Artist Trading Cards

Have you heard of Artist Trading Cards (ATS)? They playing card sized creations that artists use to trade, show examples of their style, and get ideas from others. This is my latest ATS. I'm so happy with the color and the composition of this card. It's hard for me to give it away!

The background is inked with Tim Holtz Distress Inks (Vintage Photo, Mowed Lawn, Spiced Marmalade, Peacock Feathers). The flowers are from a pre-embossed paper that I found in a thrift store. The stamp is from Heidi Swapp's Magnolia Jane collection. The cross was in my stash.

Junk Journals

I am starting to get into  a new craft - junk journals. A junk journal is a hand-crafted journal made up of bits and pieces of material - paper, cloth, ribbon, clips, chipboard, or any other type of material you have on hand. Some are even made from food boxes, like cereal or cracker boxes. Each one is unique and they are a lot of fun to put together.

For my first try I decided to experiment with pockets and peek-a-boo hiding places for journaling cards, keepsakes, and other types of ephemera. I call this my "Beautiful Moment" journal.

This is the cover of my new journal. It is a one signature journal - a signature is a set of pages bound together and attached to the cover. The cover is simply a piece of double-sided cardstock. The ribbon is actually scrunched up bias tape. Material used for the cover design are:

• Nitwit Collections Recollect Collection digital images (this collection is used throughout the journal)
• Tim Holtz idea-ology Quote Chips
• BoBunny Beautiful Dreamer 12x12 Cardstock Stickers - Combo
• Tim Holtz Ranger Distress Ink - Vintage Photo
• Kaisercraft Kaleidoscope 6 1/2 x 6 1/2 paper pad
• Jolee's Boutique All That Bling Adhesive Gems - pearl

Here are some of the journal pages:

BoBunny Bliss

BoBunny is one of my go-to brands. This card was made with products from the Soiree Collection. The flowers are from various sources and I added silver glitter glue to the largest flowers. I am really happy with this bow! I am not a great bow-maker, so when I create a nice one I like to show it off.

Materials:

BoBunny Soiree 6x6 paper pad
BoBunny Soiree ephemera pack
BoBunny Soiree buttons
Tim Holtz Distress Ink - Vintage Photo
Paper flowers
Cheesecloth
Adhesive pearls

Inspiring

I designed this card around the inspirational "You Are" artist trading stamp (ATS) from Fun Stampers Journey. It is so important to encourage those in our lives with messages like this that make them feel loved and valued.

Most of the materials are from Fun Stampers Journey. The card is simple, but just lovely. The message is so powerful it doesn't need a lot of embellishments to make it pop. The background is made from a beautiful embossing folder inked over to bring out the intricate details. The sentiment is stamped with Versamark ink and embossed with white embossing powder.

Materials:

• Card base: FSJ Whip Cream
• Cardstock: FSJ Black Licorice, Blue Lagoon, Summer Days
• Stamp: FSJ "You Are"
• Embossing Folder: FSJ Love Letter embossing folder (host reward)
• Twine: FSJ Journey Twine natural
• Inks: FSJ Sweet Berry true color fusion ink, Versamark
• Embossing Powder: Ranger Basics Embossing Powder - White

Lots of Love

I recently attended Crop for Conservation, a fundraiser organized by the Wave Foundation at the Newport Aquarium. The crop was fantastic and I completed a lot of projects, but this card was my favorite.

Materials:

• Kraft cardstock (card base)
• Colored cardstock: Fun Stampers Journey Raspberry Berry and Sweet Berry
• Patterned paper: Close to my Heart Fundamental Paper Packet
• Dies: Decorative Die Set: Nested Hearts (exclusive to Scrapbook.com)
• Ink: Tim Holtz Distress Inks - Worn Lipstick and Vintage Photo
• Pre-cut heart: Amy Tangerine die cut tags
• Karen Foster Sparkle Burst Brad
• Adhesive diamonds: Angels Craft stone sticker

Vintage Clipboard

I'm so happy with how this clipboard came out. It has a pull-out hanger on the top so it can be hung on the wall as a decoration.

• 7Gypsies Junque Pack
• BoBunny Tick Tock die
• BoBunny Fancy Tags die
• Tim Holtz Idea-ology Butterfly design tape
• Melissa Frances Chandelier chipboard
• Melissa Frances Thin Chips
• Mod Podge Matte

Wishes and Dreams

I made this card for all of my Facebook friends. All of the paper elements (except the doily) are prints from Nitwit Collection's Friendship Collection. To make the sentiment, I added a background from the collection to a Microsoft Publisher document and overlayed a text box with the words. Then I cut them out and adhered them to the card with foam pads. The teacup and bouquet are also adhered with foam pads to give the card dimension.

Showcasing Eyelet Outlet

This card is made almost exclusively with products from Eyelet Outlet. They offer a huge selection of brads, eyelets, enamel dots, washi tap, and paper flowers. They have great show booths and I am always walking away with a big sackful of items. The products I used in this project are:

• Clock face washi tape
• Quicklets - pastel flowers
• Spring bubble brads
• Paper flowers - yellow
• Paper flowers - checked green & yellow
• Enamel dots

You can get all of these product at http://www.eyeletoutlet.com/. 

Published Works

Here is the card that I had published in the January 2018 issue of Quick Cards Made Easy magazine. I haven't been able to find it for sale in print in the United States yet, but I was able to get a Nook version. It's part of a feature called "Sketch Challenge" where they give 3 readers and 3 professional designers a sketch, or template, to design a card from.

Back to Scrapbooking

It's been a while since I have done any scrapbooking, but I decided to give it a try again. The top project is from my recent Girls Weekend trip to Bethlehem, PA with my BFF. The bottom project highlights my wonderful parents!

Out of the box

I have been trying to work on new and different types of projects rather than straight cards lately. Here is one of my recent projects made with all Fun Stampers Journey products. Used in this project are:

Project Me Prints - PP-0043
Picture Perfect Stamp Set - SS-0302
Pool Play Sparkle Tape - AC-0260
Journey Twine Licorice Twist - AC-0267
Candy Minis - AC-0135
Turbo Teal Silk - IP-0119
Journey Sequins Special Celebration - AC-0115
Whip Cream 8 1/2 x 11 Cardstock - CS-0040
Summer Days 8 1/2 x 11 Cardstock - CS-0033

All product are available on my website.