Art Cards - Mermaids & Nudes & Birds... Oh my!

Well the holidays have come and gone so it's time to put the muse to work again. My newest obsession is making mixed media, collaged, art cards. They're similar to ATC's and ACEO's, only a bit larger. And unlike most artist trading cards that I make, the elements go beyond the edges of the card and were attached with 1/4 inch thick photo mounts to add a 3D effect.

Necessity actually dictated the size - I have a stack of 5 x 7 inch heavy chipboard I'd been hoarding for a while and wanted to start using some of it. I prefer creating smaller pieces of art as opposed to larger sizes, so I cut my chipboard in half, bringing the size to 3.5 x 5 inches, or roughly the size of a standard postcard. You can only put so much on a smaller art card, so I may create some larger pieces in the future.

My favorite themes lately, have been mermaids, vintage nudes, and birds with floral elements. I really like the whole Paris thing and that inspired me to make a Moulin Rouge card. Recently, I aquired a large bag of small/tiny seashells, some pygmy seahorses, and 500 real starfish, all being the perfect size for small artwork. I was able to incorporate them into the mermaid themed cards. Using letters and postcards as the backdrop enabled me to use some of the many postage stamps that had been gathering dust.

I had some vintage postcards and letters that I'd been dying to use in my artwork for the longest time. I scanned and printed them and then started going through my stash of collage sheets and vintage images. My muse was in overdrive and I quickly thought of several themes I wanted to do. Since they were too big to be an ATC or ACEO, I had to think of a way to display them. I added wire, twine or ribbon to my cards so they can hang.

I made quite a few, since they didn't require much time to put together. I listed some of them on eBay and most of them have sold. As with about all of my artwork, I seem to never keep anything for myself - except pictures of my creations. It's probably a good thing since I would need to build a storage unit to hold it all.

One of my drawers is filled with shiny new, unstamped Altoid's tins that have been crying out to freed. So, I'm off to the land of art!

Fun With Photoshop CS3

I've been playing around with Photoshop more lately, trying to expand my skills. I don't often have the patience to read through a manual to learn all the functions of a program, so I picked up a copy of "Teach Yourself Photoshop in 24 Hours". Wow! I can learn in 24 hours! uummm.... Doubtful, but I have the book now for reference.

One of the first things I heard/learned about in Photoshop were brushes. Now, I have an obsession with brushes (and with fonts...) and spent hours downloading some cool, free brushes from various websites... 341 to be exact. Yes, I did delete a few after trying them out. And then I learned there were things called textures. au oh... I could be in trouble here.


Creating collages, art squared, and ATC's (artist trading cards) in Photoshop is so much fun! I've posted a few samples of what you can do with a few graphics, brushes, and a little creativity.

Even though I've never taken a class to learn to use Photoshop, I was up and running in a short time. If you have some basic knowledge using photo editors for things like removing "red eye", adjusting size, etc., you should be able to adapt to an editing program with a fair amount of ease. It really isn't as difficult as it appears, and there are many good online tutorials to help you along.

Embellish It! For Free or at a Discount

If you like to add embellishments to your artwork, I have some suggestions on how to aquire them cheaply, or in some cases, for free.

When buying embellishments for ATC's, remember, most people like to put them in clear trading card sleeves or in the trading card books. Before buying something, ask yourself if the ATC would fit in the plastic sleeve with that embellishment on it. Thin embellishments work best.Buying things from craft and scrapbook stores can be expensive and I avoid them as much as possible. I buy embellishments from several craft supply websites listed in my links section. I've also bought many embellishments from sellers on eBay so I would get the shipping discount. eBay is probably one of the best places to find embellishments. The trick is to find a seller who has many different items you're interested in, and who offers a good shipping discount when you purchase multiple items. When you find a seller, check their eBay store and see what other arts and crafts items they offer.

Dollar Store: You can find a lot of bargains at a dollar store. Buy the fake Barbie doll clothes and accessories at the dollar store and use them like you would Jolee’s. Some stores have a small scrapbook section where you can buy supplies and even rubber stamps. I have bought small playing cards, play money, puzzles, play coins from the toy section, fibers, stickers, paper bingo cards, paper doilies, raffle type tickets, rhinestones, small seashells, sea glass, printed/patterned napkins, beads, books (to use the text pages or to alter), and tissue paper. You may also want to look for silk or dried flowers, lace, raffia, rick-rack, small envelopes, clothes pins, buttons, seed packets, beads, corrigated paper, paper clips, yarn, embroidery floss, and bows. Use your imagination when scanning the isles and ask yourself "Is this something I could use to embellish my artwork?"

Thrift stores are a great place to find items like books, which I use to alter, or use the text pages as backgrounds for artwork and ATC's. Foreign book pages make great backgrounds for ATC's and a nice addition to altered art, mixed media, collage and assemblage pieces. I especially like French and Chinese text. Also check out second hand book stores for foreign text books, math books, dictionaries, sheet music, etc. Those kinds of things make great background papers. Thrift stores are a great place to find bingo, Trivial Pursuit, Scrabble, and Monopoly games - using the cards and money to embellish and the game pieces as charms.

Garage or Rummage sales: These are great places to shop for small craft items and things that can be used as embellishments, too. Look for fabric, ribbon, books, puzzles, games, yarns, beads, old pictures, film negatives, fibers, jewelry, old toys, etc. Assemblage and altered artist's can find many cheap, great pieces to use in artwork, at garage sales.

Hardware stores, or the hardware section of a large store, is great for finding small metal hinges, twine (to use as you would ribbon), skeleton keys, leafing pens (in gold silver and copper), wire, metal washer (which can be painted and glued to artwork), etc.

Office supply stores like Office Depot or Staples have things like unusually shaped paper clips, staples in different colors, shipping tags, price tags, stickers, watercolor pencils, paints, and other things that can be used in creating artwork. Office supply stores carry craft tools too, paper trimmers, gel pens, hole punches, and other things that are used to create artwork, and all at a cost sometimes less than buying it from a craft or specialty store.

Around the kitchen: Save labels from your cans of fruit and vegetables you've served at dinner. Those mesh bags that fruit and potatoes come in can be cut into small pieces and used to embellish your artwork - or you can cut a piece of mesh, lay it on an the background of your artwork and paint over it. You'll see the design on your background paper once you lift the mesh - and you can use that piece of mesh over again by either rinsing off the wet paint and letting it dry before using it again. Old or mismatched pieces of silverware can be used to make assemblage pieces.

Junk mail: Go through it all before trashing it. I've saved pieces and have cut out the words to use in my artwork. You can also cut individual words from the newspaper and from books, brochures, menu's, any kind of advertising. A friend of mine saves all junk mail paper and makes handmade paper from it. It's pretty easy to do - tear the paper into small pieces soak it to soften it, squeeze it into a ball to remove excess water, then lay it out and flatten it on a piece waxed paper, brush on a layer of watered down glue and let it dry. Glue it to a cardboard back and you have a nice background paper to paint and/or embellish. And don't forget to save used postage stamps and clip off those postmark cancellations too.

Another way I have added to my stash is to list some of my artwork or ATC's for trade in exchange for craft supplies, for example, instead of trading an ATC card for a card. If you join some of the Yahoo Craft or ATC groups and then post a message "Will Trade Artwork or ATC's for Craft Goodies" you will probably get some good offers. You can usually find at least one craft supply trade on Swap-bot at any given time. This is a good way to trade your extra embellishments, book pages, sheet music, charms, and craft supplies for fresh goodies.

If you're especially drawn to a certain theme think of ways you can find supplies cheaply or for free, to use in your artwork. To make an oriental collection of supplies and embellishments I went to a Chinese restaurant then saved the fortunes from cookies, took the paper placemats on the table, grabbed a few "to go" menus, and asked for chopsticks (which are usually free for the asking). Use your imagination when trying to gather embellishments for a theme.

Odds & Ends Findings: Brochures are also great too to use as background paper. When we travel by car, I stop at rest area's and pick up brochures for area activities, amusement parks, etc. Clean out your junk drawers and see what you find there that might be useful. The next time you want a snack, buy a box of Cracker Jacks, with the toy surprise. And don't forget those small toys in gumball machines that can be used as charms and embellishments. Save stubs from events you've attended and also parking, bus, airline, and train ticket stubs. Keep programs, receipts, old keys, coins, casino chips, matchbooks, 8mm or 16mm film, buttons, postcards, photo negatives, and bottle caps.

Find places that will send you free maps. My hubby and I belong to the AAA insurance group and we can get maps of the states for free just by walking in and asking for them. You can also request maps and brochures from the Chamber of Commerce simply by writing and asking for them. Because maps are available online to print for free, don't send your request by email. If you do, they will probably just send links to the same info online so you can print it yourself.

I hope these tips help and give you ideas and inspiration for finding free or bargain craft supplies. If you have any suggestions, ideas, or unique ways that you've found cheap or free craft supplies, please email me, or add a comment.

Cheap & Easy ATC Backs

About half the cards I receive from swaps are on cardstock, the other half are on cardboard, or chipboard. You can buy pre-cut cardboard or chipboard, but why do it when you can get it for free? Cardstock is fine to create your ATC, but if you like to use heavier embellishments like I do then you need a stronger back.

Instead of buying pre-cut ATC backs, I cut my own from cardboard food boxes I've saved from cereal, macaroni and cheese, crackers, cake mixes, etc. and then glue my cardstock to that. It's easy to cut 2.5x3.5 cards from the boxes if you have a straight edge trimmer. If you don't have a straight edge trimmer, I would highly recommend investing in one. This works great for trimming paper, photo's, etc., since I find it impossible to cut a straight line.

Some people like to use playing cards as ATC backing and they work just fine but you have to make sure the cards are ATC size. I've found most cards are either a little too big and have to be trimmed, or are too small. If you can find a pack that are the right size at a dollar store then that's great - you've gotten 52 ATC backs for a buck. Another thing I have used is a pack of recipe/index cards that I purchased for a buck at a dollar store - just cut 'em to size. Also, don't throw away the cardboard on the back of writing tablets - it makes great ATC backing.

I also like to go to the wallpaper section of stores and get the free samples. I glue them to ATC cardboard backs and use them as background paper. Or, if a wallpaper sample has a design, you can cut the designs out and glue them down as embellishments. Fabric and felt glued to cardboard ATC backs also make cool backgrounds. If you want to handpaint a background onto cardstock you might find it warps when it dries. If you glue it to a cardboard back it solves the problems.

Art Supplies - Getting Started

If you have scrapbook supplies, you're ahead of the game. Below is my list of basic "must have" items you'll need for about any altered art or ATC project, supplies that are nice additions beyond the basics, and what I consider, luxury supplies - advanced craft skill items, things you can do without or things that are pricey.

Must Have Supplies

Scissors - a small pair for detailed work and a large pair
Ruler
Exacto Knife and Blades
Tweezers - for picking up small rhinestones
Tacky Glue - large bottle
Glue Dots - when Tacky glue won't do
E6000 Glue - for heavyweight items, metal, etc.
Glitter Glue - I found 3 bottles, 3 different colors for $1 at a dollar store
Glitter (usually coarsly ground)
Prism Glitter - finely ground glitter
Cardboard - save food boxes; cereal, mac & cheese, crackers, etc.
Cardstock - acid & lingnin free, in a variety of colors
Patterned Scrapbook Paper - acid & lingnin free, purchase in bulk on eBay
Paper Trimmer - a must for cutting and cropping photo's and paper

Beyond the Basic's

Ribbon - Michael's Craft Store usually has a $1 bin of ribbons
Fibers (or yarn) - I bought a large lot of various kinds of fibers on eBay
Embroidery floss
Buttons
Beads
Gel Pens, Colored Pencils, Markers and/or Crayons
Watercolor Paint or Pencils - either of these are a must have
Collage Sheets or printed sheets of graphics
Foam Adhesive Squares - gives a 3D effect when used to adhere photos/graphics
Charms
Brads - you probably won't use them often but good to have
Eyelets - save $$ by buying gold, silver, black and/or antiqued instead of colors
Eyelet Setter - avoid buying the set, just about everyone owns a hammer
Silk flowers or Prima Flowers
Rhinestones - various shapes and sizes
Punches
Wire - silver, copper, gold, and/or rusted
Twine
Hot glue gun (I rarely use mine)
Decorative Edge Scissors
Rubber Stamps
Ink Pads for rubber stamps
Clear protective sleeves (for ATC's)
Photo Corners
Premade Die Cuts
Chalk - the kind artists use

Luxury or Advanced Skills Supplies

Embossing Powder
Heat Gun for embossing
Die Cut Machine - Sizzix or Cuttlebug (personally, not worth purchasing)
Dies for die cutting machine

Around The House

Paper towel tubes and toilet tissue tubes
Empty tins
Empty containers Egg cartons
Baby food jars
Bottle caps
Strawberry or cherry tomato baskets
Pinecones
Clothespins
Old Christmas cards
Styrofoam trays
Mesh bags from fruit
Labels from canned goods
Broken/old jewelry
Old keys

Choosing Your Art and/or Craft

I love arts and crafts. My biggest hurdle has been in deciding what type of arts and crafts to pursue because I like so many. I suppose I could try all of the arts and crafts I'm interested in, but I'm not sure that would be wise. Some artforms are easier than others, some require a lot of work space, and some are more expensive than others - and that is certainly something to consider. I made a list of of arts and crafts I've tried or already do, and a list of those I'd like to try or do. This list should help you determine what arts and crafts would best suit you, your budget, and your storage and workspace constraints.

Once you've listed the arts and crafts you've tried, mark off those that you didn't enjoy doing, didn't do well at, or found couldn't do at all. For example: I learned to knit when I was eight years old. It was an easy art/craft to learn, but I didn't really enjoy it. A few years later, I learned to crochet. I enjoyed that much more than knitting, and found it was easier for me to do. Another example was when I learned to do embroidery. I enjoyed that and found it easy to do. Later I tried counted cross stitch with equal results. A similar craft I also tried was latch hook rug making. It was an easy craft but I found I didn't get much enjoyment from it and rugs just really didn't seem to be my thing. Neither was silkscreen - too messy, need too much equipment that you have to buy and store, and you need lots of space for need space for items to dry.

Now make a list of all the arts and crafts you'd like to try. Think about each craft and how it may be similar to something you've done before. Did you enjoy the craft you did that was similar? Was it something you did well?

You'll need to consider a few factors in deciding what arts and crafts to pursue are:

A. How much will this art/craft cost?
B. Do I have room in my house, garage, basement, etc., to pursue this craft?

I like doing ceramics. Ceramics, however, is not the best choice for me. Making things from ceramics is quite expensive. You have to buy the greenware and paint, and then pay to have the pieces fired, once or twice, unless you purchase your molds and kiln. Very, very expensive. You also need room to store your greenware and paints and a large enough workspace to hold your wares. I have pottery listed in things I want to try. Pottery is very similar to ceramics. You need clay, a potters wheel, and then have to get the pieces fired. So for me, pottery is not really a realistic option. To satisfy my urge, I could enroll in a pottery class and make a few pieces without having to invest much. I may do that someday, but it's not high on my priority list considering I probably would not make it a lifelong pursuit.

One of my favorite forms of artwork is paper crafts. I enjoy card making, scrapbooking, collage, and making ATC's (artist trading cards). Paper is not expensive, it's easy to store, and you can do a ton of different things with it. And then there's paper mache - a nice way to put your old newspaper to good use. So pursuing paper crafts, such as card making, scrapbooking, making ATC's and ACEO's are definite - origami is an option. I've never tried it but am not interested in folding paper.

Altered art is basically taking an object and giving it new life, making it into something else.... ART! Since most altered pieces begin with what most people term "junk", it's readily available, or can be had from a thrift store or garage sale at rock bottom prices. You can store as little or as much as you want and it doesn't require a large workspace. Some commercial grade glue, found objects, paint, paper, and a great imagination are all you really need to get started. I tried my hand at altered art because I didn't really need to buy anything. Ialready had so many things handy that I could use.

Woodworking and metal work would require space, materials and expensive tools. Oil paints, brushes and canvas can get expensive and require a fair amount of space. Cake decorating supplies can get expensive and you have to have a good amount of space to store the decorations and cakes - and I'm short on space. I'll have to put these arts/crafts at the bottom of my list.

I have dabbled with mosaic tiles but that was years ago. Its a craft I've thought about taking up but with the expense of tiles, I decided to try paper mosaic. I already have a ton of paper I can cut into tiny pieces and use the same way I would tiles. Tole painting is high on my list because I have acrylic paints and would only have to take a class, buy an instruction book or find a good website to learn the basics. Glass cutting and floral arrangements wouldn't require a huge investment and are also something I could teach myself to do.

Since I already own a digital camera and can print my own pictures photography is something I have considered. I have thought about taking a community enrichment class through my local school system. The class cost about $50 and lasts from 6-12 weeks, which puts photography high on the possibilities list. Candle and soap making are of interest, but again I would have to weigh out the costs of materials and space needed for this craft. Polymer clay art and jewelry making don't require a large work space, and can be done for a reasonable price, althought you can spend a lot if choose to.

Having thought this out, I now have a better idea of what arts and/or crafts would probably suit my budget, workspace and storage constraints, and skill level best.