Creative Living Artist Trading Cards
Life can be challenging; decisions to make, tasks to manage and so many ups and downs. Through all of it, I find stability and calm in creative living. Simply taking a few moments out of each day to create.
Whether it’s getting words down on a page in my journal, splashing some paint on paper or whipping up an artist trading card, by taking a couple minutes each day I unwind and reconnect with myself.
The set of ATCs I am sharing today are the first ones that I was not embarrassed to show off and am quite proud of. They took a few weeks to create from start to finish and made me doubt my creative judgement a few times, but in the end they turned out gorgeous!
I’m keeping these gems. No trading going on here. Sorry (not sorry).
Don’t be afraid to layer, layer and layer some more until they look just right. You might end up with your beset piece yet!
Creative Living ATCs
Supplies In Order of Usage
Below are the craft supplies I used in order of layer that they were applied; some with shopping links to Amazon for your convenience. =)
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- Torn pages from a book
- Cut up index cards
- Gesso
- Dylusions ink spray – After Midnight, Vibrant Turquoise, London Blue
- Texture paste and Tim Holtz stencil
- Dylusions ink spray – Fresh Lime
- Tim Holtz Flower Garden cling stamps
- Dina Wakley Scribbley Flowers and Insects
- Watercolor paints and aquash brush
- Tim Holtz Chit Chat stickers
- Brads
- Glitter
- Faber Castell 8B graphite pencil
- Versamark Watermark stamp pad
- White gel pen
Are you ready to check out the whole set? Let’s go!
These two were the first two in the set. I initially stopped after stamping the insects and flowers with black ink. I wasn’t impressed and gave up.
Then thinking I can’t make them any worse I began filling in the flowers with watercolors. What. A. Difference!
The card on the left I kept simple with black stamping. The bees on the right got a little watercolor to their bodies and glitter on the wings.
When working with watercolors, you can load up on the color then take away some if it’s too bold. Just add a little water and dab with a paper towel. The After Midnight ink spray was a bit intense in places and had to be toned down with this technique.
With all the blues and greens, I felt I needed a little POP of color. Red did the job nicely. =)
The Jack of Spades got a secret stamp. With a watermark stamp pad, I added a couple bees to the corner of the cards. It’s a sweet little surprise.
What do you think of my favorite set of artist trading cards? Some creative living time well spent don’t you think?
Oh these are beautiful Sarah, I love the different designs and the positive messages too. Lovely! – Tasha
Thank you Tasha =) It’s so nice to see your face and words
I always try to at the very least end my day with a wee bit of creativity, even if it’s just crocheting a boring old granny square. Somehow it really helps to relax me.