ATC Challenge

The subject on Art Pieces is Retro. This is a completely digital ATC and will be printed on photographic paper and mounted onto black card. All the images used are courtesy of Dover.

Tea for Two

My friend KR and I had a little fabric ATC swap with a tea theme. She sent me an elegant stamped greetings card enclosing two pretty QTCs of fused teapots set on an oriental fabric background, with added beads and gold stamping. I sent her a cross stitch teapot and cups. As quite often happens, I was in such a hurry to send it on its way that I forgot to scan it before posting, but to give you an idea, here is the pattern I used, from 50 tiny Tea Motifs by Jorja Hernandez.

Postage ATCs

I had a little 1-to-1 swap with my friend KR, with a dual theme of Green and Postage Stamps. KR makes fantastic fabric PCs and QTCs, but hadn't ventured into paper based ATCs before. The first is titled Woman in Motion. How clever was she to find a rubber stamp that echoed so well the girl dancing? The second is titled Dragon from Tyvekistan...the green leaflike thing that forms the dragon's body in the second card is actually a piece of melted Tyveck, and the stamp is to celebrate the Lunar New Year...a lovely play on words. In exchange, I sent Starting Point and By the Pond.

Digital ATCs

I don't usually do editions of ATCs; most of mine are one-offs, but I printed two copies of these because I couldn't decide on screen if I needed to add anything to them. I had originally planned to use the layered tissue paper, paint and glue backgrounds in the raw, and add paper layers on top, but when I saw the figures on Kubivet, I decided to go completely digital, and made scans of the backgrounds. The "floor" is just an adjustment layer darkening the background, and I hope the drop shadow stops them looking too flat. One of these days I'll find out how to make the shadow bend where it hits the wall....I'm sure there must be a way.

When they were printed, I decided they didn't need anything adding, and so there is a pair going begging in anyone fancies a trade...

ATCs

I've signed up for one of the February ATC swaps on a Group I have been dormant on for a while. The theme is postage stamps, and there has to be a minimum of three stamps on each one. In an effort to tidy my desk the other week, I sorted all the postage stamps overflowing from a Ferrer Rocher box into subject matter, and put each group into a seperate zippy. I found Mole in the Birds and Beast section, and the words molehill and mountain immediately sprang to mind. I looked for mountains in the landscape zippy, scanned in the US stamp at high resolution, and used it as a background. I added the text in my graphics programme before printing it out. The second background was done in the same manner. I used a 4"x6" photo card to print the two ATC backs, cut them out, and then added the stamps and embellishment. Just in case you make the same mistake that I did at first, the turquoise stamp below shows an ice racing skate, and not a submarine with an odd shaped sail...

ATCs

I haven't made an ATC for ages, and as this blog was originally set up with ATCs in mind, I thought I would make an effort. The first one is my version of this Ismaki Challenge Sketch. The tree stamp is home carved, the swirl is Inkadinkado and the snowflake is a peel-off. The papers are scraps from my bit drawer.


The second ATC is supposed to be for a Christmas card collage swap on FAPATCs. As it is the twelth day of Christmas, the large decorated tree fading away into insignificance seemed quite appropriate! At the moment there is only one other name down; the person who suggested it, so this may be a one to one.

QTC from KR

This little work of art is from my friend KR; one of a series of Landscapes that she did for an Exchange on her Quilt Group. This is entitled Sunlit River, and isn't that just what it is?

ATCs into postcards...

Having folded in the sides and stitched them in to place, then made a two layer backing and fixed that into place, I wasn't altogether happy with the result of the canvas and needlepoint ATCs. They were very bulky around the edges, and the corners were not neat. Next time I will try folding in the edges and making the outer stitches through the double layer, as one does when making a rug. With these two ATCs, I have left a canvas border,basted them onto a cotton backing, and then hand stitched fabric around, log cabin style. Why is it that I don't see the glaring imperfections until confronted with them on my computer screen? Maybe so that I can't ignore it...

I shall learn from the mistakes, and hope to do better next time. I think there will definitely be a next time.

Summer Break

I've been very Spanish this year and taken a month off from Blogging. The weather has been very hot and humid, and not conducive to sitting at a desk with a computer fan blowing warm air around the legs. I haven't done a lot of craft work, but have spent my time exercising my brain rather than my fingers; puzzling over crosswords and Sudoku, improving my vocabulary playing Scrabble and Wordjong, reading, and over the last week or so, watching far more sport than is my wont. When I have felt the need to do something with my hands, it has been to make small things, such as these needlepoint ATCs, seen here fresh from the frame and before backing. The top two are now on their way to Australia as a thank you, the centre two have been turned into postcards, and the bottom two are pending...

I seem to be surrounded by unfinished projects at the moment, so as the temperature drops, I hope to get some of them finished, before I start on anything new.

Trading Houses

A few weeks ago I saw some dinky little houses on Jeannie's Blog, and I liked the concept of making a street of houses of various shapes and sizes, but didn't do anything about it. Then Rose posted that she had made some house ATCs and wondered if anyone on FAPATCs fancied trading. I promised I would make a couple this weekend, and this is what I came up with. Unlike Jeannie's houses, they have to fit into the strict 2½" x 3½" size, and as I am off Collage at the moment, I thought I would do a little pen and ink drawing. Then I decided it might be good if the door opened in the same way that Julia Rothman's doors do here....

and that there was something inside. Here is The Master of the House.

The next one is a bit of fun. Collage in a way I suppose, but the only wings are on the birds, there are no sombre children or wilting women and there is not a word in sight. The same house shape forms the background; cream card coloured with dye ink pad and a noodle brush. A Dutch house is stamped onto to a scrap of brown wrapping paper, and a family of chickens have been cut out and stuck on. The hen and two chicks stamp was a freebie with a magazine. I stamped it twice, and added some male appendages to make Mr Buff Orpington. This was fun. There may be more along the same lines if anyone would like to trade.

Two little Dicky Birds..

....not sitting on a wall.
One named Peter and one named Paul.
Cheer up Peter! Pass the salt to Paul;
He might save you a little bit if he can't eat it all!

A couple of ATCs to show this morning. The first is Peter the little bird I drew yesterday on a scrap of note paper while listening to The Best of Natural History Podcast from the BBC; he turned out rather sad with his droopy bottom beak. The second, Paul, is a test run for the postcard swap coming up on ArtWeMail that involves drawing on fabric and using crayons to colour in the outline. The background here is a pale grey cotton. The outline is OK for this scale, but I think for a larger image to fit a postcard, I may need to use a thicker pen. I found that dry watercolour pencils worked better than my rather hard crayon pencils. On a larger scale I may try Crayola type crayons on the larger areas.

At long last...

Edit: ATC now traded.
...an ATC. I haven't made one for ages, but I was playing around making layered tissue paper backgrounds for some cards, and some off-cut oddments turned out to be just the right size.

The background is made by first laying down a sheet of polythene, then a layer of white tissue, squirting this with acrylic floor sealer and some water based paint in various colours, another sheet of tissue, a topping of polythene, then going over the sandwich with a brayer to spread everything around and merge the colours. My next step, while this was still wet, was to remove the top polythene sheet, add another layer of tissue, then coat the whole surface with floor sealer again, as this is what gives the paper its stability when it is dry. I left this layer quite crinkly to add a little texture, then used a dropper to add brown writing ink that crept along the wrinkles and spread out into the paper, fading gently as it went. I left the whole thing to dry overnight. When it is dry, you have a choice of using the matt crinkly top surface, or the shiny smooth surface that has dried against the bottom polythene layer. I did take a quick photo part way through the process, but as you can see, it is out of focus, badly exposed, and the wet surface is reflecting too much light, but you get the general idea..

Later in the month....

I know... I know...I know...I'm supposed to blog every day...but when all I seem to do is knit socks and read blogs it seems a little too boring to bother writing about. Last night I made the decision that the pair of socks I had just finished was going to be the last for a couple of weeks, well at least of the knee high dull grey variety. This morning I had a lie in and read. I am reading The Loop by Nicholas Evans. Last week I read his The Smoke Jumper, and enjoyed it, so I was quite happy when I came across The Loop in the Bowling Club library. It is set in Montana (again) and deals with the problems that arise when wolves are re introduced into the wild and then extend their hunting range into farming areas. There is the odd reference to African refugee camps and boy soldiers thrown in, bringing echoes of The Smoke Jumper, but so far I have no complaints.

The two ATCs above are for the March swap on CSATCs. The directive was to make a collage from bits snipped from a magazine. The nearest mag to hand was a copy of German language AMICA, picked up from the freebee shelves in Zurich airport. Good thick glossy paper that doesn't show the print on the reverse when the glue hits it! The first one almost made itself as the frog and the Kiwi ad were on facing pages. The colour of the frog echoed the colour of the fruit, and who is to say that frogs are not nutritious? The second was mainly taken from the cosmetic pages, with a Seychelles sunset taken from the travel section as a background.
The Lancôme Hither Look...

A Quick Post

There were three items in the box today. From Mary P the Three Leaves; Three Techniques swap from ArtWeMail. One stamped leaf, one appliquéd leaf and one cut out from a skeleton leaf. I was thinking along those lines myself, so I shall have to think again!
From Diana B in New Zealand came a picture of the statue on the hill, with beads sewn on to represent the illuminated halo. This was for the Fibre, Fibre, Fibre swap on ArtWeMail.
This jolly rooster eyeing up an amuse bouche is a private swap for my Wild Bird, and came from Faye.
About this....more later...

Wild Thing....

Isn't this an eye opener? A zingy lime green felt square, stitched onto the background with gold thread, and embellished in the centre with black bugle beads. It came from Jane O'Fallon on Artwemail.

This is the first of three postcards for the Fibre, Fibre, Fibre swap on the same Group. The only stipulation was that we used at least three different fibres. The background for the first two is a jungle print chiffon, cut from the hem of a dress that I shortened for someone. The vertical stripe is black denim that has been sprayed with copper paint. It's a shame that the scan doesn't show this well. It looks rather washed out, whereas in real life it glows. The horizontal band is gold angel hair, overlaid with navy knitted lace with a little lurex sparkle. The feather yarn is not quite so pink as it appears here.This is the second postcard, made from the same material as the one above, but with some frayed viscose, some raffia and a piece of yellow plastic netting.
The third is on a background of rust dyed polycotton with more of the copper painted denim, the frayed viscose and a square of squirrel silk from an old tie.
These are two ATCs, made mainly with leftovers from the Fibre, Fibre, Fibre postcards. Waste not, want not!

Always the Bridesmaid..

This is the second card for the Wedding Swap. I don't think my partner reads my blog, so I'm showing it. I did think about doing "the Groom", but couldn't find any suitable material lying around, and the thought of having to move things to get into the big cupboard didn't really appeal. The bag of chiffony bits was handy under the sewing room table, so I had a rummage in there and found this strip of pleated dusky rose that I think came of someone's sleeve. I stitched it onto a pelmet vilene backer, then added the flowers and beads. I hadn't noticed until I scanned it that I haven't removed the straight stitching along the top edge.



As previously reported, I've struggled with these ATCs, but here is what I've come up with.The first one is smooth and shiny, because each layer was put on with clear wide packing tape. The tape is only two inches wide, so I had to juggle each layer and the direction of the tape so that all of the playing card was eventually covered. I liked the effect, especially on the first two layers, as the images was torn from a magazine, and the thin torn edges blended smoothly into the surface. The upper layers were cut out to give more definition, so there is a very slight ridge around the edges. The second card is very rough and textured. The background is crumpled paper with a rollered on layer of "Grease", and the top layer has strips of duct tape. I suppose I was trying to contrast the smooth men of the first card with a bit of rough...

On a technical note, I shall use the power tape method again, but next time I'll try with the sticky-back plastic used for covering books. I can cut that to size. I also might try making a mask of release paper, wetting the back of the magazine image after having put it on the tape, then rubbing the paper away, just leaving the image..I'll report back.

Men...!

I have really struggled this afternoon, trying to make two ATCs for the Men Theme. They are done, but when I look at them again tomorrow, I may bin them. Next month I am definitely not signing up for the Swap until I have the blighters made...

I have the glimmering of an idea for the second of the Wedding cards but that's for tomorrow.

The damson scarf will be finished tonight as I only have half a ball left to knit. Jude was happy for it to be on the short side so she could use it to display part of her brooch collection, although it would have to be a large brooch not to disappear into the undergrowth. Kez the Fez had an easy night of it last night as all fur balls disdained to keep me company, and the yarn flowed unmolested from the hole in his head. Next door's catling did pop in to raid Charlie's biscuit bowl, but didn't stop to say hello. K & C haven't owned a cat before, and I don't think they realise just how much teenage feline's eat!

Something old...something new

I left the Weddding ATCs simmering on my brain's back burner, and something floated to the top. Years ago, I used to do alterations for a Bridal shop, and being the hoarder that I am, kept all the bits that I trimmed off or removed. Somewhere in this building I should be able to find a plastic bag full of net, organza, tulle, satin and white lining...but where?

Half an hour later I ran it to earth at the back of a cupboard in the sewing room. Next stop the bead and sequin box and a hunt for a beading needle, and here is my work so far. The bottom layer is lining, and the vague line you see about an inch up from the bottom is a net ruffle I have stitched to the lining. Third is organza. The bottom edge is free, and has its original hem. The tiny sequins are very very pale pink, and came off an Indian patchwork bag I cannibalised years ago for its beads. The tiny embroidered flower has been floating around in my lace and ribbon drawer for at least 20 years, and it is held in position by more of the sequins and some AB beads. The tiny red spot on the hem below the flower is my blood. My eyes didn't pick this up until I saw the magnified picture after I had loaded it, so it is too late now to use the seamstress's trick of spit and cotton to remove it, so I shall leave it...it can be the something borrowed...

I'm slowly dissolving...

...in this hot muggy heat. I feel like one of those toffees that get forgotten and ooze out of their paper wrapper as they absorb moisture from the atmosphere...




















I haven't been completely idle. I have finished the
Shetland wool socks. I have made them slightly big as they are 100% wool that should be hand-washed in cool water, but the chances of that happening are slight...



This is a WIP on a scrap of rust-dyed fabric (actually the sleeve of a cast-off shirt) with a little dilute acrylic paint dribbled on. The blob above the embroidered flowers looks like a mushroom, but somehow I don't think that will work! I may do more embroidered foliage, or I may paint in a bit of landscape...

The next two are 5x7 inch pieces of the same shirt, also rust dyed using a wrought iron curl that fell of a candlestick, a choke chain and a couple of washers. This was my second attempt at this process. I had three pieces under the metal, and three pieces on top. It is interesting how one gives the positive, and the other the negative...I intend to use these as the basis of a set of PCs. There were a couple of scraps in the mix as well, that will be used for a trial run as ATCs.


I had a play with my watercolours this afternoon and made two ATCs. I am not sure what they need, but they need something...
Edit: It's obvious now ....I forgot to put in a calyx...that's what comes from drawing on one's memories...memory fails!

I got flowers in the post!

My Fold of the Month Swap from Ellen of TFT2 had three perfect tiny medallions showing different arrangements of the July FOTM. Inside the card, Ellen put a packet of the pretty gems she had used in the centre of her flowers. Thank you Ellen!


Three Sunflowers from Renska's Swap. Don't they make a lovely group? The colours all fit together so well. The stencilled sunflower below was Renska's "Thank you for swapping" card, and she sent me a piece of pretty printed cloth. Thank you Renska!