ATCs Created in September

I had a lot of fun making last month's Artist Trading Cards, both because I liked the themes and because I needed a break from making Christmas cards.

ATC 1:  Fairies

I was rather surprised to find that I don't have many fairy stamps, or if I do they're in hiding.  I jumped for joy when I found this stamp of a fairy riding a butterfly!  I stamped it using a multi-colored pigment ink pad and embossed with iridescent ice embossing powder, giving it a sparkly shiny and oh so pretty effect when the light hits it.  I added some colored bling to finish it off, and then gave some serious thought to keeping it for myself instead of sending it to my swap partner... and then decided to mail it off anyway.

ATC 2:  The Cat's Meow

I'm a big fan of the critters drawn by Sandra Boynton, especially the cats, and this was the perfect opportunity to blow the dust off my Boynton stamps and have a little fun with them!  I really admire the recipient, so the handwritten "You are the Cat's Meow" fit perfectly.

ATC 3:  RAK (Random Act of Kindness)

Yep, that's the same design as the ATC above it; I just used a different image and glittery designer series paper.  The recipient cracks me up whenever she sings Ta-Daaa!, so I couldn't resist making this for her!

ATC 4:  Mystery Image(s)

(Click on picture to see it larger.)

For the Mystery Image swap, we usually get four identical images stamped in waterfast black, but this month our hostess decided to switch things up and sent her images stamped in the six new Tim Holtz distress colors.  I rolled with it and decided to make a series of ATCs instead of all identical ones.  As you can see, the layout is the same, and I've just switched out backgrounds and colors.  I really like how they all turned out.

ATC 5:  Sketch #2

Here's the sketch we were supposed to use in creating this ATC:

and here's how I modified it to meet my needs:

I didn't want to break one of the basic rules of design and have the cat looking off the card, so I just switched the focal point to the other side.  The three candy dots were the perfect finishing touch.

I'm taking a bit of a break this month from ATCs since my energy is going primarily to finishing up my neighbor's order of 50 unique Christmas cards.  I'm sure I'll be back to making ATCs in November.

Time to put on the holiday music, roll up my sleeves, and see if I can make another dent in the Christmas card project!

Merry Smiles,

Joyce Spear (a.k.a. StamperJoyce)