Masking ATC

I finished my ATCs for The Stampers Hut swap last night as they were due today, so I got them in just on time. This month's theme was "Masking". The ATC looks pretty basic, but did take a bit of time as there are three layers to the card. I stamped and embossed the lady first, then covered her over with a piece of paper cut to the exact size, I then stamped the barcode and covered that over with a piece of paper and then finished off with the final stamp, which is the script. I like the combination and was happy with how it all turned out.

I also finished all of my "gesso & magazine images" for the ATC Workshop #3 swap through ATC_World. They're not the best cards I've ever done, but it was the first time I've done this technique from Bernie Berlin's ATC Workshop and they're an experience. I ended up making 6 cards even though only 3 are required for the swap, because Pam & Kyla are also participating, so we're swapping with each other also ... the more cards the merrier I say.

I still have a set of ATCs due for the Live Swap tomorrow at The Scrapbook Cupboard, which I will be finishing as soon as I complete this post, as well as the "Stencil" ATCs for ATC_World, 3 ATCs for WTA Winners and my "zettiology" ATCs for the Advanced Artist Trading Card UK Yahoo Group swap that all need to be sent out on Monday ... I'm going to have a very creative weekend, luckily Ferg (dh) is in Sydney until sometime tomorrow, so I should get quite a bit done.

"The only way of discovering the limits of the possible is to venture a little way past them into the impossible."
~ Arthur C. Clarke ~

Beau @ 12 Weeks Old

Here's a few recent pictures of our beautiful puppy Beau. He turned 12 weeks old on Thursday, 23rd October and has gotten so tall and is much more agile now. We take him on a 30 minute walk most days and it doesn't come near to wearing him out.

He does the cutest thing when he wants us to throw the ball, he crouches or lays down on the ground and does not take his eye of the ball, then when we throw he shoots off and chases it. This is apparently what Kelpie's do when they're "working" the cattle or sheep ... it's amazing how this skill is inbred into them. Beau's not great at bringing the ball back to us yet, but he's getting there ... we're trying to bribe him with food to drop the ball when he gets to us.

The last photo is Ferg & I giving Beau a bath in the laundry ... he doesn't like it at all. We've got a real "tick" epidemic at the moment, so we're washing Beau and checking him everyday. Two out of the three other dogs we have on the property (not including Beau) have now had two ticks removed each in the last 2 days. These things can kill a full grown dog in no time.

Three things in human life are important. The first is to be kind. The second is to be kind. And the third is to be kind.
~ Henry James, 1843-1916, American-born Author and Literary Critic ~

A new ATC

I started and finished my ATCs today for the Addicted to Scrap Swap that I'm attending on Thursday. This month's theme was "PINK", so rather than just do a "pink" card, I decided to have "Pink" the singer as the focal point of my ATC. I used the emboss resist technique for the background and started with a base layer of Making Memories Rose Petal glaze, I then stamped music notes and embossed in clear and the final layer is painted with Making Memories Capri acrylic paint. I then stuck the picture down and added a small strip of Pink German Scrap along the bottom.

I think this is such a cool photo of Pink, not to mention that I love her music and style.

You can begin right now to feel healthy. You can begin to feel prosperous. You can begin to feel the love that’s surrounding you, even if it’s not there. And what will happen is the Universe will correspond to the nature of your song.
~ Rev. Dr. Michael Beckwith ~

PaperArts Home Page

I decided to log onto the PaperArts Yahoo site today to thank Barb Thomas for sending all the various shaped and sized Punchinella / Sequin Waste, and was pleasantly surprised to see that my "Confection-Fairy" ATC that I made for the Weird & Wacky Wings swap was selected as the Home Page Art. The card will only be there for a week, so feel free to check it out - http://groups.yahoo.com/group/paperarts/. If you happened to have missed it, here's a picture of the Home Page anyway:

"I have learned, that if one advances confidently in the direction of his dreams, and endeavours to live the life he has imagined, he will meet with a success unexpected in common hours."
~ Henry David Thoreau ~

My first Zetti ...

Here's a pic of my first Zettiology or Zetti ATC. I was inspired to give this technique a try as I have an upcoming swap at The Scrapbook Cupboard with the theme "All About Me" and the Advanced Artist Trading Card Yahoo Group in the UK has a Zetti Swap coming up in November and I'm itching to get a few Zetti's in my collection. Sharon McCallister referred us to Teesha Moore's web-site, which is phenomenal, as well as a Tracy Moore's website for inspiration. My ATC is not too abstract, but I think it's ok for a first attempt.

"Tell me and I forget. Teach me and I remember. Involve me and I learn."
~ Benjamin Franklin ~

Punchinella & Pay-It-Forward

I received another Pay-It-Forward ATC in the mail today from FranSkoog in Arizona, USA. This takes my total Pay-It-Forward cards received to 18. The card looks like it's been embossed with an image and has a dictionary definition of "art", then various coloured alcohol inks or acrylic paints on a transparency and the transparency is cut up into various shapes overlapping each other, and finally a stamped butterfly on a transparency. It's a really interesting technique and must have taken quite a lot of time ... I love it.

I received some wonderful gifts in the mail today with another envelope from Barb Thomas through the PaperArts Yahoo Group containing a whole bunch of Punchinella / Sequin Waste. I received four different sized circles, two different sized stars and moon shapes and one that has had numbers punched out ... I'm going to have so much fun playing with all these different stencils.

I've been playing with some of the Bernie Berlin techniques for the ATC_World ATC Workshop Swap. Here are a couple that I thoroughly enjoyed playing with, the first one is Magazine Paper and the title of this card is "Eye Door Ewe" (I adore you) and the second one is Gesso and Magazine Images ... I'm really enjoying these ATC Workshop swaps, they're really stretching me outside my comfort zone.

I've also done my first zettiology or zetti ATC for an Advanced Artist Trading Card Yahoo Group swap in the UK ... when it's finished, I'll post a pic ... I'm having fun with it though.

Never apologize for showing feeling. When you do so, you apologize for truth.
~ Benjamin Disraeli, 1804-1881, British Statesman and Prime Minister ~

Another RAK

I received another ATC in the mail yesterday from Linda Baldock, a very talented artist in New South Wales ... in fact she lives about 5 minutes from where my parents live ... such a small world. Linda has a wonderful blog if you'd like to check it out - http://atclindab.blogspot.com/. The scan of her card didn't come out very well because it's lumpy bumpy, but take my word for it, it's wonderful. The background is embossed in gold and then there's a little metal placque with wire and beads threaded through it ... I love it.

The other day I posted a message to the girls on the PaperArts Yahoo Group asking where I can buy Punchinella / Sequin Waste in Australia. Next thing I know Elizabeth Harms has sent me a huge amount of the stuff, with large holes in it. It's great as I can now share it around with the local girls so they can use it to stencil backgrounds on their ATCs. It also helps me to have a play with some background techniques so I can participate in the ATC_World Yahoo Group ATC Workshop Swap #3 based on Bernie Berlin's book. Some people are so incredibly generous ... I'll have to make a special ATC in return.

A moment's insight is sometimes worth a lifetime's experience.
~ Oliver Wendell Holmes, Jr., 1841-1935, American Jurist ~

More Puppy Pics

Beau has grown so much in the four weeks that we've had him. He's now 11 weeks old and his legs have gotten really long - today he tried to run under our bed and hit it, so had to duck to get back out and he can now jump up onto our couch unaided. Our back yard looks like a war zone ... every toy conceivable has been chewed and is lying around. Here's a few updated pics ... he's still the cutest looking dog.

Beau @ 8 weeks - loves chewing on Ferg's old socks; Cheeky face

Beau @ 10 weeks - Are you trying to tell us something Beau? loves bottles

Cuddles with Di & Ferg

Puppy School - Beau 10.5 weeks was made an example off as he couldn't stop barking

Beau @ 11weeks having a tug-of-war with Alexis - he will not give up

He's such an angel when he's asleep

Write down the advice of him who loves you, though you like it not at present.

~ English Proverb ~

Random Act of Kindness (RAK)

I received in the mail 2 RAK ATCs from Manda in The Netherlands on Friday. It's amazing how generous some people are in the world. I had admired the bird ATC sometime ago on Manda's Blog (http://mandjara.startbewijs.nl/) and the other ATC was a lovely surprise. As my ancestry is Dutch, it's so nice to have some ATCs from my parents' home country in my collection. Receiving these ATCs really made my day ... amazing how such a small piece of art can cheer a weary heart.

"I expect to pass through this world but once. Any good therefore that I can do, or any kindness that I can show to any fellow creature, let me do it now. Let me not defer or neglect it, for I shall not pass this way again.'"
~ William Penn1644-1718, Religious Leader and founder of Pennsylvania ~

ATC Update ...

I have managed to complete two ATCs since my previous post. This one is called "Enchanted", which I made for the Live Swap Meet at The Scrapbook Cupboard and I've used an image that was sent by Carrie Rees from the Pay It Forward. As much as I'd like to take the credit for the gorgeous background, I actually purchased these through Linda Baldock's blog - Madjak Designs, an amazing artist in New South Wales who happens to also be part of the PaperArts Yahoo Group that I'm a member of. I was running out of time to get some cards done for the Live Swap, so it was incredibly handy to have some ready made backgrounds and an image that was sent to me.

The next ATC is for the Angel Swap at The Scrapbook Cupboard and I'm guessing most people will be doing pretty white angelic cards so I decided to do a dirty "Fallen Angel". The background is Paint on Paper Towel, which was actually what I had underneath other paper towels I was painting, so there's loads of different colours all through it. I placed a canvas stamp over the top of the background to tone it down a bit. The wings are a stamp I bought through Stampers Anonymous and they are inked in grey and embossed in black. I've coloured some blood on the girl with a watercolour pencil. I only just finished these cards today and they're due tomorrow ... I'm really only just making the deadlines of these swaps.

Beau, our puppy, is getting bigger everyday and I'm enjoying spending time with him. We're off to the second week of puppy school tonight and hope that he'll stop barking long enough for us to hear what the teacher has to say. There are about 10 puppies there and Beau is all bark and no bite. At the end of the session the dogs get to "play" with each other for about 10 minutes and Beau sits behind our legs and barks at all the other dogs, rather than play ... Ferg thinks we should take him to "pussy school" instead of "puppy school". He gave us a fright last night, we usually bring him in while we're watching tv and then we put him outside to sleep later, but last night he kept whimpering and whining. We thought that maybe the 30 minute walk we went on with him yesterday might have been too much, but then he threw up in his bed and after that was fine, so had an upset tummy. This morning when I was cleaning the towel he spewed on, I noticed he'd eaten half a dead cane toad ... we're lucky he didn't die. I noticed this morning he was chewing on the cane toad's head and promptly threw it away ... I have no idea where he got it from, he's locked up in our back patio area all day and when we take him out for a walk, we're always with him ... so it's a mystery. I'll post some pictures tomorrow, need to download them off my camera.

Use soft words and hard arguments.

~ English Proverb ~

Another Pay-It-Forward ATC

I received a beautiful ATC from Carrie Rees in Michigan USA today as part of the Pay-It-Forward concept. I love anything with wings and the image Carrie used is beautiful, not to mention the colours and the text on the paper in the background is fabulous. If you want to check out more artwork by Carrie, please feel free to visit her blog - http://pinkadoo.blogspot.com/.

I now have 17 Pay-It-Forward ATCs and am so amazed by the quality of the cards received. I never expected to receive so many wonderful creations, I'd hoped that I would receive at least 6 ATCs covering what I'd sent out ... I am so grateful for what I have received.

"Whatever we are waiting for - peace of mind, contentment, grace, the inner awareness of simple abundance - it will surely come to us, but only when we are ready to receive it with an open and grateful heart."

~ Sarah Ban Breathnach, Author of Simple Abundance ~

A new ATC

I was due to hand in my set of 10 ATCs for the Stamper's Hut swap yesterday (last day of the month) and realised last night I hadn't even made them (I was too caught up with all the lovely ATC Workshop backgrounds). So I stayed at home today instead of going scrapping at Scrapbooks Etc in Underwood to start and finish my Russian themed ATCs.

Considering how quickly I finished these ATCs off, I'm really happy with how they turned out. I found a map of Moscow through Google Earth and that became the background; I found a photograph of Red Square and printed it on a transparency, so you can see the map through it; I typed up a dictionary definition of Moscow, stuck this down one side and sewed it onto the card; and lastly I added a photo of a modern Russian soldier to finish it off.

The real voyage of discovery consists not in seeking new landscapes but in having new eyes.
~ Marcel Proust, 1871-1922, French Novelist/Essayist/Critic ~