Collaged ATCs

My friend Linda completed The 100 Day Project this year, and then she made her beautiful collection of Artist Trading Cards into groups of three and started a swap. Of course I was excited to participate! I made three "Flower Girl" ATCs and used Wendy Vecchi's Essential Envelope die set from Spellbinders' Not Your Ordinary Card Collection to make a pocket for them, and the Pinking Edge Birthday Add-On to create a coordinating tag.

These ATCs have LOTS of layers, including: Kanada text paper from India; a map of Manhattan; vintage flower illustrations from a children's book; tiny sewing pattern ladies and some found text from a beautifully patina-ed kiddo's chapter book.

Each ATC is backed with vintage Chinese text paper fused onto plain white cardstock (for extra strength and solidity) where I've written the name of the series as well as my signature.

I used a few older gel prints and some additional coordinated collage items to create the Essential Envelopes pocket as well as the Pinking Edge pull-out layered tag.

I love the way the coordinating pocket and tag not only keep the ATCs safe and secure, they also make them look and feel like an official SET!

These are the first ATCs I've made and traded in quite some time, but I think they've gotten me re-hooked on this fun format! ♥

Happy Halloween

Couldn't resist making just one more PURR-fectly adorable Halloween Card using the sweet kitty mascot in Wendy Vecchi's Halloween Add-On Stamp and Die set (from her latest Spellbinders' release: NOT Your Ordinary Card Collection!)

I diecut the cat from some very cool sticky-back wool felt sheets (<-- that's a link to them; they come in lots of other colors too!) which Wendy was kind enough to share with me, so IRL, he's just the tiniest bit furry, which is obviously even more awesome. 

I used the Essential Envelope die to make a pocket which holds a pull-out card created with the Pinking Edge Birthday Add-On; adorned with more candy corn, spider web and spider diecuts from the Halloween Add-On and the "Happy Halloween" sentiment, as well. I used the "Boo" sentiment to stamp some cotton ribbon which works as a pull for the tucked-in greeting.

All the sets are very generous, and each has a lot of extra "accessories" that can be combined in many different ways to make your projects unique. Because Wendy really is a crafter as well as a designer, she's thought of the details we need: like making a separate solid base for the cat and the candy corn... making it easy to add the details to a surface rather than trying to just assemble them all on a finished card. BTW, if you're not catching the Tip Tuesday series via Wendy Vecchi's Instagram Feed or the awesomely inclusive Make Art with Wendy Vecchi Facebook Group, you're really missing out on great info, inspo and ideas!  

The Build-a-Plaid Layered Stencil Set remains one of my FAVORITE elements, especially when used with Wendy's Designer Series Archival Inks from Ranger. In this case, Pink Peony, Peachy Keen, Sunflower and Goldenrod.

I'm linking this up with the super-creative ladies at the Sisterhood of Snarky Stampers for their "H is for Halloween" challenge (#255); where PINK is optional (but a nice touch since October is also Breast Cancer Awareness Month). The SNARK is also optional, by the way (sorry guys mine has none unless you find the cat's expression humorous, which I do, lol!); you can find outstanding examples of both by checking out the fabulous DT cards at SoSS!

PS: Happy Halloween!

Wishing you a day that's all treats and no tricks!!!

Happy PURR-thday!

The Halloween Add-On Stamp and Die Set from Wendy Vecchi's latest Spellbinders release, Not Your Ordinary Card Collection is indeed outstanding for Halloween but... it's not JUST for that holiday.* Case in point:

A little bit of a warning: when you start paper-piecing the adorable kitties, you should probably allow a little bit of extra time and cardstock because once you start, you will likely not be able to stop at just ONE cat! For that matter, the Build-a-Plaid Layered Stencil Set is also quite addictive. This time I chose to go with some of the softer shades from Wendy's Ranger Archival Inks, so I used Leaf Green, Sky Blue and Pink Peony. Of course it's entirely possible to work with any stencil set without the MAKE ART Stay-tion, but it's so incredibly helpful that I'd hate to be without it at this point. I used a few of the dies from the Pinking Edge Birthday Add-On to make the main portion of the sentiment; and some of the accessories are from the Christmas Add-On set.

I had been planning to use the cool pocket and some of the dies in the Essential Envelope Set, but by the time I was up to three cats I couldn't just choose ONE so I made a larger (not quite A7) card they could all inhabit!

*I do actually have some fab Halloween ideas for the set, as well, and they'll be coming along in a future post!

It's In the Bag

I needed a fast giftbag for a birthday dude, so of course I couldn't resist using Wendy Vecchi's "Not Your Ordinary Card Collection" dies from Spellbinders. This time I chose a more masculine palette of Archival Inks to use with the Build-a-Plaid Layering Stencils (English Ivy, Tiger Lily, Peat Moss and Monarch Orange) with which I adorned an Essential Envelope pocket and also a small kraft gift bag from the big box store. 

I used the Pinking Edge Birthday Add-On to make a card to tuck into the pocket, which, as it turns out, was also just big enough to hold a medium-sized candy bar. I added a few strips of Wendy's Washi Tape Assortment 1 and a bit of ribbon and twine and called it good.

Visit Spellbinders to see the entire "Not Your Ordinary Card Collection" as well as Wendy's previous Garden Collection! And you should definitely check out the Facebook Group, Make Art with Wendy Vecchi where you can see lots of Wendy's makes and videos, as well as checking out what other crafters are doing AND you can post your own Vecchi-centric creations, too!