Not Quite Cake Time, but In The Meantime...

Hi Everyone:)

First off, there is so much to tell you all and to share that I just couldn't wait for the next opportunity, so I'm 'squeezing' in Blog Posts in between Posts! LOL!!!

And before I get under way here getting you all caught up

on all that is going on here with Birdnuts Mixed Media...

Here's a reminder that it's only 2 days from now, that

the Deadline for the 

$25 Gift Certificate Giveaway with

Retro Cafe Art Gallery

is happening!!!

The Winner's in the Giveaway 

will be

Announced on Both of Our Blogs

on Friday, February 10th!!!

That's just 2 days from now!!!!

Woo Hoo!!!

So stay tuned to find out who the Winner's are!!!

And you can still go to the previous 

'Cake' Post to Enter until Thursday!!!

So please do!!!

In the meantime.....:)

As you remember a few weeks ago, I Co-Hosted a

ATC Challenge Giveaway with

Melissa Samuels

And we chose 5 Winners in the ATC Challenge

who received my Tutorial ATC's in exchange

for them to make ATC's to be Highlighted here on

my Blog:)

So here are some of the Fabulous 

ATC's that have arrived so far and I'd like to

introduce you to the Winners!!!!

First we have 

Monica :)

Woo Hoo!!!

This is Monica's First Ever ATC that she's ever made!!!

I am so proud of her first attempt and pleased to say

that she's a Sister in the Book of Days Project on

Facebook! Now called the Sister's of the Book!

Monica has a Blog that I would love to have you 

all go and check out at 

www.madzieme.blogspot.com

Thanks so much Monica for being such a brave girl

in letting me post your very first ATC!!!

It's absolutely Wonderful!!! xoxo

You Rock Monica!!! LOL!!!

And next we have another Winner of the ATC Challenge..

Rachelle Panagarry!!

Rachelle's ATC when it arrived just thrilled me as

it has so many wonderful layers of art which is her

trademark as far as I'm concerned, as I am familiar

with Rachelle's work on her Wonderful Website

'Art Eye Candy'

www.arteyecandy.com

And check out the Beautiful Union Jack Card she sent it in!!

Rachelle also has a Wonderful Closed Group

on Facebook, 

Art Eye Candy Group!

So you can look her up on Facebook to get an

invite to join!!! I'm a member and just love it!!

Fabulous Group of Artists!!!

Cheers Mate! And thanks so much for the ATC!!!

But wait!!!

There's more!!!!

Next we have another Winner in the ATC Challenge....

Deanna!!!!

(Now I have to Squeal about this!!!!)

Look how Deanna sent the ATC that she made to me!!!!

I was so confused at first, when I opened the package,

and there was this lovely card and this 

Fabulous

Hand made Book that Deanna had made!!!!

Totally Hand Sewn Signature Watercolour Paper Packs

and all fully lined inside!!!!

And just inside the front cover is this sweet pocket and inside...

Was Deanna's Absolutely Lovely ATC!!!!

What a presentation!!! And I'm thrilled, as I can

always use another journal, and 

when it's handmade it's even more Fabulous!!!

Deanne has a Wonderful Blog 

'A New Day Art Blog'

www.anewdayartblog.blogspot.com

And I encourage everyone to go have a Boo!!!!

She's really a talented artist, and I like to call her

my Home Girl as she too lives here in B.C. Canada!!!

Woo Hoo!!! LOL! Thank you so much Deanna!!!

Love it!!!!:)

Now lets see......oh yes, last but not least of the ATC Challenge

Winners, (as I still have another Winner Annie to hear from yet!)

and the next ATC's to arrive were from

Mary Jane Chadbourne

of 

Desert Dreams Studio!!!!

I am Gobsmacked!!!!!

First of all!!!

Look at the plethora of goodies Mary Jane sent in her package with her ATC's for me!!! A beautiful assortment of journaling and collage papers, and paper napkins, and bit's and bobs that will keep me creating for days!!!!

( You're an absolute sweetheart Mary Jane:):)

but look at this!!!

Hand made envelopes for her ATC's!!!

Adorable!!!!

Isn't this just the Sweetest Valentine ATC!!!

And from someone who professed not to be into Valentine's!! LOL!

but not only this ATC, she did another!!!

And I must say that this Fabulous ATC is about

one of Mary Jane's Favourite Artist's and Muse

'Freda'

Mary Jane Chadbourne has a Wonderful Blog

at

Desert Dreams Studio

www.desertdreamsstudios.weebly.com/blog.html

It's full of Fabulous Inspiring Information on what

Mary Jane is up to, which is stunning in the variety!!!

She's also going to be one of the Fabulous Artists

Teaching Classes in 

Artful Gatherings

(link on my side bar:)

this Spring and Summer!!!

Here's an example of what you will learn to make

in her class!!!

Wonderful Bracelets!!! 

With which I have one of these fabulous bracelets

and I am going to be taking Mary Jane's class this

Spring!!! So come and join me! 

So there you go! Only 1 more ATC Challenge Winner

Annie's ATC to come, and will make sure I post it when

it arrives!!!

Now lets see, what else is there....oh yes:)

I am now a

Melissa Samuel's Guest Designer!!!

And so proud to be!!!! :)

And we're going to be Co-Hosting more

ATC Challenge's here on 

Birdnuts Mixed Media

very soon!!!!

So please stay tuned for the next ATC Challenge

as this one has been so much fun!!!

In the meantime, stop by Melissa's shop as she has

a 

Fabulous Sale going on all the 

ATC Products in stock!!!

Also all the new goodies arriving to boot!!!!

Well there ya go!!!!

Now get those 

Entries into the previous Blog Post of

Valentine's Cake

Gift Certificate Giveaway!!!!

And I'll see you all back here on

Friday, February 10th for the

Winner's to be Announced!!! 

Woo Hoo!!!!

And there's even more to come!!!

On Saturday!!!

Shabby Cottage Studio's 

Tutorial Blog Post to Boot!!!!

Ok, I'm tired now...LOL!!!

Enjoy!!!!

www.melissasamuels.net

Is it 'Cake' Time Yet at Retro Cafe Art Gallery??

Sure is!!!!

Hi Everyone:)

Valentine's Day is coming!!!

It actually is one of my Favourite Holidays,

as you can 

Celebrate 'Love':)

Doesn't matter who or what you Love, 

you get to 

Celebrate it! LOL.

Those of us who 'Love'

Retro Cafe Art Gallery

and

Kristin Hubick

also 'Love'

Coffee Break Design Products

at Retro Cafe Art Gallery!

Kristin has been so busy the past few months, 

Designing a Fabulous New Collection of 

Coffee Break Design Products, 

with tons of New Goodies for Valentine's Day!!!

And as many of you know, I call Kristin the

'Giveaway Diva!'

as she's always running 

Fabulous Giveaways and Contests

on her Blog and on 

Facebook!

And today is no exception!!

Woo Hoo!

Kristin is Co-Hosting another

$25 Gift Certificate Giveaway

right here on 

Birdnuts Mixed Media:)

Yippie! LOL!

So here's the Giveaway Info:

Sign on, (if you aren't already)

as Google Follower here on 

Birdnuts Mixed Media,

and 

Leave a Comment

on this Blog Post:)

and you're 

Entered to Win

the 

Retro Cafe Art Gallery

$25.00 Gift Certificate!

But wait!!!!

If you go over to 

Retro Cafe Art Gallery's Blog Post

(Link attached:)

And Leave a Comment

on the 

Co-Hosted Blog Post

You'll be

Entered to Win 

Another

$25.00 Gift Certificate!!!

That's right! 2 Chances to Win

2 Gift Certificates to

Retro Cafe Art Gallery!!

And check out their

Fan Page on Facebook too!

Give a 'thumbs up' 

While you're there!!!

So as many of you know, whenever there's a 

Special Holiday 

I always bake 'Cake'....

Happy Valentine's Day!!!

And of course I've used

my Favourite 

Coffee Break Design's

'Bus Stop Lady'

Cut-out!

'She's a Heart Breaker'!!!

LOL!!

And always love using 

Kristin's Fabulous Assortment

of Trims and Stencils!!

and loved using the

German Glass Glitter!!

And those of you who know

my 'Cakes' knows 

I Love the 

Alphabet Beads!!!

(Actually I use them on Everything!!! LOL)

As you can see, I used the Lid from the largest of the 

Paper Mache Nestled Boxes from

Retro Cafe Art Gallery

to create the plate pedestal and a photograph

of one of my dinner plates of my good china

for something a little different:)

As always, I had a Great Fun

 baking 'Cake' for the Occasion!!!

I've also made a couple of other 

Valentine's Day Projects using

Coffee Break Design Products

from

Retro Cafe Art Gallery:)

Using Coffee Break Design's

Wonderful Shrine Kit

and 

Bus Stop Lady:)

'Sweet Heart'

and again, using Kristin's Fab

German Glass Glitter!

( Got a little carried away with this one! LOL)

And the fun mini-bottle caps, and

the White Alpha Beads with Hearts!!

and Kristin's also just listed recently

these Acrylic Easels!!

But wait!

I still had pieces left over from the

Shrine Kit so I took a CD Case

and Painted the Shrine Kit piece

with Retro's DecoArt Metal Paint,

and used the Metal Heart that

also is from Retro Cafe Art Gallery,

Alpha Beads, and stamped it all with

a 'Music' Stamp and Walla!

So Happy Valentine's Day coming

from Birdnuts Mixed Media

and 

Retro Cafe Art Gallery!!

And get 

Entered to Win

the 

$25 Gift Certificates on Both

Our Blog Posts!!!

Deadline to Enter is

Thursday, February 9th, 2012

and the Winner's

on Both Blogs will be Announced

Friday, February 10th, 2012!!

Thanks Everyone:) 

Enjoy!!!

And There Are Winners!!!!

Hi Everyone!! :)

Well here we are again!

Another set of 

Winner's to be Announced

today!!!

It's always my favourite part of Hosting 

these Giveaways on my Blog!!!

Spreading a bit of Fun!!!

A Big Thank You to 

Melissa Samuels

for having me do this 

ATC Tutorial

to Highlight her 

Fabulous ATC Products in her shop!

I always Enjoy working with Melissa

and LOVE her Assortment of Great Products 

that she carries in her shop!

Do keep checking in with her as she's currently 

getting ready to start listing all the Fabulous New Goodies

that are currently being shown at CHA Trade Fair!!!

So! (GRIN) Here we are with the 

5 ATC's I made for the Tutorial Post, and

they're all needing homes!

And as I stated previously, in the ATC Tutorial Post,

I will be mailing these out to 5 Winners!

I got to thinking after the post, that the 5 Winners

picked will be sending me an ATC that they've

made each to be posted on my blog here on 

Birdnuts Mixed Media, and after realizing 

how long it could take in the mail, I would

still love to have you all send me yours for 

my collection, but how about sending me a picture

first, so I can put together a 

Blog Post in your Honour!!

So here we go! 

The 5 Winners of the

ATC's Are!!!

(Confetti flying!!)

'Monica'!

'Deanna'!

'Rachelle'!

'Annie'!

and 

'Mary Jane'!

Woo Hoo!!! You all are the Winner's!!!

I so wish I could send everyone an ATC this time round!

I was so thrilled to have you all leave such Great Comments, and show so much interest in participating!!!

You all have me thinking 

about getting us together 

here on 

Birdnuts Mixed Media 

for doing a regular 

ATC Swap!!!

Leave me some Comments and let me know 

what you all might think about participating if I was

to hold a ATC Swap here on a regular basis. Or even

Email me at 

GIMPY@telus.net 

and let me know

what you would think of the idea:) 

And include any ideas that you have on a swap!

Well now! We have 5 Winners!!!!

Big Congrats!!! I'll be sending each of you

Email's to give you the Big News and

to get your mailing information!

And in the meantime, get those ATC's

made and photographed and emailed

to me for our 

Special Blog Post to Honour 

Your Work!!!

Woo Hoo!!! LOL.

If you're a regular Follower 

here on 

Birdnuts Mixed Media,

you know that as 

I bring one Giveaway Post with a 

Wonderful Internet Shop to a close, 

there is usually another

Fabulous Giveaway Post 

in the Wings, (pun intended:)

As a regular Follower, you know too, that occasionally

I bake Paper Cakes......

So do check back with me 

tomorrow as I will be Co-Hosting with

'The Giveaway Diva'

LOL!!!

Kristin Hubick 

of 

Retro Cafe Art Gallery 

and

Coffee Break Design Product!!!

So make sure you check 

back in tomorrow and

as always....

bring forks for 'cake' as

I hate doing dishes!!

LOL!!

Big Congrats Again

to all 

5 Winner's of the 

ATC's! 

You'll be hearing from me shortly!!

And as always....

Enjoy!!!

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