Happy New Year

ATCs for All - Colourful Butterflies

Bright Colours, Butterflies - sounds like a good swap so off I go again ....

I sorted three different papers and drew a butterfly on each paper.  I folded the paper and cut two of the smaller butterflies.


I decorated these butterflies with a blue sparkle gelpen and used a magazine cutting as background.

These bright yellow butterflies were decorated with a yellow sparkly gelpen and attached to a printed paper background.

This green butterfly was cut from scrapbooking paper, I glittered the dot circles and attached it to a background of wallpaper.  The wall paper had a design of butterfly and silver calligraphy, beautiful!


Once the butterflies were attached I outlined each butterfly with gelpens.
I checked that this time I didn't need to send handpainted or hand drawn ATCs so off they go in the post!!!

These pretty little things did not reach their destination - I am heartbroken .....

UPDATED 07.02.2014
Surprise!!! This morning's post brought me some butterflies and some postage stamps!!

Brightly handpainted beauty.
Thank you MariaP.

Collaged postage stamps.

Thank you Miryei.

Beautifully handdrawn and shaded.

Thank you Rocking Bear Ranch. 

Thank you Miryei for sending these beautiful cards form your collection so that I would not be disappointed.  The stamps enclosed in the envelope were an additional supreise.  Your kindness is really appreciated. 

ATCs For All - Painted Coins

For some reason - nothing to do with my age - I thought of the design for this made out of the metallic covers for Chocolate Money.
Then I re read the rules - yes! I know!
Should've read them first!
To be in this swap I have to draw ... draw?

I sorted out some coins from my purse ..... placed them on the desk and covered with paper.   Brass rubbings come to mind.

With pencil in hand I began rubbing ... not the best.
Looks like I ought to try my hand at drawing, can't be any worse!!


The front of our coins have a side silhouette of our Gracious Queen so I drew the rear of the coins.
The copper penny is quite small and this one has a portcullis - drawn in pencil and coloured over with a pencil and then watercoloured across.

 The two pence piece is also copper but larger in size.  The Prince of Wales feathers appear on the back of this coin drawn in pencil and coloured with colour pencil.

I used a silver shilling (12 'old' pence) for my third card so I left it uncoloured and washed some deep yellow paint over.  I added two rows of dots through a stencil along the top.

I printed some 'money' quotes in various fonts and then arranged them on the appropriate cards.  I rubbed a 'matching' inkpad over these and adhered them to the card.

The 'new' coins that are being minted nowadays have a matching background, they each have a part of the shield that is found on the One Pound Coin.

ATCs For All - Collage and Text

I have never made a card to include text so once again this is a challenge.

I picked out some of the cards that I made with my first adventure into backgrounds - here.  
I found my poetry books and sorted one of Tennyson's poem written in dialect, interesting speech by a father to his son.

I rough cut the page and then tore each verse roughly so that I had three separate text scraps.

On the first card I used stickles dots along one edge.

On the second I used a strip of bubble wrap and gold ink pad.

I added some pink H2O over part of the card and some 'dried glitter glue' to the third one.

I added the text at an angle across the card and then realised that I needed to cover the whole card to prevent the background from sticking and to seal the text scrap.  I used my faithful PVA, spreading it evenly and thinly over the whole card and then put to one side to dry.

UKATC December Colour - Red

What a fantastic colour to have for a swap!!!


I laid some Gesso and added some torn watercolour paper.  I used an inkpad to add some colour and found that this mixed with the Gesso to form a multicoloured background.  I stamped my 'ART' stamp in red and tied some thin thread across the card and tied it in a knot at the front.
Where is the thread and knot?  Weeell .... when I added the backing sheet and trimmed to size I sortof trimmed the sides of the thread!?!?!  I managed to strip the thread off the card and added some ribbon in place - this may smell gorgeous as it came from a Panetone box!

The base for this card came from packaging and it seemed a shame to cover the picture over.  I added some punched flowers along the lower edge and red velvet ribbon along the sides.  With strawberries one has to 'enjoy the day'.


I used a pink base card and framed it with my shiny washi tape.  I printed out the sentiment, swiped a red inkpad over it, cut it to size and attached it at the top and the bottom of the card.  Another Flower Fairy (Fuschia) tag was stripped to the top layer and placed it at an angle across the tag.  A small red sponge heart placed top right completed the card.


I have received these by return...




Red Onions .... for cooking?
Thank you Barbara.

A gorgeous red rose.

Thank you June. 

A Collage and a half for this one.

Thank you Mel.

UKATC December Theme - Winter

I have been using my Gesso .... spreading on card and adding torn bits of other card ....  rubbing inkpads over ....
Just the thing for a Winter theme!

Looking for a quote  ....

.... or a thought ....

I added flowers to this card and added my quote, printed in blue.

I pencil coloured this digi with red and blue.  Added Puff embossing powder for the snow and glitter glue to the snowflakes round the border.

I have received these today.


Buttons, snowflakes on blue.
Thank you Erika.

A Tobogganing Teddy.

Thank you Jan W. 

Some glitterful Holly

Thank you Kate G. 

UKATC December Monthly Swap

These ATCs may look as though they have no theme but they do - it's called 'Wots on your desk top' so there.
Whilst sorting and shifting I have nearly filled a box of WOYD bits so I thought I would use some for my December Swaps.


I stripped a rather thick Flower Fairy tag to its top layer, attached a piece of Mulberry paper down one side to a pink card base and then added the tag.  I found some punched flowers and added tiny peeloff circles to them.  Washi tape along the top and a diamante to the tag and a vision in pink is complete.

If you take a shiny piece of black paper, paint out some pearl Nail Varnish and then add some 'dried glittered glue', you end up with a very shiny card!!!  I added the small crib in the lower corner because it's Christmas.

I found this 50s style stamp from a club meeting , not quite fifty years ago!  One night every so often we used to bring a selection of stamps and swap them around so we ended up with various samples, this one is embossed.  I cut the stamp from the card, rounded the corners and then added it to a pink card.  The pink base cards I am using came from some packaging and this piece had some mauve flowers on half of it.  Some tiny (tiny) sequins were added down the side. 

 I received these beauties in return:


Some pretty water coloured flowers with the tiniest ever peel offs.

This card is entitled 'G is for ..' and I think it is brilliant!

This Poinsettia is beautifully painted and has four tiny brads in the corners.

Thank you so much Val.   

ATC World - Whimsical Swap

Whimsical: 

1. 1.

   playfully quaint or fanciful, especially in an appealing and amusing way.

   "a whimsical sense of humour"

   
   
2. 2.

   acting or behaving in a capricious manner.

   "the whimsical arbitrariness of autocracy"

I thought this would be quite a challenge and created 3 cards using dryer sheets but after re-reading the description .... started again and came up with these ....

Just some lines had a couple of designs that were begging to be used!  'Petit Pot' is one of my favourite designs as you are probably aware, this time I added glitter glue to her wings.  I ran two lines of print tape over the edges of a strip of floral  paper and then wrote 'Oops!'

Says it all!

Big Hat Girl 1 is another favourite and I coloured the digi and fussy cut her out and placed her onto a piece of wallpaper with purple edging.  I printed the quote - A day without laughter is a day wasted - from Charlie Chaplin and adhered it to the card.

I have had this digi of a pig for ages, my youngest likes pigs so i tend to save them for her.  If it is your digi, please let me know so I can credit you.  I coloured the hat, skirt and hoofs but it then looked a bit plain.  I didn't want to distract from the main digi so I used an alphabet stencil to write  the word 'celebrate' using gelpens.

I received these beauties:

A hand drawn stocking.

Thank you Gwynn.

A glittered cutie.

Thank you Sandie H. 

This one so made me laugh!!!  The Turkey looks hand drawn with thread tied round it's neck.

Thank you Janice  - for the card and the laugh.

ATC World - 6 + 5 Days of Christmas

When I started this swap I thought that it would be a dodle .... a dodle!
5 Gold Rings
Five caused a few problems ....

Back to the 12 days colouring book for five intertwined rings, which I coloured using glitter gelpens.

I printed the sentiment on my PC and, using Word, printed out the circles as well.  I coloured the rings with glitter gel pens again.

I made four more cards but had to bin them - I really didn't want to make another circles card but, having no imagination, it is very difficult for me to think outside the box.  Then I thought 'RINGS'.   I cut five circles in varying sizes from various gold papers - not very well I must admit!  I found my gemstones box and sorted out the stones to make five finger rings, different or what!!  A gold peel off completed the card.

6 Geese a Laying


Six printouts of the same picture - why? Cos I like it!!
I softly coloured the background and cut them all out leaving the end of the beaks proud.   I attached them to a black background, leaving a margin round each picture.

Using my dear old PC, and Wordart, I printed out the sentiment to use as a background.   I added Gold peeloff eggs along the bottom and some home made washi tape along the top. (I stamped some 'egg' images along a length of medical tape using a gold ink). 

Back to the drawing book for this lovely image.  I coloured the number with a gold gelpen and used ordinary felt tips for the rest.  I think that the name plate at the bottom of the picture completes the card.

UPDATED: 07.12.2013



This is so pretty.
Thank you Jan G.

Such a cure Teddy

Thank you Sandie H. 

This gorgeous card was created by our Hostess, such a lot of detailed work.

Thank you Kathy H.

Love all the little eggs along the border.
Thank you Lori.

The goose is golden 

Thank you Kathy S.  

Lots of detailed cutting on this one.

Thank you Resi.