Crafty Friday #7: It's raining ATCs

Yay! Crafty Friday is running on two months and it keeps on coming. I am thankful that I discovered the world of ATCs which gives me a break from creative rut. I made these ATCs for the swap in Swap-bot, but soon I hope I can make ATCs just for fun and for the sake of art.

CD Art Thursday #2: Altered CD - Photo/Memo Holder

Glad I found those tiny frame stands in one of the super malls around here. Fits CDs perfectly.

CDs are just perfect for this since they are sturdy and can hold embellishments.

Christmas is just around the corner so I thought of making prototype of what will be our give aways this year. Next thing I will do is make a list and start the mass production of my altered CD - Photo/Memo Holder.

Crafty Friday #1: Swap-bot: ATC swap

I will be starting another series in my blog for the crafters out there. My Wais Wednesday series has been ongoing for the past 8 weeks and so here is another one (though I hope I can still revive my CD Art Thursday series in the coming weeks).

I recently joined a swap group called swap-bot. This is a fun group who does a swap of almost anything - from postcards, ATCs, smash/junk journal items to teas, pens and what-have-you.

I usually sign up for ATCs, postcards and smash/jubk journal. Although shipping is a little heavy on the pocket, it is a way to connect with others and at the same time keep the postal system alive. Thanks to technology, gone are the days of snailmails and penpals. These were replaced with the internet and other electronic media.

Here are two of ATCs mailed for the butterfly theme. Both are butterfly themed except that the second one is a glittery butterfly per swap requirement.

The ATCs are very simple, I just run through a patterned paper in an embossing folder, distressed with distress inks, punch a butterfly. To customize for the glittery requirement, I just applied embossing ink, glue powder and glitter and voila, two projects completed.

CD Art Thursdays #1: Painting CD

I will be starting another series in my blog which is all about CD art. I fell in love with altered CD art the first time I tried my hands on them. I had to put this aside though due to a busy schedule. With this series, I am hopeful that I can revive my passion for altered CDs which is another great way of upcycling CDs and reducing our wastes. So stay tuned and and together we will explore various mixed media techniques applied in CDs to recreate our unique work of art.

As a starter, let us learn the basics of painting CDs. Gesso is an all around medium that you can use to prime any surface. It prepares the surface so that you can apply paint or any medium into it. For comparison, I used two types of gesso, a liquid, thin gesso and a thick, paste-like consistency gesso.

Photos below will show the difference between using liquid, thin gesso and thick and paste-like consistency gesso.

Thick Gesso

Liquid gesso

I am not sure if the first coating is thin because of the watery brush that I used. But notice that after several coating, you will achieve the same effect on the CD. 

Based on experience, liquid gesso is better to use on papers and canvass and thick gesso can be used on non-porous surfaces like plastic or even metal. 

There are even other types of gesso out there but you are free to experiment which one suits your preference. 

Copic markers

I never thought that i will get hooked with copic markers. The first time i learned about it, I know it is not for me. Coloring is not my thing. But when I started to stalk Nichol Magouirk and Jennifer Maguire and admire how they these markers turn stampes images into life, I slowly gave in and tried on initial colors. The first attempts were a little bit disappointing, until I slowly got the hang of it. I only have a handful of the colors, but I was able to mix match and create some cards and the latest one is an invite for my son.

I printed the copic color guide and hopefully add more to my current set.

Happy I Love You Day

My kids specially Joie is very excited for this day, much as he is excited foe Christmas day or birthdays. Last Saturday, he's already making a countdown. And he also keeps on telling us about the artwork that he did in school.

And today, they got up early and greeted us with Happy Valentine's Day as if it were our birthdays. Maybe because of the hearts that they thought today is equally significant as other important events in our lives, because more than any regular day, today is so full of love and giving and expressing love to those special to us makes it more meaningful.

I wish I was like them when I was little. Then and now, I am not really expressive of what or how I feel (except when i am mad and upset). I do not know how to make others feel special the way I care for them. But I believe it is not too late to change and really tell the people I love that I care, thet are loved and they are special.

CD art a day

Ever since I started making a CD art, I cannot help but work on at least one a day. Normally, I work on 3 CDs at a time. It's some sort of maximizing the mod podge or gesso in the paint brush and at the same time, at least I can prep up on the CDs I will work on in the coming days.

It is purely experimental, but I just love the outcome.

Artful expression

I discovered my love for art this year. It started out of curiosity that I joined Christy Tomlinson's She Art Class and She Had Three Hearts class early this year. Slowly as weeks and months go by, I made no progress as I only made one She Art canvass. Not until recently that I get to play and experiment with my stuff. I am enjoying the process. I incorporate some techniques in my layouts. Sometimes, I cannot call my layout complete or finish without a touch of paint, spray or ink. Here is something which is an application of what I learned from the class. It is not necessarily a She Art canvass, but the creative process of mixing everything on paper, it's all here.

This ended up as a birthday card which we gave our officemate.

Art is an expression and appreciation of yourself. I love looking and admiring the works of others, but I also like finding my own style and expressing myself. It is like me going out of the box.

Until recently that we had so much damaged CDs at home that I decided to make art out of it, make something useful out of it. So here goes my CD art.

And here is my first ever CD art.