ATCs and Inchies

About a year ago I joined the ATC (artist trading card) group at my local scrapbook store, The Crop Shop. The group meets on Saturday mornings which is great for me because I work the second shift and this early morning meeting fits right into my schedule. I've know about other groups but they meet in the evening; yes, I could turn them into swap and pick them up later but I like to see everyone and hear how they came up with their ideas and techniques they used on the cards. Below are just a few of the recent swaps that were done at the store.

 Books

 

Guilty Pleasures

National Parks

Automotive

Wizard of Oz

Recipes

 1920s

I'm pretty precise with my ATCs. I don't do too much collage on them. The 'Wizard of Oz' ATC is about the only one that I did that fits the technique category and that I'm really proud of myself for stepping outside my comfort zone with this one.

Not sure how it happens but almost all my ATCs end up having some element on them that I cut out with my Silhouette Cameo. I love that no matter what I might want to cut out or design myself I can usually do it with the Cameo. I think I'm most proud the 'Automotive' one because I downloaded the 'DQ' logo and then separated to elements and was able to cut them out on the Cameo and it looks great.

I run the 'Inchie' swap at the store and we meet right after the ATC group, so it's convenient for those who are in both swaps. We've recently opted to use the same themes as the ATC group. I won't be able to make this weekends meeting, I'm heading down to Texas for a long weekend to celebrate my 40th birthday with my family, but Ann who runs the ATC group is going to fill in for me. Ann is a great ATC instructor and I know she'll do just fine helping the 'inchie' group in my absence. Here are my 'inchies' for the 'food' and '1920s' themes.

Food

Food

1920s

I couldn't decide on what to do for the 'food' theme so I did two. I'm a huge sweets person but also thought the watermelon was a good one for summer. I'm not a huge vintage/retro person and I had a hard time with the 1920s theme for the ATCs and 'inchies.' As I researched I came up with the 19th amendment, the right to vote for women. I love this stamp that came out in the late 1990s and thought it would be good to use for both swaps. I was able to adapt it and put the amendment on the inside of the inchie. I use Inchie Arts 'inchie' squares to back most of my 'inchies,' not only do they have white and black squares but also have them in neutral shades like the one in the photo above.

Challenge 'Hobbies'

And of course, I cannot forget about the 'challenge' for the next 'inchie' swap. The theme was 'Hobbies' and it couldn't relate to scrapbooking or crafting. I own a motorcycle and was just overjoyed when DeNami Design came out with this cute motorcycle chickie stamp in their latest release. I received it last Friday just in time to use it for the challenge.

These groups meet this Saturday, July 14th from 10am-12pm at The Crop Shop in Rockland, MA. Drop by and check it out.