ATC Sneak Peak

As if I needed something else I enjoy creating... I have recently been joining SWAPs for making these cute little ATC cards. It started very innocently. I simply wanted to see what they were all about. Next thing I know, I'm joining 2 ATC SWAPs a month until I reach the pinnacle of my addiction and am acting at hostess for a SWAP sponsored by the awesome Mrs. Lindsey of Jacksonbelle Embellishments. (The details for that SWAP can be found here.) The above card is my contribution to a SWAP hostessed by Tracy Durcan of Durcan Designs blog. This is the 2nd SWAP that I have completed with Tracy as hostess and I've signed up for a third- the quality of every card that I have received has been tops and Tracy does such a fa-bu-lous job organizing and keep everyone informed.
I fell in love with these 2 little Eat Cake Graphics stamps the minute I laid eyes on them at my lss. Yes, that is 2 different stamps. I simply made a mask for the little frog when I stamped the mushrooms under his dancing feet. The images are colored with Prismacolor Pencils and Gamsol and his beady little eyes each have a small drop of Crystal Effect to enhance their beadiness. I was flipping through my new BG 6 x 6 paper pads when I found this sweet little flower print in the Sultry collection. It was this paper that has spurned a new love for Garden Green and Pink Passion. These color just remind me of warm weather- hot pink impatiens, strawberries, watermelon- you get the picture! And they are my color inspiration for this card, along with a Chocolate Chip mat cut from a scalloped rectangle Nestabilities. I used a striped hot pink May Arts ribbon as an embellishment, then added a little Pink Passion circle tag with green stitched ribbon (source unk.) for my PTI sentiment. Finally, I felt that I needed one more embelli in the right upper corner for balance. I could not settle on just "the one"- call it AR or detail oriented. Well, I decide Froggie needed a buddy to share his bliss and went to my Quickutz dies to see what I had. This little dragonfly was just the ticket. I cut it first in Certainly Celery then painted it with Lime Green Stickles. While that dried, I cut the die again this time with vellum. I cut the wings out alone then added them to the CS dragonfly. Voila, a friend and embellishment, all in one! If you feel you would like to give these a try, please check out the link I suggested above. I will share the beautiful merry-go-round style ATC holder that I got for my birthday, as soon as I get it loaded with all the fabulous ATCs I have collected! It's ALWAYs A Stampin' Good Time! Take care!

Frog ATC recipe:

Stamps: Eat Cake Graphics, Sentiment- PTI

Paper: Garden Green, Pink Passion, Certainly Celery, Vellum, Stampers Select white CS, PP- Sultry by Basic Grey

Ink: Andirondack Pitch Black

Accessories: May Arts ribbon, Slot punch, 3/4" Circle Punch, Cuttlebug, Nestabilities, Prismacolor Pencils, Quickutz, lime green Stickles, Crystal Effect, Stampin' Dimensionals