Lovely Daisy ATC

For the Mingle, I participated in 3 swaps; one of them was a season-themed ATC. We were to pick our favorite season and create our card to match it.

I couldn't decided between spring and summer, so I just went with daisies!



The ATC bases came from my LSS and are a creamy vanilla color. All the stamps are from the CTMH "Lovely Daisy" set, which is a few years old so it's probably dc'd by now. I stamped the biggest image in CTMH Sunkiss Yellow for the background to give it a little texture, then added the main image in SU Soft Suede and the phrase in Ranger Distress Peeled Paint. Once everything had time to dry, I used my blending pen to color the flowers and leaves - SU Crushed Curry, Soft Suede & Wild Wasabi, more Peeled Paint, and some CTMH Plum Mist. Then I applied Crystal Effects/Glossy Accent/Liquid Glass (yes, I had a little left in multiple bottles, so I ended up using all three. They really are the same, just different labels.) to give the main flower some dimension. I left this to dry over night.

In the morning, I clipped the top corner and used my CTMH Distress kit - the stipple sponge with some SU Chocolate Chip ink and the edge distresser to roughen up the clipped corner. I wiped the ink off the 3D main flower so it was all nice and shiney again, added some CTMH Purple Pansy organdy ribbon to the corner for a bit of fun, put some CTMH Buttercup CS behind it and mounted the whole thing to a new card base so I could stamp the back with my artist info.

Voila!

Thanks for looking!

as promised

Sorry this is so late! I got sidetracked building my new computer. Yes, I built it.

Jas was kind enough to order my parts to make sure nothing was missed and walk me through the process, but I did all of the physical labor. They physical assembly went fairly easily - it took just as long to install windows as it did to assemble the computer! lol

Anyway - as promised, here is a pic of the card I traded in tonight's local swap.



The base started out white. The green outline was traced around a diecut from a Tim Holtz Sizzix die, then while it was still in place, the amethyst color ink was "smooshed" all around it using the blending tool. The lovely lady (who's stamp manufacturer is sadly unknown, as I have lost the original block/label she had before I unmounted her) and the quote (an Angel Company stamp) were then stamped with Versafine in black, embossed with clear powder, and colored with copic markers.

All in all, very simple, but I love the nice clean lines and the happy colors.

Hope you like it, too. :)

So there I was ...

showing Megan the cards I designed for the Mingle swap using my new SU stuff. (Since it's an SU only swap, I was afraid that I was going to feel limited, but it was sort of nice to sit down with limited supplies and think "inside" a box for a change.)

One of the bosses wandered through, commented on how much she liked them... and then asked me if I would consider selling my work. Of course, I said I would! We talked price a bit and she asked me to make her five cards in the same style, but in her preferred colors. I whipped them up for her over the weekend (at the new creation station!) and she was thrilled to get them on Monday morning. She's already sent one of them out in today's mail, too, so I know she really liked them.

Okay - reality check. I know. It's just one small sale, it's only five cards. But it's a start, right? Get off my dream ;)

Holy whirlwind of creativity, batman!

Last week, I ordered my new desk. Nothing fancy, mind you - just something sturdy, with a couple of small drawers, that was on clearance at Target.com and would work for both my crafting and my new computer. They promised to ship it out the next day so it would arrive to me this week.

Surprise! It arrived on Friday! So Friday night, we rearranged a bit and I got it set up in my corner. I was pleasantly surprised at how sturdy it is and there was really very little assembly to it - just attaching the legs and tightening/replacing loose screws on the drawer runners.

So... you can't just let a new desk sit there and collect dust! Since we don't have all the parts for our computers yet, I decided to use it for crafting - with the Mingle coming up, I had roomie gifts and a door prize to make, plus I wanted to make myself an apron, and needed to finish my card swaps for that AND my local ATC swap. And for the first time since the move, I finally had something sturdy enough to put my sewing machine on1

WOW did I get a lot done!

I finished:
- roomie gift #1
- roomie gift #2
- my door prize donation
- my apron
- a cloth cover for my ribbon holder/hanger
- my ATCs for the Mingle swap
- some thank you cards for my boss (YAY - this will get its own post!)

Sadly, I cannot post pics of the roomie gifts, ATC, or door prize til after the Mingle (for obvious reasons)... or even of the cards for my boss, because they mirror a design for a Mingle swap. And I'm having a hard time getting good pics of the apron or the ribbon holder. But I promise pics as soon as I can.

Then, last night after G's wrestling banquet, I came home and sat down at my desk to whip up some ATC cards for tonight's swap. Sadly, I was feeling much more "schmuck" than "creative" when I walked in the house. I stood before my shelves baffled and finally picked to things I decided to make work.

As soon as I sat down at the desk, though, inspiration struck and within a short while, I had an idea. I mocked up a "prototype", decided I didn't like the colors, but the concept was good, and was on my way. Lots of stenciling and a catnap later, I was stamping, embossing, and coloring my way into a card that I actually like - and promise to post pics of tonight after the swap. Sadly, I have no card reader here at work, so even if I did take a picture, I still can't post until tonight.

Tonight, though, after the swap and picture posting, it's back to the batcave - I still have cards to finish up for the Mingle and an over-the-top nametag to design for the Mingle.

Yay! We have stamp-age!

My custom stamp arrived today. I was sad that they didn't give me a discount for requesting unmounted rubber, but the turn around was really quick and I was lucky enough to have a stamppad and block with me at work today, so I was able to test it already - and it works quite nicely. I'm excited to start putting it on the back of my cards.

Yay!

... now back to work... lol