ATC's in the mail............

...........have started arriving from the Surface Design "show a technique" & they're all absolutely wonderful!!!

This first ATC is from Annette in the UK. Annette recycled Crisp bags (what Americans call potato chip bags) which she wove for the background & the beautiful flower, made from recycled sheers, was created by using a metal stencil in which she burned out the flower shape. You can visit Annette's blog here where you can see all of ATC's that she made & also gives a better description of her process. Love the colors & the spiral is just fabulous!! Thanks, Annette!!

This ATC was made by Michelle. I would have never thought of pairing salmon with turquoise but the colors really worked well together. She layered bit & pieces of scrap material on top of cheesecloth & then a layer of silky solvy, to hold it together while she free motion quilted it. After the silky solvy was washed away, she applied gesso, then a layer of emulsion house paint. After all was dried, she then applied color with Golden Acrylics. You can see her process here & view more of her finished cards here. Thanks Michelle, I always love trading with you!!

This beautiful ATC is from Dotti. The black with the copper really makes this card pop!! That rusty brown color strip down the middle was actually created by rust dyeing, which I've always wanted to try but have never had the time (too many ideas in my head & not enough time to try all of them). The copper metal "laugh" plate on this card, reminded me of a book I just bought, "The Art of Stitching on Metal" by Ann Parr. Unfortunately, I haven't had much time to sit down & actually read the book as of yet, but at a glance, it appears to be a terrific book!!

Thanks, Dotti for the beautiful ATC!!

Another great swap from a bunch of fabulous artists, thanks ladies!!

Double-sided ATC's ??

These look SO much better in person! Apparently, I'm very good at creating work that just doesn't seem to photograph very well.

These ATC's are for a swap in Surface Design. We were to "show a technique." They were made using 8 different layers. This wasn't my intentions, but since my first idea didn't work, I ended up using if for the backing.

My intentions were to use layers of black felt, hand stamped with lumiere paint, painted bond a web, Angelina Fibers & black tulle. I then stitched all four layers together. I had hoped that when I hit it with a heat gun that it would melt through the many layers, creating interesting surfaces. I didn't give it much of a chance.......as soon as it melted through the tulle & turned the Angelina Fibers brown, I stopped. I had hoped that the Angelina Fibers would retain their initial color. I then flipped the piece over & started melting through the felt. The stitching worked well & prevented the piece from shrinking or curling very much. The problem I faced as I melted through the black felt was that I could see the purple painted bond a web, but no Angelina Fibers (they were on the other side of the painted bond a web). I then realized that I needed to start over & have the Angelina Fibers facing the black felt, so when I melted through the felt, you would see the colorful Angelina. This seemed to work.

After everything had cool, I then applied color using Shiva sticks, (which I've never been a fan of & after this project STILL not) & Golden Fluid Acrylics. I then used metallic thread & free motion stitched over the entire piece.

I've enclosed closeups so you can hopefully get a better idea of what is happening within the ATC's.

Remember the fumbled first try at these? I ended up using it for my backing fabric which ended up giving me the opportunity to make double-sided ATC's :)

A Beautiful ATC

I received this beautiful ATC from Kath Loden in England, in a private trade. Isn't it wonderful?!! LOVE the colors (& the squiggles)!! AND she sent it in this wonderful little envelope that she created for the card. Wished I could remember to do things like that, I get so caught up finishing up the ATC & making sure it gets in the mail quickly, I never seem to think about, "what else could I do?"

Thanks for a fabulous trade, Kath!!
(you can see the card I made for her here)

ATC for Trade, ACEO for my Shop

Kath Loden (another new friend from the UK, yeah!) read my post before this one & through our conversations agreed upon an ATC swap.

The first card below, is the one I'm sending her (hope she likes it.)

© 2009 Tracy Borders

It's made from hand dyed bamboo poplin, black Misty Fuse & Turquoise Eyelash Yarn (LOVE those two colors together). This is so hard to see in the photo, but I then free motion quilted the card & added some Treasure Gold wax on the raised surfaces & added a few sequins with seed beads for embellishments.

The ACEO below, is in my Etsy shop.

© 2009 Tracy Borders

This ACEO was created in the same manner as the card above, except more stitching & less eyelash yarn.

I'll post Kath's ATC here when it arrives. It was asked in my last post what I sent Anne for the ATC swap......... I created an ATC like the card in my shop, which you can see here.

Beautfiul ATC Trade

I wanted to share with you a beautifully cross-stitched ATC I received from Anne Lugherini in a trade. Anne contacted me & said that she had ran across my blog & wondered if I'd be up for a trade. Of course I would!! My first piece of art from a French Artist!! :)

LOVE the little fishies!! You might have to click on the photo to see them better, but she added pearlescent white seed beads that suggest bubbles in the water.

I was honored to discover, I was her first US swap!! Beautiful card Anne, thank you for trading with me!!!

Tyvek ATC's

© 2008 Tracy Borders

These look SO much better in person. Shiny materials just don't like to photograph very well. Should the sun ever decide to peak out from behind the clouds just a little bit, I'll try to photograph them under natural light & see if that helps any. (Living in Seattle, we really only have two seasons-Spring & Winter, with about a week of Summer and a week of Fall in between.)

The background is hand dyed bamboo poplin in my favorite green. I used Lumiere paint under the stitched down Tyvek & then back over the top of it before I hit it with a heat gun & then applied again after I melted back some of the Tyvek. The tiny flecks of turquoise that appear here & there were created by painting the Tyvek with left over exhausted Procion MX dyes. It's nice to know that you can use the old dyes for other projects & not have to dump them down the drain.

As for the edges, I think I might leave them as is, I fear adding a satin stitch edge or any other stitching might detract from the ATC & I like the raw edge with the melted Tyvek. As for adding any embellishing, I'm not sure, I think I like it just as it is.

ACEO's from Marion

Marion Barnett & I did a private trade & this is what she sent me. Aren't they just GORGEOUS?!!!!! The colors are very beautiful & vibrant. There's so much going on it each of these ACEO's (Art Card, Editions & Originals) They each have a soft velvety touch to them when you gently run your fingers over them. The two on the outside have layered Lutradur & what I think are Angelina Fibers that run over the sides. They've all been painted & some of them have foiling & quilting added.

I love how she finished the edges by leaving them raw. I would have never thought of doing this. When I make pc's or atc's, my thought is of always stitching up those edges. Seeing these has now opened my mind to new possibilites.

You really should check out Marion's blog, she's doing some wonderful things & if you find yourself really wanting one of her beautiful pieces, she also has an Etsy store!!

Thank you Marion for such wonderful little works of art!!!

Spring ATC's

Remember this?

This is what I ended up doing with it & I like how it turned out! I actually started over. Hand dyed neon green cotton base, then layering metallic eyelash yarn, black Misty Fuse, & finishing with the neon green eyelash yarn & touching it with an iron to fuse it all together. (You might have to click on the second picture to see the metallic eyelash yarn.) I love how the colors worked out!

A little different shade of green..................looking back upon different things that I've created, I guess I can say I find comfort in analagous colors. Again the base fabric, a hand dyed green that I didn't think was successful, but used in these ATC's, I think they turned out ok. Layered with machine stitching, hand dyed cheesecloth, lumiere rubber stamping & metallic spiral clips. (I think this is about as close to pastel as I will probably ever get & still like it.)