Halloween 24/7

Yep. You know how you get a little itchy when you haven't done something Halloween related in a while?
No? Really?
Well, okay. But just to mix things up a bit, it's Halloween in May at my house.
Here's a fun thing I made using Gypsy Soul Laser Cuts super-sturdy-do-anything-on-'em Chunky ATC Blanks. I love these things. They are just about indestructible and put up with a lot of mixed media, sanding, painting over and general artsy masochism.
This is a straightforward project, so I wasn't so hard on the poor things this time, but I like the visual effect.

  They are fairly simple but I like the stark contrast of the black trees (I used the 3D Chip Board Tree-3inch and just a little black silhouette of a Halloween critter (which I just drew in with a good black marker) with some borders I cut from the Graphic 45 Rare Oddities Ephemera Cards.
Easy, but effective.
Here's where it began...

I then covered the fronts of the ATC's with my chosen papers.

I cut the borders from the G45 papers and cut the trees in half. I painted them black (some are white in the photo, but later I changed them to all black).

Please note that the borders are larger than the ATC's and that is okay.

Setting aside the trees to dry, I flipped the ATC's over, lined them up and glued a ribbon down the center of the ATC's, leaving enough ribbon at the top to loop over as a hanger.
Do a dry run of the frames on the ATC's with the frames and ribbon to make sure you've left enough space for you to glue the frames on to the ATC's and not have them overlap.
I chose to have very little space between each piece, but you might like more of the ribbon to show between each one. Your choice!

After the ribbon dried, I glued the frames and the trees on the front, making sure the frames were centered as best I could make them on the ATC's. 

After the trees dried I drew in some simple Halloween shapes with a pencil and went over them with a very black marker.
I chose a bat, a cat and a spider, but you can let your creepy critter flag wave here and choose whatever you like.

Not to waste, I finished off the backs with the center pieces I cut out of the G45 ephemera cards.

Simple but effective.
Going for the simple design that has visual impact.
Hope you like it!
Thanks for dropping by.

SUPPLIES:
Chunky ATC Blanks
3D Chip Board Tree-3inch 
Graphic 45 Rare Oddities Ephemera Cards
Ribbon
Black paint
Black marker

An ATC Trio of Royal Birds

I can tell spring has really arrived. Suddenly my garden is full of birds...all shapes and sizes, from petite purple finches to bright blue jays, they've all flocked to the feeders and have been feeding up for the arduous task of caring for nestlings.
Certain birds seem to have dominance or priority over others. I've seen this in all the species we've got at the feeders.
Maybe they paid the extra money for the executive lounge.
Or maybe they're royalty and all the other birds let them have first go.
Either way, there's enough for all.
A whimsical trio of ATC's inspiring by the birds I see at my feeders.
Except the owl.
He's there because he's so handsome.
And he makes me smile because he's very pope-ish.

I began with the ATC Stand. this comes in a package of three which is super handy because mt favorite Chunky ATC Blanks come in a set of three. What a coincidence! Naw, that Gina is pretty smart. ;-)

After gluing them together, (easy-peasy) I gave all three a good coat of white paint.

Then I started working on the ATC blanks.

I cut the papers for both sides of each ATC and glued them on.

I sanded the edges and inked them up. Then I started working on the bird images. Using colored pencils and a couple of Copic markers, I juiced up the color on the birds a bit.
And started adding glitter to the crowns.

It's a bit hard to tell, but a lot of Stickles Glitter Glue was used...

I wanted the birds raised a bit off of the ATC, so I glued some scrap chipboard to the backs of each bird.
I also wanted a bit of exaggerated shadow under the birds, so using the birds as templates, I did a light outline around the inside of each bird cut-out on the ATC where I wanted them placed and then using pencils and a blender stick, I made a 'shadow' around what will be the outside edges of the birds.

I added my favorite dots to each ATC for some delicate detail.

And maybe a little extra glitter.

The stands are a great way to show off the ATCs and I like the fact that you can rotate a collection out depending on mood or season/ holiday. Or you can get a bunch and put your whole collection out.

SUPPLIES:
ATC Stand
Chunky ATC Blanks

Additional Supplies:
Birds and Crowns Collage Sheet (from Gallery Cats)
Stickles Glitter Glue in a variety of colors
White acrylic paint
Gold Ink Pad

Thank you for stopping by!