ATC

Hello friends...

Do you know what an ATC is? I bet you do... You've probably made some as a scrapbooker or crafter... or maybe not?

ATCs are Artist Trading Cards... it's like a miniature work of art. People create them in a 2.5" x 3.5" card using any media possible... All is allowed, the only rule is the size. It's like a little canvas to paint, draw, stamp, cut, glue, alter, emboss, embelish, etc... Most people trade them and collect as little artworks.

I read that the ATC started when in 1997 a Swiss artist created 1200 cards by hand as part of an exhibit. At the end of the exhibit the artist invited others to create their own cards to trade for the ones exhibited. Since then, "swaps" are held around the World.

I made these ATCs for a swap:



I used a white base and painted the edges with blue ink. I wanted to add something different to my ATC and why not a heart hanging from the card? (I remember one of my first ATCs had a hole... I loved it!). So I punched two little hearts and attached a cord in the middle of them to create the hanging embelishment. I glued it to the base before I placed the other layer so it stays in the middle of the two papers.

The patterned paper to place in top was distressed and inked. I stamped a damask and embossed with embossing powder and a heating gun. I also stamped a sentiment and then placed the paper on the cardstock base.

I added a strip with color and a jewel in the middle. I hope the girls in the swap like this ATC... I can't wait to see the ones they've made.

ATCs are made to collect... It's rare someone sells them but is also possible, but they are called Art Card Editions or Originals (ACEO).

ATCs need to be identified in the back. Basically your name, date, title and number if it's part of a series, are the most common details. Because I value who made the card and recognize them as artworks, most of the ATCs I have, I collect them and have them in this binder:

... But ATCs could also be used as part of a card...

Or you can use them as journaling cards or additional elements for your Layouts...

I guess you could also use them as tags in gifts, or just as embelishments for your projects.

If you haven't done an ATC ever... I invite you to do so. You are going to like the process. At first it could be tricky if you don't work with such a small space... but then you'll like it (and it's easier than to work "inchies"... but that would be another post)...

Thanks for keep visiting my blogs and leaving your comments. Have a great life!

(card base: Strathmore, patterned paper: Memory Stor, stamps: TAC, Studio 112, bling: DGI; shaped border: K&Co; heart punch: Creative Memories; inks: Stazon, Color Box, Studio G; fiber: Portafolia; glitter cardstock: Colorbok; embossing powder: Ranger; heat gun: Coloriser; adhesives: Aleene's Tacky Glue, Scotch)

More Love...

And there is always more love to give... and more understanding... and more patience... time... and care... When you think you have given it all... or that you don't have anything else to do, to think about, to care about... to come up with, more to be... There is always more. You are never done my friend. There is always more... there's always a bright side... Look for it.

But that was just a thought... Today, there are more cards. Some are cards I made before but have never posted, and some are recently designed... but they are all about LOVE...

Maybe you find one you like, or get inspired, or simply think it's too simple, too colorful, or not your style... It's ok... This is the chance to be imperfect... Just look at them and leave a comment. I appreciate them all.

Maybe you like this card with simple letters for the word LOVE with different paper scraps for backgrounds....

Or maybe this cutie with a gem...

These are details from a bunch of cards... maybe you can get inspired by looking at the colors and textures...

What about this? Do you want some glossy finish for your little heart? (sorry... big heart)...

It's a bunch of hearts!!!! Yeah!

Does this phrase remind you of someone? You + me = happy... Yes? Go make a card for that someone right now...

Aren't these buttons too cute? Love the different textures and patterns...

Here's the whole card.... Beeeeeautiful or not?

Here's a oldie... I made it a while ago... A more romantic look.. .but still full of heart.

Playful... Different pieces of papers...

And this one divided in four parts for a simple layout.

Hope you found these inspirational or useful somehow... Thanks for looking at my cards.... I HEART you for that...

Wherever You Go, Go with All Your HEART

Hello with love...

I'm back from my short trip and had a wonderful time! Thank you all for your wishes and nice messages.

This month is going very fast. Don't you think? It's almost February... a good month-excuse to talk about love...

A friend at work resigned and moved to Miami. Some did a small gathering to say good bye and wish her best. I prepared a card to show my love and best wishes... it turned out to be a sweet card and also very suitable for the St. Valentine's Day coming. It's one of those cards you can give to a friend, to a relative, to a loved one...



The concept idea of the message I wanted to give, was inspired by the message in this Unity Stamp.... "wherever you go, go with all your heart". So I was very sure I wanted to use lots of hearts...

I think this message is very strong because sometimes we go to places we really want to go, sometimes we have to be there even though it's not our choice or our priority, and sometimes we just happen to be somewhere... and the important thing is to put your heart in everything you do, see, share, listen, say and touch... It makes a difference in attitude, it makes a difference in the results...

Anyway, for the card I hand cut a large heart and also punched little hearts that I later finished with Glossy Accents. I also used a stamp that features three flowers with hearts, also from Unity.

A nice border was also punched to add a white strip to stand out the message at the bottom.

My friend really liked the card and I am sure she loves it was made specially for her.

I'm working on some more "LOVE" cards I'll share with you soon. And I also will participate in a local group ATC and Party Favor SWAP... so I hopefully will be sharing those with you too...

Have you started making LOVE cards yet? Do you have in mind a special project you want to tell me about?

I'd love to read your comments... Leave me a message.

Take care...

(card base, patterned paper: DCWV; stamps: Unity; cardstock: Bazzil; inks: Color Box, StazOn; heart punch: Creative Memories; adhesives: Fiskars, Scotch; border punch: Martha Stweart; miscellaneous: gel pens, Glossy Accents)

It's all in the package!

Hola!!!!



I am out of the island a few days... went to Miami for a business meeting and had my husband come with me to celebrate our anniversary... Yes, my wedding anniversary. I'd never combined business with pleasure but it was just a great opportunity for us to relax and have a little getaway!



So, if this scheduled post works well, you should be receiving this during the weekend...



I think I haven't told you how much I love paper piecing. I really have a lot of fun creating some shapes without any stencil, or recreating shapes from other things. It's just that it sometimes takes so long, and there are a lot of new and exciting tools that make that work so easy, that sometimes it's not worth it, right? But since I still don't have much of that technology, sometimes I like to go the old fashion way.



I wanted to share this little project I did with tea packages...



Let me explain step by step what I did...



First of all... I saw these tea packages in a hotel I was staying in Miami last month:



I am not a tea drinker so I had to read and inspect the package to realize what it was. I found them cute and cool to recreate... hahahahaha...

So I carefully de-assemble the package and put aside the herbs.

I placed it with the outter side facing the back side of the patterned paper / cardstock I chose to use for my project.

... used it as a stencil and outlined it, including the lines to be scored...

I cut it. Since when you outline from an existing shape, you are basically drawing the shape a little bit larger because you are outlining the outter side, I try to cut right in the line.

Then I scored what needed to be scored...

Separately I stamped and painted an image in a white piece of cardstock.

Since I wanted to imitate the original package leaf that came out from the top of the triangle, I bent the cardstock so when I cut the image I got another blank shape. This way I then had two pieces where to hide the ribbon I would use.

I secured the ribbon inside the already scored template, before putting it together... and that's it.

I did this first one with the Santa Claus face, then I did another one with solid red cardstock and added cotton to emulate Santa's hat.

And it ocurred to me these can be party favors filled with candies... or maybe confetti. What about hidden messages like in the fortune cookies? Maybe you can use them instead of table place cards in a party, and put the names instead of my Santa's face. Fill it up with scrapbooking little goodies... or use them as Xmas ornaments. Place dollar bills inside and give as money holders instead of using the traditional flat envelopes. What about hidden clues for a game? And if you use them for the 25 days of Christmas filled with little treats for each day? Wouldn't that be cool?

And this is not all... You can use these little pyramids as Birthday favors... simulating Birthday hats. Add eyes, nose and mouth to make faces... Easter bunnies, little buddies with hats, all in different colors...

Oh... the beauty of creativity. I am sure you can come up with lots of ideas to develop further.

Everytime I go to Marshall's or other places where to find kitchen goodies or treats, I love to look at the packagings to inspire for more ideas... Here are some other packaging I photographed and am sure you would love to imitate in your projects...

Hope you liked the inspiration... Make sure you don't throw any packages you might want to use to recreate or to help you finish up that idea you've had in your mind for a while.

Enjoy the rest of the weekend... and thank you for reading me...

Me, Myself and my Blog...

Well, well, well... How are you? Are you enjoying 2011 so far? January is a nice month... yeah, yeah... It's a fresh start for everything... It's in January that usually people start dieting, or implementing a resolution. It's a beginning of something... I've got married in January... 13 years ago... It's been very cool to be married... I am very happy... But I don't want to talk about marriage now... hehehe... Let's talk about being a blogger.

I was thinking the other day, that this January is also nice because I'm a blogger. Sounds crazy? I know... but it's cool for me knowing I am starting this year with the blog I said last year I was going to have...

It's been 6 months already and am very happy. Just 24 followers so far, but I like the idea of knowing someone is reading my posts, maybe getting inspiration, laughing about them, or just out of curiosity, they find them interesting.




I am a blogger. And it's cool. And if you know me, you know I had to put it in a layout.




I tried to express what being a blogger means to me... It's like I have a lot of things in my mind I want to say, but this is the internet... I have to be careful. Hahahahaha...


Being a blogger is about me, and also about others... the readers, other bloggers, the followers, all who is somehow touched by my blog.

It's about writing, expressing, explaining, describing, saying... Have fun while learning, sharing, and just be you...

The layout needed to reflect my imperfection... no simetry... human touch with handwriting... Since the page is about the blog, I used a photo of the computer monitor showing my first post... but the Basic Gray paper with the woman silhoutte is just perfect because is like I'm represented by it... and all the things in my mind with the paper design showing different symbols and shapes...

I liked the way I could use a portion of a packaging to interrupt the paper paper at left and adding interest and balance. The title is imperfect... different shapes and sizes of the letters... because being imperfect is one of the things I always mention in my blog.

So I hope you liked my layout expression of me being a blogger... and celebrate with me the first 6 months of Wine, Cheese & Scrapbooking blog.

Are you a blogger?

Why?

Tell me about it.

(patterned papers: Memory Stor, Basic Grey; cardstock: Bazzill; chipboard letters and shapes: Fancy Pants, Color Box; ribbon: KI Memories; ink: Color Box, Portafolia; pens: Sakura; stamps: Inkadinkado; adhesives: Scotch, Scrapbook Adhesives; bling bling: Heidi Swapp; stickers: The Girls Paperie; miscellaneous: portion of The Girls Paperie stickers pad packaging)

Last Project of the Year and Cheers!

Happy New Year's Eve!

Hope you are getting ready for the party tonight and to welcome a great 2011 full of surprises, happiness, love and much more.

Year 2010 was a pretty good year for me... different things happened... good and not so good... great and little... wished and unexpected... happy and sad... but all of them made me be the person I am now to receive 2011.

One thing that happened is that I decided to have this blog to express myself and share scrapbooking projects with you, my friends. Thank you for visiting my blog. I hope I can continue posting information relevant to your needs and interests... maybe it's a project, maybe just a word, and just something that makes you laugh... Please continue visiting me in 2011. Tell your friends about my blog... maybe they'd like it too.

And I hope 2011 becomes a great year for you too.



Let me share this last project of the year I made a couple of weeks ago. It's a very simple project. You just need a tin and according to the size of it, you make your project. I had this octagonal tin with lid, of about 7". I cut a circle to fit in and embelished to use as frame for a 6"x4" photo. It's like making a little layout for one photo.

I used chipboard and covered with patterned paper and embelished with Xmas details.




Before applying glue or adhesives to all, I made sure to include two ribbons between the two chipboard sides, and attached with brads. These would serve as handles for a wood stick as you can see in next photo.




It serves as a nice gift for someone. You can include a photo, or leave it without it so the person can place the desired photo.
Place all in the tin as a Xmas gift.




The models in the photo are a nephew and two nieces. Hope you like it!!!

(patterned paper: Basic Grey, Memory Stor; embelishments: Fancy Pants; brads: Portafolia; ribbon: EK Success; others: Adhesives, chipboard, Martha Stweart punch; wooden stick, tin)


And... because tonight you will need something to drink in a glass... I will tell you about this recently discovered sparkling wine... Well... should I call it champagne? Yes, It's from Champagne, France. And there are several things I like about this champagne.

#1: It's not expensive... we bought it for about $10...
#2: It's from France... Most say best champagnes are from France!!! There are great cavas (sparkling wines from Spain are called cavas; just the ones made in Champagne, France you can call it champagnes), and other sparkling wines I love... but it's France, the mother of them!!! hahahaha)
#3: It's not made from the traditional grapes used for sparkling wines, which are Pinot Noir and Chardonnay... It's from Tempranillo! Yes, you read it right... Tempranillo....
#4: Tempranillo is a grape most popular in Spain... it's like the national grape! But this delicious liquid in a bottle was made from tempranillo... in France... crazy crazy...

This champagne tastes a bit stronger than others in terms of body... without losing the refreshing and bubbling sensation of a great champagne... If you like sparkling wines, you should also try this one... If you like tempranillo you should definitely try this Veuve du Verney... I don't even know how to pronounce it, and maybe I'm not giving you expert tips about it... but believe me... it's good.




And... if you are looking for a cava for tonight... and you like rosé, try Segura Viudas... very economical too... you can find almost everywhere... and will never let you down.

Cheers!
Happy New Year!
Let's celebrate the joy of being imperfect and be proud about it!!!

:)

Ready to welcome 2011?

Woooo hoooo hoooo! It's almost 2011... Yes, it is. A new year is always a reason to be happy. You can make your new resolutions, plan for the future, be determined to change something... it means change, a new beginning, forgetting about the things you want to leave behind... It means time, growth, experience... it's life! It's like you have an opportunity to start again. It's like a mandatory date you use to measure your accomplishments and mark something in your life. Try to see your new year as an opportunity to be a better person. I'm sure you are already awesome, but you know... we can always improve this and that. After all, we are imperfect (and that's fun... but gives you the space for improvement)...

Try to think of all the things you've done... and those you still haven't! All you've said, and you have not... Become new with the new year.

Hope you have wonderful New Year's Eve and Day celebrations... and enjoy life.

And... change of topic. I wanted to share with you this layout about me and my dog. It's a very simple layout in terms of design and technique. However, it means a lot. And you know, it's only a dog... he doesn't know how to read... but I needed to express that I'm here for him. When he's sick, sad and in need to play with a ball... I'll be there. He's a very special dog and I have no doubt he's with us for a reason. This day I was kind of nostalgic and need to make sure it was clear I'm here for him... and I wanted to document the feeling.

So the journaling is written like I'm talking to Malbec, my dog-son, and I'm telling him: I'm here for you...

I really loved the way the tags looked and worked for the base for my journaling. I'm very glad I used them because I've had them stored for a while. I think those are part of the first things I adquired when began this hobby about 3 or 4 years ago. And now I've been the last 4 or 5 months determined to use materials I have instead of buying and buying new things. The tag in the middle was scored several times and then inked for texture. I also distressed the borders of almost everything in this layout... as much as I could. I also liked the way you can use a patterned paper for base in your favor. I think the swirl in the bottom left corner helps my page have some balance with the rest of elements.

Hope you like it...

Have you made a layout for your pet like you are talking to him/her? Tell me about it...

(patterned paper: My Mind's Eye, We R Memory Keepers; letters: American Crafts; cardstock: Bazzill; ink: Color Box; heart embelishment: Meri Meri Accents; adhesives: Scrapbook Adhesives, Scotch; pen: Sakura; miscellaneous: tags, scissors, trimmer...)