2018 Topic 15: Artist Trading Coins
Hi everyone, it's Chris Cresswell from loopsandlines.blogspot.co.uk with
you today, and I'd like to share with you my Artist Trading Coins and
Holders, using some of Kay Carley's recent stamp sets and stencils.
I
was really excited earlier this year to catch onto this new version of
Artist Trading Cards when I saw a FaceBook post which featured some
examples of Artist Trading Coins. I was intrigued. I then went onto
Pinterest to see if I could find more, only to find very few had been
uploaded. Only six in fact and a short Process video created by Joanne
Hodges (aka Craftyhodges) who got this idea while taking a shower! Of
course, there are hundreds now but I clearly entered this mini world at
its very early stages. I'm very grateful as I adore making them. I have
particularly enjoyed creating these for PaperArtsy, using Kay's lovely
stamps and stencils because the flowers fit the 2.5" size so well and
because they achieve the same purpose as the original Artist Trading
Cards, which is to provide samples of an artist's work: in this case a
sample of a PA designer's work! I have also created a 'Holder' for
storing the ATCoins. The small size Pringles tin is a perfect fit for
these Coins.
This
quickly became a Mixed Media project. I knew that I wanted to make
several ATCoins but I wanted to keep them fairly simple to really show
off the beautiful flowers, butterflies and dragonflies that Kay loves to
design. I always start with a Masterboard and die-cut the Coins once
the background is complete.
I
first put down a layer of Distress Oxides followed by various
PaperArtsy Infusions, sprayed with water to create a lovely watercolour
effect. Infusions work so well on top of the Oxides. There are more
process steps of this stage on my blog tonight if you haven't yet tried
this technique, here
I
used 340gms PaperArtsy Smoothy Card for these backgrounds. This is the
12" x 12" size, so I was able to die-cut a lot of Coins from these three
colour combinations.
Having
made the backgrounds for the Coins, I then started on the backgrounds
for the ATCoin Holders, again using the same size PaperArtsy Smoothy
Card, but adding some texture using PaperArtsy Grunge Paste and two
stencils: PSO34 and Kay's new stencil PSO97.
First I used PSO34 to scrape grunge paste through the stencil, all over two sheets of the card, in its natural form.
Once
dry, I brayered several Fresco Chalk paints across each surface. On one
sheet, I used predominantly pinks and oranges, on the other sheet I
used a mix of blues, purples and greens. Again, I have listed the
colours used on my blog. The raised stenciled circles resisted a lot of
the colour so quite a bit of white space was created.
Once
I was happy with the colour blends, on each stenciled sheet, I used
Kay's new stencil (PSO97) to add further grunge paste on top of the
coloured background. This is such a pretty stencil and wonderfully firm
to take heavy media. This time I wanted to add colour to the grunge
paste before applying. This was when the surprise happened. In the photo
you can see I used Magenta Infusions on top of the pink/orange
background. I had hoped by using the Infusions I would create a vibrant
raised set of stenciled images. However, to my surprise, I found that
when this dried the colour had paled down considerably. At first I was
disappointed but gradually found that I loved the new colour that the
mixing with the grunge paste had created. The same happened when I mixed
Violetta Infusions with the grunge paste for the blue/green
background.
The little daisy is from a much earlier stamp set: EKC03.
As
you can see I added further doodling to the raised stenciling and used a
Sharpie white paint pen to colour in the daisies.These were now ready
to cut to size and wrap around the Pringles Crisps tins to transform
them into Mini ATCoin Holders.
The tiny butterfly and dragonfly are from sets: EKC03 and EKC06.
The
next step was to stamp out some of the gorgeous flowers from Kay's new
stamp set: EKC19 and my all time favourite stamp set: EKC15.
I used Black Archival ink for one set and Memento for the other set, again stamped on PaperArtsy 340gms Smoothy card.
One set would be coloured with Copic markers, thus the need for a
Memento ink pad, and the others would be coloured with Derwent Inktense
Blocks which I grated into little pots and added water to. These three
Coins (which are my favourite) were coloured with the Inktense Blocks,
cut out and adhered to the Coins:
Each
Coin is embellished with stamping, doodling and mark making before the
final image is adhered on top. The final flourish in the three above was
to add some text and a little DecoArt Media Liquid Glass in the centre
of each flower. Once completed I generally adhere them either to black
or coloured card or some of the many MDF Coins I have in my stash!
The
fun part is always the final stage, deciding on the focal image and
final embellishments. You will already have seen many different ideas
for completed ATCoins this week and there are many more on Pinterest.
For some of these, and as a tribute to Kay's preferred style, I've added
some glitter to some of my Coins. Often I will add Collage Pauge to
ensure all layers are firmly attached, especially if I've added beads
and tiny fragments. At other times, I will add DecoArt Crackle Glaze or
Distress Collage mediums. The choice is yours. In the photo below, you
can see a close-up of some of the Coins with added glitter and three
Coins made from one of the left-over sheets that I created for the
Holders:
These
little mini art works are quick and easy to make and there are a number
of Swaps organised by various groups, including my own facebook group:
Mini Marvels. I hope the ATCoins you have seen tonight and throughout
the week inspires you to have a go yourselves. Kay Carley's stamp sets
are a great way to get started. Any of the Coins shown here are
available for swapping if you're interested!
Blog: www.loopsandlines.blogspot.co.uk
Facebook: Chris Cresswell
Twitter: @artmadnana
Instagram: artmadnana
Pinterest: Chris Cresswell
To join our challenge and win a PaperArtsy £50 gift voucher:
Simply make
something arty relevant to the topic, and link your creation from any
social URL (eg. Instagram, Pinterest, Blog Post etc) sharing your
original make to this challenge page.
The current topic link Topic 15: Artist Trading Coins will close 17:00 (London Time) Sunday, 16th September 2018, and the winner will be announced 2 hours later at 19:00.
All
links go in the draw to win a PaperArtsy £50 voucher. Please make sure
we can contact you as a prize winner - it helps if you share your
contact info from the platform you opt to use.
Good Luck! If you have any questions, don't hesitate to ask!
