April's Artist Trading Cards

It's time once again to do a couple "catch up" posts!  I'll start off with the ATCs I've worked on this month.  

I think I explained what JAMs are in a previous post, but for those of you just now tuning in:  A JAM is a collaboration of three artists on a single card.  The first person usually provides the background and maybe an image; the second person works off of what the first person did and adds more details; and the third person finishes up the card however they see fit.

I was the third person on this JAM...

(Click on images to see them larger.)

... my contributions being the Wisteria Wonder baker's twine, the decorative corner, and the word Spring on Green Galore.  I'm really pleased with what the three of us (Lori, Chris and I) created!

Here's another JAM:

When I received these cards they looked complete to me, so I really had to put on my thinking cap to figure out what I could add to what Lori and Lyn had already done.  I decided the cards needed a thin frame of platinum shimmer paint and the turquoise "Imagine" banner.  Being third in a JAM is hard work!

I'm second person in this next JAM which is not yet completed:

Chris provided the paisley embossed Green Galore background, and I sponged over it with green ink to make the embossing show better, then added a bear, a sentiment, and a butterfly.  I'm really looking forward to seeing what Pat does to finish this up!

... and that's it for the JAMs for now.

I also signed up for two normal swaps this month, one of which was Winner Take All (the winner is determined in a drawing on the first of the month and gets to pick that month's theme) -- and Lyn's theme was Desserts.  I just couldn't resist the temptation to pull out my cupcake punch!

The bold colors include Melon Mambo, Tempting Turquoise, Green Galore, and Summer Sun.  It was a bonus that I could make this ATC entirely out of scraps!  The cupcake cups are embossed with Stampin' Up!'s Lattice embossing folder.

My last ATC for the month was Artist's Choice, and I decided to go with something simple this time:

The black is just the background I took the photo on -- there is no black frame on the original card (although now I'm thinking there should have been!).  I used a picture I found online and simply added a Dazzles border along the top and bottom, then added a Dazzles sentiment.  

I did do some regular cards this month, but I'll tell you about them in the next post.  I hope you're enjoying my ATCs, even if they're a little off the Stampin' Up! path.  The notecards I did this month are exclusively SU!

Smiles,

Joyce Spear (a.k.a. StamperJoyce)