the Little Book of ATC Techniques. *sticky, please scroll down*

A few years ago i organised a technique swap for an atc forum i was involved in.

everyone sent me a background technique with a description on the back and i compiled them into books and sent them on their way.

It was lots of fun and i still get my book out when i get stumped or need some inspiration....

but.........


i havent added to it.....

so thats where you come in.....

bubble and acrylic paint layers...


would you like to particpate ?


alcohol inks and tissue paper


would you like to start your own book or add to the one you already have ?

im hoping we get about 10 people and all you do is make a background for the 10 and send them to me and you'll recieve 10 different ones back....

rusty background technique.

because some people that were in original swap will want to particiapte im listing the backgrounds that we DONT want....

TIm Holtx distress ink [ done with silicone sheet and water]
Rusty technique, wet and dry using vinegar and watercolor paper.
Bleach Stamping
copperleaf pen, watercolors
alcohol inks
Tissue paper
pealr ex
acrylic paint layers
ink resist
burn organza/tulle
crackle accents [could do a crackle paint background]
painted paper towel
Embossing
Bubble print
jens oil pastel/paint/ collage
radiant rain
twinklings and salt
fused plastic
water soluble crayons and gesso
credit card tecnique

as you see there are heaps more we could add to our books or start new ones....




so if you want to be part of this, just leave a comment with the technique you want to do so that everybody knows what you are doing and then we wont have any double ups...
ill leave it open for the next two weeks and then be in contact with you with how many atc's you need make and other deets....

if you have any questions then leave a comment and ill get back to you...

Happy Australia Day everyone :)

 

Tag Tuesday....Vintage...

and the transformation of a scarf....

i had this bright idea to make lacy scarves but they didnt look very nice on, so ive been debating about what to do with them....

i decided that some cut off would make a nice tag for Tag Tuesday...and being vintage, well that was just perfect.... using lots of vintage laces from doilys, tablecloths and table cloths...

i then added the flower made from singed organza , tulle and satin using doily as a base.......
i love making these flowers :)






then luce put it around her wrist and i lost it...its now a cuff :)



lucy is not that orange in real life, really !



Think i might cut up the rest and make cuffs for the next market :)Thank Luce!!

my tag this week...

i had made my tag earlier this week but the camera was flat... :( anyway this weeks Tag Tuesday was white and i knew that would be challenge, being a color person...

i virtually pulled out anything white with lots of texture, embossed vellum, muslin, the white bubbly paper off the top of chocolates, doily bits, beading, organza and torn bits of table gripper...:) the icing on the cake was when i found the frosty butterfly from the kids old jewellery...

its pretty messy , i just kept layering stuff :)

ive just gone on two weeks holidays and have started or should i say restarted charlies quilt...i made it last year for her 18th but didnt like it, i had no plan apart from the bottom and after that it got very boring and structured ! anyway last night i pulled it apart and i have a plan ;) it would be nice to have done for her 19th bday in a couple of weeks... today hasn't been great with a burn, a cut and mismatched squares lol

im liking the fabrics and the photos form her travels...i can reuse most of them but its not working for me at all...
im having lots of trouble uploading pics tonight, only one at a time, it seems to be able to handle..:(

70'S AND JETSETTING...

i was invited to TWO functions on the same evening,that never happens here!! Anyway, i chose to go my friends 60th which was such a fun night, lovely food, music and lots of dancing with very sore knees the next day at work :( [it was worth it... ]

it was also quite eventful with the sparklers on croquenbush birthday cake, setting off the fire alarms, causing us all to be evacuated and two fire trucks turning up....:) luckily it was a warm night to standing on the pavement !

the other do thatt was on was my nephews and his partners celebrating their combined 35th birthdays and having 70's themed bash !

Charlie was undecided what to wear and asked me if i still had 'that' top. i said yes and could put my fingers right on it due to all the purging that has been going on here. ive kept it all these years because i have always loved the fabric and hoped to fit into it one day.....yeah yeah, one can only dream :)
anyway it fitted perfectly and has now become her favourite top. i showed it to both my girls years ago and they both hated it , funny how things change. anyway she looked gorgeous with centerpart, blue eyeshadow and denim shorts but im not allowed to show pics :(

So heres me in 1972/3, in my top !! ive just realised we are all standing right under the keep off sign lol, maybe it was thing in the background and not the tree !

my brother looks a bit perplexed !

and the cropped out daughter with danish flower necklace..



So while at the 60th, i get a text thru the night saying that the birthday party had turned into wedding !!!!!! i was really sorry i missed that as it turned into such a great family night....
Congratulations Tim and Michelle, heres to a wonderful life together !


and speaking of Charlie, we celebrated 12 months of her being home last week and im really proud of the way she has got back into life here again which i know hasnt been easy... she has just left this morning for Palmerston Nth in New Zealand for 10 days to see her friend she was on exchange with. she was so excited...i love the way she has goals and works towards them...she was planning and saving for this all year....
anyway im off to do some housework and get ready for craft and work, have a good day and stay cool , another hottie here today ..xxx

Tag Tuesday...snowsports...

so hows your weekend been? ive been pretty relaxed watching the test while making backgrounds for atcs and my tag for this week.

the theme is snowsports and i was thinking of doing ice fishing as that fascinates me... im not sure why but i think its the cute little houses that appeal to me [the cold certainly doesnt and im not big fan of fishing or spending my time looking down a hole in the ice..] I was thinking they must lose some of cute little shacks if the ice suddenly melts and was googling images to find for my tag and yes, there they were trying to save them.......

Anyway then i came across this image from
The Sum Of All Crafts

i thought at first these innocent little munchkins are building a big snowball to roll off the nearest mountain , create an avalanche and swallow up the town below.....

or

maybe they are just buliding a snowman !!!


Anyway, heres my tag. i printed image onto canvas , stitched lots of layers of muslin over the top and cut out the middle and around the outside. i had hoped the circles around the outside would come out bubbly :( i added some tulle, organza and beads for the bow and it was done...im enjoying these challenges as they make do something :)


Its been nice making atcs again... i have a local exhibition in Feb [details following soon] so am getting busy.

Hope you all have a creative week....

Tag Tuesday

I thought it would be fun join a challenge this year but just a little one... so i joined Tag tuesday and the theme was snow....not that its anything like snow here, a beautiful sunny day but i do love doing snow themes....

its made from fabric paper, metallic paint, loads of glitter..... the snowflakes i wanted to be transluscent so i cut up a plastic bag and glittered them. they were a bit tricky to cut out lol
a couple of vintagy buttons and some cute ribbon with sparklys on the end from a decoration and it was done ! i am sneaking in after my invite went to my junk mail.....

Turquoise swap...

Turquoise is my favorite color a the the moment and I was lucky enough to participate in a Turquoise atc swap a few months ago, organised by ros.

i received these little beauties back in the mail just before Christmas...


these are mine i sent off, some asian papers inc tissue, kimono scraps and gold choccy wrappers collaged and inked with turquoise [id been wanting to try inks and bought a bottle specially for this....



i really loved the background and didn't want to cover it too much so stencilled a circle with gesso and used one of my typo birdy stamps. i softened it with some Lumiere powder.

Thank you to everyone who participated, i didn't do many swaps last year and it was really lovely to add them to my collection, thanks Ros too for organsisng it.....

so hows all your new years resolutions going.....?

im purging like you wouldnt believe.... and it feels so good !

im tackling my bedroom which has become a bit of drop off point for everything and every time i think i m getting to the end i find another bag of stuff to sort out. so far i have sent off 4 bags of material to friends, [ im a bit of a collecter of curtain fabric :( ], a big tub of books and garbo bag to the op shop, 2 bags of rubbish and another bag of papers for the recyclying. i took a pile of mags in work as well....
Im sorting all the girls keepsakes, school reports, photos etc into their own big tubs as i go too. That way when they eventually leave home they can take them with them, well thats the plan anyways....

Im determined to have a 'nice' bedroom this year and will repaint after i have done all the sorting...sooon i hope !