Artist Trading Card / Faith Art

Artist Trading Card 2 1/2" x 3 1/2" 

Good morning Paper Crafters!  Today I'm sharing a project I created for today's Faith Art Friday over on the Layers of Color blog.  Every friday a member from the Layers of Color design team shares a faith art project.  We would love to have you check in and be blessed each week.  My project is an Artist Trading Card (2 1/2" x 3 1/2") I have added to my Faith Art ATC Revolving Holder. 

I hope that you will be blessed by this beautiful poem I found from : Scripture Worship

O come let us worship and bow down
Let us kneel before the Lord our maker
Offering the praise He deserves
For He is our God, our creator
We are the people of His pasture
And we are the sheep of His hand
So we shall offer with thanksgiving
Praises to the great "I Am"
Today if you would hear His voice
Don't let your hearts grow hard
As they had done so long ago
In the wilderness at Meribah
So come let us sing to the Lord
Make a joyful noise to our rock
With songs of praise and worship
To the King above all 'gods'.

Psalm 95: 1-3; 6-8

I love to sing praises to God and I'm so thankful for those He has blessed with wonderful creative talents that allow those of us who aren't so musically talented to sing along. I would like to share one of my favorite worship songs I listen to all the time. Check it out and join me in praising our great God!

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=IuuLBPOYcI8

Thanks so much for stopping by and I hope you have a beautiful weekend!

hugs, Melisa

You can view all of my ATC's HERE

You can view more of my Faith Art HERE.

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Project Details

Stamps : Layers of Color Merci Bouquet art stamp set

Stencil : Layers of Color "Belle Brocade" art stencil

I wish I could share with you how I created the background, but I did it a while back.  Every now and then I like to sit down with paint, ink, ink sprays and play.  I know I layed out water color paper and just kept combing paints and inks until I got the look I liked, then cut the sheets down to ATC size backgrounds.  Now I have a pile of them that I can grab and finish embellishing for a quick ATC.  The stenciled pattern was created using Tsukineko Pearlescent Brown ink.  I stamped my images and cut them down to inchies.  I have a pile of those as well, ready to go when I need a quick card or ATC.  I do know that a book that has inspired me in the past is "Artist Trading Card Workshop".  It's loaded with background techniques and what better way to practice than on mini pieces of art like ATC's.  So get you some watercolor paper and start playing with color!  I will share that one of my favorite brushes I use to add just a little color is a fan brush .  I will try to create some background tutorails soon.  I miss doing them!

Inchies and Twinchies

Hello Papercrafters.  I spent the day yesterday working on inchies and twinchies.  Not familiar with the term??  They are little mini works of art either 1" or 2" square.  There are lots of paper crafters out there that swap them.  Some collect them as is, but they can be used on other paper projects as well.  There are even 2 challenge blogs that focus on these little pieces of art.  Inchy by Inch and Small World of Inches and Twinches.  I have designed 3 cards with inchy layouts, and 3 twinchies.  I also have a tower of inchies that I made last year and adhered to wooden blocks.

This was so easy to put together.  I used a leaf stamp from the "Vintage Roses" set by Layers of Color and one of the sqaure window cards by Creative Cuts and More.  CCM makes wonderful pre-cut window cards for inchies and twinches.  This one is the A2 Square Borders Window Card.  I adhered my 3 inchies inside the card. Isn't it cute how they peek through the window.

Other inchie window cards are :

Four Pane Window Card

Four Pane Scalloped Window Card

A2 Square Mini Window Card (one inchie)

Check out this page for even more Square Window Cards for inchies and twinchies HERE.

I'm linking this one to :

Let's Ink it Up's Anything Goes Challenge

I used 6 inchies on this one.  See how versatile these little cuties are.  For this one, I used 4 of the inchies with one stamp.  I adhered them on the brown cardstock and then stamped the clam shell onto them.  If you have an even larger stamp you might consider using 6 inchies.  Stamps are "Under The Sea" by Layers of Color

I'm linking this one to :

The Shabby Tea Room (metal starfish charm)

and Stampin' Sisters for Christ ( A special moment spent with Jesus - when walking on the beach in Jacksonville, it was so peaceful and quite and I would just walk and pray)

This one includes a twinchie and 2 inchies.  Stamps are from "Under The Sea" by Layers of Color.  Are starting to see all the fun options with these and how easy they are to put together??

I'm linking this one to :

Cowgirl-up Sunday Stamp'en Challenge (summer theme)

Stamptacular Sunday Challenge (more than one stamp)

Papercutz Challenge (anything goes)

This is a twinchie set I created.  I didn't have time to make cards with them.  I used "Butterfly Collector" by Layers of Color.

Here is a close-up of one of them.  I bought some 2"wooden blocks and I was thinking about putting them on those.

I"m linking this one to:

Allsorts (Minature, less than 3")

Here is an Inchie tower I created using 1" wooden blocks.  I created these last year.  I wanted a set with red and black to match my craft room. 

Did you know there are stamp companies that sell inchie images?  Lockhart and Inkadinkado.  But you can create an inchie from a larger image by trimming it down.  When I'm trying to decide if part of an image will work as an inchie, I use this little window template:

I lay it over the image to see what part might work.  For instance the 2 ladies are from much larger images by FCD.  The set is called "Leading Ladies".  Isn't the ballerina cute??  She is a cupcake topper image from "Vintage Cupcake" set by Pink Persimmon.  The apples are from one of my fall GinaK sets.  I bet if you started going through all you stamps you would find parts of larger images you could use as well.  The backgrounds behind the 2 ladies are from Inkadinkado.  They sell themed inchie clear stamp sets and you can find them at local craft stores.

Check out Lockharts "Itty Bitty" collection HERE.

So are you ready to make some inchies and twinchies??

You should set up a swap with your stampin' buddies.  Set up the guidelines that require them to create them with card making in mind if that is a concern.  You could ask them to create 3 inchies with the same theme to use on a card.  What fun it would be to see the different interpretations!

I hope you learned something new and are inspired to create something this week.  If you decide to do some inchies or twinchies, let me know.  I would love to see how you were inspired.

***  It's not to late to sign up for my August Blog Candy.  Go  HERE to read about all the details to qualify to win a Crafty Secrets stamps set!  ***

Woowhoo, the weeked is almost here!  Do you have any fun plans??

Inchy by Inch Challenge : another B and C

I"m working away at filling up all the sides of my little 1" cubes. I decided to leave the bottom side blank. I will put an inchie on each of the 4 sides and then the actually letter they represent on the top. Once I get a little more done, I will share a photo with you.

1" x 1"

I used "Leading Ladies" by FCD on this one.

1" x 1"

This one was a tiny portion of a much larter scene.

Inchy by Inch Challenge : C

1 " x 1"

C is for cupcakes of course!

Isnt' this one a cutie.  I used liquid applique for the icing.

Inchy by Inch Challenge : B

Hello Inchy Fans!

I decided that I needed a way to be able to sit my Inchies out and show them off, so I bought these little wood inchy blocks and I will be adding them as I go along! I'll have to show them to you once I get a few done!

Here is last weeks challenge to use the letter B.

1" x 1"

Stamp Set : Magenta

Colorization : Copics

Hey did you notice I figured out how to photograph better Inchy photo's??

I finally fiqured out if I set my camera on the Macro setting I got MUCH better photo's!

Just a little tip in case anyone else is struggling with this issue.

I'm sooo excited and can't wait to do the letter "G". Some one loaned me a Great "G" stamp!!

See ya next week with the letter "C".

Inchy by Inch Challenge : Chirstmas Carol

Each of these little squares are 1" x 1"

Designed using 3 inchies inspired by the "Chirstmas Carol" Challenge over at Inchy by Inch.

Stamp Set : Crafty Secrets Christmas Joy

Patterned Paper : Penny Black

Ribbon and embellishment from local craft store.

Colorization : Prismacolor Pencils with OMS

I had soooo much fun adding white and red fun flock to the scarf and holiday hat! Then I added a little glitter (stampendous prisma glitter).

Inch by Inch ...

Without further ado ...

Sand Between My Toes

I have been checking these little works of art for well over a year now.  We have a wonderful stamping/mixed media/collage store here in Jacksonville, A Small Cleverness.

They do monthly ATC and Inchie swaps among other wonderfully artistic activities.  I go there often and check out the artistic endeavers of these talented ladies.  And I'm ALWAYS amazed at how much they can get into a 1" square.  These little squaures can be combined to create larger works of arts.

The above set was created for the Inchy by Inch Challenge Blog.   The theme was texture.  I decided to go with sand, since I had these tiny sea shell stamps.  I used Goldens Coarse Pumice Gel.  It can be purchased in the Art section of most art/hobby stores.  It's greyish and can be mixed with acrylic paint.  I'm not happy with the color of my sand, but didn't have time to remix and start all over.  I think most of these tiny shells are from an Impression Obsession set and a Mini Technique Tuesday set I've had forever.

Passionate About Purple

Photo not so great.  A little harder to photograph these little guys.  Sorry.  I created this one for Small World of Inchies and Twinchies.  The theme was Purple.  I kinda cheated, because I went shopping for some images specifically so that I could do inchies.  I found these decorative sqaure stamps, perfect for stamping inchie backgrounds, by Inkadinkado.  So then all I had to do was find a tiny butterfly stamp in my stash.  I used 2 different shades of purple.  I stamped the background twice, trimmed the darker shade down to the frame, secured /popped it up to the lighter base.  Stamped the mini butterflies in the darker purple, cut with cuticle sissors and adhered with a tiny bit of glue at the butterfly body, so that the wings could "fly".  I added some Stampendous Pearl Glitter!  LOVE that stuff!

Scroll down to the next post for a totally different look from the ATC's and Inchies.  You will see why I said the last couple of days I had a "variety" of projects to post!