Woo Hoo! ATC's With Melissa Samuels and an ATC Challenge!!!

Hello Everyone:)

How did I get here again so soon!

LOL!!!

Yes, it was just yesterday that I did one of the

largest blog posts I've done in a long time,

but with the Fun Giveaway Announcements,

and all the Wonderful Eye Candy I had to 

share, I wanted to get it all listed before

Todays Fabulous Blog Post!!

(So if you have the time, and a cup of coffee settle in

and have a Boo!:)

I'm so very pleased, as it's been a little while, to share with you todays blog post is with my Dear Friend

Melissa Samuels

Melissa asked me back in December if I would be interested 

in doing some ATC's for a blog post 

Featuring her Shop's

Great Selection of ATC Products and Accessories.

No Problem!!! I love ATC's!

In case you don't know what an ATC is, 

here is my knowledge on the subject. 

An ATC is an 'Artists Trading Card'.

Artist Trading Cards are for the sole intention for 

trading with other artists, and are not for sale.

There are a plethora of websites on the Internet just for the fun of making and trading ATC's! 

And, I believe the only rule in making ATC's is that they 

are to be exactly 2 1/2" wide x 3 1/2" long.

And that's the only rule!

You can use any medium in art you wish to make 

an ATC, as long as you have them the correct size!

Well I have to tell you.

Melissa  has a Wonderful Full Product Line of

anything you might need for making ATC's!

With a Full Selection of Inkssentials Brand

Artist Trading Card Blanks in a huge selection 

from Card Stock Blanks to Black Chipboard

and everything in between!

(Tags too!:)

Melissa so kindly sent me a selection of the 

Inkssentials Brand Blanks and other Products

for making Todays Project:)

And Scor-Tape too!

I hadn't seen the Scor-Tape before in such great

sizes, from 1/8" all the way to 1/2" and above!

And look at all these Fabulous Embellishments!

Woo Hoo!!

Everything from Prima Brand Shabby Chic Treasures,

Melissa Francis Brand Vintage Embellishments,

Websters Pages Sparklers, and even

My Mind's Eye Lost and Found Pad 

of 6x6 Papers

in all the colours I'll be needing, 

as today I'm making 

Valentines Day related ATC's:)

So lets get to it!

The ATC's that I'll be showing you, are all

going to be 3 Dimensional as that is my 

very favourite kind of ATC.

Because I enjoy making Mixed Media 

Altered Assemblages when I can find the

time, I tend to enjoy in other mediums

building layers. So any of these ATC's

I'm showing you today, are just 'my' thing.

When it comes to doing your own, 

do your own favourite type of ATC, 

paint, draw, cut and paste,

staple, sew, glue,

whatever you chose:)

Using the wonderful 6 x 6 pad of 

My Mind's Eye Paper that Melissa sent me, 

I covered the Inkssentials Blank ATC with

paper using the Scor-Tape to secure the paper.

These lovely papers come double sided and 

I kept in mind that the other side was complimentary

to the print on the front, so not to waist the paper,

I would cut a piece for the front, then flip and cut

a piece for the back of the ATC. Always do the 

backs of your ATC's as that is where you'll be 

signing and dating your ATC's for Trading them!

I also chose in this example a

Melissa Francis Brand 

Vintage Embellishment Frame and 

Prima Brand Shabby Chic Treasures Corners.

I had the Red Heart Button and chose a vintage

music sheet to back the frame 

with to offset the button.

Melissa also sent a lovely bag full of 

samples of all sorts of beautiful 

lace and ribbon trims that she also 

carries in her shop! 

Paper flowers, and lovely Pins too! 

(Yummy and so much fun!! LOL)

In this example

the double sided paper had this lovely

graphic of a pair of birds on the other side,

you'll see in the finished ATC pictures what

I did with it:)

I like to use Ranger Brand

Inkssentials Glossy accents to attach my

3D Embellishments as I think it helps

them stay on the card stock well.

And I also always edge my ATC's with

Tim Holtz Distress Inks to give a 

Vintage Edge to my ATC's.

So that's the basics of how I made the ATC's

in Todays Blog Tutorial!

Thanks to all of you for checking in!

wait....what am I forgetting.....

oh yeah...

(grin)

Like I said before, these are just suggestions

of some 3D ATC's 

and everything you see on these examples

you are able to find in Melissa's shop

at

www.MelissaSamuels.net

(except this little charm, that was mine, LOL)

And as you can tell these are all about...

Valentines Day:)

So I really hope you all will consider making 

some ATC's or get back into making ATC's!

And check out Melissa's Great Selection of Products 

to get you started and/or back into making them!

Matter of fact.....while I think of it....

Here's a little idea:)

I made 5 ATC's for this Tutorial 

if you all might be interested,

and to encourage you to get into making

your own ATC's:)

Leave a Comment on this Post

(and sign on as a Google Follower if you 

aren't one already:)

And on Tuesday, January 24th, 2012

I will pick 5 Winners to send these ATC's to:)

But here's the catch!

The 5 Winners have to make 

1 Valentine's related ATC

of their own to mail back to me:)

When I have received all 5 of your ATC's

I will post them here on

Birdnuts Mixed Media's Blog

to 

Highlight Your ATC's!

Please do leave me a Comment anyway as I always

appreciate hearing from you all, but Highlight

in your Comment if you're throwing your hat in 

for the ATC Challenge!!!

Woo Hoo!!!

I'll Announce the Winners 

in the Challenge

on Wednesday, January 25th, 2012!

And send you an email for your mailing information

to send you one of the Tutorial ATC's!

Big Thanks to Melissa Samuels

for all the Fun Goodies she sent to me

for the making of these ATC's!

Now get to making your ATC's!!!

ENJOY!!!

www.melissasamuels.net

We Have 3 Winners!!!

Woo Hoo!!!!

3 WINNERS!!!

Hello Everyone!!

Well here I am, about to announce the

Winners of the 3 Tutorial Brooches

I made for 

Shabby Cottage Studios

for my 1st Tutorial as

Artist in Residence:)

I had great fun making these brooches,

and I'm so very pleased to be sharing them,

with at least 3 of my Fabulous Followers!

I just wish that I could give every one of you one!

And the Winners are!!!

Marilyn (Tarnished Rose)!

and

Cindi a.k.a. Erickson!

and

Selah Gay!!

Woo Hoo!!!!!

I will be sending each of you an email to notify you

that you are a Winner, and request that you send

your mailing address to me in return confirmation, 

for me to mail the brooch!

I will say, any addresses that are supplied in any

of my Giveaways,

 I will immediately delete upon use, 

and not keep in future or share in any way

with anyone else, as to protect your privacy:)

Woo Hoo!!! Winners!

I was so pleased that so many of you were interested

in Entering the Giveaway for the Brooches

and have decided that in future Tutorials for

Shabby Cottage Studios

I may again offer the Tutorial Project

in a Giveaway again!

Stay tuned as in the coming weeks 

as I will be posting the next 

Tutorial for Gail at Shabby Cottage Studio,

as in the meantime,

I also have other Projects and Giveaways

with my other Fabulous Company's 

I have been so proud to be 'Friends' with!

As I will be tomorrow,

Monday, January 16th, 2012

There will be a New Blog Post

with a Fun Project for

That's right, an ATC Project for

Melissa Samuels

Tomorrow here on Birdnuts Mixed Media!

Wow, what a morning!

3 Winners of the Brooch Giveaway

and an upcoming New Project tomorrow!

So in the meantime....

I'd like to take a few more minutes of your precious time,

to share a few 

Shout Outs, Projects, and Eye Candy,

 while we wait for tomorrow's new Blog Post:)

The Holiday Season may be a Past Memory 

for most of us, but it's been still going on

for me here in Victoria, B.C. long after

the Holidays were over, as my mail service

has been so backed up, that packages are

still arriving for the Holidays!

I'd like to Share with You all a couple of 

Lovely Goodies that have arrived and

tell you a bit about the senders:)

Ms. Gigi Butterfly here in Beautiful British Columbia!

Sent a Fabulous Print to my Husband and Myself

From her Fabulous Gallery here in B.C.

I would love for you all to check out her Online Gallery @

www.GigiButterfly.com

And see so many of her Wonderful Art Prints!!!

Thanks so much for your generosity Gigi!!!

and I also would like to share with you another

of my Fabulous Artist Friends

Sherry Westfall Mathews

Sherry makes these Adorable Creations

and lists them in her Etsy Shop at

dalaimomma@etsy.com

I absolutely love this Vintage Watch Creation

that Sherry made! The snow works just like a 

snow globe:)

Hugs to you Sherry! Adore it!!!

And I am just so overwhelmed this last Holiday Season,

as so many of my Incredible Artist Friends

so many of them on Facebook 

(and what a Fabulous Community of them there are!!!)

My Dear Friend

Mary Jane Chadbourne 

of

Desert Dreams Studio

on Facebook

Mary Jane makes a Variety of Handmade

Incredible Bracelets, and Art Boxes and

also sells on Etsy to boot!

DesertDreamsStudio@Etsy.com

I Love the Bracelet Mary Jane!!

Thank you so much for making it for me!!!

And I also have to absolutely tell you about

my BIAF!

(Best Internet Art Friend)

You all know her as

Kristin Hubick 

of Retro Cafe Art Gallery:)

Among the many things that Kristin so very kindly

sent me for my Birthday in December and the Christmas Holiday,

for which I am so 'gobsmacked' with, this had to absolutely

take the 'cake' so to speak:)

Kristin at Retro Cafe Art Gallery 

made arrangements with the Fabulous

Debrina Pratt of

Land of Enchantment

to send me one of Debrina's Fabulous 

Art Creations that I just adore!!!

Kristin knew that I have always wanted one

of Debrina's Lovely Creations and made

arrangements that both she and I would

have our own Birdhouse's made by Debrina!

As you all know, 

Retro Cafe Art Gallery

sells a Beautiful Assortment of

Land of Enchantments

Wonderful Graphics Sheets!

These are just a Fabulous Assortment of what I call

LOVE

From all these wonderful Artists who I am so proud

to refer to as my Friends:) :) 

Love you all!!!

And wait there's more to share!!!!

(LOL, Longest Post Ever!!! LOL)

I signed up this last December for a Fabulous

ONLINE TUTORIAL CLASS!!!!

AND IT's FREE!!!!

With my Fellow Canadian Artist Friend

Effy Wild of

www.wildpreciouslife.com

Book of Days!

Please check out Effy's Wonderful Project that I am 

currently a Group Member of as it's a Wonderful Opportunity

to learn all about Journaling, and be Motivated by this

Wonderful Artist!

It's a Year Long Project! Which may sound intimidating, but it's a Fabulous way to keep motivated, and the 

Online Community on Facebook as a Group Member is 

a 'Happening' in it's support!!

Here's some examples of my journal pages I've created while

being a Member of Book Of Days...

Trying all sorts of techniques! From Watercolour Washes,

to Stamping, Hand Lettering, and Graphics use!

(Graphics from the Fabulous TumbleFish Studio @

DeviantScrap.com!)

And of course as many of you Followers have learned

I always have a bit of cheeky humour in my pieces:)

(Big Birthday Sock Bash for my December Birthday:)

And I've even been motivated by Effy's Class

to dig out my old Acrylic Paints from my

years of Decorative Painting and begin again

doing some of my own creations through Journaling:)

(This page spread is going back to my sort of 

'childs book' ideas, back when I thought I'd be 

writing children's books. Old dreams anew:)

So Everyone:)

A very long blog post, full of Eye Candy:)

And tomorrow another post with the

Fun and Fabulous

Melissa Samuels!!!

And again,

Congrats to the Tutorial Brooch Winners!!!

Enjoy!!!!

My Dance Card is Full This New Year!!! 2012!

Wow!

2012!!

Well Hello Everyone:)

Here we are in the New Year

at the Beginning! 

And boy is my

Dance Card Full!!!

So get your Dancing Shoes on,

as we're going to be really

busy for the next couple of months! LOL!

First off, I hope all of you had the kind of

New Year's that you all were hoping for!

I had a wonderful quiet one which was what 

both I and the husband were hoping for! 

Now, this month of January is going to be 

broken up into 3 parts! There are Giveaways and

Contests and lots of Fun ahead with some of

My Favourite Internet Shops!

So Let's Get This Party Started!!!

I Have Big News!!!

And I am So Honoured!!!

As many of you know, 

Gail Schmidt 

of

Shabby Cottage Studios

Has been a Long Time Friend here

on Birdnuts Mixed Media.

Gail's Wonderful Shop and Blog and

Internet Studio of Tutorials

by Fabulous Artists and by 

Gail herself, 

as she's a Fabulous

Artist and Digital Artist to boot!

Her shop has been a long time source for me for

all sorts of Wonderful Products and Digital Graphics.

A while back, 

Gail asked me if I would be interested

in a project with 

Shabby Cottage Studios

So for the past month or so, we've been 

working on this project.....

YIPPIE!!

I am dipping my toes into the water as

A Team Member

Artist in Residence for

Shabby Cottage Studio!

I was Gobsmacked when Gail asked me to 

come on board as a 

Member of the 

Shabby Cottage Studio Team!

So for the next few months, 

I'll be doing a 

Blog Posting Once a Month,

Highlighting a Tutorial 

done by Me, 

using some of the 

Fabulous Shabby Cottage Studio

Products that Gail has to offer!

In turn, Gail will be

Posting Links on her 

Blog, 

and in her Newsletter

and in her 

Inspiration Gallery

on her Web Site

to Highlight My Tutorial!

So lets get started as there is so much to tell you still!!!

My First Tutorial as

Artist in Residence

for

Shabby Cottage Studio:)

Inkssentials Brand

'Memory Glass Framed'

Brooches.

For this tutorial we'll be using 

Inkssentials Brand 'Memory Glass Frames' and 

Inkssentials Brand 'Memory Glass'

I'm going to show examples of my brooches

in 2 of the sizes that Gail offers in her Shop

1 x 3" inch and 2 x 2" inch sizes.

They come in 3 different colours,

Black Patina, Antique Copper and 

Polished Chrome.

There are tons of ideas for use of these frames,

but in this tutorial I'll be making my brooches

hoping to inspire you to come up with even

more ideas on their use!!

Other items I'll be using in this tutorial

from Shabby Cottage Studio are

some of Gail's Assortment of

Tim Holtz Products like his

really cool Clips and Trinket Pins, Jump Rings

and even the Fabulous Ranger 'Stickles' Glitter

that Gail has a selection of!

I will also be using some of 

Shabby Cottage Studios

Assortment of 

Charms and Metal Embellishments

Joker Brand Metal Chair Charms

and 

Vintaj Brand 'Diamnond Filigree 2 Hole Connectors'

and

Blue Moon Brand 'Lost and Found' Cage-Pink Beads

And of course I'll be using 

Gail's Fabulous Graphics Sheets!!!

She has a HUGE Assortment of

Wonderful Graphics for a plethora

of uses!!!

For making these brooches, I printed 

Gail's Wonderful Graphics 

on Card Stock so as to get the proper

thickness for fitting into the frames with the glass.

In this instance, I chose to use Gail's lovely

Body Form Tag Graphics, as I thought they

would lend themselves to a great 

Valentines Day Project:)

I sized up the Graphics Sheets using an empty

Inkssentials Frame, then when I figured out

the particular part of the Graphic that I wanted to use, 

I cut it out to a 1 x 3" piece in this circumstance,

and a 2 x 2" piece for the other size frame:)

Once I had the pieces cut, 

I used the Ranger 'Distress Stickles' Glitter

with a small paint brush to the areas

that I wanted to highlight:)

And as you can see, I didn't stop there!

Add lots of cut out pieces from the other Graphics

and some words, and even use some of your stamps

to embellish the graphic with layers to give it 

even more interest:)

Once you have your Graphics Cut-Outs ready,

pop them back to back, yes that's right there are

two sides to each brooch!!

Sandwich them in between two pieces of the

Inkssentials Memory Glass

then slide them into the Frames.

(Quick Tip:)

Be careful as it is glass that you're handling, so 

make sure you have a clean work surface, that 

not only will help keep the glass clean, but also

in case it breaks or any shards chip.

I always keep a package of Baby Wipes on hand

to clean the surface occasionally just in case:)

Now once you have your Graphics and Glass

into each Frame 

turn the frame upside down with the ring at the bottom:)

Attach a Tim Holtz 'Clip to the top of the frame,

( I added a loose rhinestone to the clip for a little extra bling:),

and using a Tim Holtz Jump Ring, attach

a Tim Holtz Trinket Pin to the Clip:)

And again using the Tim Holtz Jump Rings

attach some of Shabby Cottage Studios

Wonderful Charms and Beads:)

For those of us who do not solder....

(YET!)...

these can be a Fun and Interesting way

of making some 'Bling' for ourselves or

as gifts for others:)

You can also turn them the 'right side up'

with the ring at the top to use a jump ring

and use a chain for making into a 

creative necklace as well:)

So in Honour of Gail Schmidt

and 

Shabby Cottage Studio

giving me this 

Wonderful Opportunity 

as

Artist in Residence

I'd like to Give all of You

a 

Chance to Celebrate 

with me!

Sign on as a 

Google Follower

here on my Blog

Birdnuts Mixed Media 

and on

Gail's Blog at 

Shabby Cottage Studios

and

Leave a Comment on this

Tutorial Post

and on 

January 14th, 2012

I will pick 3 Winners 

to be Announced

on 

January 15th, 2012

to send these 

 Brooch Examples to!

Please make sure you have your

email address in your 

Comment on this post so

I can contact you for mailing

information as a 

Winner 

of one of my Brooches:)

also

make sure you sign on as

a 'Follower' on Gail's Blog Post

as well as sign up for her

Fabulous Newsletter so you'll

get to see all her updated 

Shop Information and her

Wonderful Freebie Graphics too!!

Well There Ya Go!

Yippie!!!

So please sign on and get 

Entered for the Giveaway on January 15th, 2012!!

And as I mentioned before there's lot's more coming

later this month with even more 

Giveaways and Contests with More Fabulous

Internet Shops!!

Enjoy!!!