Fairy Altered Playing Cards (ATCs)

I promise I'm still making jewelry, but as of late, my focus has seemed to be on art journaling and other paper-related arts. I think that has loads to do with preparing for and attending Art at the Beach 2018. And, creating in one art form often leads to inspiring me in another. Before even packing for the art retreat, I decided to "warm up" by participating in a swap. The parameters of it were to create three motivational cards (playing card/Artist Trading Card size) with a fairy theme to send to a partner. I made these.

I kinda love them! And, I'm pretty proud that I thought to record my process to share with you.

For all three cards, I started with basic playing cards that I painted with a coat or two of gesso as a base.

For my first card, this cutie on a swing, I stamped the Stampendous fairy image onto a piece of cardstock with embossing ink, covered it in a gold-sparkle embossing powder, and heated the image. I colored the fairy with Inktense Watercolor Pencils and a water brush before shading the background with Neocolor ii crayons and blending them with a wet paintbrush. I adhered the cardstock to the playing card, cutting off the excess. A phrase from one of Tim Holtz's sticker books was added. I went around the phrase with a black pen and inked around the card to finish it.

For the background of the second card, I used one of my own gelli prints, simply gluing it to the playing card. I photocopied an image of a girl in a ball gown from an old yearbook as my focal. To make her a fairy, I stamped petal images from EK Success' Inkadinkado stamps onto cardstock and cut them out. Her skirt was created from paper flowers that were folded and glued together. I stuck the wings on the girl, the girl on the card, and the skirt on the girl - in that order. Sparkles were added with aqua Stickles. Again, a phrase from Tim Holtz was used. The card was framed with a line from a Stabilo all-pencil and water.

To begin the last card, I colored directly onto the card with Brea Reese Glitter Inks in a pink, yellow, and blue. The colors were blended together with a little water. Basic black acrylic paint and the lid of a dishwasher liquid bottle were used to create the circles. The lady image and wings (more Inkadinkado) were stamped onto cardstock, cut out, and colored with watercolors. The lady was glued to the cards then the wings to the lady. I went around the fairy with the Stabilo All Pencil before adding another Tim Holtz phrase.  The prase and card were accented with a Faber Castell Pitt Pen to finish it.

I'm really happy with how these came together. And, I do love me some fairies! I think my partner liked them too. Yay!!

If you have any questions about how I created these or anything else, please don't hesitate to let me know!