Flashback Friday - ATC's

Well for today's flashback we aren't going all that far back, just to last year I think for most of these. I thought today I would share with you some ATC's I created for various swaps.

The first ATC was created for a swap here to coincide with the release of a new supplement for one of our local stamp manufacturers here in Australia. The company is Stamp It and these were a couple I had purchased at a show when the stamps were released!

One thing I love about swaps is that it gives you the opportunity to use some stamps you might not have used in a long time if ever. I purchased this bear stamp & verse a number of years ago as I used to participate in a bear swap and I thought it was different and sometimes I just like different . I had used it previously but not for a long time cause I guess there isn't much call to use a bear tied in a chair often. But someone decided to host a "tortured teddies" atc swap so of course I just had to join the swap and I knew immediately what stamp I would be using!
This USA atc was created for an international theme ATC swap. As I had already created ATC's using French & Oriental themes I wanted to do something different so decided on the USA. This also gave me the opportunity to use some of my USA themed stamps I own.
I created this one for a "Red, Black & Gold" theme someone hosted. I even got out my gold embossing powder and embossed the mesh on the top left corner and the word happy. I don't often do much embossing these days.
Here another, hope you aren't sick of them yet! This one I did for a calendar swap I hosted last year and that I will be hosting again here in Australia. We each were given a month and had to include that somehow on our atc - this is what I came up with. As I had May I also include Mothers day in mine. I also had a calendar stamp for May which I was given a few years back which also worked for 2007 so I knew I wanted to use it - I don't think it suits again for a long time now so glad I got the opportunity. I guess I could still use the calendars but I would have to omit the month and replace it for one that suited the year. I found a perpetual calendar online a few years back which I find handy so I can reuse calendar grids I have created in the past without the need to create a new one.
Here is the last one for today, I have heaps more I have created but it makes for a long post. This one I made for a Christmas theme last year. I love the little angel which is by alota rubber stamps. It may be hard to tell but after I stamped and colored the angel image, I covered the piece with versamark ink and covered it with iridescent Ice embossing powder to give it a glittery look.

Butterfly

Well after a bad start this afternoon I did manage to get my inspiration back and come up with a second card for this weeks sketch challenge.

This one uses some paper I picked up really cheap a couple of weeks ago. I stamped the butterfly using burnt sienna fluid chalk onto so saffron card and then punched that out using my scallop punch and then layered it onto the black and caramel card. I also used my textile cuttlebug embossing folder to get some texture on the so saffron strip and then sponged over some burnt sienna ink to bring out the texture, I then tied 3 pieces of black cord at the top right hand side of the strip. I attached 3 black brads to the lower left hand corner.

Recipe:
Stamps: Paperbag Studio
Paper: So Saffron - Stampin' Up; Caramel; Black; Fortune Teller Stripe - Daisy Ds Papers
Other: Burnt Sienna Fluid Chalk; Black Button Brads; Black Cord

Bleached Cards & Mini Tutorial

I have had a pretty busy today! First it was club day down the coast and today I arranged to take a friend down for her first time which was fun - strange to have company on the drive there and back but very nice. Our project for today was to use bleach on our cards, it has been a while since I have had the bleach out to play so it was fun to revisit this technique.

If you haven't as yet used bleach in your stamping here are a few pointers on using bleach to create your cards.

1. Use fresh bleach! Bleach does have the tendency to go off even in their opaque containers.

2. Make sure you work in a well ventilated area - I like to work so a fan is behind me and blowing the fumes away from me. It's also a good idea to wear old clothes just in case they get bleach on them.

3. Make sure your work area is protected!!!!

4. Stamp your image onto colored card - you can emboss if you wish but it is not necessary. The card at the top was stamped using brilliance ink and left unembossed. The card down the bottom was embossed.

5. Expect the unexpected. Experiment with different colors of card and even different brands of the same color. In the samples included here the area that I bleached turned white, but this can vary from cardstock to cardstock.

6. For an outline image stamp your image on your cards as per #3 and then paint parts of the image using a paintbrush to apply the bleach. You can also use the aquawash type brushes - the ones you normally fill with water - buy a second to use for bleach - make sure the bleach is fresh each time you use it.

7. You can either leave your bleached outline image as is or if desired you can color them using your coloring medium of choice.

8. Fill a spray bottle with bleach and spritz your card with it (this is how I got the background on the top card which was originally the same color and the piece the tulips are stamped on) Again the results will differ depending on the fineness of your spray.

9. Create a temporary stamp pad using folded paper towel (place this on a plate or plastic container of some sort). Add your bleach and use this as a stamp pad to stamp your images directly onto your card. Remember to clean you stamps well when you have finished stamping. (this is how the flower background was created in the bottom card).

I think I have covered most of the things you need to know to get started stamping with bleach, most important have fun. These are two quick cards I made up when I came home after creating a number of bleach pieces.

Recipe for cards:
Stamps: Tulips - Outlines Rubber Stamps; Girls - Paperbag Studio; Verse - Hero Arts; Flower - unknown
Card: Hot Pink Card; White; Black
Other: Black Ink; Clear Embossing Powder; Bleach; Ribbon; Metal Charm.

Do you like the ribbon I used on the top card, my friend who I went with told me about some ribbon on sale today at a local store so after club we went shopping - 40 rolls of ribbon for $28 (that is cheap in Australia believe me). We also found some other ribbons in another store and then went elsewhere to find some card, charms and buttons - all in all it was a fun day!

He's Walking!

Here is another card I made for this weeks sketch challenge, it's always hard to stop at one. I thought this time around I would make a for a male, I have been wanting to use this stamp for some time from Paperbag Studio.

Recipe:
Stamps: Paperbag Studio Dreamer Plate
Paper: Creamy Caramel, Vintage Violet, Cranberry Crisp - Stampin' Up
Other: Script Cuttlebug Embossing Folder; Prussian Blue & Creamy Brown Fluid Chalks