Then I set the scene for the sky with a Simon Says Stamp Cloud Bank Die, leaving a few of the cloud insets in place and otherwise using the outline of the clouds. Then I stamped out the dandelion heads from the Little Fairies stamp set with VersaMark ink and heat embossed some Recollections Snow embossing powder to get a little bit of texture and shine. For the Dandelion stems, I used a Black Sakura Glaze Pen, which gave a similar texture and shine to the embossed areas. For an area that I had inadvertently smeared with VersaMark ink and could no longer get a clear dandelion head impression, I hand painted in a dandelion head with Copic Opaque White (this too had a similar raised, shiny look). I also used a VersaMarker to dot the background a bit more and heat embossed some fairy dust (or dandelion fluff). For even more fine dots, I used a Uni-ball Signo white Gel Pen. Amazingly, all of these mediums (Glaze Pen, Gel Pen, Copic Opaque White, and VersaMark Ink or VersaMarker with embossing powder) had similar shine and slightly raised texture like heat embossing!

Finally, for the little fairies, I used the following Copics: For all the fairies, the skin was colored with: E50, E51, E21, E11, and R20; the wings with: B000 and B01 (topped with Clear Wink of Stella); and hair highlights with: Y11 and Y15
Purple-haired Fairy: Hair and dress: V12, V06, V17
Blue/Purple-haired Fairy: Hair and dress: B21, B24, B18, V06, V17
Green-haired Fairy: Hair and dress: BG15, BG18, BG78
To add to the magical look of the fairies, I added a lot of dots with a Uni-ball Signo White Gel Pen in their hair. After fussy cutting them out, I inked the edges with a Tuxedo Black Momento Marker to cover up the white edge of the paper, and I popped them all up from the background with double sided foam adhesive for a little dimension.

The following is a video share of this ATC:

This ATC is being entered into the following challenges:
Creatalicious Anything Goes with Optional Mythical Creatures Challenge
Simon Says Stamp Wednesday Anything Goes Challenge
Simon Says Stamp Work It Wednesday Favorite Stamps Stamptember Challenge
Word Art Wednesday Anything Goes Challenge
Through the Craft Room Door Anything Goes Challenge
Crafts Galore Encore Anything Goes Challenge – WINNER
Not Just Cards Anything Goes Challenge
Crafty Gals Corner Anything Goes Challenge

For the watery wavy background I used various blues and aquas from the 60 piece set of Zig Clean Color Real Brush Markers and free hand colored up the segments. I used a Pentel waterbrush to blend out each section, making sure to color up the segments in alternating order so each segment could dry before the adjacent segment was watercolored so they would not bleed into each other. I also doodled out some zig-zaggy framing around both ATCs using Ultra Fine Point Sharpie Markers in Red, Hot Pink, Medium Pink, Purple and Gray.

For the school of orange fish, I inked up a simple fish stamp with a Ripe Persimmon Tim Holtz Distress Marker and colored the bodies with Wild Honey. For a little shimmer, I also added scales with a Clear Star Gelly Roll Pen. For the purple and yellow striped fish, I stamped out the fish with more Wild Honey and used Tim Holtz Distress Markers in Wilted Violet and more Wild Honey to watercolor them up. For the pink and green fish, I stamped the fish in Abandoned Coral and watercolored using Tim Holtz Distress Markers in Spun Sugar and Twisted Citron. The seaweed are colored up with Twisted Citron, Mowed Lawn, Peacock Feathers and Pine Needles, and the starfish are colored up with Squeezed Lemonade and Spiced Marmalade. I added more shimmer with the Gelly Roll Pen over the fins of the fish and the star fish as well. Except for the big school of orange fish, each of these little scene builders were painstakingly fussy cut out and glued on or popped up with double sided foam tape.

For the mermaids, I wanted a soft look, so I stamped out each with Momento Desert Sand Ink to do some no line coloring. I re-defined the facial features with a 0.3 pt Copic Multi-liner Pen in Cool Gray. Then I used the following Copic colors:
Mermaid with green starfish hair pin:
Skin: E51, E21, R20
Hair: YR21, RV52, RV66, RV69
Bikini top, mermaid tail, and starfish hair pin: YG25, YG17, RV52, RV55, RV66, RV69
Mermaid with purple hair:
Skin: E51, E21, E11, R20
Hair: V12, V15, V06, V09
Bikini top and mermaid tail: YR21, R22, V06 and V09
Mermaid winking:
Skin: E51, E21, R20
Hair: YR20, YR21, RV55 R24, C5
Bikini top and mermaid tail: YR20, YR21, R22, R24

The following is a video share of these ATCs that includes the no line coloring of the purple-haired mermaid:

These ATCs are being entered into the following challenges:
The Greeting Farm Farm Fresh Make a Scene Challenge
Lil Patch of Crafty Friends Anything Goes Challenge
Word Art Wednesday Anything Goes Challenge
Creatalicious Anything Goes with Optional Glitter/Bling Challenge
Not Just Cards Anything Goes Challenge
613 Avenue Create Anything Goes with Optional Shabby Chic Challenge
Penny Black and More All Creatures Great and Small Challenge

For the ATC base, I upcycled a bit of chipboard packaging and covered it with a glue stick to cover one side with a patterned paper scrap and the other side with some Bristol paper. I cut down the Bristol paper with a Die-namics Stitched Rectangle STAX Die Set. It was a bit too long for an ATC, but I knew that wouldn’t be a problem since I was covering the lower part of the ATC in the scene I was planning. I blended on Tim Holtz Distress Ink in Squeezed Lemonade, Wilted Violet and Chipped Sapphire to create a sun setting sky background.

For the silhouetted city skyline, I cut down some black card stock with the Paper Smooches Super 2 Cityscape Die. All the windows cut out with this die, so I backed the building windows with gold glittered card stock and re-filled some of the windows with the black card stock window cut outs. This adds a nice sparkle to the scene without making it look like all the windows are lit up in an unrealistic way.

For our Super Girl superhero, I used The Greeting Farm “Little Heroes” stamp set. I stamped out the little girl who looks like she is in mid flight with her cape streaming behind her, as well as a big mask with the eyes peeking out. I was happy to have the option to give this flying girl open eyes with this mask accessory stamp since to me a super hero should fly with her eyes closed. 😀 hehehe I used the following Copic colors to color both images:
Skin: E50, E51, E21, and R20
Hair: B01, C5, C7 and C9
Costume: R24, R27, B02, B05, Y11, Y15, B01, C7 and C9

I next fussy cut both of the images. To cover the white edges of the cut images, I inked the edges with a Momento Tuxedo Black Marker. Then I glued the mask onto the girl and then popped up the whole Super Girl onto foam dots to raise her up off the ATC base. Lastly, to add a little extra shimmer, I coated the red parts of the super hero costume with Clear Wink of Stella.

The following is a process video of making this Super Hero Scene ATC:

This ATC is being entered into the following challenges:
The Greeting Farm Farm Fresh Make a Scene Challenge
Simon Says Stamp Monday ATC Challenge
Stamp Sensations Anything Goes Challenge
Word Art Wednesday Anything Goes Challenge
Creatalicious Anything Goes with Optional Glitter/Bling
Crafty Gals Corner Punches and/or Dies Challenge
Lil Patch of Crafty Friends Anything Goes Challenge – WINNER
613 Avenue Create Anything Goes with Optional Shabby Chic Challenge
Not Just Cards Anything Goes Challenge

The background of the ATC (Artist Trading Card measuring 2.5″ x 3.5″), the digital images and the doodled poodle were all printed out on Strathmore Bristol Paper. Then the background was watercolored into a groovy swirly rainbow with Zig Clean Color Real Brush Markers and a Pentel waterbrush. I used Light Pink, Pink, Orange, Yellow, Light Green, and Cobalt Blue. The edges are inked with Tim Holtz Distress Ink in Black Soot.

The Poodle was water colored with Pale Pink, Light Pink, Pink (for the flower around the eye), and Light Blue for the eye balls. For extra whimsy I added dot details with a White Uniball Signo Gel Pen. The goofy pup on the right I colored up to represent my Bandito (but with green rather than brown markings) with Yellow, Light Green, Geranium Red and Light Blue. The girl jumping/dancing up into the air (representing me) is colored with: Skin: Flesh, Pale Pink; Hair and Eyes: Cobalt Blue and Light Blue; Dress Bubble Polka Dots: Pink; and Flower around Eye: Orange and Pink. Again to add some lightness to her hair and flower eye, I added more dots with the White Uniball Signo Gel Pen.

I glued the girl directly onto the background and drew some jumping up lines beneath her with a black Uniball Pen and the White Uniball Signo Gel Pen to give a sense of action. Both pups are only glued down at their bases and their heads are intentionally not glued down to give them a sense of dimension and movement too.

The ATC’s title is a derivation of one of the sentiments in the digi stamp set that reads, “the world can be amazing when you’re slightly strange.” The title is “Slightly Strange and All Kinds of Wonderful” and is a cartoon-ized portrait of me and my fur babies. 🙂

This ATC is being entered into the following challenges:
Simon Says Stamp Wednesday Going Dotty Challenge
Crafty Purple Frog Fabulously Floral Challenge
Creatalicious Anything Goes Challenge with Optional Use a Stencil
Word Art Wednesday Anything Goes Challenge
Card Mania Life is Colorful Challenge
Through the Craft Room Door Anything Goes Challenge
613 Avenue Create Anything Goes Challenge with Optional Create a Container
Lil Patch of Crafty Friends Anything Goes Challenge
MarkerPOP Color Challenge #120: Rainbow Fun – WINNER

This time, I started with a chipboard base that I covered with a scrap of glittery blue and green patterned paper that I have been hoarding for years. I then added one of the Hatters from The Greeting Farm that I colored up with the following Copic colors: Skin: E000, 00, 21, 11, 04 with R20 blush; Grapes: V12, 09; Blue plum: B34 and 39; Strawberry: R83, 85 and 89; Blue-green part of outfit: BG45, 49 and 78; Hair: Y21, Y26, YR24 and E25  I fussy cut her out, inked the edges of the paper so the white edges wouldn’t show, and popped her up on double sided foam adhesive to add a little dimension.

For the background, to add more shine and shimmer, I used a gold foil paper die cut using the Winnie and Walter True Multifaceted Heart Cutaway Die and backed it with more of the glittery blue and green patterned paper but positioned so that less of the heart background would be glittery (less busy) and more of the attention could go to the beautiful heart die cut itself and to the Hatter girl. Then to add a little twist, I scored the die cut from the back so that I could wrap it around to the left side and onto the back of the ATC.

Then to add even more sparkle, I glued on a couple of flower wood veneers that I coated twice with Champagne Gold Stickles. One coat left some of the wood showing (which I didn’t like), but after letting the first coat fully dry, adding the second coating really made the flowers look like thick pieces of glittery metal.

Lastly, to take this from a card to a more elaborate ATC, I added an altered hat pin that I made with teal and pearl glass beads. To set off each bead, I added small and medium sized silver metal spacers, and to take the pin over the top, I added an antique brass bird charm (I clipped off the eye of the charm) to the face of the largest bead with E6000.

This ATC is being entered into the following challenges:
Winnie & Walter Precious Metals Challenge
Simon Says Stamp Wednesday Anything Goes Challenge
Word Art Wednesday Anything Goes Challenge
613 Avenue Create Anything Goes with Optional Twist of Green and Gold Challenge
Not Just Cards Anything Goes Challenge
Crafty Gals Corner Anything Goes Challenge – WINNER
Just Keep Creating Anything Goes Challenge
Crafts Galore Encore Anything Goes Challenge
Card Mania Let It Shine Challenge

This started out as just some marker coloring play, but in the end the scrap I was coloring up was just large enough to eek out a CAS ATC (Artist Trading Card 2.5″ x 3.5″). The following are the colors I used to color up the adorable pups on this Art Impressions “Dog Stackers” stamp (top to bottom):

Chihuahua (top): Mid Brown – 065 with Light Pink (in ears) – 026
Mutt: Dark Gray – 095
Terrier: Beige – 072
Pomeranian: Bright Yellow – 052
Dachshund: Dark Brown – 062
Golden Mix: Oatmeal – 064 with Geranium Red (on tongue) – 029
Cocker Mix: Dark Brown – 065 and Beige – 072
I used Black – 010 for all the noses, eyes and the insides of mouths

The water coloring is a bit rough on this highly textured water color paper and my fat Pentel waterbrush, but I thought that added to the painterly look (or at least that’s what I’m telling myself LOL). To finish up the simple scene, I grounded the dogs by adding a floor (bear in mind I didn’t do the whole stack of dogs since my water color paper scrap was too small) and doodled some double lines and dots to frame out the image.

The following is a process video of coloring up this adorable doggy stamp (one of my new favorites!):

This ATC is being entered into the following challenges:
Art Impressions 29 Again Anything Goes Challenge
Simon Says Stamp Wednesday Create a Scene Challenge
CASology Rough Challenge
Lil Patch of Crafty Friends Anything Goes Challenge
Through the Craft Room Door Anything Goes Challenge
Word Art Wednesday Anything Goes Challenge
Crafty Gals Corner Monochromatic Challenge
613 Avenue Create Anything Goes Challenge
MFT Camp Create Coloring Challenge

I started with a light weight chipboard that I covered with the top layer of a very pretty napkin in soft fall colors (after removing the white under layers) using Liquitex gel medium. I also included a gold lattice punched border that I made with my Martha Stewart border punch along one side to add some extra shimmer. I colored the edge of the Kewpie die cut with a black Sharpie so that you wouldn’t see the white edge of the paper. I then popped her up on foam adhesive so she would be raised up off the ATC base.

I fussy cut 4 small butterflies from a little scrap of patterned paper I had and glued them on the base doubled up (i.e., they formed 2 butterflies), raising the wings of the top butterfly so they would look like they were fluttering up.

Then to add a little movement to the ATC, I dangled a sweet bottle cap charm, which I topped with a multi-looped bow made from lime green yarn.  To me, that lime green color (esp. in yarn) has a retro vibe that adds to the kitschy feeling I was going for.

Then, because I also associate lots of sparkle with kitsch, I went to town with my Wink of Stella, gold Stickles, cotton candy pink Stickles, irridescent Studio G glitter glue, and Glossy Accents. A girl can never have too much bling, right?! LOL

The following is a video share of the ATC:

This ATC is being entered into the Simon Says Stamp Monday Fall Challenge and
The Inspired By Stamping Gold Challenge and
The Addicted to Stamps Anything Goes Challenge

Thanks for stopping by! Please subscribe if you wish, and have a great kitschy day! WOOF