Muse Token ATC

I found this gorgeous distressed green paper and decided to take a chance with creating an ATC in a pale green color. It was quite a leap but I was willing to try it. I used the Simple Things stamp by Stampendous. I embellished the ATC with a torn light blue paper, a green ribbon and a Tim Holtz muse token. Then I finished up the card with a Tim Holtz mini paper clip. I think this one looks kinda trendy, a sharp contrast to my vintage ATC. I really had fun making this one.

Tea and Lace ATC

I took weeks to plan this ATC. Searching my local fabric and notions stores for the perfect lace and then trying to find adhesive pearls to go with it. At the end, it came out exactly like I imagined. This ATC was created in the vintage style, my favorite style when making ATCs, thus far. It includes a vintage image of a girl surrounded by a tea cup, pitcher, lace, and vintage fabric napkins. I rolled the edges for some texture. Then I added a strip of lace with a Tim Holtz mini pin attached to it. I attached some adhesive pearls and used distress stickles to make the design at the corner. Lastly, I finished off the card by distressing the edges.

Another Graphic 45 ATCs

This one was most fun to make because it has a special meaning to me. I just had a baby girl and my ultimate goal in life is to inspire her. This ATC is made with Graphic 45's Baby to Bride papers, lots of distressing, acrylic paint, and some grungeboard wings. I submitted this ATC for a swap on the All Things Tim group for a challenge themed Spring Pastel Colors. I think it came out just adorable.

Butterfly ATC - Graphic 45

This is the second ATC I made at the Coral Springs Craft Guild ATC meeting. I just love butterflies and the Graphic 45 papers had these beautiful die cut embellishments that I fell in love with. I finished off the card with some punched butterflies and inked everything for just the right look and feel. I just love this card and I gave it to the biggest butterfly-lover I know, my co-worker Tania.

Artist Spotlight: Liz Walters

Liz Walters is an amazing stamper and fellow fan of Tim Holtz. She has been stamping since 1996 and has the good fortune of being a personal friend and neighbor to Tim Holtz for almost 20 years. We are so proud to spotlight her today here on our site.

INTERVIEW:

How I got started stamping. :
I started stamping after "being roped into" going to a SU party. I was hooked. I became a SU demo mostly to "keep up my habit". I was working full time as a RN, specializing in Labor and Delivery so my free time to be a demo was slim. I stopped being a demo and sometimes really miss it. It was a few years of only buying Stampin "up before I learned that there were "other stamps" besides SU. My friend Cara taught me how to stamp "outside the box" and a new world opened up to me. Tim Holtz is my friend and neighbor and we've known each other for over 15 years, way before he was a stamper. Once he learned to stamp he taught me so much. That was way before I had to pay for his knowledge!! All kidding aside...I love that man and his mind is always bursting with creativity. He is an inspiration and he told me that investing in Ranger products was the way to go and to this day I love all things Ranger.

Stamping Style:
I rarely do "cute" and I love the grunge type stamping that Tim has introduced to so many. I try to incorporate beeswax, gesso, acrylics and most all the different mediums into my stamping. I love to do a variety of styles and am always trying something new.

Published in:

* The Rubberstamper
* Vamp Stamp News

Stamp Preference: Mounted and Unmounted

Favorites:

* Rubber Stamp Company: Toy Box, Stampers Anonymous, Hero Arts, Tim Holtz, MaVinchi, Innovative Stamp Creations, Hearts in Touch, Paper Bag Studios, Tin Can Mail, Time to Stamp, Art by Moonlight, Chapel Road, Lazar Studio Werx Inc, Invoke Arts, Rachel Greig, Stamp Camp, Stampington and Co, Magenta, Rubber Romance, BeesWax, Rubbernecker and so many more that I can't think.
* Rubber Stamp Magazine: All of the Somerset Studio mags.
* Favorite Stamp: Sarah from Stampington & Co. R3150 (she looks just like me when I was 17!!)



Liz was kind enough to document how to make these beautiful rose flowers that Tim Holtz taught her to make out of GrungePaper. Click Below to download a copy of the instructions and feel free to share what you make by commenting below and writing in a link to your photos.

 GRUNGEPAPER ROSES INSTRUCTIONS

Plunging into ATC

In my city there is a group called the Coral Springs Craft Guild who meet once a month to participate in crafy activities. I found out that they were meeting this months to make ATCs and I decided to join in.

Before the meeting the Craft Guild posted some links to sample ATCs and I started looking around at some amazing work that people around the world have made. I was particularly drawn to the vintage style ones that look just amazing. Here are some inspiring links to share:

B-Muse
Art-Cards
CedarSeed

It was the most fun to attend the ATC making event and I got to meet some wonderful people. I brought with me some papers from Graphic 45, a company that my friend Gine introduced me to. These papers are just the right vintage look that I wanted for my next ATC.

So at the event I made this ATC in mostly red. With a tag from Graphic 45's botanical line, some vintage buttons that I cut out from Graphic 45's fashionista line and layered dimensionally, various vintage writing papers, and a few additional embellishments that the group shared. I inked mostly everything for that vintage feel. All together, I feel very proud of it. I think I've come a long way since my first ATC.

My First ATC

Definitely my favorite part about papercrafting is the social aspect of it. Scrapbooking is at its best when I am surrounded by all my friends as we ask for each other's advice on color coordination or embellishment selection and then "ooh" and "ahh" at each other's final project.

Then I learned about ATCs (Artist Trading Cards) where you make a collage out of anything on a small playing card sized cardstock and then trade them amongst other artists. My favorite part is that they are so quick to make and in no time you can feel proud about your latest creation. Then you get to trade them and show off what you made, what fun! This was an even more social aspect of papercrafting and something I felt drawn to right away.

I recently joined a Tim Holtz fan club group and chose to participate in my very first ATC swap with my fellow Tim Holtz fans using Tim's techniques and any of his products or the Ranger product line. My favorite products are the Ranger Acrylic Paint Dabbers and chose to use those to make my first ATC card. The theme of the swap was contact information, so this card has information about me and my blog.

I used Acrylic paint on the ATC background. Die cut some corner embellishments, medallion circle, and swirl and then used Acrylic paint on those as well. Finally I printed out my contact information and an Ibis bird image for the focalpoint and gave those an acrylic paint treatment as well. And I proudly submitted a set of these for exchange.

When I got back the ATCs that the other artists had made, I realized just how amazing these artists are and that there are so much more possibilities when making ATCs. This group is truly inspiring and my next ATCs will need to step up a notch, in my opinion, lol! Looks like a personal challenge I'll enjoy. Practice makes perfect, they say. I can't wait to try some new ATC styles and techniques!

Check out Croppinsville.com!

Hello friends! I just wanted to hook you up with the best deals on the latest products. Visit a site called Croppinsville. The owner Allie is just a sweetheart and they always make me feel extra special when I order online. The best part is that they have frequent updates of new product and frequent promotions with markdowns and/or free shipping, so check back often!

This week they are offering blog candy (free stuff giveaway on their blog) and calling for guest designers to feature on their blog. Just leave a message on their blog for your chance for free stuff! Here's the link: CROPPINSVILLE BLOG

Some fading and some not

I was a bit disappointed with my ornament experiment. Primarily with the STAZON inks. After having this ornament hanging from my car in the hot florida sun, the STAZON ink just would not stay on! By 6 weeks in the sun it was significantly faded and by eight weeks in the sun there was nothing left of my stamping. The acrylic ornament itself has warped just a little but that's not too bad. And the Prima Say it with Crystals only started falling after 6 months and that was after the baby rubbed them. The Super Seal did wonders with the photographs, they have not faded at all and still look great. The star performer of my little experiment is the Perfect Paper Adhesive liquid adhesive. It has held everything down just perfectly and nothing shows any signs of starting to peel. That stuff worked perfectly!