Thursday 14 September 2017

ATC Swap: B is for...

These ATCs were made for the September monthly swap with Junk Journal Junkies and Mindful Art (JJJAMA).  This month the prompt is 'B'.  For some reason I always seem drawn to using Claritystamp stamps for ATCs and this month was no exception.
I worked on Sheena's stamping card trimmed to regulation ATC size (2.5" x 3.5").  Having gone through my Claritystamp stamp folders, I found one of the bunnies from the Bunnies and Winter Tree stencil, the Lace Butterfly which was one of the monthly stamps with my New Design Club membership (available as a back issue to non-members; NDC 110), the smallest of the three Hot Air Balloons and Big Ben from the Clocks and Cogs stamp set.  I started with the bunny ATC, stamping the chosen one (of four) in Coffee archival ink.
I masked off the bunny, using the mask which comes with the set, added a small moon mask and then used the Hills and Mountains mask to add the background.  The sky is Midnight Blue Artistry Ink and the ground is Pampas Artistry Ink.  The layers were added working from front to back (bottom to top) using the Claritystamp stencil brushes for a smooth effect.
The bunny mask was then removed and the ground layers masked as needed, while two of the teeny weeny grass stamps were added in Fern Green Archival ink (Toadstool Outline set and Grove Trees Outline set).  The tree branch from the Birdhouse Garden stamp set was added along the top.
The bunny was then coloured in using Ecoline pens.  Next, the letter B from the Claritystamp Word Chain Alphabet was stamped in Versafine ink and heat embossed using black detail embossing powder (as it was on all three ATCs).
It only remained to add 'is for brown bunny' along the top of the hills, using a black micron pen,  to finish the first ATC.
The next ATC that I worked on was the 'bright balloon over Big Ben.'  I stamped the clock tower from the Clocks and Cogs set and the smallest of the three balloons from the Hot Air Balloons set using Versamark ink and heat embossed them with black detail embossing powder.  Once cool, Pebeo masking fluid was painted over the images.
Once the masking fluid was dry, the Claritystamp cloud mask was used in conjunction with a stencil brush and Midnight Blue Artistry Ink to add the background, starting at the top of the ATC and moving the mask downwards.  The dry masking fluid was then erased.
The clock tower and balloon were coloured in using Ecoline pens, then a water brush was taken over the cloud background to add further texture and intensify the background.
The letter B was added in the same way as before, and the rest of the quote written in a .03 micron pen (up the side of the clock tower).
I didn't take as many photos of the last ATC as I was working on it.  The Lace Butterfly was stamped in Versamark ink and heat embossed with black detail embossing powder.

This time I created the background by adding Midnight Blue Artistry Ink to my glass craft mat, adding some water and painting it in using a water brush.  This was to create a 'middle ground' between the two other background techniques.
The butterfly was then coloured using Ecoline pens, blended together with a water brush; the letter B added and the rest of the quote 'is for beautiful butterfly' written in place along the wings of the butterfly.



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