An ATC Addict

Another swap I've done recently...

2009-01-16T16:28:00.000-08:00

OK This 1 takes a little explaining LOL I signed up for a "breakfast ATC" swap. Herein we were suppose to create an ATC of any type that has to do with breakfast. Well, it just so happens that I just received a sample of this cereal in the mail and it was the perfect size for an ATC. Well, I dismantled it and put it back together again. On the back I put the side panels of the box that have the ingredients and everything on it. So, the back looks like this...

What a neat way to make an ATC huh? LOL

Some of my latest swaps...

2009-01-16T16:08:00.000-08:00

One last look back at Christmas

2009-01-16T15:45:00.000-08:00

OK I'm as tired of Christmas as everyone else seems to be but I wanted to share with you the homemade Christmas cards that I received this year. So, one more look and I'll end it there, promise :D

A look back to Thanksgiving...

2009-01-16T15:41:00.000-08:00

I know it was a few months ago but I have to share this beautiful homemade card that I received and forgot about. Here's a look at both the inside and the outside of it...

The weather outside...

2009-01-16T15:34:00.000-08:00

I snapped this picture but ran right back inside. It's below 0 here today. I hope you all stay warm.

As you can see, I've been busy lately...

2009-01-02T15:02:00.000-08:00

I've also experimented with a new technique for one of the many swaps I've been in. Here's how it turned out:

I think it's quite simple yet nice looking. What I did was use yellow and orange to do the shaving cream method as a background. (I've listed how to do this in another post on this blog.) I then took some clear white glitter glue and smeared it in circles all over the card whenever the shaving cream dried. Once everything was dry I added the flowers with stamps then took a "scrap" piece of ribbon and wow there it is!

Cards From Recent Swaps...

2009-01-02T14:41:00.000-08:00

Sorry some of these didn't turn out too well but I'm working on my photography and we have to play to grow.

More photography...

2009-01-02T14:39:00.001-08:00

It's too cold outside now to get any real good pictures of nature. However, I did find this awesome angel hiding in the architecture of 1 of the homes in my neighborhood. I couldn't help but using some special effects to make it look even better than it already did. What can I say? I love to play LOL

Saturday December 27

2009-01-02T14:33:00.000-08:00

It was actually 70 degrees outside. So, after a morning of shopping I went outside to play with my photography. I got some really awesome pictures of this squirrel who was actually trying to pose for us...

I also found this bird that we don't know what he is. There's all kinds of hawks and ravens around here but what is this guy/gal...
I can't wait for it to get really warm so that we can go out and take more pictures like this!

Taking Pictures of ATCs

2009-01-02T09:46:00.000-08:00

This is something that I've been struggling with and I know I can't be the only one. With that in mind, here are some helpful tips:

Do not take the photo in direct light as this will bleach out the ATC's colors.
Do not use a flash as anything shiny will reflect the flash and distort the image.
Take the picture in indirect light in a room that has a floor length window. Make sure to zoom in as close as possible while leaving some background and that you're not moving before you take the picture.

Once you've taken the pictures, it's time to download it to your computer and play with it with your photo editing program. Now, if you're lucky like me, your camera will have come with such a program. I use the Kodak Easy Share camera and it does have a photo editing program. Of course, it's not perfect but it is quite good in my opinion. Here's what you'll want to do:

Straighten your image.
Crop your image to the exact size of the ATC.
Make sure that your photo isn't underexposed, which oftentimes it will be.
Adjust for color as oftentimes there will be either a blue or a green hue.
Make sure that your finished image looks similar to the original ATC itself.
Reduce the jpeg image so that it is no more than 400kb. This will make your photograph look better when you upload it to the web. If you're using Yahoo, this will automatically be done for you.

OK I know I'll be too busy tomorrow but I did want to wish everyone a HAPPY NEW YEAR...

2008-12-30T12:32:00.001-08:00

My Christmas present to my mom...

2008-12-26T15:41:00.000-08:00

My mom is hard to buy for and so I never know what to get her for Christmas. This year I decided to make her something instead. Knowing that she loves humming birds, I took time to needlepoint this pattern for her. Not knowing what to do with it when it was done, I chose to turn it into a pillow (it has green crushed velvet on the back) and trim it with lace. I'm quite happy with the way that it turned out, especially considering that everything on it was done by hand - no help from a sewing machine whatsoever.

Cabbage Patch Kids...

2008-12-26T15:38:00.000-08:00

My mom has a tradition of getting my
daughter a Cabbage Patch Kid each
Christmas for the past 4 years now...
Well I use to have a bunch of these when I was a kid too. See the one in the yellow? She's an original and has a soft face and everything. Now the one in aqua, my mom got for my daughter this Christmas. She's a special one for the 25th anniversary. See any similarities? Neat! Huh?

Christmas may be over...

2008-12-26T14:57:00.000-08:00

...but New Year's is on its way and there's a countdown for that too at Clearly Vintage. Take some time to grab some more great images while you can.

I do hope everyone had a great Christmas.

Merry Christmas to all...

2008-12-23T13:58:00.000-08:00

I just want to take a moment to wish everyone a very Merry Christmas. This will be my last post until after Christmas day and I just want to say... Regardless of what may be going on in the world around you, I pray that you'll take a moment to bask in the beauty of the holiday season. Remember, it's not about the gifts but about the people you are sharing your days with. I am thankful for this holiday season and the beauty that surrounds me. May you all be richly blessed! Merry Christmas!

A visit to a Christmas store yielded a full camera with the following pics...

2008-12-22T13:12:00.001-08:00

WOW!!!

2008-12-20T19:07:00.000-08:00

OK I didn't think it'd happen or that it'd be possible or... but I traded all of my Christmas ATCs. I'm not sure how I did it seeing as I made so many but they're all gone. That means that what I have available for trade is looking quite shabby at the moment. There's only an Advent ATC and 2 general ATCs still available, sorry. Nevertheless, I am working on fixing this. I've got some cards (about 40) that need backs and some need words and some need other pictures on them... I'll take the ones with the words with me on Christmas holiday to do the writing. I do need 5 of them to put in my Etsy shop that will be launched at the beginning of January. Otherwise there will be about 35 available for trade soon. Who knows? Maybe tomorrow I'll get crazy and get a few more together since I don't have anything to do in the afternoon. We'll see... I just wanted to let you know what was up with my album looking so shabby though. I really should make some Valentines day ones seeing as that's the next holiday but I do have some swaps to catch up on too. I think I'll just free theme for a bit longer. After all, it's Christmas and I should be allowed to have some fun. Right? LOL OK, enough rambling from me. I just wanted to share my surprise seeing as I made around 30 Christmas ones only a few weeks ago.

{Heads to bed shaking head in amazement... Maybe my art is good after all...}

These were done for a private swap...

2008-12-20T09:02:00.001-08:00

So cool...

2008-12-19T16:32:00.000-08:00

What can I say? I love playing with online graphics generators LOL

Some pics from new swaps I've done...

2008-12-17T08:01:00.000-08:00

The one above has a hand drawn mouse in it but he's hiding and you can only see his outline.

I love angels and this 1 was cool. Pic taken today at Hard Rock Cafe...

2008-12-15T19:55:00.000-08:00

Written around the base of this angel, that hung above the bar, were the words, "Fly on my sweet angel, fly on." I loved it!!!

Gingerbread houses (God I love these things and so here are some pics I took today...)

2008-12-15T19:50:00.000-08:00

Santas from around the world (pics I took today)

2008-12-15T19:45:00.000-08:00

Even on a busy day I still get a few ATCs in...

2008-12-15T19:27:00.000-08:00

I took my daughter to see Santas from around the world and gingerbread houses, to eat at Hard Rock Cafe and to shop downtown today but before I left I made these for a swap...

Busy day...

2008-12-14T15:19:00.000-08:00

OK I've posted a lot today but I just have to share... I actually found some time to try making some new backgrounds today. Usually I make these out of magazines but today I tried some different things. I did 20 backgrounds. The first 10 of them I made with shaving cream and food coloring. They look awesome! This is something I'll have to do more of. Then the second 10 I did out of glitter glue and simply swirled it together. They are really wild and glittery but I like things like that so I want to do more of these as well. I'm glad that I tried something new and that it went so well. It's challenging for me to step out of my comfort zone sometimes but I did it and it worked well so I'll be doing it again.

I love angels...

2008-12-14T11:23:00.000-08:00

...and I really love this one. I'd love to have the time to make her but alas I'm so busy I can't even keep up right now. Anyone want to make her for me? I'll trade you for an ATC of your choice that I'll special make for you.

I love glitter, so I couldn't resist...

2008-12-14T11:07:00.001-08:00

Pictures of cards from recent swaps I've done...

2008-12-11T10:01:00.000-08:00

Check these out...

2008-12-08T07:20:00.000-08:00

OK I know that I posted this before, but not only is The Original Holidays Printables Countdown going on but I just discovered that Clearly Vintage is also having a countdown of their own. They're posting vintage Christmas images every day from now until Christmas. You have to check these out! So many graphics... so little time.

Weekend Collage-athon

2008-12-06T15:36:00.000-08:00

I took part in the Collage-athon at ATCs For All today. It actually started at 5PM last night and will go until 5PM tomorrow night. I'm done though LOL I have way too much other stuff on my plate right now and I have a ton of Christmas cards done. I'm not sure what I'll do with them all either. I can't honestly trade them with anyone yet but I love to showcase my work. Since I obviously don't keep these ATCs for me, I keep this blog for me. With that in mind, here are the ATCs that I did this weekend for you to enjoy and for me to look back upon later on :D If any of them are available for trade, starting Monday, I'll list them in the appropriate place for you to trade with me then.

I can't seem to get the labels to line up on here correctly, sorry. With that in mind I decided to list them by number, counting from the top. So far I have traded numbers: 3, 7, 8, 9, 13, 14, 26

~More trades to come (hopefully)...

Hello. My name is BrendaMarie and I'm an eBay Addict.

2008-12-04T16:57:00.000-08:00

Now if only there were such a support group, I could be its founding member LOL I love hunting down good deals on there and I just found a few. Here's my latest purchases...

Mini flower daisy border - foam rubber stamp: This could be a lot of fun since I love making Disney princess ATCs

Lot of 20 new stamps - love, wedding, valentines - I've got some Valentines day ATC trades so these will definitely come in handy

Needlepoint Kit - I love dolphins so I couldn't pass this by. I'm not starting it until Christmas eve though since I still have to finish my mom's Christmas present and a ton of ATCs as well as address cards. It'll be a treat for me when I do get to work on it since this isn't yarn (which I do but hate) and since it's something I love and so pretty too.

Challenges

2008-12-04T07:13:00.000-08:00

If you're anything like me, you need the occasional inspiration. With that in mind, here's a list of challenges for each and every day of the week.

Sundays
Gothic Arches - http://gothicarches.ning.com/ (registration required)
Sunday Postcard Art - http://sundaypostcardart.wordpress.com/

Mondays
Make It Mondays - http://gomakesomething.com/category/challenges/mim/
Papertake Weekly Challenge - http://papertakeweekly.blogspot.com/
Mixed Media Monday - http://mixedmediamonday.wordpress.com/
Think Monday, Think ATC - http://tmta.wordpress.com/
Inchy by Inch - http://www.inchybyinch.blogspot.com/

Tuesdays
ABC challenge - http://abc-challenge.blogspot.com/
Arty Girlz - http://artygirlzchallengeblog.blogspot.com/
Created Byhand - http://createdbyhandchallenge.wordpress.com/
Crazy Amigo Challenge - http://crazyamigochallenge.wordpress.com/

Wednesdays
Wednesday Stamper - http://wednesdaystamper.wordpress.com/

Thursdays
This Thursday - http://thisthursday.wordpress.com/
Theme Thursday - http://themethursday.wordpress.com/
Inspire Me Thursday - http://www.inspiremethursday.com/

Fridays
Art Creations Friday - http://artcreationsfriday.blogspot.com/
Dans ma maison - http://dansmamaisonilya.blogspot.com/
Rosie & Linda’s Awfully Big Art Adventure - http://bigartadventure.blogspot.com/
Tag You’re It! - http://weekendtaggers.blogspot.com/
Make a Moo or Two - http://makeamooortwo.wordpress.com/
Thank God It’s Friday - http://thankgoditsfriday.wordpress.com/
Daring Cardmakers - http://daringcardmakers.blogspot.com/

4×4 Friday - http://4×4friday.wordpress.com/ seems to have stalled out in September.

Saturdays
Saturday´s Workout - http://saturdaysworkout.wordpress.com/
Small World of Inchies and Twinchies - http://smallworldofinchies.blogspot.com/
Step Outside Your Box Saturdays - http://stepoutsideyourboxsaturdays.wordpress.com/

Random
Caardvarks - http://caardvarks.blogspot.com/

2008-12-03T12:25:00.001-08:00

What American accent do you have? Your Result: The West Your accent is the lowest common denominator of American speech. Unless you're a SoCal surfer, no one thinks you have an accent. And really, you may not even be from the West at all, you could easily be from Florida or one of those big Southern cities like Dallas or Atlanta.
The Midland
Boston
North Central
The South
The Inland North
Philadelphia
The Northeast
What American accent do you have? Quiz Created on GoToQuiz

Shaving Cream Technique by Beth Ann Walker

2008-12-03T07:54:00.001-08:00

I found this technique today and thought it was great. I have done something similar with my daughter when she was in preschool so I don't know why I hadn't thought of it but it would work well for me. I always have inexpensive shaving cream in the house and food coloring seems to find a home in my pantry. I'm thinking that a piece of cardboard would work for scraping, or eve a spatula would work. So this fits perfectly into "recycled ATCs" which is something I'm big on (Making great works of art out of things that I no longer need or that are laying around my house anyway.) Anyhow, here you go...

Materials:

Inexpensive White Shaving Cream
Re-inkers or Food Coloring
Glossy Photo Paper
Cookie Sheet
Old Credit Card to be used as a scraper
Pointed Object (bamboo skewer, paintbrush handle, toothpick)
Newspapers

Layer your area with newspapers to avoid staining.
Lay down a layer of shaving cream onto your cookie sheet. Make it an area large enough to accommodate your paper size. Smaller pieces of paper are more manageable. Cut your 8 ½ x 11 into twos or fours.
Use the credit card to level and smooth the layer of shaving cream.
Drop 2-3 complimentary colors of ink randomly over the surface of your shaving cream. Use the pointed object to stretch out your ink drops into ribbons of color across the shaving cream. Try different patterns…swirls, marbled, criss cross, streaks etc. Be careful not to overdo it as you can easily end up with mud.
Lay your photo paper glossy side down on top of the shaving cream and gently rub the backside so that the surface of the paper comes in contact with the shaving cream in all areas.
Peel back your paper and lay it onto the newspaper.
Using the credit card carefully scrape off the shaving cream in long sweeping strokes. Be aware that the scraping plays a part in the design left on the paper.
Lay on a clean sheet of newspaper and clean up any excess shaving cream with a paper towel. Let dry.

What Have I Done?

2008-12-01T05:51:00.000-08:00

I found this on Michelle's blog. You are supposed to highlight in BOLD what you have done.

1. Started your own blog
2. Slept under the stars
3. Played in a band
4.Visited Hawaii
5. Watched a meteor shower
6.Given more than you had to a charity
7. Been to Disneyland
8.Climbed a mountain
9. Held a praying mantis
10. Sang a solo
11. Bungee jumped
12. Visited Paris
13. Watched a lightning storm at sea
14. Taught yourself an art form from scratch
15. Adopted a child
16. Had food poisoning
17. Walked to the top of the Statue of Liberty
18. Grown your own vegetables
19. Seen the Mona Lisa in France
20. Slept on an overnight train
21. Had a pillow fight
22. Hitch hiked
23. Taken a sick day when you’re not ill
24. Built a snow fort
25. Held a lamb
26. Gone skinny dipping
27. Run a Marathon
28. Ridden in a gondola in Venice
29. Seen a total eclipse
30. Watched a sunrise or sunset
31. Hit a home run
32. Been on a cruise
33. Seen Niagara Falls in person
34. Visited the birthplace of your ancestors
35. Seen an Amish community
36. Taught yourself a new language
37. Had enough money to be truly satisfied
38. Seen the Leaning Tower of Pisa in person
39. Gone rock climbing
40. Seen Michelangelos David
41. Sung karaoke
42. Seen Old Faithful geyser erupt
43. Bought a stranger a meal at a restaurant
44. Visited Africa
45. Walked on a beach by moonlight
46. Been transported in an ambulance
47. Had your portrait painted
48. Gone deep sea fishing
49. Seen the Sistine Chapel in person
50. Been to the top of the Eiffel Tower in Paris
51. Gone scuba diving or snorkeling
52. Kissed in the rain
53. Played in the mud
54. Gone to a drive-in theater
55. Been in a movie
56. Visited the Great Wall of China
57. Started a business
58. Taken a martial arts class
59. Visited Russia
60. Served at a soup kitchen
61. Sold Girl Scout Cookies
62. Gone whale watching
63. Got flowers for no reason
64. Donated blood, platelets or plasma
65. Gone sky diving
66. Visited a Nazi Concentration Camp
67. Bounced a check
68. Flown in a helicopter
69. Saved a favorite childhood toy
70. Visited the Lincoln Memorial
71. Eaten Caviar
72. Pieced a quilt
73. Stood in Times Square
74. Toured the Everglades
75. Been fired from a job
76. Seen the Changing of the Guards in London
77. Broken a bone
78. Been on a speeding motorcycle
79. Seen the Grand Canyon in person
80. Published a book
81. Visited the Vatican
82. Bought a brand new car
83. Walked in Jerusalem
84. Had your picture in the newspaper
85. Read the entire Bible
86. Visited the White House
87. Killed and prepared an animal for eating
88. Had chickenpox
89. Saved someone’s life
90. Sat on a jury
91. Met someone famous
92. Joined a book club
93. Lost a loved one
94. Had a baby
95. Seen the Alamo in person
96. Swam in the Great Salt Lake
97. Been involved in a law suit
98. Owned a cell phone
99. Been stung by a bee
100. Read an entire book in one day

OK So maybe I need to be a bit more daring and have a little more fun in my life.

Shopping Trip

2008-11-30T13:18:00.000-08:00

OK now I really didn't mean to go into the craft store to buy anything except for what I needed for a gift that I'm working on for my mom for Christmas. Nevertheless, ATC was screaming my name. Luckily, I walked out without spending more than $20 on the stuff. In fact, my total, with the stuff for the gift and the stuff for the ATC addiction only came to $28 and some odd change, so I didn't do too bad. Here's what I got:

A set of alphabet stamps. They're not fancy but I figure they're a start.

A stamp pad with pink, red, 2 shades of purple and aqua.

A black stamp pad.

Glitter glue (I'm addicted to this stuff) in the color of snow. It'll come in handy when I make the Christmas ATCs next weekend for my weekend Christmas-athon. This should be interesting as I originally thought that I was free for the weekend when I signed up but now I just found out that we'll be putting up our Christmas tree which is a big job around here. I'll be sure to post pictures though. I'm pretty excited even though I don't know what I'll do with all of the ATCs when they're done. Hopefully people will want to trade with me :D

This Is Soooo Cool!!!

2008-11-30T05:43:00.000-08:00

If you're looking for a fun way to collect some graphics for your ATCs while counting down the days until Christmas, then you'll love this: The Christmas Graphics Countdown. It starts tomorrow and I just found it today but I'm really looking forward to collecting some of these graphics as I got a sneak peek and they look really cool.

These Are Available For Trade

2008-11-28T20:21:00.000-08:00

Please leave me a message in this thread if you want to trade for any of the following cards...

Belle Swap for Swap Bot...

2008-11-28T20:17:00.000-08:00

This was an ATC featuring Disney's Princess Belle... I made 2 of these but the other picture was horrible. I'm still working on learning to take better pictures.

Sticker ATC for Swap Bot...

2008-11-28T20:13:00.000-08:00

I did these 2 ATCs for a swap on Swap-Bot that required that we use at least 1 sticker on each of the ATCs.

Quick Christmas ATC Swap for Swap Bot...

2008-11-28T20:11:00.001-08:00

November 28, 2008

2008-11-28T20:04:00.000-08:00

I did this ATC for someone on a Yahoo group with whom I did a 1-on-1 swap with. She is sending me an orgami angel ATC that I'm anxiously awaiting.

Recycling

2008-11-28T16:52:00.000-08:00

One thing that I love about making ATCs is that I'm finding ways of recycling a lot of stuff from around the house and turn it into art. Some of the many things that you can recycle to use in making your ATCs include:

Tissue Paper. You can then tear it up and glue it onto cardstock to make backgrounds.

Boxes that your food comes in. For instance, you can take a cereal box and cut it down to the size of an ATC. Use the printed side to glue a background on top of. The brown side you can then use to list the information about that ATC on.

Old magazines. You can make backgrounds out of the pictures in them. You can also use pictures that are in the magazines that are too small as added pieces for on your ATCs.

Pieces of fabric that you have lying around the house.

The Sunday paper.

Wallpaper scraps.

What else can you think of recycling to use? I want to add to this list as I grow in this art.

Some New Ways To Make ATC Backgrounds

2008-11-28T15:35:00.000-08:00

So, I'm a bit green still whenever it comes to making ATC backgrounds. I was making them on the computer or with construction paper. Recently I've started making them out of backgrounds that I've found in magazines. Today I've found 2 new ways to make them and I really want to try them sometime. They are:

Glitter Glue Circles. Personally, I love glitter and so it's only natural that I'd also love glitter glue. With this method of making backgrounds, I've found that all you have to do is apply assorted colors of glitter glue to different areas of cardstock then rub them with your finger in a circular motion. I'm anxious to try this and see what I come up with :D

Tissue, wrapping paper or any other type of paper like this. God knows that with Christmas coming I should be running into enough of this stuff. With this method you simply take and tear up either solid colored or printed tissue paper, overlap the pieces and glue it onto cardstock.

Markers and a wet paper towel. Apply the marker to a damp paper towel and wipe across your paper.

Crayons and texture. Use one or more crayons and rub it/them over something with texture such as coins, walls, cement, wood, medallions, etc.

Masking tape, cardstock, shoe polish and a tissue. Tear pieces of the natural colored masking tape and adhere it to cardstock until the cardstock is covered. Apply shoe polish to the masking tape and buff with a tissue. While this may take some time, it will make a lovely texture. You can then make colored copies of this.

Newspaper, especially the Sunday comics. You can even cut headlines for incorporating text into your project.

Use your computer to type phrases such as "Happy holidays" over and over again. Choose your font, size, color and then print it out and adhere it to cardstock (it can also be printed directly onto the cardstock).

Maps can add interest to your artwork. You can either create your own map, print one off of the Internet or cut up old ones that you no longer need.

Fabric of all colors and patterns can be used as a background. If you don't have fabric readily available, then copy a patter onto paper by using a copier.

Strips of paper can be woven and added for background interest. The strips can vary in size and can be woven loosely, tightly or in a random pattern.

Stamp dots or use the tip of a pen repeatedly for a background or to fill in a design.