how to make an atc card

if a week ago i was v unfamiliarized with the meaning of an atc card,now that i had a great chance to hold more in my hands i know that my idea i was working silently last week is suitable and worth of trying ,especially if you like to recycle. belive me i have tones of "wasted"material that i still consider useful.like this "milka"chocholate wrapping...this is the first one i grabed from the pile of papers.yummmm.

so,first you eat all the chocholate,then cut out the places that has smooth surface(no dimples) and use an exacto knife(cutter) and tracing graph paper(calc) to make the required size (6.4 cm/8.9cm).that paper is just great.i found out the all my rulers had unproportioned centimeters !!!

for allowing a little writting at the back of your card as you have to sign it (title,date,signature eventually)use a bit of sand paper and scretch the area.i was very contented with the result...loved to see how those little clouds got personality :)

i studied a bit the wrapping papers inside and it is a bit more waxed,but still allowes marker and good for pencil as a regular atc card.

now the pictures that worth more than any words...

this little card i've finished last night is already sealed with matt spray varnish bought for my paper mache stuffs with acrylic finish.it is also suitable for protecting the cards,dries fast and doesn't smudges the ink and marker.
now, going further i am making card sleeves from heavy wrapping paper.it may not be very neat but it holds and protects the cards perfectly.it measures about 10 gramms :)

double

they say bad doesn't come alone..i can say joy either is walking alone...
look what an ordinary rainy,gray Monday brought to me :two letters holding some precious art works and kind thoughts toghether.must say that the time i found out about the letters my smile was erased  quickly off my face as my husband sad that i have two letters on the gorund,one opened...oh my,i was terribly scarried.i thought things like that are memories...still two letters form EU grabbed someone's attention,it could have been our postman who searched the bulky envelope out of money or God knows who else could fishing them out of the box,luckily she or he wasn't interested about art so threw the letters in the yard where our dog stamped them with her feets...and we have a large mailbox,that time was completely empty...that beeing the facts i will give a postal office number to anyone who will trade with me in the future as i want to get my mails properly... they are way too important for me and i don't want once again the happening...
still i will show first  the best part of the salvaged letters-luckily the cards suffered no touch,dirt etc...they are in perfect conditions .now i  shout out my best thanks for Phine and Sheila who spoiled me with extra's (two cards and a lot of blanks!).thaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaanks !

thank you Sheila for the wonderful cards and goodies !

thank you Phine for the wonderful "ballspiele"!

now,that's it how such treasures would not have to reach you...sad

PS-today i posted three letters with atcs,going for Sheila,Phine and Pia...i hope for a luckier arriving to you...

challange nr.9 "artoo"

finally i made it...i just reinstalled xp on my pc but still not going v well,i think it has a hidden problem i cannot fix ...Laura created a v beautiful tangle pattern for her nr 9 challange called "artoo," same as her little sons online name.i made two tiles just because the first one made me smile.i mean with such a beautiful and delicate tangle i still managed to make it hairy,stinging,quite scarry,lol.so i took another chance to make it proper...here there are...i must admit that the main inspiration for the second one were Phines amazing dynamic tiles...it is also my first "open" zt ...loosened my bonds,lol
and many thanks for your refferences at last weeks.i really appreciate it and i've already tried the easiest...you'll see in my next atc's.just now i'm working on three tradings :)...completely virused with the atc bug...

"HEART" challange

i just loved these weeks theme.a "heart" zt with our heart for little Artoo who has been so ill...and i loved to see healhing hearts flying to Canada along with your best thoughts.here's my late contribution.
used orbs + blind string to form a heart shape.
still will google about how to make a transparent orb and hopfully will learn how to pencil shade it correctly.i thought maybe someone of you would take charge and show me the way but i know it is too much what i'm asking.still if you have a good link for me please just write to me.thanks in advance :)

all the bests for all of you with my whole heart :)

how i made these two atc's

i don't want to teach you how to make atc's lol,you are better than me .i'm just showing the way i made these last cards.always loved the "how to" process at others so i thought maybe i could inspire somebody who never made such cards.just finished the "hearth" challange too but still trying to make something with an empty orb shading i find difficult to realise.so anybody would like to take charge an show me a "how to"pencil shade an empty orb????pleeeease :) (my best smile is here)

 still a picture is missing here,i just cannot find it anywhere and already erased the photo card..grrr...the missing picture shows how i thickened some lines here there...

the finsihed card is measuring 6.5 cm/10 cm just couldn't focus to cut right the card yesterday night and when it was ready i couldn't decide wich side to cut off so it remainde like this.almost atc :)
the next one,still same style

see you :)

Molossus challange

Sandra Strait is hosting a challange called "Tell Your Story-Be Part of the Art" over at her blog.
this is like a celebration of her 200 th freehand pattern created and shared so generously !
I will use her words to describe the challange:

" I ask you to look at a ZT you've just finished (no fair planning ahead of time). Take note of the movement, the flow, the texture. Spin it around. Look at how the dark and light work together. How do the tangles work together> How do they resist each other? What objects seem to appear? What's the mood? Do this immediately after you finish, and look, and do not second guess yourself.

Come up with a title based on your immediate impressions. Then invite your viewers to tell you what they see or feel. In other words, invite them to invest part of their world experience into yours."

so,what i neeed to do now is to invite you kindly to tell me what you see or feel ;)

while still working on Diva's challange nr.8 and faceing a lack of "how to go on",i made this quite quick colored tile.shapes have gained sense along the way so it is pretty obvious what you all can see ..anywise sometime i'm taken by surprise by your comments.and that's the fun part!
Called "bear with me.." i like this tiles mood..i dont' know if this would have to say something about the way i am or just what it seams to you to appear while looking at it.you better tell me what you think...

thank you Sandra for all you're doing for us ! our source of inspiration and admiration...

still see that bear,lol....

i usually go like this -making an outline then inside strings.is that saying something about me?maybe.this is my comfort zone.usually close my drawing,i protect the doodle as in life i ask for protection feeling good protected...reverse side would mean i'm sort of weak...
i see many things in this doodle.there is an adn like celtic knot, funny where i begun filling the string,very organized and strict at the beginning loosened ,rapsodical at the end (another trait? hm maybe).than a bearhead shape that needed only the eye and mouth to complete (forgot to tell-i colored first the whole tile with pencils and a bit of watercolor),leaved untangled as i liked that and thought it would be good for a balance.than a fish,a little bug,snail scales and a bearded profile of a man.
so what of those am i ,i thought? the bug?intuitive,intelligent,resistent,organized,prolific
the fish ?lower,undemanding,go with the flow
the bear ? beautiful,wild,faithful,who has to fight surviving,as that fish called life doesn't land automatic on your plate...
the wise bearded man?for sure not him.he his my protector.almost cannot be noticed still there...
belive me i cannot tell you.maybe a bit of everything.a bit of a bear.a bit of the bug,fish.sometimes hard to understand me,sometime hard to leave with,talk,plan so....just bear with me in this new,exiting world called zendoodle...

thank you for stopping by :) enjoy or better said "bear with me" ;)

atc "relax" and "aquahome"

yesterday aceo's."relax" made entirely by pen and marker,while "aquahome" has a little pencil here there.
i think i go blind if i countinue to much with this standard size,lol. filling is a meticulous job,i think it would go faster making a bigger size :)

yesterday doodles

yesterday night i fancy the watercolor pencils and i thought i may give a try to use them making a few atc's.
i must say that i'm not satisfied with the results,even cuted out the backgrounds of two of the cards and finally give up the wonderful pencils i didn't experienced before for some regular markers and just made my "regular" doodles that  were flowing naturally form the pencil. i thought it is easyer to make atc's but it is not.or i'm not at that level,lol...

the last atc is dedicated for Artoo, Laura Harm's baby who struggles with a bad cold in a hospital. i was thinking of him all the time and insted of the "heart" zt for this week challange i came up with this little doodled atc.i wish him all the bests,and strengt to his parents when there's nothing worse than you're ill baby....

freehand pattern~ bone rope~ and FsF #1 and #2

an old pattern made its way to the frontpage at last...presenting :

and now two little patterns that i'll not call "designed by me" as they are very common,maybe you've seen them here-there not necessary in any of the patterns group .that's why i just collect them under label FsF's.
meaning eFfective space Fillers.so here comes FsF #1 and #2 .enjoy !

other two freehand patterns

this is the pattern that popped in my mind with my eye closed drawing the "breath.realax.smile" zt for Laura Harm's weekly challange.they looked like little baby hands to me at that night asking for help...................

for these little bursting orbs i'm waiting for a name ...i have no inspiration..maybe you'll help me out,lol....used in the "bicikle and stuff" zt...

freehand pattern "GUMO"

i'm not mastering shading but i'm sure many of you will use as i would like it if you will like it enough :)

challange nr.7 "BREATH"

...Wednesday i had an awful day.my little one was ill,40C fever combined with diarrhea.he was grumpy and hang on me like a fruit all day.untill the doctor came i made everything possible to reduce fever but it only came down to 38 than raised again.i wiped his legs,arms with a dump towel and tried to reduce the pain with constant massages...things weren't going better midnight so i used the prescribed antibiotic and waited the results...he responded positivly and the fever decreased slowly up to a normaler (37.7)value.

at this point it was already 2 after midnight and i took the pen and paper to relax.i really needed that.made my strings and looked at it with empty,tired eyes,totally uninspired.but i still wanted the relax.closed my eye and waited untill a known or unknow pattern will pop in naturally.took a deep breath and something happened.i saw a pattern which became the "leit motif" of my tile...every time i felt like i don't know how to continue i just closed my eye and breath.i didn't tried to personalize breath thorugh patterns i just breath and relax myself....yet what i couldn't make it was to smile.
the first picture below is the original,untouched version,made that night,at poor lighting.
the next day when my baby was much better i just added a bit of deep to the tile while today edited (gradually tinted by pc),printed and added highlights with the white gel roll pen.
this is the story of my breath.relax.smile tile...
wish you all the bests..

.
bw i just love sandra's "Pindo" and Margaret's "Diamond Panes".the rest is my minds turmix,lol...
there are four words hidden in the zt ,have you found them?...good luck then ;)

collaborative cards

most of you dear followers already know Black Pumpkin over at TimlessRituals,we love her art ,we already know her addiction to ATC's and now i also already know that it can be contagious,lol...

i've met this abbrevation (ATC)about 6 months ago,checked it out but i didn't paid to much attention...untill Pumpkin made my fancy them. seeing her beautiful, funny,cute,obsessive little cards.
yet i was a bit surprised when i cutted them (6.4/8.9cm) i thought they were a bit bigger :)...

this and seeing another flickr friend's collaborative drawing with his son caught me in..
i always loved kids drawing,now my eldest son (almost 7)is showing his talent ...i'm amazed how easily he drew them (the monsters i've asked to ) and i can't tell you how fun it was completing the cards.we've made them on heavy glossy paper,using markers and pen.now i just wonder if i could seal them somehow. when i go out i plan to buy a copic marker (so we can draw on acrylics too) i just hope to find it in our art shop.i'm not familiarized to buy form the net.
untill then i hope to comlpete a few cards in these days as he has already drew them :)
ideeas flows further i will tell you later about ,now i present our first cards -9atc sized except the first one which is a bit bigger)

see you ;)

ps-thank you again BlackPumpkin for the inspiration!


recent m-am indragostit de atc-uri,a fost mai greu cu acceptarea dimensiunii standard de 6.4/8.9 cm,dar acum suntem pe roti...colaboram impreuna cu fiul meu cel mare de aproape 7 ani si ne distram de minune (mai mult eu).vom incepe in curand sa schimbam aceste card-uri cu prietenii, cunoscutii nostrii si straini din toate colturile lumii.