Happy Valentine's Day - Hearts Swap ATCs

Happy Valentine's Day!

Today I mailed all the Artist Trading Card swaps to the players, so that they would be postmarked 14th February 2008.

The new themes for the next 3 months are listed on the side bar,

please join in, the more the merrier.

There is also a link to look at the ATCs that were sent.

Its a leap year Valentine's day this year and

I hope it is a wonderful day for you all and that it is filled with love.

More Valentines

I really enjoyed working on the heart shaped ATCs that I showed you a couple of days ago so decided to make some more!

I do a lot of cutting and sticking; I like to move all the bits about until I get the balance that I like.

Sometimes if you cut and decoupage,

allthough the white edges don't show when you look at your finished card, they often do on a photo.

To avoid that, I like to run a small stamp pad of a similar colour to the picture along all the edges to tone out the white or other background.

It also adds a bit of depth.

The ribbon that I used on these ATCs was a lucky find in a charity shop. Its very old and a great colour.

To get the width I wanted to tie onto the key,

I cut it in half lengthwise and then frayed the edges.

Valentine ATC

The challenge for a swap was to create heart shaped ATCs on a Valentine theme. They must still be able to fit in a plastic sleeve.

I made the one on the right using my map that I had dyed with tea. The hearts that are fixed with a brad are stamped then cut out.

Its nice to work on something a little different.