ATCs For All - Angels (Not Cherubs)

I made my mind up to try different techniques on this theme.


This picture was perfect for piecing.  I printed it out several times and then cut the pieces from several papers.  I attached one copy to a card background which had been sprayed and stencilled.  I paper pieced the angel and outlined it all with a gold pen.

Take one chocolate box, some punch waste and corrugated die cuts.  Spray the angel with several watercolours and paint it along the currugates to suggest features.  Cut an ATC out of the box, add the angel and decorate with the punch waste along the lower edge.  Use a gold pen to add to the background and along the leaves.

I drew this angel shape onto a spritzed card.  Using a doily I cut out the dress from the border and then the sleeve from the centre part of the doily and attached to the card.  Small pieces of pink paper were used for face and hands.  The hair was drawn with gelpens.  I drew outlines in gold pen to the wings and then added some real feathers as wings.  This was really tricky, I didn't think feathers and glue ........

I cut out this outline of an angel several times.  I used the leftover doily for the wings,keeping the body of the angel as is.  I found a small drawstring bag and cut out the dress from both sides, attaching one piece to the angel.  After attaching the wings, I attached the top layer of the dress along the edges to the first layer.  Adding the body to the angel left her with empty hands!  I found my confetti jars and added some stars and glitter.

ATCs For All - Decades 1990s

I sorted several themes for this swap, crossed them off and then sorted some more!!  I HAD to include Dianna but couldn't find a way to portray her in a positive way - funerals are not good!
I knew I wanted the setting free of Nelson Mandela as I grew up with him being imprisoned etc so, for me, this was an excellent piece of history.
I found a piccies of the South African flag, a super photo of Mandela and the perfect 'peace' dove on the the web so set ot work.


I adhered Mandela to the flag and then pasted all round the photo, scraping the word FREE several times round the edges using a coffee stirrer.  I scraped some stripes up the diagonals of the flag so that the colours came through.  Clear lacquer applies to the dove was allowed to dry and then the dove was attached to the card.



During the nineties, a sheep was cloned using stem cells etc.  She eventually developed rheumatism among other illnesses and had to be put down.   Her birth was big news here in England and she was named Dolly, various excuses were given for the name but I like the one that goes - the first words said when she was born.
 I sketched the picture out - the sheep was ok but the laboratory in the background ... not good!  After I had watercoloured the card I wrote the words in pencil.

The tunnel between England and France had been discussed for years and at last an agreement was reached.  The day the tunnellers met was fantastic news here in England and the day it opened major news across the media.
PJ travelled across to France on the day it opened and still has the badge that was given to all travellers to mark the day.  I have travelled as a passenger in train and truck, even slept through it the last time!!!  It was supposed to be a wonderful opportunity for both countries but I don't think England made the most of it.
I found a photo on the web, sketched it out and added watercolour to brighten it.

ATCs For All - Stencilled

I acquired a new stencil not long back, I had no ideas for it but thought it looked good and was the right price for me!
I wanted to use the modelling paste which is sitting on my window sill so set up the ATC card blanks and stencil.
I stencilled all the cards and then put them to one side to dry.  When they were all dry I coloured them up using water colours and sprays.  I sprayed each card with a different colour spritzer.

I used the top of the stencil on this card and painted it using the yellow spritzer itself.
I used a pale grey wash on the rest of the card.

I watercoloured this card to show the centre as a 'stained glass' window.

I moved the stencil lower down the card and then added a vine and flowers in watercolour.

Moving the stencil further across the card, I watercoloured a climber with red flowers.

Text and Paint

Sometime ago i found this photo on the web, I just love what the artist has created!

Doncha luv 'em!!

I am going to try and make my own.

I tore three pieces of paper from the pages of our local free paper.  I drew out the sizes of ATCs and various flowers and then watercoloured the front of two papers and the back of the third one, but painting the back does not show so when it was dry, I painted the front of the paper as well!





 One was painted yellow and pink, one blue and green and the third one was painted blue on both sides!!!!

I never managed to come back to my desk until the following day and as you can imagine, the paper was very dry.
I painted in the colours, even the white showed through a treat, and left them to dry.  Once dry I attached the paper to ATC cards and rounded the corners to complete them.

AFA - Stencilled!!

I have just bought a new stencil so I am going to have fun!!

 I sorted out the paste I bought from Lidl some time ago, there were three kinds and now I could try them and compare.
I used the brickwall and wiped it over with the 'rough' paste.  After moving the stencil to the other side, I wiped the card with 'fine' paste.  I moved the stencil to the archway, placing the edge of the stencil level with the edge of the card and wiped it with 'smooth' paste.  Moving the stencil up the card I used the 'fine' paste again and then put all the cards to dry.

When the cards had dried, I spritzed one with blue glow and one with gold and put them to dry again.

I water coloured the paste in four different ways ....

I painted the brick shaded red and then when dry, painted a 'branch' along the lower bricks.

 I painted the 'brickwork cement' shades of yellow and gold,  and as the card spray was still showing, I painted the centre of the arch as 'stained glass'.

I painted the 'cement' in deep yellow, leaving the gold spray showing over the bricks.  I painted tiny red flowers and 'vine' leaves across the paste.

I painted the card grey and all the paste a bright yellow.

UKATC August Swap

Time is tight!!  I am cheating slightly by using some previous makes - one of my Colours of Summer ......  One from 'way back', Bingo ..... one of the Texture with Metal.

I had already received these beauties by the time I sent mine out ..

Lovely background papers and then embellished beautifully.

Thank you Collette.

ATCs For All - Anatomical Hearts

With all my ongoing 'heart' problems, (the major thing being no-one seems to know what's wrong with me), this has to be the swap for me.
I searched the web to find some inspiration, ok! googled it!  and found some sketches and pictures of a heart and waited for ideas to come........ and come they did .... and titles .....

Heart Flash

I printed the sketches onto pages from my French dictionary, two light and two dark sketches.  I left the print uncoloured and just added a colour wash, I tried to make it look like sunset, for the background.
Lots of coloured gelpens in swirls and stars to give the impression of fireworks and then PJ says .... it's an Heart Flash!!!

Love and Butterfly      

I have 'borrowed' this idea from designs found on Ephemeraandmore.com which really impressed me.

Using my watercolour pencils, I coloured the lower edge with browns and black pencils.  I added some green stalks and leaves as though they were coming out of the veins, a few pink petals for flowers and then washed it with my waterpen.  Once everything had dried, I added small punched flowers and leaves, then on the top of the heart a single pink butterfly.  I used a white gelpen to write the words ......

Technicolour Dream heart

I love this one!
I started colouring with my Inktense pencils and waterbrush ..... then outlined and coloured with Promarkers.
Soo BRIGHT!

Psychedelic...

                                                                           Where there's Love .....    

I traced the heart and coloured it with a graphite pencil then fussy cut the words from a sentiment in my stash ..... Where there's love there's life.

Les Mis Heart Tugger

I printed out a wordcloud of Les Miserables words and fussy cut it to attach to the top half of the card.  My heart this time is a real anatomical  image which has been fussycut and placed to the right of the text.  I added the red, white and blue bows but still had the white space at the bottom of the page.  I wrote the first line of the chorus that is sung at the end of the first half of the stage production in that space.

Scriptural Heart          

Another 'wordcloud' this time with medical words and a Scripture from Ezekiel.  A rather hazy heart is slipping off to the right and a bright new heart is arising from the left.  A new heart also will I give you, and a new spirit will I put within you: and I will take away the stony heart out of your flesh, and I will give you an heart of flesh.

UPDATED:
I received the following cards ....


Bloom
The blue background on this one was a very pretty shade and the pink painted heart was a matching shade.
Thank you Miss
.

Heart of Gold

The crackled background on this card with the integrated heart was beautiful on its own.

Thank you Hilary.

Heart of Stone
Beautifully hand drawn, love the colours.
Thank you Hana. 

ATCs For All - The Owl and The Pussycat

I LOVE this poem so I entered the swap - that was before I went travelling!
I wasn't too worried as there was plenty of time..... don't know what happened but the time disappeared so I had to withdraw from the swap.
So saaad.....
But my buddies on the swap were not having it!!!  'Post those little cards', 'We'll wait', they shouted at me so I didn't really have any choice but to paint and draw.

 I drew this from a photo on the web, then coloured it in with eyeshadow ..... yes! you heard right!!! eyeshadow!  Such cuties!

I drew this boat onto some blue background from my ATC kits and then I was stuck .... how do I cover the background colours?  I used my promarkers.  I have about 10 of these colouring pens but managed to colour the boat and flag sufficiently to hide the background.  I tried to add some waves so that the sea separated from the sky.

Before I went travelling, I made some printouts of £5 notes and various images from the story ... now I cut out one of the £5 notes.  I drew a honey pot onto this, and again used my Promarkers to colour it.  I added some honey spills and a honey dipper along the lower edge and then attached the image to a yellow background form the kit.

In the rush to get these into the post - remember that the 'girls' are waiting for me - I forgot to photograph the cards so I took them out of the envelope and quickly took the photos with my phone camera.  Looking at them now I realise that the background patterns are showing through the card ....... and the photos are very dull, the cards are so much brighter  IRL, but ........I won't do that again!!!   They are posted now so there is nothing more I can do.