PaperArtsy: The ATC Box with NEW Kate Crane minis {by Martha Ponsanesi}

Monday, 24 November 2025

The ATC Box with NEW Kate Crane minis {by Martha Ponsanesi}

Hi everyone, it’s nice to be back, Martha (craftingmartha) here with you today.

Have you seen the latest release by Kate Crane? Eight quirky, juicy minis that instantly stole my heart.

These adorable little creatures immediately inspired me to make a bunch of ATCs. I had so much inspiration flowing, and since I knew I would end up making quite a few of them, I also decided to create a box to hold them.

Let me show you what I made, with all the new Kate's minis (and some more from the previous release).

Here they are: these adorable characters, complete with a frame and background elements,(Retailers are mentioned in this Kate's new product introduction blog post), ready to be stamped, heat embossed, and cut out.

...and some of my favourite PaperArtsy Fresco Finish Acrylics: Bubble Gum (FF116), Zesty Zing (FF47), Caribbean Sea (FF94), Firebird (FF210), Aqua Duck Egg (FF199), Byzantium (FF152) and Peachy Keen (FF157), along with a Gel Plate and PaperArtsy Blank Tissue (PT10)

I started by creating some backgrounds with the Gel Plate and PaperArtsy Blank Tissue (PT10).

In this way I achieved the double effect of creating an interesting texture on the Gel Plate while also coloring the Blank Tissue.

After coloring the Blank Tissue, I stamped it with two minis from previous releases, KCM001 and KCM014. I’ve found that using a slightly dry ink pad works best for this, as it helps the stamp dry faster and keeps the workspace cleaner.

I cut some of the Gel Plate backgrounds to ATC size (2½" x 3½"), and on others, I tried stamping and heat embossing whit different powders. I even stamped the same designs on black and kraft cardstock, and vellum, it’s fun to see how different papers can change the look!

Now that I’ve got most of the pieces I need, it’s time to dive in and have some fun with them!

Please look how much effort I put into cutting everything LOL.

To create an extra layer, I spread some Grunge Paste (GP190) on the cardstock with a spatula and immediately stamped it with KCM021 , taking care to lightly mist it with water so I wouldn’t risk damaging the stamp.

Once it was dry, I cut out some circles and coloured them with my finger, using a bit of PaperArtsy Fresco Finish Acrylics, a little messy but fun!

I think adding small phrases would be the perfect finishing touch, and so I used KCM006.

The box to hold them is super easy to make, kind of like an explosion box. The lid is in kraft and the box itself in black, with the measurements shown in the photo.

The box, before even holding the various ATCs, is perfect for keeping all the little cut-outs you’ll use to decorate them.

Here’s the finished box with its ATCs, and a little peek at how I used each of these cute creatures.

In these two ATCs, I played with the KCMC017 along with the super-handy background stamp KCM021, which I stamped over the Grunge Paste and on the vellum.

Here are two versions of the KCM018, simply stamped and embossed. For anyone like me who isn’t very skilled at coloring, this is a great way to get an interesting result without overcomplicating things.

For the KCM019, an adorable little ladybug with lots of teeny-tiny legs, on the first ATC I fussy cut them all, while on the second one I… strategically snipped them off. The KCM020 is such a fun little frame, on one ATC I used just one corner of it, while on the other I used it to frame the sentiment.

Even though I’ve only made one ATC with the KMC022 so far, it’s already one of my favorites. Maybe this one will finally get me a bit closer to trying some coloring, its little body is perfect for adding decorative elements, and those striped arms and horns are actually easy enough to color.

I’m really fond of the KCM023 as well (though I swear I’m not being influenced by the fact that, without legs, wings, or antennae, it saves me so much cutting time! LOL). It ended up on the lid of my little box, with the KCM021 in the background, stamped on vellum and black cardstock.

The last one in the group is KCM024, chubby just enough to make you love it. Maybe I should have stamped it on black, you know, black always makes things look a bit slimmer?

I had so much fun with this new release creating in small scale and ATC size doesn’t just mean ATCs — it can also include mini notebook covers, accordion albums, mini zines, or, as in this case, decorating the top of the box. The key is to catch the creative spark and bring to life lots of backgrounds and cut-out elements, then assemble them however you like. And I can assure you, with these minis, the possibilities are endless.

Have fun.

Martha xxx