Mini ATC Zettiology Style "Mama's Eyes"

These next six images are all miniature Artist Trading Cards, which are a mere 1 1/2 x 2 1/2 inches in size. A pretty small canvas for my bumbling fingers! The style of the art is called Zettiology, named in honor of an awesome art studio who creates and sells collage sheets and rubber stamps! These six cards were my first foray into Zetti art and I am absolutely hooked! I love the fun and quirky style! If you want to check them out for yourself, go to their website at http://www.teeshamoore.com/collagesheetsforsale.htm

I am not affiliated with them in any way. I'm just a HUGE fan who adores their style! I hope to acquire some more of their collage sheets soon so I can create Zetti stuff on a larger canvas.

Mini ATC Zettiology Style "Red Burgundy Morning"

This mini Zetti ATC was created before I found the words. They seemed perfect for these flutter-byes! The faces and background paper are Zetti. The flowers are origami paper, and the butterflies were cut from postage stamps.

Mini ATC Zettiology Style "Possessed"

This little queen is a collage of all sorts of different papers - Zetti (the queen and eyes), an old wine label, part of an old spirit label, and a button.

Mini ATC Zettiology Style "Lost in Space"

When I saw this gal on the Zetti collage sheet, I knew she had to be an astronaut! So I added some cool background paper, a few stamps, some tissue from a swap, some stamped star images, and a button. The words are from a piece of vintage sheet music. She doesn't look all that concerned with being lonely though, does she?!

Miniature ATC Zettiology Style "Acrobat Break Time"

The guy and the words are from a Zetti Circus collage sheet, various papers torn and added, then a button. He was the first one I created out of the bunch and gave me the courage to continue on and finish the series of 6.

Mini ATC Zettiology Style "Foolish Fancy"

Sorry about the fuzziness and crookedness on this guy. He didn't scan well. But I had fun making this one and thought it was good advice for anyone wanting to run away with the circus! heh heh! If you are going to run away, at least take a safe job like selling corndogs or tickets instead of being the wild animal trainer! :)

Black and White Swap ATC's

Black and White Swap Last 3 Cards

The next 9 cards were created for a Black and White Theme Swap at a-t-c.com. I had a difficult time at first with the black and white theme. I kept wanting to add color! The names of these three cards are: Champagne Wishes (top right), Melancholy Baby (middle left), and Hair-Raising Ideas (bottom right).

Black and White First Six Cards

I think it is safe to say that the black and white theme was making me feel a little "dark and sad", which is ok. Sometimes creating cards is a way for me to work through the sadness. And those who really know me well, know that I have both a dark and a light side to my personality. I've learned to embrace that darker side in the last couple of years! Not to worry, I'm not "going over to the dark side" like Darth Vader! I am just learning to appreciate all the facets of my true personality these days. The names of these cards, from top to bottom, left to right are: "Island Dream", "homage to Edward Gorey" (My dear husband's favorite illustrator!), "Silent Tears of Sorrow" (Thinking about losing my dad while making this one), "The Eternal Star Gazer" (Again, thoughts of my dad - looking to the stars and thinking "are you there poppie?!"), "Lost Dreams" (Can you see the face behind hers? It's a very cool sticker sent to me by my friend Heather R.), and "Bella Couture".

Four Cards for a "Time for Tea" Swap at B'Muse

"Beautea"

The wonderful woman who hosted this swap has an online store called "Life, LiberTEA, and the Pursuit of Happiness". Such a clever name! So I wanted to use that play on words and create my cards in the same way. These are what I came up with. And if you want to check out her online store, here's the link: http://www.liberteas.com/. Again, no affiliation, just a cool hostess! :)

"Loyaltea"

What can I say about this card except I absolutely LOVE it?! A boy and his dog - loyalty in its purest form! I'm thinking I'll have to make a duplicate of this card to keep around, since it makes me chuckle every time I see it.

"Royaltea 2"

This is actually the second "Royaltea" card that I have made. The first was done for a personal swap. I feel like this card still needs something, so I may wait to send it off to the hostess. I'm not sure what to add though. Any ideas??

"Sense & Sensibilitea"

This card turned out lighter than I invisioned, but I like it anyways. I absolutely love this movie and knew I had to make this card part of the swap. In fact, if I had a tea shop, I think I would call it Sensibiliteas with an Austen-esque type feel. That would be fun! :)

Three Fairy Cards For A Personal Swap

These three cards were made to send for a personal swap. "Margie" has shown up before and she was the inspiration for these three. I altered a vintage photo with tattoos, glasses, and a cell phone to make her a "hip chick". "Trixie" is probably my favorite out of the bunch! The number seven was random, but I think it reveals a little bit about her personality: That she could be the number one fairy if she wanted, but it having too much fun as a "bad girl"! "Lucie" is sweet, but obviously a little bold too - just look at her eyes! She's a "new" fairy (the small wings), so I have a feeling she will be influenced by the other two as time goes on! heh heh heh. I'm thinking these three fairies will show up again with a few of their friends! Maybe even in their own book!

Dear Diary Book Swap Back Page

Dear Diary Book Back Page

This is the back of my Dear Diary Page for a swap at Paper Dollz Yahoo Group. It is a mixed media collage with printed images, torn paper layered with tissue, a postage stamp and embellishments. It's 8 1/2 x 11", and the biggest collage I have created yet! It was very "freeing" to create in the larger size and I want to do more very soon. I've seen some of the art that the other swappers have created and I think this is going to be an amazing book! I'm not sure I'll be able to write in it after it arrives - I don't want to ruin the artwork with my scratchings! So I may have to use it as a coffee table book instead! :) Oh, and the quote reads: "Beauty is how you feel inside, and it reflects in your eyes." -Sophia Loren

Please let me know what you think. Constructive critisism is always welcome and encouraged!

Note: The edges of this page are decorated with stamped tissue paper, which was graciously sent to me by Kandace in a recent paper swap. Thank you Kandace for the inspiration! The whole color scheme of this project revolved around your beautiful tissue paper!

Front Page For Dear Diary Book

Dear Diary Front of Page

This is the front of my page for the dear diary book swap. Again, it is mixed media collage with embellishments in the 8 1/2 x 11" size. The quote reads: "What lies behind you and what lies in front of you, pales in comparison to what lies inside of you" -Ralph Waldo Emerson

I was a last minute fill-in replacement for this book and am so glad I decided to push myself to do the larger collage. It was a wonderful learning experience!

Note: The beautiful heart and the paper used in the other three corners (the beautiful rusty peachy colored paper with the script) was also sent by Kandace in a recent paper swap! So beautiful! Thanks Kandace!

What is an ATC?

Good Afternoon All!

For everyone who wants to know a little bit more about Artist Trading Cards, or ATC's, here's some info for you. ATC's are little works of art that are the size of Baseball Trading Cards (3 1/2 x 2 1/2"). They can be collaged, decopaged, painted, done digitally, etc. There are really no rules about creating them except that they should be the stated size and embellishments should be flat enough so that they can fit into a Trading Card Binder Page. The only other rule is that they are to be traded with other artists or given away, but never sold! It is a way for artists to share their work with others in a safe, friendly, encouraging environment.

Two good websites to check out ATC art are: http://www.artist-trading-cards.ch/about.htm. The gallery is great here with many different types of art from around the world. One Yahoo Group that I find particularly wonderful is CollageCats, and that link is: http://groups.yahoo.com/group/Collagecats/. The artists in the group inspire me every single day to continue creating! They are amazing and I hope one day to be as talented as them!

The Eggshell Queen

This was my first attempt at creating a completely digital ATC. Using Microsoft Image Pro 9, I added an eggshell filter to the image. Then I added the crown, the heart, and the words and she was finished. It is very simplistic compared to some digital art I have seen in the Yahoo groups, but I'm pretty happy with her. The quote is pretty self-explanatory I think...Let me know if you would like a copy or would like to trade a copy of one of your ATC's for her! I love trading!

Butterfly ATC's for a recent swap at a-t-c.com

These cards are digital and mixed media collage. They were done digitally by manipulating a drawing of a butterfly in terms of size and color and then fitting them together in a word document. The quotes were added in and then printed. Various fibers and buttons were added to spruce them up. These were my second stab at creating cards with digital art and a fun experiment.