Author: Catherine

UK Stampers forum have joined in with the new craze of Artist Trading Coins … and this month there is an anything goes swap where we make three coins for a swap partner. I decided to make mine into a set that were similar themes…

I started with this background using distress oxides, distress resist spray and some stamping.

Then I die cut three circles (and an ATC) from it…

Next I stamped and embossed the images I wanted to use from an Art deco set I got a few years ago from Creative Stamping Magazine. After heat embossing them I added colour using the same distress oxides and cut them out and added them to the coins.

Next I added sentiments and a little shading using a big brush pen. I decided they needed some more white so I also added the faux stitching using the white paint pen.

For a finishing touch they all got some wink of Stella on the main feature and then lots of dots of enamel accents which I think added some drama and tied in the black embossing and black sentiments.

Hopefully the recipient will like them too.

Happy crafting!

Catherine

Sorry I’ve been missing the last few days as been super busy at work and too exhausted to craft when I got home. But tonight I grabbed some me time in the craft room!

The theme for this month’s ATCs at UK stampers forum is red white and blue… and I decided on some magical themed cards.

I grabbed the first bit of red patterned paper I could find and tore that and then some blue denim coloured fabric and frayed the edges. Then I chose the wizard from the Magical Day stamps and coloured him with promarkers.

After die cutting him I then added Wink of Stella to his hat and robe and then added the highlight with white gel pen.

I finished off the edge of the white cards with a promarker to tie in the colour.

Then I stamped in white ink the little magic dust and added a dot of glossy accents to each to give them dimension.

Love how they came out … very different ATCs from my usual ones.

Happy crafting!

Catherine

This month’s inchies I used up a random gelli print as the background and mounted it onto the mountboard and then cut it into the 1″ squares.

Next I stamped and embossed with the Seth Apter Patina Oxide embossing powder a text circle from Finnabair. I then decided to edge all of them with the same powder.

Then I needed a bright contrast for the focal and chose to punch the butterflies from paper and spray it with Distress stain in picked raspberry. Then I stamped using distress oxides on the top and this gave a variance in the colour and on some the text is visible (but not on all). I mounted them and added a gem to finish off.

Love these grungey and funky inchies.

Happy crafting!

Catherine

Hello.

Time to make a start on the swaps for June… I had an ahead start on this as the background was done when I did a gelli printing session a few weeks ago… I printed onto book print which left a resist of the writing on the gelliplate that I then pulled off on the tag… although upside down! Lol!

Anyway I kept it pretty simple with the Tim Holtz wildflowers stamp and a Finnabair sentiment.

For finishing touches I added some enamel accents and bakers twine.

Love how simple this was but equally stunning with that gelli print happy accident as the background.

Happy crafting!

Catherine

Yes I know I’ve been sharing at lot of ATCoins recently but it doesn’t mean I don’t still love ATCs. So I am still doing the usual swaps each month too.

Here are what I made for the numbers theme for June over at Artful ATCs.

The first one is this painty piece which I added Hot Picks stamps in the background with ink and paint. Then I added the strip of paper with numbers and map references on. I had a rummage through my magazine collage papers and found this illustration I liked. I then added the sentiment.

Next I went for lots of texture. This started as a piece I had brayered off colour onto and then I added texture paste through a stencil. Once that was dry I added some white over it and then started adding colour with Distress oxides. I then used another stencil and sprayed distress resist through it. Then wiped the colour back again so this protected some of the colour under the resist.

Next I added more stamping and the Treasure Gold to add some shine and depth.

Then I rummaged in my Artful Days goodie boxes and pulled out the watch and the bingo ticket that I cut up to add the numbers to the top. I distressed one edge and added it to a die cut piece of the patterned cardstock.

Really happy with both of these and hope the recipient is too!

Happy crafting!

Catherine

This artist trading coin was made because I had some yupo on my desk and fancied playing with alcohol inks. I made the background first and let it dry and then added texture paste through a stencil.

Once that was dry I die cut the circle and then added more of the ink and included the gold mixative. This created a fabulous rich finish.

I sanded back the texture a little to see if that made a difference to the numbers… it did but only a bit.

I added the sentiment sticker but then I decided to sew the yupo to a backing piece of cardstock to make sure it stuck well.

Once I had done this I added the die cut flower and then stamped and die cut the bird from the petals palette stamp set. I used oxides to stamp and colour the bird.

I love how this came out and enjoyed playing with my alcohol inks and combining the different textures. And that gold mixative is fabulous!

Happy crafting!

Catherine

The theme for this month at the Postcard art swap group was flowers in my garden… well I don’t really have many of those so I’ve used some creative licence and used the flower from Butterfly Basics to add the floral element to this postcard.

I added the Tim Holtz tissue wrap and then gesso to the panel and then lots of brushos using the Matt medium to make them less reactive. I stamped in archival and coloured using the Brushos again. Then I added some subtle texture and pattern stamping too.

Next I added the glitter paste through a stencil to create the chicken wire type fence. I mounted the artwork onto some pale kraft cardstock I had stamped with hardwood to give it a frame.

Happy crafting!

Catherine

Hello… I made two more ATCoins just for fun and inspiration for the swap group I have started. These were using some mountboard I had added some paint and stamping to for another project and thought why not make another couple of coins… after all I am slightly obsessed with them at the moment.

After creating the painty stencilled and stamped background I added the Paperartsy Hot Picks stamps using Versafine and clear embossing. Just love how the texture underneath the bird is still visible in places.

So these were so simple to make… and pretty much followed the way of making the previous ones but with a simple single image rather than collaging.

If you fancy having a go at making these Art coins and want to swap … pop along and join the group over at Facebook to find out more.

Happy crafting!

Catherine