Let's Read!

A couple of weeks ago, the Teapot Tuesday challenge was inspired by The Sylvia Beach Hotel.  Check it out0 a very very cool place!!!  My card was inspired by the Mark Twain room.

I made this card 5" x 7" . I used Prima and Bo Bunny DP and a Rogue Redhead image. The images were colored using Copic markers. 

Have you been reading any books during the pandemic???

Thanks for stopping by!

Shelly

Burlap ATC swap

Before I left for Asia, I joined an ATC swap at RubberStamp Chat for Burlap ATC's.

 Inspired by a recycling cardboard segment on Creative Jumpstart 2014, I made these flowers and decided to use them for this ATC swap. I made grass and leaves with painted Burlap- which I learned from the Technique Junkies. The sentiment is Rogue Redhead. I added Stickles on the flowers and all around the edge of the ATC.

 I did NOT exchange this ATC, but wanted to try this technique from the segment as well...

 This one would have been too time consuming to make 9 of while I was trying to pack and get everything else done! But I love the look of this!

Here are the ATC's I recieved in return:

On the Lt- ATC by Pat H aka CritterPortrait on RSC
On the Rt, ATC by Jaimie S

 On the Lt- ATC by Alsmouse - the background is a beautiful metallic shimmer using Tattered Angels
On the Rt- CGStamper

 On the top- this one is not signed : ( but I will edit if I find out who made it.
On the bottom- Pat Hanbery #2  looks like painted burlap but using a stamp : )

On the Top- Diane M  'Burlap Catnap'
On the Bottom- ATC by Sheila-Rose aka Yankee 'One Eyed'

And a shimmery floral ATc from the hostess Deb Lovett.

I love the fact that I knew I would be receiving some really fun mail when I got home from traveling!

Hope you have been inspired!
 Shelly

UnRuly Glue ATC's

 Unruly PaperArts E-Zine is featuring ATCs this month (aka: formerly known as Gingersnaps).  I am joining in and showing how to create backgrounds for ATCs using glue as a resist.

 I first learned the technique of using glue as a resist in the Technique Junkies Newsletter (Distressed Glue Oct/Nov 2010 issue).

Supplies: School Glue - I used Elmers. PVC glue will also work.
White cardstock- I used Georgia Pacific- any cardstock will work- you can also used colored cardstock.

First you will apply glue to the white cardstock- use your creativity!  Here is how I added the glue:
Top row Lt to Rt- draw "U's" in rows, circle swirls, plain dots, dab on a dot onto the ATC and smear side to side with the end of your finger
Bottom row Lt to Rt- draw little circles, draw lines top to bottom and the zig zag side to side, random loose circles, the bottom one has waves at the bottom and clouds at the top.
 *You may need to gently swipe over the top of the background once you have applied color- carefully with a very slightly moistened paper towel or a baby wipe*. 

  More ideas- add a little glue to your fingers and swipe over bubble wrap. lay over the cardstock.
 Add a layer of glue drawn on in a grid over the top of another pattern- on the orange sample- you can see the side to side pattern under the grid.
Bottom row Lt- I used my fingers to add glue to a Rogue Redhead background stamp and stamped the glue on.
Bottom row middle and Rt ATC's on the  bottom row- I ran the cardstock through the Big Shot/Cuttlebug, then added glue to the raised embossing. Let it dry. Run the ATC background back through the embossing machine with NO embossing folder as many times as it takes to flatten down the embossing- add shims if necessary. When you add the Distress Inks, the glue will resist it and you will still have the embossing folder design on your cardstock.

 Take a punch and make a pattern- use a small strip of cardstock.  Apply the glue- beginning at the top through the hearts and move towards the bottom. Let it dry- apply distress inks.

 
I did try some backgrounds where I applied ink thickly and made patterns either with the glue or with different objects with uneven edges- these backgrounds are also cool- you cannot stamp images directly on those backgrounds because of the texture, but you could stamp an image and fussy cut it out and apply it to the ATC as an additional layer.

Here are some samples of ATC's made with some of the backgrounds shown above. All images by Rogue Redhead Stamps and all ink on the backgrounds is Ranger Distress Ink.

 The image is white embossed over the dot.bubble wrap background.

  I hope you enjoyed seeing how to use glue as a resist on ATC's- it would work on card backgrounds, Scrapbook pages and Art Journal pages as well.  I would love to see what you create!

Shelly Schmidt
http://shellymc2.blogspot.com/

Fun with Glue ATC's

My Monthly ATC group had a theme of Glue resist this month.  I had fun experimenting........ this is a long post..........

 I made a template with a small heart punch and added glue through the punched shaped hearts to the background (with regular Elmers Glue).....let it dry, applied distress inks.....  The stamps are Michael Strong and SU.

On this one, I just scribbled on the glue and let it dry- the image is House Mouse, and it is colored with Copics. There are 3 layers of bobbin and 2 of the mouse.


Next, I took glue and spread it over a piece of bubble wrap- and let it dry before applying the inks.

  This image is Sweet Stamps, the sentiment is Create with TLC.

 This image is Inkadinkado.

 These images are Rogue Redhead.

A collage image from an Unknown source. Obviously the background is dotted with glue. Sentiment is Rogue Redhead.

On this image, I painted the Geisha faces with glue, then applied Distress Inks over the top. Then, I dabbed the glue off the faces. The image is colored with Copics. The image is from About Art Accents.

On this ATC, I drew 'U's'. Image is Prickley Pear and it is colored with Copic Markers

 On this ATC, I just added the lines with glue then added Distress Inks. The image is an Unknown digital image and the sentiment- Create with TLC.

These images are by Rogue Redhead.

 On this ATC, I took the glue and dotted it on and then rubbed it side to side with my finger- once dry I added Distress Inks. The image is the same as the ATC above- I am not sure who created it.

On this ATC, I dabbed glue on the ATC and spread it around with a patterned frosting spreader. There is a background pattern from the glue and that is why you see streaks in the tree. I stamped the image twice and cut out the word Serenity and the house. The image is by Artistic Outpost.

Thanks for stopping by!
Shelly

ATC's- Monochromatic and a doll mingle

 Our ATC exchange this month was Monochromatic....... I took quick pictures and have to apologize...... they are a tad out of focus.......  I have already exchanged them. so cannot re-do the pictures.  I only have two of the bunch- blurry as they are - that I will post- the rest are way too out of focus......

 This is a retired SU set, a Chinese text in the BG and Technique Junkies Colorwash Alcohol for the BG. 

 These images are Rogue Redhead and the background is Acrylic Block taping by the TJ's.

Some of the ladies make all of the ATC's for exchanging alike, and some make them all different...... 

First, we make one ATC for a 1-4-1 exchange- mine is too blurry to post- here is the one I rec'd:

Made by Diane S. it has weaving in the BG- papers and ribbon, and a button in coordinating colors to finish it off.

Here are the remainder of the trades:

 

 Carol, our world traveler just returned from a Steampunk festival in London- and used an embossing folder she purchased there.

 Cindy made beautiful fall colored swaps- I chose this wonderful leaf themed ATC in Orange.

 Debbie is a collage artist- I picked a star themed ATC from her collection.

 Harriet made her swaps the same- but in different colors. The buttons (Michael's) all had Halloween themed pictures (spiders, etc......)

 The blues are from Mary (Lt) and Mari

 Next is Marci- a Halloween theme

Diane S made a collage background with DSP and topped it off with a shimmery pumpkin : )

And, Mary made a bonus for all of us- she is soooo sweet- for Halloween.

Mary spearheaded a 4" cloth doll mingle- each person made a carrying case for their doll, a journal and named their doll, then passed it on to the next person who worked on the monthly theme- add a skirt, add hair, add shoes, etc......and wrote in the journal. There are so many creative accessories and ideas!   I may have to join in next time........

From Lt to Rt- Carol had a Steampunk themed doll, Mari had a gypsy , Harriet had an Island girl theme, Debbie had a biker girl and Mary had a 5yr old........

Carols Steampunk doll and outside of her case:

 Maris gypsy doll:

Harriets Island girl:

Debbies Biker girl

 And, Mary's School girl:

Whew- that was long!

The Technique Junkies are celebrating their 10th Anniversary this month- ***giveaways daily***.....just saying. The fun is HERE on Pat Huntoon's blog. 

Have a wonderful day- and Thanks for stopping by!
 Shelly

Shimmery Floral Fun+China

Look familiar?  I used one of my ATC's from the calligraphy swap posted recently and paired it with a background called Opalite Smoosh (from Technique Junkies Feb/March 2005) . 

Image are from Rogue Redhead Designs.

We are just back from a trip to China. I wanted to share a couple of pictures.......cannot narrow it down.....

 

  Dinner in Shanghai with the Alcatel-Lucent group. This is just a small selection of all of the food we ate.  The shrimp was my favorite- it is a Shanghai specialty.  Ray liked just about everything......

   You have to know where you are going when you head out..........

 In Shanghai at the Yu'Yuan Gardens

 We went to West Lake in Hangzhou (outside of Shanghai) for a day:

  We took a boat ride with this young couple.

 Next, we were off to Beijing- and when we drove to our hotel- we saw blue skies and clouds in the sky- and stars at night- which is quite rare there! You will notice the haziness in the photo's- that is a regular sky everywhere we went.......

   
We climbed the entire wall at Badaling- that was quite a work-out. The wall is quite steep in segments.....we had perfect weather for a day of climbing the wall with a little bit of a breeze- which we really needed. In this picture- people are retreating to the shade for a break...!

 The next day, we toured all day again- here we are at The Forbidden City:

 

  We went to eat with Melissa Mack - she is teaching in Beijing. It was relaxing after visiting Tienanmen Square and The Forbidden City.

 We explored Ghost Street with Melissa- it is a long strip of this road with lanterns hung outside- alot of outdoor tables for eating and evening entertainment, as well as some good shopping.

 On our last day, we went to the Olympic Village and The Summer Palace with friends, then had a delicious Duck dinner at a local restaurant.

 

 This is my favorite landscape shot at The Summer Palace:

 And, last but not least- our friends from Beijing- Robinson and his wife and SIL at dinner:

 A wonderful ending to a fabulous trip!

Thanks for stopping by!
 Shelly