Second set of July ATC’s

Clearly, I was in a watery mood this month as 3 of the 4 sets I put together had water in them! The first set was created using 4 Unity sets: Beach Girl, Border of Bells, Inspired Minds and Let It Go and FOCUS. I was inspired by a video I watched which treated napkins with baby oil to make them translucent and like a decal. I found a small shell designed napkin set discounted at Tuesday Morning that had pretty colors. I began by pulling the top layer of the 3 sheets off and coating each side lightly with baby oil. I let that dry for 24 hours before I stamped the sentiment on it. I ended up using a white pen to highlight the sentiment. I fussy cut the napkin paper. I took watercolor paper, mixed a sand color and watercolored the background first. After cutting up the page into ATC size, I then took my blue and brown inks out and started stamping waves at the bottom using the border stamp. I also stamped using a watered down white acrylic paint. I used a bluer color and the white paint to add splashes using the splotch stamp. I embellished it all with a white Posca pen. I attached the shell at the top and then stamped out the girl. I watercolored her, fussy cut her out and ended up making a pseudo dock to put her behind (using markers). I attached those and called it done.

With the second ATC, I finally moved away from the water theme. I picked up some cheap, pretty colored, flower petals I wanted to try on an ATC. I also picked up Heidi Swapp stencils half priced that I thought I’d try. I LOVE hummingbirds and have 2 feeders servicing about 8-10 hummingbirds on my patio right now. I enjoy them year round, luckily! So, I pulled out the Faith and Hope Unity kit and stamped a hummingbird that I would use as a mask. I used my stencil to lay down a red strip and, with moving the stencil, a yellow strip. I then stamped the hummingbird and sentiment in blue ink. I colored the butterfly using Brea Reese Glitter Inks. I then used another stencil I picked up to create branches. I used a glossy paste mixed with Tattered Angels Green Glitter Mist to lay down the branches. I definitely need to get better at stenciling as it is difficult to do this in a production line (stencil gets mucked up, I get mucked up, the craft sheet gets mucked up,... you get the idea!). I then turned to the petals that were yellow with a pink edge and I noticed that I needed to add a little more color to the ends. After that, I stapled 4 petals to each ATC and folded the top one over and adhered it to the back. These were then done, even if a little imperfect!

Tried a lot of new products this time! I’m really enjoying doing the ATC’s as it gives me a chance to play and develop some skills. Till next month... happy crafting!