Swapping again?

I joined an ATC swap last month hosted by Michelle Giraud (flaxychick on SCS), in which there was a LO that had to be followed. I used to swap ATCs regularly on a group board with some super-talented folks (Barb, Jessica, Bobbie, Breedeen, Holly, Shelley, Heidi...you know who you are!) but I had never participated in one where you had to follow a set LO. It was more difficult than I like to admit! I have a few Alice In Wonderland stamps that I adore, but don't get frequent use, so I brought out the "Drink Me" Alice stamp from StampFrancisco. I colored her in using a blender pen and an ink pad, sponged the edges, added four eyelets and matted her on a piece of cool caribbean that I cut out with scalloped scissors. The background is done using Basic Grey PP (Stella Ruby, I think), and a small piece of brown grosgrain ribbon.I had to make 10 for the swap and I forgot to make one for myself! Arg. Now I don't have one for my collection. Does that ever happen to any of you?
I think the last time I dug out my Alice stamps, I made a cute BD card for my sister, here. that was LAST April! Poor Alice, she needs more love than that!

Feeling opinionated?

If so, I would love to hear your thoughts. I'm in an ATC swap with a Christmas theme and I've been playing around with designs for a few days.I can't decide which of these ATCs to recreate in multiple (I need to make 12). Leave me a comment letting me know which one you think I should make for the swap, or if you think I should try something else. (I do have a few other ideas in my head)

NUMBER ONE:

NUMBER TWO:

NUMBER THREE:

NUMBER FOUR:

Please have some pity on me for neglecting my blog this past week! I work 40 hours a week outside my home (in uniform, I might add) in a somewhat stressful government position, am the sole chef for my hungry DH and two boys, and have to divide my "free time" up among keeping my house in semi-reasonable condition and crafting in my studio!
This week the house won. Blahhh. I also have some demanding card customers and need to keep up with orders that I'm behind on. Forgive me?

Asian ATC

Because I'm not posting a new card today, I thought I'd show you an ATC (Artist Trading Card) that I made last year sometime for a swap. It quite appropriately corresponds well with my earlier posted recipe! It's a mish-mash of ephemera and royalty-free images that I've collected over the years. The branch and writing were stamped and then the edge was painstakingly cut out. I applied the Geisha image on top of a red circular cut-out, and then layered everything on top of a colorful background. I added a small silver skeleton leaf and a vellum flower with a small pearl center that I tore off a photo corner set I'd had lying around forever, and then used my corner rounder punch on the corners. I like inspecting older work...it makes me realize how far I've come in design know-how. If I were to re-do this ATC, a lot of changes would be made!

Older cards

Just to get things rolling I want to post some of my older cards and other things. It makes me cringe to see them but I know looking at them helps me to maintain a sense of improvement now! You know, like those silly ads from the 80s, "You've come a LONG way, baby!"

This card was for a supplies challenge at a site I used to frequent. You'd receive the supplies in the mail and have to create a card front with it. It's hard to see the vellum in the photo, it's all the way on the bottom left. I liked the simplicity of these supplies and tried to maintain it when I made the card.

Here's what I came up with:

You can see my miserable attempt at faux sewing! LOL. I have a few stitching stamps and although I love them now, I wasn't so sure about them when I made this card last year.

This next card was for a co-worker a year ago. It was my first use of chipboard ever (the #1) , and I cut it out myself using my craft knife! The BG is embossed with Judikins white diamonds EP, and the cut out wagon is adhered with pop-dots.

I made it so the wagon handle could move by attaching it with a simple mini brad. I also used my white gel pen to draw the rings on the button wheels. I doodled in black around the sentiment rectangles to make them pop.

Next up are some ATCs (Artist Trading Cards) that I made for a swap on Artchix last year. I had a lot of fun using material and actually sewing it to the BGs that I created (no faux stitching here!).


Here are a few up close. Please excuse the poor photo quality--I had a really terrible old Mavica digital camera back then.











The last thing I'm going to share is a card I made for a little contest at a stamping convention last year. It didn't win, but I was pleased with it anyway. I love using alcohol inks and making BGs with them. This card uses lots of different elements, including stamps from SU, Eclectic Omnibus, and RubberStampede. It also uses an image from a collage sheet from ArtChix, just like the above ATCs do.
Well, that's enough nostalgia for today! Thanks for sticking with me this far!