Happy Little Stampers March ATC Challenge

Hi! I'm here today to share my DT creations for the new atc challenge at Happy Little Stampers.

How are you loving atcs? I have to admit I'm quite smitten and I also love that atcs are exactly the same size as Pocket Letter inserts - more for your money and time then. Check out these atc details:

Some info about creating ATCs -

• measure 2.5 x 3.5 inches (64 X 89 mm)

• be traded for other cards - not sold

• be flat enough to fit into a plastic trading card sleeve

• be signed and dated on the back of the card

And this month's theme is SPARKLE. What coild be better than that? And what immediatley jumps into my head when I think of sparkle - well apart from Christmas - FAIRIES. So my atc features the very beautiful and totally adorable Lavinia Stamps fairy - well actually it's a pixie, but we won't fall out about that!

I used a scrap of left over brusho watercoloured card and a circle stencil to create a moon. I then stamped and heat embossed the pixie and verse in shiny black. Great thing about the small scale of atcs is that you can use up those leftover bits of card or even the bits that went totally wrong!

I used a gelly roll pen to add extra sparkle to the stars, moon and fairy wings on the washing line - see even fairies and pixies have to do their washing!

I finished off the atc by inking round the edges with black soot distress ink. Loving all these moody dark colours!

Supplies:
Stamps: Lavinia, Small Pixies, Stars 2, Fairy Dust, Wet Wings
Inks: Brusho, purple & crimson; Versafine, onyx black; Versamark + Ranger superfine black embossing powder; Ranger distress, wilted violet, black soot
Pen: Sakura Gelly Roll, clear star

OK that's my atc all done and shared, now I'm hoping that maybe you'd like to create a sparkle atc, share it at Happy Little Stampers - HERE - and maybe come swap it with me. Just leave a message in the comments if you're up for a swap.

I'm popping this card into the challenge at Just Us Girls. Thanks Vicki for the heads up about this challenge.

Thanks so much for your time today, I'm thrilled you spent some of it here with me on my blog.

And keep crafting!

Happy Little Stampers - February ATC Challenge

It's time to create in miniature again with the new atc challenge starting today at Happy Little Stampers. Guess what the theme is? No brainer really!

Here's my loved up atc:

I used a stencil with a heart mask placed in the middle and some yummy pink and purple distress oxide inks. I then added a pinks strip and trimmed it all down to the required size for an atc - 2.5" x 3.5".

I finished off with a trio of enamel hearts. Loving that for once the photo is showing the shimmer.

Supplies:
Stencil: Create a Smile, Focal Point
Inks: Ranger distress oxide, picked raspberry, wilted violet
Embellishments: SU enamel hearts, sweet sugar plum

Will you be playing along with the HLS atc challenge this month? It's a fabulous way to use up those scraps and backgrounds that didn't quite work out. And you can connect with other crafters and swap atcs if you'd like to - I'm always up for a swap, just leave me a message in the comments.

Thanks for looking, it's been great to have some company. 

And keep crafting!

Happy Little Stampers - ATC Challenge

Today I'm sharing my first 2018 atc as part of the Happy Little Stampers DT. This month we'd like to see trees featured.

And here's my atc:

I started by preparing a background using a stencil and brusho crystals. Then I die cut the two trees and added some snowy edges with a white gel pen and completely covered them with a sparkle pen.

I placed the trees and then stamped some words using a matching coloured ink - I wanted them to be seen, but sort of fading into the background. Once happy both the trees were raised on pads and adhered on top. I finished off with a trio of green gems - not showing that well in the photos, but catching the light in real life.

Supplies:
Stamps: HLS, Mixed Media Fun
Inks: Ranger distress, lucky clover; Brusho, turquoise & yellow
Die: HLS, Christmas trees 
Stencil: Uniko, broken lines
Pens: Sakura gelly roll, white; Spectrum Noir Sparkle, clear
Embellishments: Mei Flower, green gems

Well that's got me off to a good start with atc creating and I'm wondering if anyone is interested in doing a swap with me.  Just leave a comment below if you'd like to.

Before I go I'll remind you to pop on over to HLS to enjoy and be inspired by the rest of the DT cards - they're pretty amazing.

Thanks for your time. And keep crafing!

Happy Little Stampers - ATC December Challenge

Bet you can't guess the theme for this month's Happy Little Stampers ATC Challenge?

Mmm, thought you might! All the stamps on my atcs this month are from the HLS Christmas Joy stamp set.

And I've had a bit of a return to my more usual CAS style this month and not let the small size of atcs encourage me to keep adding more like they usually do.  So a little bit of washi and some relaxing colouring and wink of stella glisten are the only additions to the stamping.

Supplies:
Stamps: HLS, Christmas Joy
Ink: Memento, tuxedo black
Pens: Copic, YG11, YG13, YG17, E57, E59, Y18, R22, R24, R29, G24, G28, N1; Gelly roll, white
Embellishments: SU, washi tape; Wink of Stella, clear

Here's hoping I may have inspired you to play along. Remember there's a $20 HLS gift certificate for one winner and as this challenge is fairly new and doesn't get that many entries at the moment you're in with a great chance.

Thaks for visiting today, it's been so much fun having your company. 

And keep (Christmas) crafting!

Happy Little Stampers - November ATC Challenge

This month's ATC challenge at Happy Little Stampers has a theme that I absolutely love - WORDS.

I have so many quote stamps - they just seem to keep jumping into my shopping basket, don't know how! The only difficult thing for me then was deciding which ones to use, although the scaled down size of ATCs did also influence my decisions.

For each ATC I started by stamping and heat embossing the word quotes and then went to work with some background stamping and ink blending.

I finished off each card with a brush of black soot round the edges - I really like the definition this gives to an ATC.

Supplies:
Stamps: Visible Image, Scars, Life Can Be Tough, Take Chances; HLS, Mixed Media Fun, Rainy Days
Inks: Versamark, clear; Ranger Superfine embossing powder, black; SU, smoky slate; Ranger distress oxide, picked raspberry, twisted citron, peacock feathers, candied apple, black soot

Remember to pop on over to the HLS blog to soak up all the wonderful inspiration from the res tof the DT and then go search out those words and join in the fun.

As you read this post I should be just about settled in and looking forward to a weekend of crafting in Manchester at The HLS Retreat. Kylie has done an amazing job organising this from Australia and I'm so excited to be going and meeting her and loads of other craft blog friends for the first time.

Thanks for looking today and remember to keep crafting!

Happy Little Stampers - October ATC Challenge

This month there is the most perfect theme for ATCs at the Happy Little Stampers Challenge.

I bet most of us have got travel related stamps hiding in our stash and I know I was really pleased to go hunt them out and give them an airing.

But although the stamps are typical travel themes I mixed it all up a bit by choosing some jazzy colours.

Supplies:
Stamps: Kaisercraft, Secret Admirer Definitions, Life Sentimnets, Textured edes; HLS, Mixed Media Fun; Prima Marketing Inc Pans; Clear Stamp Exchange, travel
Inks: SU, berry burst, lemon lime twist, peekaboo peach, smoky slate; Memento,tuxedo black; Ranger distress, black soot
Stickers: American Crafts, Shimelle
Die: Xcut, arrows

Another set of ATC cards all waiting to be exchanged with someone,. Let me know if you're interested. And do pop over to visit the rest of the HLS ATC DT blogs - wow that's a lot of acronyms! - to see what they've created. It'll be a fab way to spend some time.

Huge thanks for coming to look at my blog today, it's been lovely having you visit.  And keep crafting!

Happy Little Stampers - ATC September Challenge

Oh today's share was such a fun and totally different thing for me to create. The theme this month for the Happy Little Stampers ATC is SHAPES.

And I went all Mondrian inspired for my DT samples.

I used the simple palette of colours as well as the shape patterns that are so typical of his work and made myself a trio of little beauties.

Supplies:
Stamps: Clearly Besotted, Geometric Style; Uniko Garlands Galore
Inks: SU, daffodil delight, real red, pacific point; Memento, tuxedo black

Are you still on the fence about creating ATCs? Well I can't recommend them highly enough for both creative satisfaction and time busting. And I need some peeps to swap with me, so please give those 3.5" x 2.5" leftover bits of card a new lease of life and get ATCing!

Over at HLS you'll find loads more fabulous ideas of how to make SHAPES the focus of your ATCs - go check them out HERE.

Now what are you waiting for, give it a try! Thanks for looking. And keep crafting!

Happy Little Stampers - ATC August Challenge

Are you getting into ATCs? Well the new challenge at Happy Little Stampers could be right up your street!

This month we're looking for ATCs with doodling on them - could be a stamp or hand drawn or maybe a mixture of both like my cards.

I started by making a sheet of brusho colours - love the sheer magic of watching the colours merge and flow! Once dried I then used a die cut stencil to draw some stars to use as a base for adding hand drawn doodles.

Some extra grungy stamps and inspirational words were added on top and I finished off with some sparkly gems. I have to say this set of cards was terrific fun to create and I felt so relaxed and content afterwards - slept like a baby!

Supplies:
Stamps: HLS, Mixed Media Fun
Inks: Ranger Distress, black soot; Versafine, onyx black; Brusho, yellow, leaf green, turquoise
Die: Clearly Besotted, Superstar
Pen: Uni-ball, micro black
Embellishments: Papewrmania, iridescent stones

Where else could you find some doodled inspiration? Well yes of course over at the Happy Little Stampers blog where all the DT have been busy creating and enjoying doodling. These ATCs are so satisfying to create, do have a go and link up with us - HERE.

Huge thanks for looking today, I so apprecitae your time.  And keep crafting! Or should I say get Doodling?!

Happy Little Stampers - ATC July Challenge

Time for another ATC Challenge at Happy Little Stampers. And the theme for this month is animals.

Creating ATCs has been so much fun, I'd quite forgotten how satisfying it is to work on a small project. But working out ways to photograph them has been the challenge for me! So I'm trying a little easel this month.

I started with a coloured cardstock and used a stencil to create the sunrays. I then stamped, coloured and hand cut the animals which were raised on pads and popped on top of a strip of card to ground them.

I finished off with some punched butterflies and some sequins and inked around the edges of the ATC to create a bit of a frame.

Supplies:
Stamps: Clearly Besotted, Best Friends; Uniko, Nature's Treasures I
Inks: Memento, rich cocoa, lady bug; Ranger distress, spiced marmalade
Stencil: Memeory Box, texture shine
Punch: Martha Stewart, butterflies
Embellishments: sequins 7 beads from my stash
Pens: Promarkers, vanilla, mustard, ginger, spice, ivory, satin, sandstone, caramel, umber

Only one ATC this month, but if you'd like to swap with me just leave a comment letting me know. In the unlikely event that more than one person would like to swap I'll do a random draw.

You can see the animal ATCs created by the rest of the HLS DT here. Do go take a look at their fabulous creativeness.

Thanks for looking today, so pleased you dropped by.  And keep crafting!

Happy Little Stampers - ATC Challenge June

I'm super excited to have you visit my blog today as I've joined the DT in a brand new ATC challenge that is making its debut at Happy Little Stampers. This is going to be so much fun!

Artist Trading Cards (ATC's) are very popular and there aren't a lot of challenge blogs available for you to get inspiration from and link up to. So Happy Little Stampers is here to help to fill this gap!

Never made an ATC? Well let me tell you they are tremendous fun and quite addictive. So why not join in with this new monthly challenge?

  What are Artist Trading Cards?

Artist trading cards (ATCs) are miniature pieces of art that are traded around the world. Artists create, trade and collect art at organized "swap" events, either in person or online. The only official rule for an ATC is the size: 2.5" x 3.5"

source Strathmoreartist.com

The theme for this first challenge is FLOWERS and here's what I came up with:

I used a piece of smooshed watercoloured card and stamped the background flowers on top. I inked all round the edges of the card with black soot distress ink - really defines and finishes off such a small card. I then added a strip of washi and a handcut flower and leaves.

The addition of some nuvo drops and enamel dots was my final touch.

Supplies:
Stamps: Uniko, Fun Flowers & Background Blocks Doodle Flower
Inks: Ranger distress, cracked pistachio, blueprint sketch, peacock feathers, mermaid lagoon, black soot; Veramark, clear; Versafine, onyx black
Embossing: Ranger Superfine, black
Embellishments: Nuvo drops, midnight blue; Now & Then enamel dots; washi from my stash


And did I say these cards are addictive? Mmmm, well seems I've got the bug. So here's another two in my flower series.

As the whole point of ATC cards is to swap I'm happy to send these out to three of you. Just mention in the comments that you'd like one. If there's more than three of you I'll make a random draw and announce the winners in my next ATC Challenge blog post on 11th July.

There is loads more inspiration for you over on the HLS ATC blog - HERE.  Go take a look and then get creating. But remember the size rule - 2.5" x 3.5"

Huge thanks for looking today, hope I've inspired you to play along.  And keep crafting!