Loads of Purpley-purple!

All the way from Adelaide, Australia, this beaded & buttoned beauty (teehee) was painstakingly created by Rachel!! She made the fairy with the pansies below, too.

Really, who wouldn't? Ok, maybe you. Still...
I made the 'fall in chocolate' ATC and this nutty little dragonfly, too. For a swap a couple of weeks ago. Yes, I'm quite behind!

Fall, beautiful fall

This ATC was made by Rosalie in Pleasant Hill, CA.
She's SO cute, look at her hat! Lovin' it.

Flashback: ATCs received Autumn 2006

Welcome, AUTUMN!! As of about an hour ago, I think! I hope the sweat-filled humid hot days are behind us for now and we can enjoy some sunny crisp cool days! Here are a couple of ATCs to welcome the fall season. The top one was made by Lori L. Lee and it's cute because that's a leaf cutout with a piece of designer paper behind it. And then just tiny & simply, it says 'Autumn'. The bottom 'Happy Fall' card was made by Cheryl Ford in Bellingham, WA. The background of this one is fantastic, it's a crazy watercolored look on yummy textured cardstock. Both of these cards are from my 2006 collection. Happy Harvest, everyone!

And now they're married!

Here's quite a change in style from the others! I made these for a Movie Theme ATC swap last month. I was stumped on what to use for images until I recalled that inside many DVD cases, there is some sort of paper insert...so I found these HOT images of Jennifer Garner & Ben Affleck from their SUPERHERO days! Ok, yes, I own both of these movies - don't judge me! :) Isn't it cool that they ended up married?! Hope they make it last forever! I like how these came out - dark and BOLD! I forgot where I sent them off to, but I'm glad I scanned them first. I coated them with modpodge, just to add a finished surface with a bit more texture than gloss. Thanks for stopping by!

ATCs Received: Pale flowers & "Summer"

#1 Pretty pale flowers - which were cut from a paper napkin she found - by Elaine (thechefsin). July Sender's Choice Swap. I neglected to write down where she's from. I like the book page background and the woman's face stamped over it all. Mysterious!

#2 "Summer" by Liz (purpleauntnub) of Tarrytown, NY. This was a RAK (Random Act of Kindness) ATC - sent to me as a surprise, for no particular reason except that I'm her friend! I really love the texture of the red/gold paper & the PEACEFUL label - it's an actual LABEL, like you would find in a garment! Very, very nice, ladies!!

ATCs Received: The end of the Rainbow!

Get it? The end of the rainbow? Hehe okay I only crack myself up. Fine. The indigo and violet, made by Carolyn in Silverdale, WA. Hey, Carolyn - know which one is my favorite out of your rainbow? Orange!! Thanks again!

ATCs Received: Roy G. Biv

Yup, apparently I do have a five picture limit. Okay, we will work with it. These fab ATCs are made by Carolyn in Silverdale, WA!! She said these are some of her favorite cards she's ever made and she found it hard to part with them! I told her I'd give them a very good home. They are happy :) ~ I love that she put a little pointy HAT on each lady, except for one, who's regal enough to be wearing a CROWN! I love love love them! They are still on page one in my binder! Next post: of course, Carolyn's indigo & violet cards!

Indigo & Violet complete the rainbow!

The rest of my rainbow. The indigo one says 'Remember' - it's a little hard to read since it's black ink on the very dark blue. I really like these and can't even choose a favorite! Next post will be the rainbow cards I received~!!

ROY G. B...um...only five pics per post??

I may be nuts, but I can only post five .jpg files in this entry. Is there a limit? I don't know. I guess I'll go investigate! Anyway, here is part of my (Roy G. Biv) RAINBOW of ATCs I made a few weeks ago for Jenny in Fresno, CA! In the next post I'll show you the Indigo & Violet! What I think is really cool about these is - well, ok there are two cool things - the main images are printed from the computer onto thick cardstock weight VELLUM and then, to make them stand out without all the background showing thru, I WATERCOLORED with ink & a blender pen on white cardstock and mounted it behind the image. The colors show thru just a bit and the effect was exactly what I was going for! The other cool thing is the backgrounds themselves. I used black ink on them all to keep them cohesive, and just went a little nuts with stamps from 3 or 4 different sets - basically stamping collage all over with an old world paris-writing-postage stamp theme. These are some of my favorites! Thanks for looking!

Received: Cash Register Receipt ATCs

#1 made by Patti in Oregon. I love how she cut the image in three pieces!

#2 made by Candy in Oregon. This whole card is just very cute!

#3 made by Debbie, also from Oregon. I like how she stamped right on the receipt!

These were all received in July 2008.

Cash Register Receipt Artist Trading Cards

These receipt themed cards were made by me. Next post will be what I got in trade!

It's all about the PURPLE!

The theme was "Purple" and how cute are these?!?




Made by Ria in New Mexico!!

Wings

I joined a swap a bit ago that had the theme "Things with Wings". I used this adorable little cherub of a girl who is riding on a stork! I know, it's hard to see what the heck she is sitting on, and even harder to see its 'wings' but they are there. Made by me, August 2008.

"August Sender's Choice"

"Altered Text" ATC made by Jenny! (agonysdecay) in Fresno, CA. I've attempted altered text and found my results to be just disasterous! I hated every phrase or line I came up with. Need more practice (or need better book pages)! I like the screaming woman stamp Jenny used here, she says it's one of her favorites. Jenny has a very successful ETSY shop that's deliciously goth & spooky, you should check it out!



"Happiness - Flowers" ATC was made by camkin, from Forestville, MD. I think it's muted colors are pretty and the overall design is soothing. Love the brads as flower centers!

That's it for now, just a quickie - I'm not feeling all that great today.

~Cindy
Wednesday afternoon

Sharing Art!

I have had this blog for almost 3 years now, and am a total failure at doing any serious writing here. Everything is changing; it's become ~ hopefully! ~ my new ART BLOG!

I've started scanning Artist Trading Cards from my collection (it will not be a speedy task!) to post here for sharing with you!

A little background ~ I joined Swap-bot a few years ago and discovered Artist Trading Cards. I made & traded a few, & I got totally hooked! ATC's are little gems, 3-1/2" x 2-1/2 " in size & made primarily from paper. Some talented folks create fabric cards, complete with machine sewing on them! However, there is no end to the sorts of embellishments you can use on them to make them special! Ink, markers, brads, eyelets, vellum, glitter, ribbon, embossing, old maps, pages from books ~ the possibilities are endless!

I plan to post things that I receive in swaps, and will give all due credit to the artist. When I make something new, I'll post it here also. I sometimes swap other items, but ATC's are my main focus right now. I am a paper crafting junkie!

These two cards were made by me in July 2008 for a swap themed "Newspaper ATC"