52 card pick up with texture....

Hello everyone, thanks for dropping by here.
I finally had some time to play and have fun just for myself, and so I managed to do the next 4 cards for my 52 card pickup project.

If you want to know more about this project, you can read all about it here.
I have been so busy with other things that there never was time to continue with this project, but finally today I managed to complete the next 4 cards, no 17, 18, 19 and 20. For this new set I really wanted to play with some texture in addition to the other elements.

After covering my little playing cards with strips of old book paper, I added bits of lace, cheese cloth, gauze, corrugated card etc and then covered everything with a coat of gesso.

Next followed a heart, either die cut or stenciled. Hearts as well as inspirational words and/or sayings is a theme that will run through all 52 cards in this project. For this set I then used colour sprays, mostly home made, a little background stamping and a few embellishments then finished the cards off. Below are some close ups of the individual cards:

A die cut heart covered with Picket Fence Distress Crackle Paint. Coloured with Victorian Velvet and Weathered Wood sprays, made with re-inkers. Some Antique Linen Distress Stain was added to the heart. Chit chat stickers etc. finished it off and shadows were added with a Distress Marker. After spraying with my chosen colours I added a very light touch of Gesso again with my fingers, to bring out the textures a bit more still.

This heart was stenciled with Wendy Vecchi crackle paste. I also stenciled the word Passion with a mix of Coffee and Jet Black Archival Inks and coloured with Antique Linen and Walnut Stain. Both stencils are from The Crafters Workshop. Word Stickers and the new Tim Holtz Industrious Stickers plus some hand doodling, completed this one.

This was a die cut heart again, texture was just added with my finger and some texture paste plus a scrap of cheese cloth. Colours: Weathered Wood and Chipped Sapphire, computer generated text and more Industrious Stickers finished it off. Funny, how after not having used stickers for years and years, these ones just really appeal to me, The fabulous Tim Holtz just always has the edge on products... and yes, after years of resisting it, I have turned into one of his groupies, I freely admit it.....

The final one, a mix of Victorian Velvet and Antique Linen and Walnut Stain for the colours, words computer generated and finished with some ideaology bits. This little heart is a die from the Eileen Hull ATB set of dies.

Hope you like this little set of cards.

They are a bit different in style from the earlier ones, but I had great fun messing about with the textures. Hope you are having a good weekend. Thanks for taking the time to visit like always and stay inky!!

52 card pickup, the next 4 cards and a sneakpeek

Hello everyone, thanks for dropping in and thank you so much for all the lovely comments you left me for my first post on altering these fun little playing cards.

First of all, I am sharing a sneak peek for a project I am showing over on the Calico Crafts blog:

If you want to see more, just click here

But now, here is the next instalment of my 52 cards project, using very similar techniques as on the first set. Altogether, the cards don't look that different from the first lot, but then hey, this is after all a set of cards.

I used all the same techniques, - old book paper, background stamps, stencils, inks, tissue tape etc. Again, I had so much fun doing these and they are just perfect when you don't have the time for a very involved project and yet want to do something creative.

This is the dapper gentleman from the Tim Holtz Paris to London set, to me he looks brave and determined enough to make a difference, and making a difference is the inspiration behind this card and message.

chit chat stickers and some scraps of an old paper collection (can't remember which one) created the message on this one.

A much needed reminder in times where there is so much suffering going on..... This time the words were computer generated.

Tim Holtz letter stickers and mover and shaper dies on this one. One of the best techniques I recently found out when doing these cards is rubbing some Glue n Seal over your card, letting it dry and then using your Distress Markers to add some colour and shadows to make the images pop. It works a dream and I love it. other gel mediums do work as well but in my experience Glue n Seal works the best.

Left the backs really simple again, like with the first set:

If you missed the first set of cards, and the inspiration and ideas behind them, you can find them here

Thank you for visiting and stay safe, warm and happy!!

A New Little Venture

Hi everyone and lovely to have you dropping in here. Today I am sharing something new that I started doing and that has been great fun.
Over the last few weeks I have been inspired by seeing little cards created following Stephanie Ackerman's 52 Card Pick-up classes. I loved them so much, I wanted to do my own. One of the places I saw them first was on Anne Kristine's beautiful blog.

Stephanie started this a year ago, so I am running a year behind, but who cares. I am having fun, and to me that is what this is all about.
You can find out more about this project HERE if you are interested. Basically you alter a pack of 52 playing cards, one for each week of the year so to speak, but of course you can do them when you want. I am making them in batches of four cards and will be sharing them as such.

This is the first. All of the cards use the same kind of mixed media techniques, collage, background stamping etc. etc. Just things I love to mess about with. Stephanie gives lots of ideas (plus down loads and ideas for words and sayings if you want). ..

Hearts are a recurring theme in her example and I decided to follow that, finding my own words and sayings however.

The pack I am altering is just under ATC size, so they are quick to do really, specially if you do them more or less in batches. They are also a great way of using up some of these left overs we have all flying around.

Stephanie punches holes in hers to put them on a book ring. For the time being I have decided to keep mine just as loose cards. I may put them together at some later stage.
I am keeping the backs of mine really simple, - just covered with some scrapbook paper and their number, so I know in what order I have created them and what was going on in my mind at the time.

Here you can see the backs of them.
What is the point of these cards you may ask????
Stephanie gives many reasons, here are just a few of them, in her words:

That is why I created this class.

52 hand-created cards of encouragement to reflect on, to look at, to share, to use as support and as reminders for ourselves and for others.   

That is why I created this class.

Whether you create one card a month, one card a week or all at once, the important thing is that you stop and take time to create C.A.R.D.S:
Create something based on what is on your mind, in your heart and/or in your prayers. 
Add quotes or verses that apply to your thoughts and prayers. 
Reflect and remember WHY you are creating & WHAT you are creating. 
Decide to make “that choice” “a change” or say a prayer for what your card represents. 
Share it with others...and then keep on going.  

Well, there you have it, - that is also why I started to make these cards....

I am going to add these cards to the Moo Mania challenge, where the theme is old book paper.
Hope you are having a good week and make a little time to be creative!!