but the answer to what that material is has to wait until next month - because the next theme just happened to be the perfect venue for this material

I used watercolors to enhance - or highlight - some of the places on the cards. It was pretty clear that a dab of a contrasting color really improved the look of the cards. Without it they were softer feeling and, as much as I strive to work with neutrals and soft colors it seems I am always looking for a way to punch it up a bit. Maybe I need to do a study of taupe or greys and get adjusted to a softer palette. That could be my New Year's resolution - that and not seeing any more doctors other than for wellness checks this coming year!

The holidays are almost here and I am in NO way prepared. I have my cards but they need to be written and addressed. I always try to order them in October - and I was not too late in accomplishing that yearly goal this year despite being almost unable to type at that point in my recovery! A day at time....oh yes, that's another thing I need to cultivate. Patience!

"We're All Just A Little Cracked" ATC's

These ATC's are a departure for me. They are for the small, wonderful group that I am in.  These are not due until later this month but since I have no idea of what the recovery time is going to be  after Thursday and I  wanted to be able to have them them finished and sent off. These cards are my first experiment using Photoshop for collage - well, actually as I have mentioned before, I don't do much collage, but since I felt that time might be running thin I decided to give it a try - and thoroughly enjoyed manipulating some images to create this card.I generally prefer to make each card separately and unique but this was a rather refreshing experiment - and I did manage to teach myself some more about the Photoshop program.

Now I wish I had not sold my small Wacom tablet - and will probably have to go on the hunt for a used one that I can afford - another good reason to hold onto things huh?! I guess I had given up the hope of making myself learn about Photoshop! Oh! The possibilities ! My Oh! My!

New ATC's With A Theme That Is Right Up My Alley! and Blessings to The Armed Services On This Memorial Day!

One of the two ATC swap groups that I enjoy participating in in through RosesOnMyTable.  The next swap is about cats! How perfect could that be for me?! These are painted with acrylic and ink on fabric, and backed with a batik - with my favorite Fast2Fuse in the middle. I'm happy with how they turned out and may make another set just to have on hand for fun 1 on 1 swaps that happily pop up from time to time.

My next challenge theme for ATC's is cracked .. cracked up, cracked open, cracked eggs, tectonic plates? I have not come up with a good enough idea for these yet.... so I have to spend some more time mulling it over before I get to work. Tomorrow I want to play - have paint on my hands and thread and fabric clinging to my clothes. Ah! A good day it will be.

 James Odell, John Blaise and William Hoyt Ellery WWII

Happy Memorial Day to all of us in the US . My prayers are offered tomorrow to all of the men and women who serve in every country's armed forces. Although I am in no way a supporter of wars I do respect the service of these very brave men and women who all work tirelessly and unselfishly to make my wish for having a day to play possible. I pray that that they will all return to their families soon and that they will all enjoy many days to play in the near future. Namaste.

My maternal, much loved, grandparents with my uncles. The youngest Billy in Grandpa's arms, Jack between the adults and Uncle John (Jack) Blaise Ellery is  in uniform

This reference is about my Uncle John Ellery ...who was a Sergeant on Omaha Beach on D-Day. With this invasion, the last days of the Nazi Third Reich were at hand. Ellery described his ordeal in his own words:

"Weather had been bad. The invasion had been delayed 24 hours…The Seas was rough and when you got to the beach, you still had between 300 and 400 meters of ground to cover and when you got through that you were at the bottom of a bluff that I estimate was 50 feet high. You were under fire from the time you were within a mile of the point you were going to drop the ramp of your LCVP [landing craft]. To this day I don't understand where the men got the courage. I suppose we'll never know the total number of casualties. In my assault section, we had eight men killed and 17 wounded out of the 32 men by the time we cleared the high ground."

He was a hero to me - and to out country. My uncle is also mentioned in books about D-Day, including 

"The Victors: Eisenhower and His Boys: The Men of World War II by Stephen Ambrose  and also "D-Day, June 6,1944: The Climatic Battle of World War II" by the same author. My other two uncles, were also in the services. Billy in the Air Force and my beloved James in the Army. Thankfully they all came home. John (Jack) had two purple hearts that I am aware of and my grandmother never liked telephones - since she always feared the bad news that sometimes was carried by them. I can really understand that too.

The Last of My "Warped" ATC's Are Finally In The Mail

Lately I seem to be a tad behind the power curve. 

I was recently invited to join a small ,but mightily talented, group of artists for ATC exchanges. I came into this "Warped" swap late, granted, but it has taken me awhile to finish these last four of the series. I did manage to to get a few of the new series done as well -the next theme is "Rust/Metal". Thankfully, I also managed to finish up some Art Cards that were overdue for mailing and I got started on the swap  that's due at the end of the month from Roses On My Table.  I am trying to get just a bit ahead before the surgery date - so that I won't be behind on everything again!

These cards allowed me to try out some metal embossing - something that I had wanted to try for some time. I see it as having some promise - but it is also a technique that I think requires some time and experimentation. Getting some ink/paint/pens to lay down some color that remained in the grooves but was not be all wiped off at the end was a challenge. I tried alcohol inks, various pens and regular inks, acrylic paints of several varieties. Golden Fluid acrylics were the thing that seemed to work the best for me - though I am sure that there is something out there that would work like a charm. I just have not yet found it ! Once again I used the little poem as the basis for my interpretation of the 'warped' theme. I am loving the results of the things I am trying for rust/metal - and I really thought that it was going to be a very difficult theme for me. The muse strikes when she does - or doesn't in some cases!

Have a great middle of your week - hope everyone is able to enjoy a taste of Spring - or Fall for all of you in the land down under!

ATC's: Why I Love Making Them and Receiving Them!

 The cards in this group came from a wonderful group of very talented women. 

The theme of the swap is "Warped". 

Top row (L to R): Janice Paine Dawes, Wanda Stivison, Christine Predd. 

Bottom Row (L to R): Suzan Morgan, and Linda Edkins Wyatt (2 cards)

After seeing some of the ATC's that I have made and sent away to new homes I thought that it would be fun for you to see the ATC's that have been sent to me. It may help to explain why I have become so infatuated with these small works of art - and why I seem to be spending more and more time making them and building my own collection!

Fist a little background - from the information files at Wikipedia:

"...Artist Trading Cards (or ATCs) are miniature works of art about the same size as modern baseball cards, or 2 ½ X 3 ½ inches (6 cm X 9 cm), small enough to fit inside standard card-collector pockets, sleeves or sheets. 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.). The cards are usually traded or exchanged rather than sold.

Artist trading cards were used throughout Europe and America as art training tools. Artists would trade the cards between themselves to study each others techniques and explore new art movements. The cards paid a particularly important role in the Impressionists art movement. The Impressionists utilized both sides of their artist trading cards, art on one side and a kind of brief resume on the other. The Impressionists were the first known artists to use the cards in trade for anything other than more art. Impressionists often traded the cards with art collectors in exchange for room, board, and art supplies.

M. Vänçi Stirnemann is credited in many circles with popularizing the modern artist trading card in 1996,holding trading sessions in Zurich, Switzerland. This resurgence of interest of Artists trading cards has spawned the popular ACEO (art cards editions and originals) movement. Many people consider art trading cards and ACEO cards to be one and the same. Others feel they are decidedly different pieces of art. Clubs, trading sessions, and online mailart communities have largely replaced the original concept of trading the cards during individual encounters, and many ATC workshops end with a trading session...."

Above: The amazing cards are from my friend, Julie Wildman

Below:  a felted card from Sara Figal

The card below was made by Debra Benedict is one of the most beautifully put together cards I have ever seen! It was from a swap on Roses On My Table and the theme was: Alice In Wonderland

Below - another fabulous card from the "Alice In Wonderland Swap" - made by Elizabeth Matthews

More from the Alice In Wonderland Swap.

Top row (L to R):  Astrid Maclean and Corinne Marie

Bottom row (L To R): Mariette and Kathy Noble

The ATC below, made by Donna Funnell, 

is one of my favorites of all - it's rich, rich, rich in detail 

and includes felting, embroidery and most yummy colors imaginable !

Below: This unusual card - I love the shaped effect!- was made by Darlene Pringle

These cards were made through a swap with the theme 

'Mandala' though the Yahoo Group Soul Journaling.

Below:  Windy Kai Savarese and Lay Hoon

Below: Diane Bishop Carey and Chris Tessnear

This lovely card was also made by Diane Bishop Carey (see above) from the "Mandala" swap.

This group of cards were some of the first that I ever received. I had no idea when I began making and swapping trading cards how difficult they can be to make; how working within a theme can really test your abilities (eerhhhhh - rather should I say that they can expand your horizons!); how utterly addictive they can become - or how many wonderful techniques there are to experiment with. This size can be a challenge - but the results are so worth it !

The group below:

Top  (L to R):

Heather Robinson   (when I swapped with Heather I knew nothing about making ATC's really - the swap with her was the beginning of my obsession!)

Bottom (L to R): Victoria O'Neill, Terri Stegmiller, Ann Tyler

This is the simple way that I store my ATC's - just a three 3 ting binder with protector sheets. Some of the thicker or larger pieces need protector sheets that hold photos instead. I love paging through this book, adding to it and participating in swaps. I learn so much in making ATC's - and I think that they have really helped me expand my technique "tool box" . I also really enjoy looking at the early trades I have done - like the one I did with Heather Robinson - it helps me to keep tract of how much I have grown my making these small, wonderful little works of art !  Hope you have had fun enjoying all of this eye-candy. I could have added pages and pages of photographs to this list. There are so many that I want to share - I plan to do another post so that you can see the work of more artists soon. One person who is a driving force in my lust for ATC art is Christina Zinna Galliher. Her site, Roses On My Table, is a fabulous place, the women are wonderful and Christina does an amazing, job keeping us all on the go. Her work will be showcased in the next ATC post !

I would love to know your ATC

Small Work- More ATC's

 

I've been back on a "small work" kick. I really enjoy making ATC's because they are a challenge at times. "Faith" is felted wool embellished with embroidery and a few beads. The back is made from a wonderful customizable ATC stamp that I got from Etsy.I like having my name and address already on the stamp. It's very well made. The background is a hand painted piece of muslin that I am slowly embroidering - and I do mean slowly!

  

This next group of cards is made for an ATC swap through Roses On My Table. I am not at all good at making cards to fit a theme - I seem to work much better when I am making, simply, an ATC with no theme. The theme of this card swap is, perhaps obviously, "Alice In Wonderland". I am so looking forward to seeing the new movie with Johnny Depp and I think this was one of the considerations  when the Alice theme was chosen, Generally I pushing a deadline with these swaps - but for once I have them ready to go before they are due! I want to swap some more cards - with no real theme but have not yet found a place that is currently hosting one. Any ideas?

  

This is probably my favorite - but I am thinking that not too many folks may like it. I love doodling a la Zentangle - and that's what started me off with this card. I never realized how amazing the visions and words of author Charles Lutwidge Dodgson really were - so I was grateful to have a chance to review some of his more memorable quotes! Oh! To have an imagination such as his was!

 

Revisiting Block Prints- Learning Curve

For some odd reason I got the bug to revisit block printing. I had only tried it once before and I thought of some patterning I wanted to try - so block printing came to mind. I carved the blocks & then printed. I was using some watercolor paper and using only a ink pad so the prints came out rather light. It was one of those "Duh!" moments - using heavy papers and not knowing what in the heck I was doing to begin with!

I had a fun afternoon and made a few ATC's to play with. Since this time I questioned what inks I should use and what sort of applicator. Thanks to the suggestions from some friends on the  QuiltArt list I have been able to get much better results today and I will post those results - hopefully side-by-side. Today, rather than water-color paper I used Bristol & muslin, and rather than applying acrylic paint with a brush I used a sponge brayer. I am here to tell you that the sponge brayer made a huge difference - though a foam brsuh would, I think, work too.

Here are the first day's results - too light bit fun none-the-less. I so enjoy just seeing where the day's interests take me sometimes. I have a quilt to art tomorrow - an art quilt - it's time to return to fabric and thread.