Mermaid Artist Trading Cards

I decided to try a few different things to make the Artist Trading Card for my swap group last month.  The theme was "Alliteration" and I didn't have any brilliant ideas to suit the theme.  I fell back on an old tongue twister, "She sells sea shells, down by the seashore."  (Yes, I know that it isn't fully alliterative...)

I found this lovely mermaid image in one of the free weekly Dover Publishing sampler collections.  (I highly recommend signing up for their emails).  I added a border and the phrase with a pink glow using the StoryBook Creator 4.0 software.  I sized the image at 2 1/4 x 3 1/4 inches so it could be placed on top of the standard 2 1/2 x 3 1/2 ATC card with a small border.  I printed out a sheet of images on matte photo paper using my home printer.

I wanted to create a shimmery effect over the entire card so I first tried some kaleidoscope embossing powder.  I didn't care for the result (I must have really disliked it since I didn't take a photo of it!).  To cover the entire front of the card, I applied Versamark embossing ink and sprinkled the powder all over the surface.  To make the card easier to handle, I adhered the card to a scrap piece of watercolor paper (you can see it to the right of the card in the photo).  This helps to keep my fingers away from the heat.

Since the kaleidoscope powder looked odd, I changed my mind and tried to make the card look slick like water.  I had some UTEE (ultra thick embossing enamel) on hand so I started over with that.  You can see in this photo how the grains are larger than those in regular embossing powder.

I took several tries to practice the technique and get smooth, shiny tops on all of the images.  You need to do at least two coats to get rid of any bumps.  The paper did curl up a bit when the cards cooled.

For the base cards, I used watercolor paper.  I sprayed it lightly with glimmer mist and then inked the edges with distress ink.  I did enough pieces to make the cards a double thickness to try to keep the enameled top image flat.

I adhered the enameled image to one layer of the inked watercolor paper.  You can see that there was still a slight curl.  When I added the back piece the cards flattened out even more.  To "train" them to stay flat, I put them under a heavy stack of magazines overnight.  This seemed to do the trick (I hope they don't curl up again before my trading partners receive them!).

It was a small group this time so I only made five cards.  The three layers and the overnight "pressing" seemed to work to create a nice thick and flat card.

I wanted to do something a bit different for the signature information on the backs.  I cut out some shells (from the Dreams Come True Cricut cartridge) and sprayed and inked them.  Then I wrote all of the details with a gold pen.

The final step was to adhere all of the shells to the backs of the cards.  I couldn't really capture the shine of the mist but they do look very pretty when they shimmer in the light.

We've tackled and completed two of the projects my sister had on her list.  I've got one more day to finish another project to send along for my soon-to-be-born great-niece!  When I get home, I'll try to get the simple scrapbook page challenge set up - I may even be able to find a few prizes to keep everyone motivated!

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Upcycle a Bottle Top with Creative Charms

Upcycling combines crafting and recycling to create new, interesting and useful things from ordinary objects that might otherwise be thrown away.  Today is my day to post on the Creative Charms blog and I shared these tea light holders made from a very ordinary object.

Our family likes Tropicana orange juice.  It used to come in cartons, but just recently it started to appear in these bottles.

The only identifying mark on the lid is on the top.  This will not be seen since the top becomes the bottom for this project.

As soon as I saw these new lids an idea popped into my head - the pointed pattern on the outsidemade me think of Halloween...

...and the center circle was just the right size to hold a battery operated tealight!  There is a slight gap between the inner screw top and the outer lid - perfect to hold a piece of vellum upright.

I measured carefully and determined that a piece of vellum cut at six inches and overlapped by about 1/4 inch to form a tube would fit neatly in the gap.  For the first light, I cut the vellum at 6 inches by 4 inches.

I punched a spiderweb strip with the Martha Stewart Deep Edger Spiderweb punch.  I used some Creative Memories Precision Point Adhesive along the center line to adhere the strip to the vellum.

I placed the trim on the vellum at about an inch from the top and 1/4 inch from the side edge.  Then I used my adhesive tape gun to place adhesive along the short edge.

I rolled the vellum into a cylinder and stuck the edges together.  Then I trimmed off the excess spiderweb border.

I added some large gradient gem stickers to the triangle sections of the lid.

Then I added some tiny gem stickers to the tips of the triangles. 

I used the punched trim to keep this project very simple.

 

You could easily design a shade similar to the one I did several years ago with various Halloween images (you can read more about this lantern HERE).

For the second light, I used a piece of vellum six by three inches and punched the top with a Martha Stewart border punch of spiders.  I added little black gem stickers to the spider bodies.

For the third light, I cut the vellum at two by six inches and added some leaf shaped gems and sequins from the  Fall Medley.  I attached these to the vellum with glue dots and left a short gap for the 1/4 inch seam.

I added an extra sequin leaf over the seam so the pattern would be consistent.

You could make these without the orange juice lids but they add color and a firm base to each tea light.  If you wanted to make these for another holiday, you could spray paint the lids to make the bases in your chosen color.  I think they would look nice in gold for Christmas.

I used different colors and varied the placement and sizes of the gems on each holder.

The battery operated tea lights stay cool and there is little danger of the light touching the vellum since it sits in a separate channel.

The other project I posted for Creative Charms is this Autumn card.  I have always liked the word art on this Cuttlebug folder.

I started with some ordinary kraft cardstock cut at 8 1/2 x 5 1/2 inches and folded in half for an A2 card.  I placed the front of the card in the Cuttlebug folder and embossed the design.

Next I colored the words "Autumn" and "Blessings" with my ProMarkers so they would stand out on the card front.

I used Cinnamon for "Autumn" and Walnut for "Blessings." It is fairly easy to stay on the embossed area and slight wobbles won't matter in the end.

The next step was to spray the entire card front with Glimmer Mist.  I used my favorite color, "Sun Sisters," which gives a lovely sparkle and glow.

I used my embossing heat gun to speed up the drying of the glimmer mist.

The inside of the card is not very attractive after coloring and the spraying warped the cardstock just a bit so I added a liner to the card.

I cut a piece of ivory cardstock at 8 1/4 x 5 1/4 inches and folded it in half.  I added adhesive all over the top and centered the liner in the card.  Then I closed the embossed card top over the adhesive and fixed the liner in position.

The back part of the liner stays free and allows space for an extra message.  Since it is not attached to the back the card will open and close easily.

It is very hard to capture the sparkle of the Glimmer Mist in a photo but the effect is very pretty and it totally changes the look of the raw kraft cardstock.

The  Knitter's Garden - Orange Flowers looked too much like Spring for this card so I added  Amber Vintage Brads and an Amber Vintage Marble Brad to the centers.

The flowers take on a more elegant look with the brads added.

I filled in with some leaf sequins from the Fall Medley .  Everything is attached with glue dots - first the gold leaves and then the flowers.

Creative Charms Mini-Giveaway winner...

The winner from the comments on my last Creative Charms posts chosen by random.org was Yelowflower

Could you please contact me with your mailing information as soon as possible?  I'll be sending you...

...an assortment of leaf gems and sequins to use for your own cards.

Please stop over to the Creative Charms blog HERE to see all of the Design Team projects.  Be sure to leave a comment on my post with these projects. Once again, I'll  have little giveaway for someone who comments here or on the Creative Charms blog (leave a comment in both places to double your chances).

You do not have to be a blog follower to win, however, if you like my blog and want to show your support for my work, please do follow or subscribe.  I also have a Capadia Designs Facebook page HERE and if you "like" that page you will see my daily posts in your news feed.

I wonder how many of you will start looking through your fridge for bottle caps to alter - do you like orange juice?  If you do some upcycling be sure to let me know and send a photo if you can.

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