Thursday, July 6, 2017

Red, White, & Blue ATCs!


Red, White, & Blue ATCs
Putting these ATCs together was something else! I had an original idea in mind inspired by the July Challenge over at Creative Embellishments. I really loved the way the elements in the inspiration photo overlapped each other, and I really love how "shiny" the image seemed. Creative Embellishments July Challenge fit quite nicely with Simon Says Stamp's Monday Challenge of "Red, White, & Blue", and I thought it would be a good idea to try and create a shiny, red, white & blue, element overlapping ATC for the challenges, and for MarciLB's ATC Swap over at scrapbook.com. Things didn't go quite according to plan.

My initial background was too embossed! I didn't want it to be quite like that! But, if nothing else, I'm persistent, so I decided to see what I could do with it!
Initial Background. Thick watercolor paper, coated with white acrylic paint, embossed using Tim Holtz's "Cracked," striped with Tim Holtz's "Stripes" stencil & Distress Oxide Fired Brick, and colored with Distress Oxide Faded Jeans for the blue.
I decided to get Mixed Media crazy! I added Candied Apple Distress Paint stripes, I threw down a layer of Mod Podge, which "intensified" the Distress Oxides underneath, I added some Prima Snowflake Paste for those rays using Tim Holtz's "Ray" stencil, and colored them with Shimmerz Vibez "Glorious Day." If that wasn't enough, for the "stars" I used Shimmerz Dazzlerz "Spun Sugar" and Echo Park's "Beach Towel" stencil. About now I was thinking I should give up and start over! But, as I said, I'm persistent (some may say overly stubborn, but they're wrong! LOL). Anyhow, I decided that I should cover some of my "flag" with a firework (as so originally inspired by the July Challenge at Creative Embellishments) and I dug out my glitter. (I have a great dislike for glitter, but I was getting desperate!)

What better way to adhere that glitter than with some Transparent Gloss Texture Paste from Ranger "squished" through a temporary stencil I made with some scrap card stock and a "starburst" cut file from Silhouette? In hindsight, there probably are better ways! Oh. My. Gosh. Now I just have too much everything!
Well, that's just too much ... EVERYTHING!
I actually threw the ATCs in the trash at this point, I just didn't know what else to do! But, as I was sitting there thinking about what items to keep out for the next try I saw an old Tim Holtz Mask "Flourish" just hanging around collecting dust, and I had an idea! At first I was going to use the mask, but I hadn't worked out what I would use to cover the undesirable areas. Then, as I sat there staring at the mask over the ATC next to my pile of scrap pieces of Simple Stories "Stars & Stripes" a firework went off in my mind! And the following picture is what that firework sparked!

Using my hot glue gun I stuck the cuts to the ATCs, used the sanding block to distress the edges, and inked them up with some Frayed Burlap Distress Ink! There was still a little too much "stuff" showing, and that's when I decided to enlist the help of a little birdie!

Flourish cut file from the Silhouette Store!

Little Birdie (Tim Holtz's Mini Bird Crazy & Things) to the rescue!
Persistence paid off!


Product List:
  • Silhouette Cameo: Used to cut the flourish which is from the Silhouette Store.
  • Sizzix Big Shot
  • Simple Stories: Stars & Stripes "Independence Day"
  • Tim Holtz: Mini Bird Crazy & Things Stamps & Dies
  • Tim Holtz Sanding Grip
  • Tim Holtz Distress Oxides: Faded Jeans, Broken China, Fired Brick
  • Tim Holtz Distress Ink: Frayed Burlap
  • Tim Holtz Distress Markers: Picket Fence, Ground Espresso, Candied Apple, & Carved Pumpkin
  • Tim Holtz Distress Paint: Candied Apple
  • Tim Holtz Distress Collage Medium: Crazing
  • Tim Holtz Stencils: Rays & Stripes
  • Echo Park Stencil: "Beach Towel"
  • White Acrylic Paint
  • Shimmerz Dazzlerz: Spun Sugar
  • Shimmerz Vibez: Glorious Day
  • Mod Podge Paper: Gloss
  • Prima Snowflake Paste
  • Ranger Texture Paste: Transparent Gloss; Black Archival Ink, Water Pen, & Glossy Accents
  • Martha Stewart Glitter: Crystal, Lapis Lazuli, & Tourmaline

12 comments:

  1. Such pretty ATC's. Love the crazy bird with the tie and the flag. Thank you so much for joining us at Simon Says Stamp Monday Challenge. Hugs, Sandra

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  2. Hi CJ!!!! Thanks for joining in at CREATIVE EMBELLISHMENTS-you did the challenge for both places (sb.com too and I get to see them in real life! LOL!) Love the story! LOVE the cards...didn't realize that all that sparkle was inside the cards! COOL!

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  3. Wonderfully done! Thanks for joining us at Creative Embellishments!

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  4. oh how adorable are theses ! Love them, thanks for joining our Creative Embellishments challenge & good luck.

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  5. Love your ATC's, very cool! Thanks for joining our challenge at Creative Embellishments.

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  6. Lovely 4th of July ACTs! Those birds are adorable. Thanks for joining us at Creative Embellishments!

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  7. fabulous ATC's great use of the colours... thanks for playing along at Creative Embellishments

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  8. these are go creative! Love it. Thank you for joining us at Creative Embellishments.

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  9. so much fun love them Thanks for playing with us at Creative Embellishments :)

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  10. those are absolutely fantastic.. Thank you for sharing with us ladies over at Creative Embellishments.

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  11. Fabulous ATC! Thanks for playing with us at Creative Embellishments! :)

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  12. Awesome layered ATC's! So unique and creative! Love the details on the base and those adorable stamped images! Thanks for playing along with the Creative Embellishments July Challenge! :D

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