Feedback for knitted ATCs

I've been knitting some ATC-sized swatches. If you want, pop over here and leave me some feedback. At least one will go out in a swap through the Creative Mom Podcast.

Thanks.

OCT CMP ATC

My Artist Trading Card for the October Creative Mom Podcast exchange.

The theme was "Tell Me a Story."

Stockings4Soldiers Page 10

Cards made for Stockings4Soldiers, a service project for Iowa National Guard soldiers in Kosovo or Iraq. Most cards are one of a series of 10.

I was asked if I could make another 40 cards. I went ahead and made another 10 more sheets - 100 cards extra. But to save time, I had to craft first, and run them through the toner copier second (to put info on the card backs - my printer is an inkjet and prone to running when wet.)

The art had to be flat, so I went to rubber stamp and direct to paper with my Marvy ink pads.

Cards 1-2: Paint monoprinting, with SPARKLEWORKS added with my 12-letter rubber stamp.

Card 3: Random placement of letters THANKS. Each letter had its own color and each letter in this set was stamped with the negative block font, the serif font, and the ASL fingerspell set. The THANK YOU stamp was added after the cards were cut into singles, for all of these sets.

Card 4: Marvy ink pads direct to paper with a slight twist before lifting, to give little swirls.

Card 5: just random ASL finger letters, more than just the letters in "Thanks," and not really dense enough. My first sheet of that night.

Card 6: Marvy direct to paper without the twist.

Card 7: Marvy direct to paper using just the side of the ink pad. I keep turning the paper as I pounce, to stay random. This style reminds my of the background in the Talk Soup set.

Card 8: Marvy direct to paper with some dragging and swooping.

Card 9: THANKS letters using only the negative block font. I really like these letters.

Stockings4Soldiers Page 8

Cards made for Stockings4Soldiers, a service project for Iowa National Guard soldiers in Kosovo or Iraq. Most cards are one of a series of 10.

After the initial count of 715 cards, the generosity swelled and the finial count was 754 recipients. So I had to make more cards. Well, I didn't *have* to , but I did.

The star card was from a previous batch. The rest were all collaged on November 7th.

Card 1: Paint and Crayola Stamper marker leaf. All Stamper highlights were added after cutting the sheet of cards into singles.

Card 2: Smeared purple paint, leaf stamped with ink, leaf Stamper marker. (I'm still not getting the layered collage look I so admire. More practice...)

Card 3: Just squiggles in wet paint. A Paste Paper look without the paste.

Card 4: Random leaf stamps, variety of ink colors. Little leaf Stamper.

Card 5: Multiple monoprinting transfers among sheets, using paint in red, green, gold glitter, and silver glitter. Text SPARKLESHINE added on singles using the 12-letter stamper from Oriental Trading.

Card 6: Buzz Lightyear foam paint stamps for room decor - bought a while ago at Big Hardware. ZOOM ZOOM GO with my 12-letter stamp.

Card 7: Paper punches from a previous batch

Card 8: Insect foam paint stamps from Pooh and from a generic Michael's collection. Butterfly and ladybug Stampers added on singles.

Card 9: Larger foam paint gecko stamp.

Stockings4Soldiers Stuffing

Today, Ganoush and I went to help with stuffing actual stockings for soldiers.

The stocking already had the I Am Loved pins that Ganoush and I helped attached the week prior. We each jumped into the circle of stuffers and picked up a stocking. The donated items to be stuffed were all set in piles on tables. Lip balm, lotion, shampoo, sunscreen stick, yo-yo, fruit snacks, Twizzlers, toothbrush & toothpaste, music CD, New Testament, deck of cards, can cozies, non-battery flashlight, hard candies gathered by a Brownie Troop, flexible fold-up Frisbee, Christmas PEZ dispenser, peppermints, inspirational scripture magnet, ATC, blank ATC, pen, Salted Nut Roll, cheese crackers with peanut butter, wrist bands, and pretzels. Then we each signed a card, "loving filled by:" and passed the stocking to the Shipping Box Filler Guy.

A local news reporter came by to interview project instigator "Whistle D". This project started when a workmate of his was deployed overseas and Whistle D offered to send something to him and his fellow soldiers. It has grown over the last five years to serving 754 soldiers this year. Many groups and individuals are eager to Do Something and are at a loss on how to help, now that To Any Soldier packages are no longer allowed.

Whistle D receives donations of goods from area businesses, donations of money for postage, ink and paper, and gasoline, and donations of time to write, to pin, to create, to stuff, to haul here or there, to fold, and all the little tasks that keep the operation running smoothly.

What a blessing. I'm proud to be a part of it. And I pleased that they aren't shy to say, "Got a minute? Can you fold this stack here?" whenever there is work to be done.

Stockings4Soldiers from Mrs. Pivec

The only other ATCs that arrived in the mail came from CMP's Mrs. Pivec and her class. Thank you to all of the students for creating and contributing. Your cards have already been sent off to soldiers in either Iraq or Kosovo.

In transit, a few of the sequins fell off, but most stayed on. They were very festive. We put each sequined card into an individual clear envelope; one of the stuffing-helpers had just enough, nearby.

Since my husband and I both juggle, I must say that I like the snowman juggling the sequins.

Stockings4Soldiers Beach

Stockings4Soldiers Beach
Originally uploaded by Heidicrafts.

These cards are all from one 12yo girl who heard about the ATC donation request.

One last batch of ATCs

I started another 100 art cards last night. I rubber stamped designs on 10 sheets of cream colored discount card stock.

This morning, I ran the sheets through the copier (toner, not my own ink jet), numbered them, trimmed them, and stamped a "THANK YOU" stamp on each one in a pleasing position. That wraps up a total of 750 ATCs for Stockings for Soldiers. Whew.

Gonzo and I delivered the last batch and were invited to fold greeting cards for the stockings. Then to help move boxes here and there and there to here. Then the kids wandered off to rake the back yard while I divided and counted batches of 5-art-cards piles so they could be directed to this battalion or another. The last group of stuffers will help on Saturday.

Photos yet to come....

Little Houses

My camera batteries are dying and I can't find the spare, so still no photos.

I completed 130 Little House ATCs this morning, and made 20 more this afternoon. Most were on blue card stock with green grass added at the bottom. Some were on green card stock with blue sky added at the top. One batch of 20 were blue card stock with white snow added at the bottom.

I also made another 90 paint and rubber stamp montage cards this afternoon and all were delivered to the Stockings for Soldiers coordinator. The montages included a variety of fall-colored leaf stamps, some glitter paint monoprints with "SPARKLESHINE" stamped with my 12-letter stamper, a set with Buzz Lightyear wall stamps with "ZOOM ZOOM GO," and a mix of insect paint stamps with Crayola Little Stamper bugs added.

This evening I painted up 60 more to number, cut, and SPARKLESHINE stamp tonight. That makes the 300 cards from 30 sheets that I intended to make for this round. I had intended to do something fancier, but time is now of the essence, so it's paint & stamp montages.

Another small unit has been added to the mix, so instead of 300 more needed in November, it's 340. After I post this entry, I'll rubber stamp 10 more blank sheets, then run them through the copier tomorrow, number them, cut them, and get them all delivered.

More S4S ATCs

I haven't heard from anyone else contributing ATCs for S4S, so I'm challenging myself to make more. I did hear from one in Canada, but we don't have time for them to arrive if she sent them now.


I'm making assembly line collage house scenes, a la the Lucinda pins I like, only more basic. Here. Go look. No photos here yet.

Stockings4Soldiers Update Again

I'm done making ATCs for the Stockings for Soldiers project.

Elsewhere in cyberspace is an October challenge to make art daily. I did not participate, but I did make 350 art cards specifically for the S4S project in October, which I think is quite nifty.

My personal numbering of ATCs system was getting a little off, so I started a new number series for the S4S cards. This puts my total at over 1000 for the fourteen months I've made ATCs. Not that quantity matters as much as quality.

And today I'll wrap up the ATC I made last night for the Creative Mom Podcast exchange.

November is the month for Novel Writing and for an entry every day in the blogosphere. No promises, but we'll see what I can do.

Stockings4Soldiers collage

Stockings4Soldiers collage
Originally uploaded by Heidicrafts.

Cards made for Stockings4Soldiers, a service project for Iowa National Guard soldiers in Kosovo or Iraq. Most cards are one of a series of 10.

Tissue paper scraps on card stock, with a paper punched star. The pink square is my own handmade paper. The black bits are print from its previous life.

Stockings4Soldiers watercolor pencil

Stockings4Soldiers watercolor pencil
Originally uploaded by Heidicrafts.

Cards made for Stockings4Soldiers, a service project for Iowa National Guard soldiers in Kosovo or Iraq. Most cards are one of a series of 10.

Watercolor pencil on card stock. I found a set of 24 basic Faber-Castell watercolor-pencils in a tube on clearance this summer. Before that, I had only used Crayola wcps, so I really like the wider mix of colors.

I scribble layers of colors and I give them a wash. The sun is darker, thicker. No great art, but quick, easy, fun to see how it turns out.

Stockings4Soldiers Page 7

Stockings4Soldiers Page 7
Originally uploaded by Heidicrafts.

Cards made for Stockings4Soldiers, a service project for Iowa National Guard soldiers in Kosovo or Iraq. Most cards are one of a series of 10.

Bonus cards not made directly for the trade but added to the mix from my stash of Rainy Day cards without a set destination.

Cards 1-3: My ATC Haiku card. I have a master sheet with ten different fonts and print up a set to decorate as needed. My printer is inkjet, which smears, so I have to use a toner photocopier filled with card stock.

Card 4: Creative cropping from a fruit snacks box.

Cards 5-8: Photos of mine. Card 8 was for the "Reach for the Stars" CMP ATC swap.

Card 9: tissue paper and blo-pen collage.

Stockings4Soldiers Page 6

Stockings4Soldiers Page 6
Originally uploaded by Heidicrafts.

Cards made for Stockings4Soldiers, a service project for Iowa National Guard soldiers in Kosovo or Iraq.

Art cards by Ganoush using rubber stamps and a stray junk mail square. And some glitter glue.

Stockings4Soldiers Page 5

Stockings4Soldiers Page 5
Originally uploaded by Heidicrafts.

Cards made for Stockings4Soldiers, a service project for Iowa National Guard soldiers in Kosovo or Iraq. Most cards are one of a series of 10.

Card 1: Local autumn leaves again. Trapped in clear Con-tact paper, stapled to a blank parchment art card.

Card 2-3: Collages made using elements from Scrapbooking Crop-a-Day pages from previous years.

Cards 4-7: Creative cropping of Kleenex , Puffs, and store brand tissue boxes. My friend Margaret thinks buying tissues with pictures is extravagant. I think buying art with bonus tissues is a prize. :)

Cards 8-9: Creative cropping of a torn gift wrapping box.

In all, I have created 350 cards this month to donate to Stockings for Soldiers.

Stockings4Soldiers Page 4

Stockings4Soldiers Page 4
Originally uploaded by Heidicrafts.

Cards made for Stockings4Soldiers, a service project for Iowa National Guard soldiers in Kosovo or Iraq. These cards are one of a series of 4.

These are all photos. Most of my cards have a stock message photocopied onto card stock, then I decorate the card front.

Here, I composed a sheet of 9 of my photos into a 3x3 grid of 2.5x3.5 rectangles with broad black borders, using MS Publisher. I converted the file to a .pdf and took it to the printer. Less than $1.00 to get a color photocopy onto card stock.

However, during the conversion, Adobe reduced the size of my printout, so each card was a little less than ATC size. So I photocopied my project text onto copy paper, cut them out, and glued them on to the card stock, giving a small white border around the the thick black.

Card 1-3: Dandelions in my back yard. The collages are from previous fun with FD Toys. Rather than resize them, I left white space for rubber stamping. I also used my dandelion seed stamp in silver for a small surprise.

Card 4: A neighbor's tree in winter.

Card 5: A daisy or black-eyed Susan flower had grown up through some Queen Anne's lace at the local nature preserve.

Card 6: Just the way the camera saw it (I don't own Photoshop),, this plant was spotlighted with sunlight filtered through forest leaves at a short trail near our home. It only takes us 20 minutes to walk the trail loop to the creek and back.

Card 7: A photo of Gonzo's beloved Pikachu plushie, Chu-Chu.

Card 8: Backyard Purple Coneflower

Card 9: "Trumpety flower whose name escapes me" at the local history museum's side garden.

Stockings4Soldiers Update

I have heard from my friend J who is leading the Stockings4Soldiers care package project. The first set of non-local ATCs have arrived, from Florida. She says they are great, but that some sequins fell off the cards while in transit.

I made another batch today, bringing my personal count up to 246 completed and ready to ship. I have no idea how many cards to expect from my Internet announcement, so I wanted to make sure that I was doing my part.

Another friend, Margaret, is contributing in a similar vein. She took card stock to be die cut into either a mitten or a Christmas Light, each about the size of a child's hand. Her Brownie troop members each wrote a message and took a set of cards to their school classrooms and collected messages. I took one packet from her and have shared it around my middle school MathCounts class, my own daughter's Brownie troop, and families at the homeschool roller skating event. I'll need another bag from her next week for my son's Boy Scout troop and friends at our church.

If you have made some ATCs for soldiers, send me a link and I'll post it here. My ATCs list this blog address, so I hope that some soldiers stop by.

My blank cards for all 714 soldiers are already to be stocking-stuffed. I hope that a few soldiers find ATCs to be a creative outlet, either trading on online swaps or just amongst themselves.

Again, if you wish to participate, please send cards by October 26th (give or take a day) to this address:

Stockings For Soldiers
1948 Washington Ave SE
Cedar Rapids, IA 52403 USA

We cannot promise that any soldiers will send something back - this is a gift of art.

Thank you for your consideration.

Stockings4Soldiers mealtime

Stockings4Soldiers mealtime
Originally uploaded by Heidicrafts.

Cards made for Stockings4Soldiers, a service project for Iowa National Guard soldiers in Kosovo or Iraq. Most cards are one of a series of 10.

Handy large stamp of phrases about time.
Clock stamp from a scrapbooking grab bag.
Knife fork, and spoon stamps from Hot Potatoes.

Stockings4Soldiers smiles

Stockings4Soldiers smiles
Originally uploaded by Heidicrafts.

Cards made for Stockings4Soldiers, a service project for Iowa National Guard soldiers in Kosovo or Iraq.

Two colorful cards from two kinds of used gift wrap and a mat of pink copy paper