Monday, May 30, 2011

Bizarre Holidays - July

Welcome to the July Bizarre Holidays! I just am loving this ongoing swap theme - here are 3 I did for July. The one above is Flitch Day. Apparently, this was a custom that came over with the pilgrims. A slab of bacon was offered to any couple who could truly say they lived together happily for the previous 12 months. The couple in the card are my parents who lived together happily for far longer than 12 months, so they clearly would bring home the bacon!

Here's another fun holiday - Clerihew Day. According to the history of this day, a gentleman with the middle name of Clerihew (I'll bet that one won't make the most popular baby names!) would make up silly rhymes with the AABB rhyme pattern. These rhymes would be mainly about himself, but then others began doing it about famous people. The lines can be of random length, both short and long. I just couldn't resist making up this little rhyme about this rather angelic looking young lady!


And, finally, Amelia Earhard Day. I'm not certain that spelling of her name is correct, but it's what's shown on the Internet for this holiday, so it must be true! (LOL!) I've always thought she was a pretty cool lady, and her death a great mystery, so I just felt I had to honor her day with an ATC. The background of the ATC is a piece of an aviation map - very appropriate for her. Plus, with a pilot in the house, I have tons of outdated aviation maps!


Enjoy!

Sunday, May 29, 2011

Beeswax ATCs

For this ATC swap, I had to apply a new technique - beeswax! Basically, using a small craft iron, I melt the beeswax onto it, and then onto my ATC backing (a playing card). I then add layers of tissue, using more melted beeswax. The first image, above, is actually my favorite of this exercise, and the image of the woman is not on tissue, but thinner paper. It was the "ghost" image left after I used a transfer liquid for a previous project. I just love the feel of it, tho.


The second ATC uses a number of layers of flowered napkins. I couldn't get any of them to really pop as the subject, so again, I cut a rose out of a garden mail order catalog, and just adhered that to the top of the layers with the beeswax.


This third ATC was made up of napkins with leaves on them, layering one on top of the other, with a red leaf on the very top - sort of like a pile of leaves after you've finished raking them in the fall.


Enjoy!

Saturday, May 28, 2011

Cocktail Shaker ATC Swap

I just finished art for this swap today. It was a fun exercise - create art around the names of cocktails! I also put the recipe for the cocktails on the backs of each card. The first one, above, is Tropical Life Saver. It's made up of colorful tissue (a beach towel perhaps!) and the umbrella from a tropical drink!


The second ATC, above, is based on the cocktail called Ladies Cocktail. The background is of a napkin with a woman in a long evening dress on it, and the image of the Eiffel Tower, and Paris, 1924, on it. I used that napkin and a transparency of a roaring 20's silhouette of a woman with a drink to depict this cocktail.



This last ATC reflects the cocktail, Hat Trick. I put a light background down and then took a transparency of an ad for a woman's hat and attached it with the little brads. Somehow, I doubt that the manufacturer of the hat ever thought the ad would be used to depict a cocktail, which is what makes this so fun!


Enjoy!!!

Tuesday, May 17, 2011

Babes in Edgewood

Aren't these 2 little baby bunnies adorable? Jeff found them on the outside of our front garden. Good thing - I hate to think what would have happened to them if they were in the front yard & Miki got out. Instead, let's just focus on how cute these little guys are. By the time I got home from work, one of them had left - hope they make it and will be ok.

Enjoy!


Friday, May 6, 2011

Bizarre June Holidays

Here are the latest ATCs created for the June Bizarre Holiday swap on www.atcsforall.com. The above ATC is based on one of my photos, taken last year when we were off-roading near Moab, UT. This road was definitely rocky! In fact, when we first made the turn & saw this, I thought the road just sort of ended at a rock wall! Of course, Rocky Road could also be ice cream......


This vintage photo in the above ATC is one of my favorites. I have no idea who this woman is (or was), and I apologize to her for using her to illustrate Old Maid's Day! The technique I used for this ATC was a text page as background, the peeling paint technique (amazing what Vaseline can do!), then I pasted torn handmade paper with a handwriting stamp, placed my little lady in the place of honor and added the info about the holiday! I think she's kind fun looking, so I'm imaging she was an old maid who had fun!!!



This last ATC was a fun type of ATC. I used a bright, striped napkin as the background. Then, I added the two photos of happy, smiling kids. The small baby was just such a happy looking child, and the little boy with the joyous smile, just reached out and touched me. Doesn't he just make you smile? You can't help yourself!!


Enjoy!!