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