Nature's Beauty No 2

I created a second version of my "Nature's Beauty" ATC and, as promised, here are the step-by-step instructions for making your own version of this card - I've given a list of the items I used, but don't think you have to follow it exactly - use what you have in your stash and alter some of the embellishments or images.

You will need:

Card 2.5" x 3.5" for the base; paper created with a SpinArt machine, using acrylic paint or alcohol inks (or alternatively you can use some decorative paper); a vintage female image; double-sided adhesive sheet & tape; thin ribbon; 2 x paper flowers (different sizes); text and word stamps; black Archival ink; glue dot; embroidered brad; 2 x butterfly images (mine were from Crafty Individuals); Glossy Accents; Beadazzles; black pen; gold metallic rub-on; and gold Krylon pen.

(Apologies that a couple of the photos aren't as sharp as they should be - I only discovered, too late, that I'd set the camera into the wrong position)!

Step 1:  I began by taking a piece of card that I'd previously created with acrylic paints and a SpinArt machine (this is really fun to use, but messy - you need to sit it in a box whilst you're doing the spinning or you'll end up with paint and ink everywhere!  I picked mine up on EBay for a small amount of money, so worth keeping a lookout for one - car boots or charity shops might also be a good hunting ground) and adhered a portion of it to the ATC base.

Step 2:  Cover the back of the vintage female image with double-sided adhesive sheet and cut around the outline.  Decide where you will place it on the ATC (but don't stick it down yet)!

Step 3:  Using a craft knife, carefully cut slits around the hands, waist, etc, and wrap the body with some thin ribbon, threading it through the slits and securing it onto the sticky back of the image.  (A cocktail stick or pricking tool is very useful for pushing the ribbon through the slits).

Step 4:  Overstamp the larger of the two paper flowers with your text stamp, using the black Archival ink.

Step 5:  Place the flower (like a halo) behind the head of the image and when you are happy with the position of them both, stick the flower down with a glue dot, remove the peel-off backing from the image and stick that down too.

Step 6:  Stamp the smaller flower in the same way that you did with the first flower, add an embroidered (or other patterned) brad to the centre and attach to the bottom right-hand side of the card.  Add more ribbon, using double-sided tape, at an angle across the top right, and stamp the word 'Beauty' (or your choice) down the right-hand edge.

Step 7:  With your finger, smooth a little metallic gold rub-on around the card and over the flowers.  Edge the card using a gold Krylon pen.  (Add decorative paper to the back of the card to cover the brad prongs). 

"Nature's Beauty No 2"

(the finished card)

   

Step 8:  Cut out two butterflies and stick to the card, either side of the female image.  Cover with Glossy Accents and sprinkle a few Beadazzles along the butterfly bodies.  Use a black permanent pen to drawn in antennae.

Hope you enjoyed seeing how I created this card and will want to have a go at making your own version - let me know how you get on!

Look what happened to my Ladies !

I had a lovely email from Nancy Allen in the USA, showing me what she did with three of the vintage lady images - she turned them into a trio of Witches for a 4" x 4" sized page in an accordian book she's making for herself.  Nancy kindly said that I could post a picture of them here for you all to see - aren't they great? - and maybe give a little inspiration for creating atcs from them.

The response to the Witchy ATC swap has been pretty good - as it's the first swap I've posted here on my blog, I just wasn't sure how many people would be interested in joining in so I suggested only making one or two cards, to ensure no-one received their own cards back again.  BUT I've decided that you can send in one, two or THREE cards (entirely up to you how many - you will receive back the same number of cards that you send in).  I hope you all enjoy making your witches and for anyone who's hesitating ..... just jump in, have a play around with the images and see what you can come up with - you'll have fun.  (There's still plenty time to join up - just email me for details).

More Vintage Ladies and a Witchy ATC Swap

Okay, so it's the Autumn Equinox (night and day are equal length - and can you believe we're actually into autumn already)?  And then it'll be Halloween at the end of October - not so big an occasion here in the UK as it is in the US - but it just gave me the idea that it might be fun to take one of these vintage ladies and turn her into a witch - any kind of witch that takes your fancy - nice and friendly, funny, creepy, scarey, weird, anything goes!  I've added a bit of info about the swap in the sidebar, along with a Witchy ATC that I created today, using one of the images I posted last week - the background was made using one of those old Spin Art toys, pouring different acrylic paints onto card whilst it's spinning - a different effect every time and so much fun!  (This card will be going into the swap too).  If you want to have a go at this, email me to let me know you're interested - the deadline will be 23rd October.

So - I thought I would add some more vintage ladies for you - once you have downloaded them to your computer (double click to enlarge pic, right click to save image as jpeg), you can resize them to fit an atc-sized card.  I hope I can entice a few of you to have a go at creating a witchy lady, I'd love to see what you all can do!

Some Vintage Ladies for You

It's been a few days since I last posted, have been doing a few arty projects but no photos yet to upload (hopefully I'll get round to showing you what I've been making soon). 

Sooooo, in the meantime ..... I thought you might like some images of vintage ladies that you can download and use in your own artwork.  I have quite a collection of cabinet cards and cartes de vue (these were photographs, generally portraits or family groupings, taken by studio photographers in Victorian/Edwardian times - often they would mark some special occasion, such as a birthday, wedding or engagement).  The original cabinet cards have a sturdy card base and the backs are often very ornately decorated with the photographer's details on them.  The cards are great for working on and altering too - you can throw virtually anything at them, inks, paints, gesso, stamping, embellishments ..... so that a once discarded photograph gains a new lease of life as a piece of art.  They're really fun to work on too; I've been in a few international swaps for altered cabinet cards and received some wonderfully humorous and imaginative pieces in return.

Anyway, here are some vintage ladies for you, they are images from some of my cabinet cards and you can use them any way you like.  Just double-click on the image to enlarge it, then right click to save to your computer (as a jpeg).  I would love to see what you do with them - if you do create a piece of artwork using one of the ladies, it would be great if you emailed me a picture of it and I'll show it off here for everyone to see.  (You can email me via the link on my About Me profile page).

If you like these images and want some more, just let me know ..... more ladies, children or gentlemen ..... or family groups? ..... the choice is yours!