Celebrating Janis' 60th Birthday! {week 1 - All Those Cats}

Janis, from Her Peaceful Garden, and I met back when she had her first Cat Lovers Blog Hop {here is the link for the 2017 hop} - she is a cat lover, as I am, and she is owned by about 13 cats; both feral and house cats.  We've become friends over the years and I adore her.  When she began talking about her birthday and how she wanted to do ATC's for her online celebration, I was so happy! I LOVE ATC's and used to participate in many swaps online.  I hope this little party of Janis' encourages ATC's to make a comeback.  

What are ATC's? ATC stands for Artist Trading Cards.  There are no requirements to make them {unless you are participating in a swap, or, in this case, Janis' first theme: All Those Cats} EXCEPT they must be 2 1/2" x 3 1/2", the same size as a standard playing card or trading card.


I'm not going to go into detail about how I made each one; it's fairly self explanatory but, if you have any questions, just ask! 

I try to use scrap papers to make my ATCs - here is a picture of my scrap bin {I only put small snippets in it} just to give you an idea of how small the pieces for your ATC can be. There is a picture of the side of my little bin, and then the bottom.  I save more than I can ever use, but it comes in VERY handy!





Here are my four ATCs for week one of Janis' birthday party:

Paw Prints

What I Used to Make my Paw Prints ATC:
Heavy White Card, cut into ATC size
Snips & scraps of various pink & purple papers 
Penny Black, Nine Lives Set, #30-050
Stampendous, Cat Sayings, #SSC1222
Small Heart Punch
Hero Arts Ink in Pink Tourmaline, Ruby & Amethyst                       

 Balloon Kitty

What I Used to Make my Balloon Cat ATC:
Heavy White Card, cut into ATC size
Ranger Archival Ink in Jet Black
Penny Black, Purrfect Day, #30-027 {discontinued but available}
Unknown Coloring {colored this image AGES ago}
DCWV, Tie Dye Stack {discontinued but available}
Distress Marker in Broken China

Sneaky Kitties

The Mama Elephant "The Cat's Meow" stamp and die are MUCH longer than an
ATC.  In fact, it's called "Crowd of Cats" and according to the ME website, it measures 5 3/4" x 2".  In order to make this ATC and the Meow ATC, I cut the image down into two separate groups of cats, then added single cats in places. Also, I colored the kitties with whimsical colors - I figured why not and I need a break from trying to color them realistically.  This goes for both of the Mama Elephant ATCs.  

What I Used to Make my Sneaky Cats ATC:
Heavy White Card, cut into ATC size
Mama Elephant, The Cat's Meow, stamps
Mama Elephant, The Cat's Meow, Creative Cuts Dies
Detail Water Brush
Ranger Archival Ink in Jet Black
Clean Color Markers
Watercolor Paper
Palm Frond Punch
Various Green Paper

Meow

I needed a break from using realistic cat colors, so these kitties are colored fancifully.  I cut down some dimensional dots and dotted the birthday hat, the blue balloon, and the meow sign but you can't really tell in this picture. I also added some single cats to round out the group.

What I Used to Make my Meow ATC:
Heavy White Card, cut into ATC size
Mama Elephant, The Cat's Meow, stamps
Mama Elephant, The Cat's Meow, Creative Cuts Dies
Detail Water Brush
Ranger Archival Ink in Jet Black
Clean Color Markers
Watercolor Paper
Dimensional Dots
Washi Tape in Glitter Purple

Finally, here is a picture of all four together.

I hope you enjoyed my ATCs.  I really have a great time making them and going through my snippet box to see what inspires me.  My favorite is the meow ATC - which one is yours? Thanks SO much for your visit and I hope you come back soon! ~Christi

I would like to enter all four of my creations in the following challenges -
Her Peaceful Garden Birthday Celebration - Wk 1, All Those Cats
Addicted to CAS - #130, Cat {At least 2 of my ATCs are CAS}
Crafting with Friends - M, #61, Anything Goes
The Outlaws - Twisted Thursday - Twist: Fur {lots of virtual fur here!}
2 Crafty Critter Crazies - M, Anything Goes w/ a Critter
Fairy-Tale Challenge - Use Mini Stamps {The 2 ATCs using ME are Mini Stamps}
SUYP - M, Anything Goes and/or LOVE

Just FYI: What IS that Spiky Round Thing?

Side View

I have been asked this numerous times since I've started blogging - and no worries, as I had to ask, too - and, while it is intended for one purpose, it has a few names.

The "real" purpose of this little spiky disk is to hold flower arrangements.


I have seen it called a flower frog, kenzan {used for the ikebana Japanese method of flower arranging}, flower arranging frog, pin frog, spiky frog, spiky pin, and basically any combination of the names I've listed.  I call it a flower frog.  I have also seen prices ranging from about $50 down to $5.50.  I would imagine if you were going to use the flower frog for it's intended purpose, it would matter what the diameter is, how heavy it is, the shape {I've seen rectangle ones}, et cetera.  But for our purposes, not so much.

When I first began my search I only found antique ones - beautiful, but I was not going to spend that kind of money on something to prop up my cards.  After some time went by, I began searching again and found a plethora of them, much more reasonably priced.  Just for the record, I got mine at Amazon {is there anything they don't carry?} Unfortunately, the one I use is currently unavailable but if you search for "mini flower frogs flower arranging" you will get a few {I get nothing from Amazon, just thought I'd share.} But definitely do some searching and I am certain you will find one that works for you. 

So now you know what it is, what it's called, why they exist, and where to get one.  Hopefully I've answered some of your questions. ~ Christi