Little Pieces of Art

Last month I participated in an ATC swap with the VC Rocks group. Now that everyone has received their swaps, I can share them with you.

Not sure what an ATC is? ATC is short for Artist Trading Card. They are wonderful little pieces of art the size of a baseball card (2.5"x3.5").

I love ATCs! They can be used as a focal piece on a card, an embellishment on a scrapbook page, put in frames and hung as artwork, or just enjoyed on their own stored in little binders.

There were two groups in the swap, retired and current. I chose to participate in both groups. The Bloom ATC is made with all retired products. This is a pretty straight forward and easy design. I used markers to color the floral stamp from Live your Dream, then punched it out with the 1-3/8" circle punch, backing it with a Soft Sky scallop circle which is popped up with dimensionals. The Groovy Guava and DSP piece are matted on Wild Wasabi.



Stamps: Bella's Bloom, Live Your Dream
Paper: Afternoon Tea DSP, Wild Wasabi and Groovy Guava textured cardstock, Soft Sky and Whisper White smooth cardstock.
Ink: Chocolate Chip, Soft Sky, Wild Wasabi
Misc.: Scallop Circle Punch, 1-3/8" Circle Punch, Wild Wasabi stitched ribbon, Dimensionals

For the current product swap I used the palm tree from Plant Hope. For the background "scene" I took a wet paintbrush and reinkers to make the sky (Marina Mist) and desert (Soft Suede) by just swiping the brush back and forth across the piece of Naturals White cardstock.

To make it look more like a landscape, I went back in and shaded some areas with Soft Suede to make the hills. Once the tree was stamped, I again went in with the paint brush and reinker to add some shading under it. Can't have the tree just floating out there. :)

I used markers to color the stamp - Early Espresso for the trunk and a mix of Old Olive and Pear Pizzazz for the fronds. To finish it off I added some Linen Thread. The piece was matted with Paisley Petals DSP with Marina Mist cardstock as the base.

Stamps: Plant Hope
Paper: Marina Mist, Paisley Petals DSP, Naturals White
Ink: Early Espresso, Old Olive and Pear Pizzazz Markers, Marina Mist and Soft Suede Reinkers
Misc.: Linen Thread, Paint Brush, Water

Have a great day!