Send In The Clowns - Swap Cards

Hello, as promised, I mentioned earlier that I would make up 3 ATC cards to swap based on our theme for our 1st dare 'Send In The Clowns'. I have made up 3 cards all slightly different, these are French Clowns.

These 3 cards are all made up from one piece of white cardstock, everything has been hand coloured.

Background is ink rolled on with a brayer using Tsukineko Kaleidacolor Inks which have 5 colours per pad. These give a really cool rainbow effect. I then stamped over the background with a diamond stamp and heat embossed the image with clear embossing powder. 

The lime green matts is Tattered Angels Glimmer Mist which has been sprayed on then embossed on the Cuttlebug with the Swiss Dots embossing folder. I then cut out the printed images (two I had to customize the faces) coloured a touch of red with a Tombo Pen and punched out some left over brayered ink with a stationery punch to make the circles. These are suppose to represent juggling balls.

I have made up 4 cards, 3 to trade and one for myself. These cards will also be posted in the Art Room. If you are interested in trading, email me a pic of any ATC's you have available to swap and I'll get back to you. 

Thanks, Lisa..........inspired2scrap@hotmail.com

ATC Dare # 1 - Send In The Clowns!

Welcome to our very 1st Dare! I do hope you find the time to join in.

This fortnight I decided randomly on the theme of Clowns. Why I don't know, I just happened to see the word somewhere on the internet and thought it could be interesting. There are so many different angles you could take on this dare and I think it will be fun to see what people can come up with. Everybody's perception on things can be so different, so come on, give it a go.

Here are some examples which could spark an idea: Scary Clowns, Circus Clowns, Evil Clowns, Clown Dress-ups, Class Clowns, Joker Clowns, Famous Clowns, French Clowns and Magic Clowns. On this dare, you can do anything you like and whatever tecniques you like so it leaves it wide open.

So come on, give it a go. You will need to upload an image of your ATC ( I save mine around 400 pixels in height) to our folder in the Art Room by Wednesday 1st October. We will then draw a winner on Thursday and post before the next dare is set. We are also going to have a Contributors Pick of the Fortnight. The winning ATC and Contributors Pick will both be posted on the ATC Dares Blog. All other entries will be viewed in the Art Room or occasionally I might post a slideshow with all the entries.

You must sign up to become a member of the Art Room if you haven't already. Uploading a picture is easy and there will be a folder set up each fortnight with each dare under ATC DARES so when you upload simply post it in the right folder.

To sign up now click HERE

If you scroll right down the bottom under the MAIN window you will see the different ATC folders. Any queries do feel free to email me (Lisa) at inspired2scrap@hotmail.com

The winner of this dare will receive a little bag of ATC goodies :)

I did a take on this, my result was very far away from my original idea. Not really the clown I had in mind...lol, anyhow I am going to make some more of a different type of clown which will be available for a trade. I will post these next week.

Here it is......'Clowning Around' - Background coloured with Radiant Rain Shimmer Mist, edged with paint dabber, painted with bubble wrap. Also included a cut-out transparency, computer journaling, epoxy bubble, printed picture, stars & gems.

TIP OF THE WEEK: The background for this ATC was not my first attempt! First of all I covered the background with Tim Holtz  Distress Embossing Powder. The texture is quite different and when it melts it doesn't seem to change that much, it ends up with a rough texture not unlike sandpaper. Anyhow I discovered that it does not paint or ink over that well. I stamped over the background plus bubble wrapped paint and neither stuck to it, I ended up with a very faded out image. But the upside is that the Distress Powder is a very cool effect if you want that rough type of texture. 

Our Latest ATC Swap is On - Fairy Tales

Hi everybody, incase you haven't been over to our forum, we have an ATC swap up on the board now. The thread is available for you to post your name if you want to join in. Our last swap we had 15 which was great. If the numbers start to get too long we may revise our idea of how many sets we make etc so we don't have to committ to too many.

The theme has been set by Lianne Gray this month and she has chosen the theme of 'Fairy Tales' this should be a fun theme and has so many angles and possibilities. I'm going to enjoy dreaming up a design for this one. To join in, you must be a member of the forum, simply log in and post your name in the thread. Further details will be advised.

Here is the link to the thread so sign up now!

If you have been over to our Art Room you will see I finally got around to loading up my first ATC's. I have just finished my 15 cards for our Bird Swap, so once they have been sent out I'll post mine here. Great to see some other ATC's getting loaded up too, fantastic!

Here are my two last swaps, themes of Hearts and Butterflies:



The first one called 'Hearts of Love' was using a the cuttlebug to emboss tin foil, then I simply inked over the embossed image with Stazon black ink, a really effective backround.

On the 2nd one 'Fly Butterfly Fly' I have used a simple tecnique that I love and use alot using dye inks and a stipple brush. You stamp your image then stipple over the top using a couple of different colours in different areas to colour the backround. This dries instantly and a great way to add colour to a stamp in an easy way. This technique is also used when masking and stamping. The wings were a butterfly stamp I stamped with Stazon onto a transparency then cut out. The little girl is also popped up on the backround using foam dots.

Thats it for now, remember to pop back over on Friday night to check out the 1st dare. I have an idea sorted, kinda off the wall for me, something out of my comfort zone but should be a fun challenge and interesting for all. Not sure what I'm going to come up with for an example yet but stay tuned!

Welcome!

Hello everybody and welcome to our new ATC Dare Blog! Myself and a group of friends have started to dabble in the world of Artist Trading Cards. I thought it would be great to have a place for us New Zealanders (and anybody else for that matter) to meet, swap, be inspired and share ideas.

My name is Lisa and I the owner of a Scrapbooking & Papercrafting shop in Auckland called Scrapbook Studio (formerly Scrapbooking by Design). We sell several products suitable to use on ATC's and other mixed media projects. I love to create and also love working with mixed media, art products & fabric, whether its for sewing or adding to my papercraft projects.

We have recently started a ATC swap on our forum and I decided I had the perfect opportunity to start this site because we have the resources of our forum and gallery within our online website, we also have an online shoppe where we can also host ATC suitable products for purchase.

What is an Artist Trading Card you say? Well, an ATC (in short form) is a small collectible piece of original art, always traded but never sold! The act of creating and swapping ATC's is an exciting way to share your art and connect with other artists. A rule of thumb is that an ATC has to be a certain size which is 2.5" x 3.5" in size.

Usually you create your art on one side, maybe from a swap theme or your own theme. On the back you would normally sign your name, date, the name of the card and which number it is out of how many.

ATC's can be made up of all kinds of mixed media e.g paper, fabric, fibres, metal etc. They can feature the work of photographers, printmakers, watercolourists, collage artists, doodlers, metal crafters, cardmakers, scrapbookers and any mixed media enthusiasts.

These cards you can create and collect are a great source of artistic inspiration to keep and refer back to and admire not too mention very addictive and loads of fun. While entering the journey of ATC's you will find yourself trying new techniques and using products you never thought of using which will help inspire new ideas for other hobbies and projects.

So, lets get started! What is this site all about?

Well, on this site we will host a series of dares (i.e challenges) to motivate you to create some cards for either your own use or perhaps for you to trade. Each fornight we will set a dare, this may be based on a theme or a particular technique. Having guidelines will enable you to think outside the square and possibly force you to try something you never would have thought of. Joining in on the dares is of course optional and is purely for fun and motivation. However on most occasions we may have a small prize to send winners inside New Zealand.

What else can you expect from this site?

Not only will you gain inspiration and ideas from the ATC's that come out of the dares, but we will also have a small group of Contributing Artists for the site that will help inspire, motivate and offer ideas and information where possible. Each fornight when a new dare is posted, the contributing artists will post their interpretation of the dare.

We will also have links to other ATC inspiring sites, links to our forum ATC community and swaps, links to our Art Room and Online Shoppe plus tips and techniques offered where possible. Each month we have a ATC swap in our forum, its as simple as signing up in the forum and posting your name to join in. To join in on our newest swap #4 (still open) check out the info in our forum HERE

So! What are you waiting for? Go sign up now....... and don't forget to check back in, our 1st dare and details will be posted by Friday 8pm