Archive for the Category »ATC’s «

2 of Spades ATC

Awhile back I created the first ATC I’d planned to do from a deck of playing cards. That was the 3 of Hearts ATC. So I thought it was about time I alter another card in the deck…after all, there are a lot of cards in the deck waiting to be altered! So here’s what I did.

2 Of Spades ATC

I used a Glimmer Mist on the card itself. Wasn’t sure how that would turn out since the card’s surface is very slick, and it was starting to puddle up on me. So I decided to break out the heat gun and help speed up the dry time. When that was done, I really liked the background; it’s very fluid and freeform-looking. And up close, the card does have a nice shimmer to it now, which I like a lot.  Next I added a vintage photo of a fairy girl, who has pink and purple wings.  I added a coordinating butterfly image on the fairy girl, and then I added some purple daisy stickers in the empty opposite corners. I finished the ATC off by adding some pink rhinestone gems to the daisies and to the butterfly.

OK, so 2 altered playing cards down…only 50 to go!

Tina

Life’s a Beach ACEO

This week, Gingersnap Creation’s has Sunshine as the theme for their Random Redhead Challenge.  So I decided to make a new ACEO for the challenge, and use an altered art touch. The result is called Life’s a Beach. :)

Life's a Beach ACEO

My jumping off point was the vintage photo of the lovely beach beauty.  So I started with her and went from there. I used some illustration board for the base, which I sprayed liberally with some Glimmer Mist that I just purchased, in a coffee sort of color. Then I used a piece of wallpaper border that had a wave shape design, and cut the wave out and adhered it to the background. Next I added the beach area on the lower left, that is actually from the original image with the beach beauty. I tore it and distressed it to give it some texture and depth. Then I adhered the image of the gal to the bottom right. I added a copper-finish metal gear to act as the sunshine in the piece, along with a butterfly sticker. And I finished it off with the words Life’s a Beach, which I stamped and distressed.

And you know, if I could go to a beach wearing a swimsuit like they did back in those days, I might actually go swimming! LOL

Tina

Beauty ACEO

Since I’m going to start selling things on the soon-to-open Art Chick Studio Store, I’ve started making ACEO’s (Artist Cards, Editions and Originals) instead of just ATC’s (Artist Trading Cards), since ATC’s are meant to be just traded, rather than sold. So this is my first official ACEO, called Beauty.

Beauty ACEO

I started with a standard ATC-sized illustration board background. I then used some Tim Holz Distress Ink to add some hints of blue and rose over the entire background.  Next I added a rubber stamp art image of a woman’s lovely face in black ink. Then I added some black, textured fabric ribbon around the opposite corners. I added a butterfly and flower sticker to the bottom right corner, and a metal gear and brad to the upper left corner. And I finished it all off with distressed letters, spelling out b-e-a-u-t-y on pieces of paper.

This turned out better than I expected actually. Now I just need to make a few more!

Tina

Dream of Paris Artist Trading Card

This ATC is the result of the May challenge on the Scraptivate site…the theme of which was “Metal.” The first thing that came to my mind was one of the biggest hunks of metal on the planet: The Eiffel Tower! So that was my inspiration. And since I do dream of one day going to Paris and seeing the Eiffel Tower myself, this was a fun way to do some daydreaming.

Dreams of Paris ATC

I created a crackle paint finish using Tim Holz crackle paint. I also distressed the edges of the ATC a bit with some copper ink. I added a photo sticker of the Eiffel Tower and a diecut flower. I stamped on a postage mark that says, Paris, France, and also embossed the word “dream” onto a piece of paper and adhered that as well. Finishing touches were some copper brads, along with a 3-D dragonfly that has some copper antennae. I really love the texture of the crackle paint, and overall I love how this ATC turned out!

Au revoir for now!

Tina

Sweet Artist Trading Card

This is the final of 3 ATC’s I made for the swap at the ArtHavenCreations Yahoo Group I belong to. It is my favorite of the 3 that I made. I’m also using this an entry to the Gingersnap Creations Spicy Supply Challenge for transparencies. :)

Sweet ATC Altered Art

Again I started with a scrapbook paper background. The image is an inkjet transparency made from a vintage photo, and I used Mod Podge to adhere that to the background, just adding some along the back edges. I added a torn piece of contrasting paper near the bottom of the ATC, along with a butterfly photo image. In the top left corner I added a paper flower with a bronze/copper metal brad. Then I finished the whole thing with the alpha stickers that spell out S-W-E-E-T.

I love this ATC! It was really difficult to send it off to someone for this swap. I almost didn’t! But I finally caved and mailed it to its intended recipient, along with the other two I’d made. So now my  little ATC art is in the hands of other creative artists across the country.

Tina

Friends Artist Trading Card

This is another of the 3 ATC’s I made for the swap at the ArtHavenCreations Yahoo Group I belong to.

Friends ATC Altered Art

For the background I used scrapbook paper, which I distressed just a bit using distress ink. For the image, I used a vintage photo that added to fabric by doing a gel medium transfer. It gave it a pink hue, which actually I didn’t realize it was going to do, but I went with it. It also made it sort of translucent, which I really liked. After I applied that with some Mod Podge, I added the black ribbon and ric rac. Then I punched a hole on either side of the top of the ATC and added metal brads. I finished it off with a paper flower embellishment, and the word F-R-I-E-N-D-S.

Tina

Dream Artist Trading Card

This ATC is one of three I made for a recent swap at the ArtHavenCreations Yahoo Group I joined recently.

Dream ATC Altered Art

I began with the background, which is a piece of scrapbook paper. Then I found a nice vintage photo fairy that I had on hand. I liked how there were hearts in her fairy wings, so I incorporated hearts into the overall design, using a heart punch to create some paper hearts. I also added a gem to the front of her dress for some sparkle. I added another butterfly and also a rose for some more color and balance, and the D-R-E-A-M letters too. I finished it by using some distress ink on the edges for that lovely aged look.

Tina

3 of Hearts ATC

I happened across a couple of decks of playing cards in my studio the other day. After some careful consideration, I decided they were the perfect size with which to make ATC’s. So this is my first ATC creation using a playing card, the 3 of Hearts.

3 of Hearts ATC

I had such fun creating this one…used a big text rubber stamp for the background, and distressed it with Distress Ink, of course.  Got a great vintage fairy photo from Art Chix Studio , which was a great website to find, BTW. I was doing a search for my blog after creating it and found that site first. LOL They have some really great stuff for altered art and mixed media artists.

Anyhoots, I also added another butterfly image, to match the vintage fairy. I added some black ribbon to create some extra interest, and a red heart button to replace the heart I covered up with the fairy. I also added some heart brads, a sticker that reads, “kind,” and a black button.

I had so much fun with this that I think I am going to alter the entire deck of cards, making ATC’s out of every single card! That will be a nice little set. :o ) But for now I’m back to the studio, working on a Michael Jackson painting for my celebrities in blue series.

Tina

Fly ATC

This is my very first ever ATC (Artist Trading Card). Not sure if I followed all the rules–not that there are any ATC police to come and get me if I didn’t. LOL The main requirement of an ATC is in its size; it’s basically a miniature work of art and should be 2-1/2 x 3-1/2″ in size. ATC’s are meant to be swapped or traded, but never sold.  I really need to get making a bunch of these, so I can start doing some ATC swapping. How fun would that be? To have a grand collection of mini works of art, created not just by you, but by people from all over the world?!

My first one was created for a challenge in a Ning Community I belong to, called Scraptivate. The challenge was to create something with the theme, Taking Flight. What we created was up to us, and medium or art form. So I just decided on an ATC.

I used some scrapbooking paper to cover some illustration board. Then I found a vintage photo of an angel that I liked, which seemed like a perfect fit to the theme for the challenge. I tore the edges of the photo and Mod Podge’d it to a grungy’d up piece of card stock I had. I wanted some color, so I found a butterfly photo to add (Butterflies do fly, after all). I added a strip of grungy, ripped muslin to the bottom for texture, and added two buttons to create some depth. I added some glitter to her wing, though it’s difficult to see that in the photo. The final touch was adding the word, Fly, which I stamped onto grungy paper.

One of these days, who knows, she might belong to someone on the other side of the world! Fly, indeed.

Fly Artist Trading Card

Tina