A Chief's Wife's Heart's 'aFire: ATC

Showing posts with label ATC. Show all posts

Tuesday, August 24, 2021

The Funkie Junkie Boutique Challenge #11 Triple the Heat... 3 is the way we roll!

I'm in my 'beat the deadline' mode today; with things to get caught up on because there are more places to go and people to see- the Red Wing kids and Baby Pecan, to be exact! It's been a month since we have held that happy baby and I can't wait to enjoy being with him again! We've managed to have the older 2 Grands here and there over this month, and even went with them on a family trip to see the Children's Museum in Indy back at the first of August. Seems like every trip we make, we see a TRAIN of some kind- and the Grands all love trains! But most of this month has been just the ChiefHubby and I getting things caught up or making shorter trips on our own. In any case: this entire family ROLLS...and very OFTEN! It makes me very happy that our kids want to show their own children the good things our USA has to offer in the way of travels. There was not much travel like that in my own childhood, unless it was with my Maternal Grandparents, up until my Dad came into life when I was 7. In fact, I had very little

knowledge of the roads and places outside my own town- and even inside town was pretty roughly by map only. I just never had anyone interested in showing me where to go and how to get there. By the time I was a teenager, I loved going anywhere with my Dad or older siblings; it was exciting to go fishing, camping, or just babysit my many Nieces and Nephews at their homes. But that was about the extent of it- just here in our own county. When I met my ChiefHubby, he opened up a full-page-color version of life going places and doing things. I picked up water skiing and boating almost overnight. The site of sailboats on the water was a favorite and led to fulfilling of having my own for the past 5 years. Driving to the next county to visit his Grandparents on their Isle of Homes on Lake Shaffer was a favorite, since I was always close to my own Grandparents. I loved staying all night in Grandma's guest bed and waking up to the sunshine on the lake. Later, jet-skiing out on my own when the kids got back to school and the ChiefHubby was working all day. And like mine, they loved going places. They'd moved there when Grandpa retired from the railroad as a Yardmaster. They shared their love - and life- of both boats and trains with us, and it's passing down to our own Grandkids now.

Some of my earliest memories of my own Grandpa involved cars, because he drove up to Detroit in 1965- the year I was born- to purchase his second Durant (1931, his first was 1929 as a teen). He spent a long time restoring that car and it became his pride and joy. I was with him in many parades, car shows, and visits to folks in that Durant, and the smell of that 'old car' remains with me to this day. It was featured in Hemmings Classic Cars magazine (click here for article) and more than one photo appeared in the local newspapers over the years. But my favorite of the 3 he restored (red Ford Galaxy 500 Convertible, the 31 Durant) was his 1955 Packard. One day, while I was visiting him in the garage and he was working on it, he asked me to get in and 'hit the brakes', so he could rig up the tail lights. I was sitting inside and looking at the newly-covered seats that had previously been an ugly green shade and asked "Grandpa, why'd you change to blue?" since he'd stuck with original coloring of the other vehicles. He stopped what he was doing and went over to the back wall, picked something off the board, then held it up to my eyes and said "Because it's the exact shade of YOUR EYES. You have your GRANDMA'S EYES." And I just about melted into the cement flooring. I had to wipe away the tears (which still happens now) because I also have my Grandma's middle name as my own middle name, and that was a lesson in learning to be proud of the name Louise.

I chose these three things- boats, cars, and trains- for the theme of my make.

So let's see what happened!

Tim Holtz has tons of things to choose from for use on ATCs (Artist Trading Cards) of any shape.

Quite a few of my items here- especially packages of all my Paper Dolls-

were purchased from The Funkie Junkie Boutique.

I like to get out everything I MIGHT use and stack it all up.

I also take a photo of what I have out, just in case I forget to do so later.

While I had plenty of time to choose what I wanted to add to the ATCs,

my plan for color and tools was pretty straighforward:

3 colors and 3 set of stamps on 3 ATC circles:

REQUIREMENT OF 3

I did use several layers of cardstock for the middle of each ATC shape.

This helped keep them stiff on the inside while the two outer layers were for looks.

Using Glossy Accents also helps everything keep its shape!

Next, after all the outside layers were all put together, I snipped out some stash paper

from the TH Destination 12x12 stack I was using, for some reinforcements.

The TH IdeaOlogy Ring was my plan to hold them all together as a complete set of 2 threes.

When everything was dry, I used some TH Distress Oxide in Vintage Photo

to add some aging to all of the edges.

Heat dry is a must since the DO/RegD are 'wet' until heat set.

Now the real fun begins!

Choosing which color was to go with which stamps.

While HEAT was not a requirement for this Triple the Heat Challenge,

I decided that was the perfect way to go; HEAT EMBOSSING!

Now, if you're into making details just right, like I always try to do,

here's how to separate stamp images to make them go where you want...

...1- Tape over the part of the image you DON'T want to show

2- Then add paint/ink to the stamp's un covered area

3- Remove the tape and stamp where you wish first part to be

4- Use emboss powder or glaze of choice and heat dry....

...Repeat the steps for each part of the stamp's image you wish to do.

As you work, the part that is heat-finished will look differently in color,

but it will all end up looking the same shade when finished.

I'm using TH Embossing Glazes for my project.

This is Fired Brick.

You can see the TH Glazes are absolutely FABULOUS looking on backgrounds!

Just the right amount to see the stamped image, yet the background shows through it!

With all my stamping and heat emboss glazing finished,

I noted that the Antique Linen was not as visible, so I lightly ran some

Distress Paint over each image in Walnut Stain, then pounced on it with a wetwipe.

Then heat dried again.

I also wanted to add some "rust" to the edges, since these little ATCs looked

like miniature metal signs (like those sold at Hobby Lobby).

So I used the same Walnut Stain Distress Paint onto my TH Glass Mat

and working one side at a time, scraped each ATC edge through it,

dragged the edges through TH Distress Powder,

heat dried, and repeated the process as needed till I was satisfied with each edge.

It took a looooong time to do both sets of 3 ATCs,

but the effect was worth it.

Here's the pic of the items I actually ended up using out of the first photo you

saw of all the choices I laid out at the start....

...and the tools I used.

Here's the CUTE results:

FRONTS:

REQUIREMENT: Set of 3

Made from 3 sets of stamps and 3 color schemes

3 ribbons, 3 sets of 2 ppl/pet

REQUIREMENT: Set of 3

Made from 3 sets of stamps and 3 color schemes

3 ribbons, 3 children

BACKS:

FYI: The paper I used to lay the ATCs on for photo taking was the backside

of this TH 12x12 Destinations paperie sheet. It reminds me of Grandpa's cars.

Thanks, everyone, for stopping by!!

And if you're not coming straight from the Challenge page,

you'll find this entered on

TFJB Challenge #11 Triple The Heat

Friday, March 8, 2019

Frilly & Funkie Challenge #5; Artist Trading Coins... ATC Keychain Collection

March hasn't exactly been "springing" yet. At least not anywhere near this family. The snow melted here, but the nights are still chilly enough for the melted junk to ice over again. Up north in Red Wing; the Younger Kids are facing some 'gnarly stuff' this weekend and the Younger Son FB'd about sinking into 2 feet of snow still on his ROOFTOP, that needed to come off before the eaves get backed up with ice that pushes upward. (While I've read of this before, it really never occurred to me that could remotely happen in our family!) I like to do the roof-walking myself, and make use of my blower 2x a year- getting all those "50 Trees of Indiana" and all the mess they "leave" in the gutters and on the roof. I like to tread around up there in my bare feet (or tight-fitting socks if it's a bit cold) because I can feel the loose roofing gravel that way, and even one tiny object can cause a fall from the roof. Better safe than sorry, so no boots up there for that job. The Younger Son doesn't have that kind of luxury, and if the blasted, lying, conniving GROUNDHOG turns out to have tricked us and Spring comes late; it will come even later up in Red Wing. So my prayers are for their continued safety up there.
Meanwhile, down here in Indiana; we've kept prayers out for more family down south who have been in the path of yet more tornadoes. Last time, was Panama City, with family right there on the Panhandle (and hopefully, we will be working Missions for a week in PC to help rebuild, but we're waiting on plans to come together for that), but this time; it hit near Opelika, Alabama. This time, it did quite a lot of damage to the farms and homes...and LIVES. I cannot imagine losing my 6 yr old child to a storm. My heart mourns for the things that happen in this Earthly Life, but I know GOD is still in control and I take peace in that; otherwise...how could we keep going? Death goes along with life, and if we didn't know loss, we would never know what joy is. Still.... waiting for the birth of our 2nd Grandbaby (Girl) and spending time with our Wittle Peanut as he gets ready to share us all with his "Sissy"; it hits hard when innocents take the brunt of hurt and pain. Having lost yet another friend this past week to cancer, can give us ALL that much more FAITH to hang in there! Pam was my Bestie back in HS, and we worked our first jobs together where we met, and knowing that she still kept her sights on Heaven, gives me reason to hope I will see her again. :')
Getting back down to the craft business at hand here.... I have a few points to make; one is that from this post onward, I may or may not be able to do those "Step By Step" photos and explanations to all my projects. At least; for the coming weeks or so. I'll let you in on it as soon as we find out a few things for sure, but suffice it to say that I am just not as able to keep up right now. I actually realized this while crafting this very project; I got sooooo busy having FUN on this, that I forgot to keep taking the photos as I went along! I got to about the 2nd Coin done when I realized my 'mistake'. Going back to resituate everything for photos was a daunting thought right now. I am simply fighting the fatigue too much. While I look forward to this being TEMPORARY... I'm just going to 'wing it' as I can. I know my Followers and Readers will be ok with that, but it's my own OCD that bothers me with it, & it's being handled. So,,,, let's get this moving!

While these were made in 2011, they've never made it onto my Blog, so this is just a look back to allow you fellow Crafters in on the fact that I am no stranger when it comes to the ATC (Artist Trading Cards. And, once you get started; they are very addicting! I think it's because they are so tiny and while the idea is to keep them simple....well, you know ME by now. I have trouble rounding up my Craft Muse when she's let loose out in the open Studio. Pulling on her bit doesn't work, and neither does taking things away. She's just WILD when an idea pops into her head!! lol
Just for the fun of it; can you guess which one was done first? We learn as we go along, but sometimes, that 'simplification' hits some of us backwards. This was my case.

Fast forward to this FF Challenge about ATC (Artist Trading Coins), & my first reaction was "Did I misread that...COINS??", and I had to actually take a really close up look at the inspiration from the FF Design Team. I'd never heard of "AT COINS" ! So I did what most of us do; I took a look on Pinterest for more designs and specs. And then I googled the origins of it. Here's what I came up with, courtesy of a Blog called DIY Craft Club (Thanks, DIY Craft Club for the helpful article !!)
After checking through all my circle dies (including a set of Spellbinder Circles, TH Alterations Repositionable Circles, and several other Sizzix Dies of circles or circle frames, as well as circle punches), I couldn't believe I did NOT have a 2 & 1/2 inch circle !! I went through every drawer and finally texted to the DT if the coins had to be only that size? They answered back that any close size is ok. This was understandable seeing that we often hang things well off the sides of our Tags and ATCards. But by the time I'd thought it over... I figured "in for a penny...' and ordered a large heavy duty punch. I was VERY GLAD I did and it arrived in just one day; BONUS!! My mind was already spinning with ideas- especially those TH DOLLS!! The one Q I didn't ask: can we make more than ONE for this project? Well, that got answered by my run-away Muse. I had been itching to make another tiny 'collection' on a TH key ring, and this was my chance! I noticed that several of the FF DT, as well as the 5 or 6 who already posted their projects, made 2 or 3 posted. So I felt I was ok since I was making these FIVE to match together onto one ring. 3 was too few on it, and I'd already had the 5 planned out in my head. I couldn't STOP!! lol...