Claire Selby Lord of the Rings ATC Swap August 2011

I’m celebrating the Lord of The Rings extended edition Blu-ray Release with an ATC, Artist Trading Card, Swap! I hope you will play along with me, I got to make my ATCs  using my Lord of the Rings ATC kit and some of my For sale items! Here is how to participate:

1) Email Me to let me know you are going to participate, you may make 1 set of 4 cards or 2 sets of 4 to swap.

2) Make 1 set of 4 Artist Trading cards 2.5″ by 3.5″ with the Lord of the Rings theme, you will get back 3 ATCs, I keep one to photograph and share here on pinkdilla

3) Postmark date is Monday, August 8th 2011, Email me for my mailing address, and Include a self addressed label with your package

4) Only original artwork No Photocopies Please and NO Orcs, Goblins or Gollums. Thanks

A few words about ATCs;  Make sure to put your contact info like email address, name, date and blog on the backs of your cards. Most artists like to enclose their cards in a plastic sleeve or atc size bag this is a nice feature, but optional. You may use Fabric or textiles for your cards. Please respect all copyrights and only use free for Personal use images or original trading cards. This is a free swap open to Us and Canadian Residents. Please Check out my For Sale Items to get some ideas of ATC supplies or to Purchase a Lord of the Rings ATC Kit.

[Show as slideshow]

[Show as slideshow]

Claire Selby Lord of the Rings ATC SWAP August 2011

Pinkdilla Lord of the Rings ATC Swap background demo

For those who have wondered where to start when making ATCs or for someone looking for a new technique here is my Easy to Make backgrounds for Artist Trading Cards. I have been inspired by the release of the Lord of the Rings extended edition movies to Host my First ever Pinkdilla Swap! This will be a Lord of the Rings theme, I will post all of the info with photos coming soon. I covered my work surface with Tim Holtz’ craft sheet and have taken some of my extra Lord of the Rings trading cards to demonstrate with, they are the exact size of ATCs, 2.5″x3.5″.

First, I lightly hand sanded with fine sandpaper on the fronts of the cards to take away the glossy finish, (You don’t have to sand away all of the ink or down to the paper, just the glossy finish).

Pinkdilla Lord of the Rings ATC Swap demo sanding

Pinkdilla Lord of the Rings ATC Swap demo finished sanding

Next, I generously covered one of the sanded cards with Claudine Hellmuth’s Studio medium in glossy with a paint brush. I used background paper from my Lord of the Rings ATC Kit to cover the card with. Firmly press down the paper from one edge and then slowly press out any air bubbles all the way to the opposite edge.I place my card on a paper towel to dry under a very heavy book, I use a huge Bible for 2-3 days to make sure the cards are dried and flat.

Pinkdilla Lord of the Rings ATC Swap demo Studio medium adhesive

Pinkdilla Lord of the Rings ATC Swap demo paper background

Pinkdilla Lord of the Rings ATC Swap demo pressing out air bubbles

For the second card, I liberally applied Gesso to the top of the card. I let it air dry 15 mins and then placed under a heavy book to dry for 2 days

Pinkdilla Lord of the Rings ATC Swap demo applying Gesso

Pinkdilla Lord of the Rings ATC Swap demo liberally apply Gesso

Once the Gesso is dry I used Twinkling H2Os in rainbow and watercolor paints to cover the card, it only takes a wet paintbrush and no water to make the H2Os and the watercolors vibrant, thick and creamy.

Lord of the Rings ATC Swap demo Twinkling H2Os

Lord of the Rings ATC Swap demo Twinkling H2Os

For my third card I used paper from my Lord of the Rings ATC kit and pieced paper around the pretty sky scene using the Studio Medium adhesive in glossy. Let dry for 2-3 days under a heavy book for the best results. I have 2 Arwen and the Elves Kits available and 2 Men of the rings kits available they are $12 each and included several cards and several ATC papers all ready to be decorated! Have fun making backgrounds and don’t forget to come back for the Swap Sign up!

Lord of the Rings ATC Swap demo pieced paper background

Lord of the Rings ATC Swap demo pieced paper background

Men of the Rings ATC making Kit $12

Arwen and the Elves of the Rings ATC making Kit $12

Men of the Rings ATC making Kit $12

Arwen and the Elves of the Rings ATC making Kit $12

I had such a great time playing with the watercolors and making the mermaids for these Mermaid ATC Swap cards for the Art Chix Studio Mermaids and cats swap.  My cards originally started out monochromatic but soon I started adding accent and complimentary colors so they all ended up with a little blue and green on each card but with some more purple, orange or red. If you want to see my background demo check out my earlier post HERE.

It’s June already and I’m trying to play catch up with all of my picture taking and blog posts. For this month I wanted to share 2 new cards I made with little hand stamped tags. The first is a blue notecard with my handmade paper and a cute little moth eco shape from Art Chix that I covered in cotton fabric. The second card “Love Grows”  is a sweet baby girl card with vintage pink ribbon and a little baby egg hatching also from Art Chix.

I have been playing around with my watercolors for the upcoming Mermaid ATC Swap by ARt Chix Studio for next month. I used a wet on dry technique for the backgrounds and then used Claudine Hellmuth’s Studio Medium in Glossy to adhere the vintage papers and Transparencies.  I love this medium under transparencies and I’m so glad I found it! I just wanted to show the backgrounds before they get decorated and covered up. That’s the thing about backgrounds, you usually don’t get to see the whole thing once it is finished.