ATC Swap

We are gearing up for some Halloween swaps and art projects over on our yahoo group.
Hope you will join us!
These ATC's were created using the Halloween Collage sheets I designed for Sue over at CraftersCafe

Artist Pin Swap

Over on Sherre's yahoo group, (look for the link Arttechniques Yahoo Group in sidebar if you would like to join this fun group!)they are doing an Artist Pin Swap and here are samples of several I made using poly clay and wire. I really like the textures and contrast of the colors. The shine from the wire and the flat dull surface of the untreated clay. (no finish was added like diamond glaze, but I did use a silver metallic alcohol ink for the metal effect.)

New Swap

Sherre is hosting an Egg shaped ATC swap over on the Latest Trends. I had so much fun making these. I used foils from little chocolate eggs, which hubby helped me eat. He was so careful removing the foils so they wouldn't tear into little pieces. LOL! Anyway, the due date for this swap is April 25th, so there is still time for you to join us! The link is above.

Holiday Ornament Swap

I was busy today making 10 of these for the upcoming Holiday Ornament Swap/Challenge. The image was a free download from www.twistedpapers.com Sign up for their newsletter and get the secret password to access this wonderful picture! Then come and join us for this fun swap at The Latest Trends!

Holiday Charm Swap/Challenge

I actually tried making a little charm from a styrofoam pomegranate, but the wire was tearing the styrofoam. Would have been some really cute charms for the holidays but they didn't work out. So, these are the charms I made for the swap. It's a 5/5 swap, but will end up being a swap with all the participants, 1/1. Hopefully we'll have a large crowd of swappers this time around too! The more the merrier! Come join us!

Halloween Charm Swap

With 19 participants, this Halloween charm swap was amazing! The diversity of the artists, the materials they used, their creativity is remarkable. I traded one for one with each of the participants so I could make a memorable charm bracelet of our first swap together. Fantastic! We're up to it again...the Holiday charm swap/challenge is under way...so sign up today!

Abstract Postcard Swap/Challenge

Here are two of the Abstract Postcards that I made for the swap/challenge over at; You guessed it! The Latest Trends....I will be embellishing these with some brass jewelry findings and beads. It's been awhile since I've had the time to start up my sewing machine, so I really enjoyed putting the petal to the metal! LOL! Join us!!

Innovative Charm Swap/Challenge

The charms I made for this swap/challenge, started with the background I made yesterday, following the technique from Paper Transformed. (see other post!) I will call these "Embedded in Glass" because the image appears to be in glass. Hope you will join this fun challenge over at the Latest Trends yahoo group! (Link above) I do have to tell you that these are not charms for a bracelet, rather a medallion for a necklace! I believe the image is from Dover Publications, perhaps one of their free downloads they send out every week.

More Halloween Charms!

I am hosting a Halloween Swap/Challenge on the Latest Trends Group and here are just a few more charms I made so I could swap with everyone who signed up. I intend to make a Halloween bracelet to submit to the magazines using one of everyone's charms that will be swapped. With 24 charms & tons of beads it will be an awesome bracelet!

Harvest Swap-Challenge

Inkastamps donated this fabulous image of a little boy with a pumpkin for this swap/challenge on the Latest Trends group. I just had to hand paint him in watercolor pencils & brush. This ATC is layered using dark brown cardstock, crayon resist background (Sept MAT-Arttechniques group), yellow self-adhesive fun foam and the image. By tying a black & white checked ribbon around it, it said "Finished" to me.

Finished challenge

Here is the finished challenge for Trish's group, the one on the left has silk fall leaves, that I just layed on since I wasn't sure if I really wanted them there. I like both pics, the leaves add a 3-D effect though. I'm happy with it either way!

Trish's Challenge

Left challenge-texture using only three steps. (1) covered page in metal tape, (2) paint with three shades of green from darkest to lightest, & (3) after it had dried, sanded the page.

Right Challenge-I treated the page the same as the left, however, there is one difference in the pages themselves. The one on the left was actually done twice, same steps. The finished product is a much duller metal. The second part of this challenge was to randomly open a dictionary, tear out a page and select a word from that page to finish the project. My word is "Forest" Cool.....I watered down some dark forest green paint, and dripped it with an eyedropper down the side of the page to resemble the trunks of the trees. I will further enhance these with shading in black india ink, perhaps tear some painted paper towels into small leaf shapes and glue them on randomly. I'll post another pic when it's complete!

This technique was entered in the 60 ATC Technique swap that I participated in over the summer, via the ArtTechnique yahoo group. It is a technique by: Shari Schneider that she called: Weathered Metal Surface Technique.

Another ATC Swap finished!!

Wow, this ATC was difficult to come up with a saying for! I love the witch...from the Dover Holiday CD, but it took me three days of thinking through a whole lot of different things and finally came up with this fun saying after I added the spider & its web!! This will be the last Halloween Swap for me, as I am getting ready to post some awesome swaps on the Latest Trends Yahoo site...If you're not a member, use the link above to join us in the fun!!

Halloween ATC Swap!

I just had to sign up for several Halloween swaps this year since it is my
favorite time of year. This swap is hosted by Lori Roberts over at the
Latest Trends yahoo group. The link to this group is up above. Come
join us! And Thanks to our sponsor at Twisted Papers who donated the
image from their new Halloween CD!

Inchie Charm Bracelet

Several months ago I participated in an inchie swap, and decided to use these wonderful mini pieces of art for a bracelet I could wear. It turned out better than I had hoped, and I want to thank everyone who joined this trade. I had artwork from: Emily P., Cecilia K., Diana M., Lea K., Susi U., Lucy L., Beth K., Belinda S., Angie H., (the hostess), Sharie M., Carmen Y., Katelyn T., and Gillian. I received many more than those posted here, but because they had rhinestone embellishments, I was unable to place them between the thin layers of glass. I will use the others for embellishments on another project. Wonderful artwork Ladies! Unfortunately I did manage to crack the glass of one these charms, however, it added some interest, so I left it alone. To get these 1" pieces of glass, I cut the glass microscope slides. If you decide to do this yourself, be very careful! This glass is super thin, and will break where you least expect it too. Wear leather gloves! If you do not have a glass grinder, invest in a glass grinding stone, and smooth the cut edges!

Art Partner Swap

In one of the yahoo groups I belong to, they had an art partner swap. It works like this. One person finds 3 of each item she wants you to incoporate into a postcard. She mails these items to you. It's a surprise when you receive them, and you have to create a postcard using everything she sent. In this postcard, Cyn sent me the white woven grid, background paper, fuzzy yarn, blue tissue paper, circular stamp, some woven black plastic, star tissue paper and the peach ribbon. The only thing I was allowed to add was one color (sky blue), and the image. Great fun!

1" Sq. Swap

I never thought I would make ATC's, because of their size. Only 2.5 x 3.5" Not much space to be creative. So, when this 1" sq. swap came up, I hesitated. It was great fun, and I'm glad I joined in. I'm anxiously awaiting the return of the 1" sq. so I can make some charms. I've already got some left over stained glass cut into 1" sq. pieces. What wonderful charms these will make. To see more 1" sq. submitted by other artists, visit: http://www.art-e-zine.co.uk/1x1html. I will be posting the finished charm bracelet soon.

Goddess ATC's for a trade

O.K. this is the last of what I've made so far this week. I still have a few projects in the works, just not finished. I was cutting glass today for some new charms, and of course I had to stop because I cut myself again! I always say, "If I don't bleed on it, it isn't true art."

ATC's created for trades

I try and participate in at least 4 swaps a month with the ATC group I belong to. I enjoy the fact that they are so quick and easy to do. Almost instant gratification.

Altered Cabinet Card

For a recent swap, we had to use a cabinet card to alter instead of making the usual ATC. I let myself go on this one, and just had fun!