Creation to fruition process!

I have mentioned on this blog that I am a member of the ATCdivas group, and we have an themed exchange once a month. When I make ATCs for them, they need to be as alike as possible, and I usually create 6 or 7 depending on who's playing that month. Sometimes it's difficult for me to do this because I tend to put a lot of time into an ATC and I don't always have the time to do 7 in a row, or the energy, but I don't want to sacrifice quality. So this month for the theme of flowers, I came up with a different plan to try and I think it worked pretty well. I first made a collage background on a sheet of 12 x 16 canvas paper by gluing several torn papers, pages, scraps of music and even an old French paper bond from the 1800's.

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As you can see, it has a nice mixture of dark and light. After it had dried, I began altering the whole background with gesso, thinned acrylic paint, rub ons, rubber stamps, walnet ink and more, with this result:

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There is some slight glare from the camera, but you get the idea. Then I cut 7 pieces the size of an ATC (2.5" x 3.5") and starting adding prima flowers altered with ditress ink, number stickers, additional detail, and here is the final result:

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I really am pleased with the way they turned and the fact that the texture and depth of the background really is part of the overall pieces. It's a lot better, I think, than using a picture of a collage where the texture is flat. And I even have a big chunk left over to use with other projects!

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Maybe for the next tag I design for the challenge I host, I will use some more of this. It is really easy to do and I think I will be doing more of it in the future!

UPDATE on the bird's nests - the Bluebirds are sitting on 5 lovely eggs and the Carolina Wren on 4. The Goldfinches can drain a full thistle feeder in less than 2 days and I am having to really stay on top of all of the feeders, because of the large crowds of birds. One time I counted 8-9 cardinals out there at once! The territorial calls are going strong, especially the Tufted Titmouse. Sometimes I want to call out to it "OK! OK! We get it- it's your territory, please calm down!!" But I am so happy to hear them and to have my windows open!

Hope you have a blessed day!

Rebecca

ATCDivas March ATCs

The theme for the March ATCs was watercolor. 

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Liquid watercolors were added to a babywipe, which was glued to an ATC card and cut to size. Liquid watercolors are so brilliant! I then stamped on a small tag and colored with watercolor crayons then added water with a brush. A small length of fabric leaves and a colorful fish charm were attached, and Gold Leaf pen used in the corners. Since I have to make 7 of these, they had to be rather simple!

Praying for the people of Japan and the Ivory Coast. I have a brother and his wife who are in the Ivory Coast as missionaries and have served over there for 30 years. The situation has been rather overshadowed by the things happening in Egypt and Libya, but it is a very precarious situation with the refusal of the incumbent president to leave since he lost the election in November. There has been much bloodshed and destruction there. Please remember this country in your prayers!

ATCDivas Feburary ATCs and Crocus!

For the ATCDiva's group, our February design was Snowflake. Now I must tell you, this one was sort of a contradiction, because for the past few days, the temperatures have been in the high 60's F during the day and sunny. In fact, tomorrow it's supposed to be in the low 70's! Much much different than the past few years and it's still 30 days till the first day of Spring. Several years ago we had an earlier Spring than usual, and then in April we had a cold snap which killed a lot of the blooms. I certainly hope that will not be the case this year!

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I have two shots of these because they were a bit hard to photograph. I had laid down Silver Leaf pen as a resist, then painted over it with acrylic paints. The vintage metal snowflake is in a circle punched from sparkly wrapping foil, and I punched the tiny snowflakes from the foil as well. Stickles were added for detail. Everything is on the reflective side, so I hope you can have some idea of how they look; they actually look better in real life. (I had to do seven of them.)

And the other day I noticed a tiny, bright flower near the front walk, and realized they were crocus. They must have been left from the original tiny house which was torn down when our house was built.

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Last year I moved the daffodils which were scattered about also near the front walk and they are coming up as well.

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So, today we have Snowflakes and Flowers!!

Theme Thursday - Words, an ATC

Still feeling rather blah today, as I have all week and not really sure why exactly. Could it be because I am waiting for a parcel of supplies I ordered to come in before I can work on my next art lesson? Perhaps it's because my husband had surgery on Friday and it's been a long week? (thankfully, he is slowly healing!) Or maybe because of the ongoing stress we are dealing with from another source. Whatever it is, and it could very well be a combination of the above things, I am determined to at least create something and it doesn't have to be spectacular, just something from me. So, I'm thankful for Theme Thursday today, it gives me a reason to do putter about with art.

 The theme today on Theme Thursday is "words". My creation is again on the simple side (for me) as was the one on Tuesday but I am just happy to be doing something!

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This is an ATC with a line of poetry, Sweet calm days in golden haze, Melt down the amber sky from John Greenleaf Whittier's My Psalm 39. I think those are just beautiful words! The number two is a chipboard piece, distressing inks were used as was a Spica pen and Tim Holtz tape at the corner.

Also today I caught up on sending out postcards on Postcrossing. I sent to Canada, Great Britain, Taiwan, Ukraine, Spain, Belarus and the US. I have received some really nice cards recently from Italy, France, Russia, Lithuania, Finland and Ireland. I have quite a collection now (but still very small compared to some folks!) and really enjoy this small way to spread good feelings across the world. It's always a fun day when I get postcards!

Theme Thursday - Hearts and an ATC

The theme this week is Hearts on Theme Thursday, and I also am in an ATC swap for the same theme, so this does double duty.

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I used several different Golden Gel Mediums, three colors of tissue paper, Lumiere paint, Gold Leaf pen and then added a heart jewelry finding.

I am so very tired today. Our sweet daughter drove me to the hair stylist, and then to pick up some art supplies, and then I treated her to lunch and we had a wonderful time together. I love spending time with our daughter! Now, though, I think I may have overdone it and am feeling pretty washed out. Hopefully I will recover somewhat with a good night's sleep.

Think I will watch some Monk on Netflix!  :)

Middle of January and ATC

Well, the 17th of January! The New Year is well underway, and so is my reorganization. I have thrown out stuff, and found things I thought had disappeared (which they did, in a manner of speaking) and realized painfully that I just have too much of certain things, and other things I am really not interested in any more. I have things that generous people sent me and items which no longer fit my style, or are simply items I will never use. SO.................
I was thinking about a different kind of Blog Giveaway - the Upcycle Giveaway! Would there be any interest in this? If you read my blog, comment on the bottom and let me know because it will be a week or more before I could do it. I would have to know if there is any interest first!

Also, I did an ATC for a swap on Swap-Bot titled "Funky Fibers", anything to do with fabric, floss, fibers, etc.

Ruby Slippers

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Materials include fabric, netting, ribbon, charm, crystal flowers dyed red, sequin, floss, alcohol ink, Stickles, Sakura pen, distress ink.

So, let me know if you think my giveaway idea would be a good one! I will post it on upcoming blogs too!

Mixed Media Altered Box (Mixed Media Monday) and 2 ATCs

 I altered this box after viewing this video on Youtube. It is a foiled box which was made as a gift:

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It's the first time I have altered a box and it was great fun. The video was shared by another friend and she made some wonderful altered dominos from it. This is being submitted to Mixed Media Monday for the theme "I've Been Wanting To...". Mixed media includes foil, Lumiere paint, acrylic paint, gold leaf and lacquer.

Life's doings has kept me from posting lately, so I will include several projects today. This ATC and the following ATC are for swaps that I host for a group on Swap-Bot.

History of the Name Of Each Month - September:

September simply comes from the Latin word for seven. Not only did the Romans hold games to honor their gods this month, so did the Greeks - the Olympic Games.

World Tour - San Marino:

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San Marino is a tiny republic in the northern part of Italy. It is one of the smallest countries in the world - 24 square miles,and its population numbers about 30,000. This is an altered art ATC.