Cardz 4 Galz: ATCs

Good morning everyone, and Happy New Year!  This week's challenge at Cardz 4 Gals is ATCs (Artist Trading Cards).  Those of you who have been following me for a while will know that I used to make LOTS of ATCs, but I haven't been making them regularly for quite a while, mostly due to lack of time.  My desk is in a corner of the living room, so if I make a mess I also have to clear it up.  As card making is generally less messy I tend to mostly stick to that now.

I decided to make a set of 3 ATCs.  It was great fun to make them after such a long time, and it also gave me the opportunity to use some of my Christmas presents, the Crazy Cats Stamps by Tim Holtz.  I made the backgrounds using Distress Spray Stains and mica sprays with stencils, experimenting with different colours until I liked the effect I had.  I then added some stamped writing, which I stamped with Distress ink, and added some distress ink around the edges of the ATCs.  I stamped the cats directly onto the ATCs to start with, because I didn't want to have to try and cut out the whiskers.  Then I stamped the cats onto a separate piece of card and watercoloured them with Distress Inks.  I then cut them out (excluding the whiskers) and carefully stuck them onto the ATCs.  I added some black and white lines around the edges of the ATCs using pens, as I think this really makes the bright colours stand out.

The fish skeletons on the middle card are hand drawn.  There is one that comes with the stamp set, but I wanted them to both look a bit different so I drew my own.  The final step in these ATCs was to add a little bit of Glossy Accents to the cats' eyes to make them shine.

I realy love working with bright  colours, so these were a lot of fun to make.

I hope you can join us at Cardz 4 Galz, and I look forward to seeing everyone's creations!

Sian.