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

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New PaperArtsy Products: Kate Crane {Nov 2025}

A note from Leandra ...

More delicious quirkiness from Kate for this release of mini stamps. Her little eccentric characters bring a quick smile, and help make your journaling, tags or gift cards warm and joyful. I love the play on the ladybug theme, and the frame will be ever so useful! Each of thee dinky stamps will make fun gifts or a nice addition to your own crating supplies.

Kate will be LIVE over in our Facebook Group, 'PaperArtsy People' shortly after this post publishes, and remember, all our new releases are ONLY available EXCLUSIVELY from our approved stockists. Please check the list at the foot of this post to find a retailer online or geographically near you, it makes sense to order within your country where possible.

Our retailers also endeavour to join the designer's live to share their direct shopping links in the live chat - this makes it easy for you to find a store with product in stock immediately.

Hi everyone, Kate here, with a set of cute and quirky mini stamps for all of your mixed media and arty projects.

It's another dose of fun, comical and quirky characters suitable for all occasions taken from my many sketchbook doodlings. I have had a lifetime of drawing and have sketchbooks full of such eccentricities and have always been drawn towards characters of unusual proportions and realistically impossible additions such as horns, wings, antennae or even Deeley Boppers, 

In this latest collection of minis there is a distinctly insect-based flavour too! All hand drawn in my loose slightly scribbly style, with a little bit of shading to aid the colouring in process. These mini characters are great for creating small art and greetings cards, but also work fabulously on bigger projects such as art journal pages, simply by the use of repetition or grouping.

Of course, a mark-making stamp is there to add to your projects and backgrounds, which is also useful for creating borders and even faux washi tape.

And finally a frame … which doesn’t quite fit (intentional of course!) A frame which is just slightly too small is just asking for a character to burst out of the middle! It’s a dynamic, fun and quirky way to frame an image.

I used up lots of previous prints in my backgrounds but also made a few with a simple brayer, stencil, and lots of bright Frescos. I’ll be sharing this easy and very achievable technique on my next mini live over on Facebook in the Paper Artsy People group. It’s a fast and easy way to build up multiple eye-catching layers in your backgrounds.....

Kate Crane Red Rubber Mini Stamps

Price: RRP €4.90 +VAT 

Size: generally credit card (ish) size images

All stamps are individually trimmed onto cling foam

Kate Crane Mini 017 (code: KCM017)

Quirky Deeley Poppers!

Remember Deeley Boppers?! Oh, it takes me back to the school disco days of my youth! Here I stamped Deeley Bopper gal onto card but then again onto a previous gel plate print, cut out the dress and headdress and added to the original image. A technique known as paper piecing.(I shared this technique in a previous live).

When gel plate printing for creating backgrounds, in general I am a big fan of making several at a time, creating more than I need. That way I always, always have a background when I need one, and a choice of colours too. 

For the background behind the image, I made a collage-cluster using scraps of previous prints along with ledger, ribbon ... actually anything I had to hand. Using neutral ledger paper, along with scraps of neutral fabric, really helps to break up the colour a bit. Its a fun, quick and easy way to make a background, and a perfect landing spot for a gal with Deeley Boppers!

I added the page to a card, building up dimensional layers (foam tape in between the layers) to frame the central tag. This would be a great greeting card, but I think it would look cool in a small frame too.

Kate Crane Mini 018 (code: KCM018)

Lady Bird

A polka dot head-dress, antennae, along with ladybird wings make a cute and eccentric little character. Again I used paper piecing to add colour to the image. I tend to go through phases (I think we all do?) and I'm currently in a paper piecing phase! I love the texture it adds to the image, as well as a splash of colour.

I think we've all got a LOT of scraps to use up too?

Here's the first example of 'not quite fitting inside the frame'. 

Things that sit perfectly central and neatly inside a frame are a bit too tidy for me. I just love to see things oozing out from the centre. You'll notice I added the frame over the body allowing the body to sit below the frame too. Fun! I placed it on a larger background and added it to a Kraft page in my art journal. A great way to use a tiny image to create a bigger page.

If you look closely you will see the new little texture stamp repeated on the background, and inside the frame too ... but more on that in a while!

Kate Crane Mini 019 KCM019)

Framed!

Oh another example of not quite fitting the frame. This time I placed her in the frame (chopped her legs off ... ooh sorry!) and then added a bit of acetate to allow the whole frame to hang freely and bounce over the background.

You can see some stamping in the background of those tiny textures again too.

I used multiple layers from previous prints again, added a little stitching and placed it all on the front of a card. But see the little 'hello'? That's a part of the frame stamp set ... a very cute little place to add a greeting.

Kate Crane Mini 020 (code: KCM020)

Frame it up!

Well, you've seen this a few times already. Such a useful addition to this set of minis, and it really helps to make a focal element pop. Easy to colour, and super easy to cut out (no fiddly cutting here).

You can have creatures bursting out of a frame ...

... or just hiding behind it. 

Either way it works, and really helps to make a solid focal element for your projects using these tiny characters. 

Kate Crane Mini 021 (code: KCM021)

Tiny Textures 

I don't think you can ever have enough texture stamps, they are just so so useful. These are the kind of stamps I don't ever put away, just have them sitting handy in a little pot on my desk so I can just easily grab them when I need them.

You've seen these a few times in this post already, but let me show you a little bit more. These stamps may be tiny but repetition makes them useful even on bigger projects. Here i repeatedly stamped the hearts in a row on a scrap of a print and cut it out to add a border along the lower edge. So simple but so effective, so don't be afraid to cut apart these stamps!

You can see here how I added little stitching along it, and it just completes the lower edge of my tag.

Of course another way to use these mini textures, is to stamp onto acetate or Duralar film to create a transparency. I'm sharing this image again because if you look closely I used a transparency inside the tag window and raised it with foam stickers so the stamping sits above the image and appears to 'float' in the window.

Kate Crane Mini 022 (code: KCM022)

Horns!

Well, we've had Deeley Boppers, antennae and now we've got horns. Striped horns at that too! This time I wanted to create a bigger page in a larger journal and a simple and effective way to do this is to use repetition. I balanced Mr Horns on the left with two hooded creatures on the right. They appear to be looking at him! 

These characters are placed over multi-layers of gel prints and an acetate layer with alcohol ink for a real pop of colour. You can also see how I used a previous mini to add a touch of foliage up the left hand side, just to balance things out.

A couple of strips of print placed vertically help to comfortably bed the creation into a larger page in my art journal.

And if you look closely, you'll see lots of stamping in the background with the mini textures too.

Kate Crane Mini 023 (code: KCM023)

Polka Dot Hoody

Horns, antennae, Deeley Boppers, and now a polka dot hoody! The sidelong glances worked really well when I placed them together on this page.

I coloured the images but then stamped over the colour with the mini texture stamps to bring a bit of pattern into the main body.

And here you see him (her?!) placed on a tag, squeezing out of the frame. A tag, on a tag.

Kate Crane Mini 024 (code: KCM024)

With these wings

Of course a collection of eccentricities wouldn't be complete without wings. Because why not? With wings, we fly.

I love that when I added it inside the frame, slightly to one side, only one set of wings shows! It just adds to the quirkiness. 

Placed on multiple layers of gel prints, a little stitching, and some foam stickers, make a great topper for card. 

Bu again, look closely ... do you see the mini texture stamps again?!

I hope you have enjoyed these whimsical and slightly eccentric creations. Life is too short to be too serious! I'm hoping that these quirky additions will bring a smile to your face, and little joy to your creating.

You can see more and visit me at... 

Website 

Facebook 

Instagram

YouTube 

Leandra back with you for this section below ....

BONUS SAMPLES FROM KATY NORGATE

Katy Norgate is a massive fan of Kate's designs, so we asked her if she could knock up a few samples for this release. I've spotted she is in New Zealand on holiday at the moment, so a huge thanks to her for being super organised and willing to get these to us well in advance!

It is always helpful to see another style of crafting with these items to Kate's, you might enjoy different layering, different products or colour schemes to explore. Let's take a look!

Here's the whole range of what katy did. Kate will show all these in more detail in her live today, which you will find pinned to her guide in PaperArtsy People later tonight. 

I am going to share a few close ups shots with you here so you can see the detail of what she has done up close!

A deeley bopper dude (KCM017) inside the frame (KCM020) with hearts and shape along the bottom (KCM021)

Can I just say how much I love this colour scheme! Soft sage and grassy gtreens with soft pinks are a winning combo featuring the focal mini character with ladybug wings KCM018.

More buglife here with KCM019, and a more mixed media piece. I spot a kate stencil in the background too

These 2 are really bopping along the way they 'boing' on the acetate. Note how Katy has added a smiley expression to their faces

Let's have a grumpy day, someone here isn't happy! Reminds me of my kids when they were younger having a minor fall out! Another zingy colour scheme in those wonderful greens, and 3 minis, L-R KCM022, 017, 023, all with their bespoke expressions, what a cool way to make each character unique!

Last for now, KCM024, a soft squidgey one with pretty wings to boot! Another stencil in the background, a bit of stitching and scribbling and a gel printed background. Perfect!

You can find Katy Norgate on Instagram here or on facebook here .

Thanks Katy

 PaperArtsy Stockist List

Our stockists are your go-to  source for all PaperArtsy products, and we suggest that you also use the PaperArtsy People Facebook group to source a retailer in your country. Many are members of our FB group and will happily share links to their online stores.

Australia

Bev's Cross Crafts, Spreyton, Tasmania bevscrosscrafts

Crafters Cupboard, Berwick, Victoria crafters cupboard

Hillbilly Scrappin, Nikenbah, QLD hillbilly scrapping

Natalie May Scrapbooking, Dover Gardens, SA natalie may

Scrapbook Superstore & More, South Penrith, NSW scrapbook superstore

Austria

Stempel Wunderwelt, Wilhering, stempel wunderwelt

Belgium

Cart N Scrap Art, Antwerp, cart n scrap art

Créatelier Caracolle, Liège, createlier caracolle

Canada

Boutique Scrapbook Tendance Inc, Quebec, Qc, scrapbook tendance

Clipper Street Scrapbook Company, Langley BC, Clipper Street Scrapbook Co

Glitter & Ink, Belleville ON Glitter & Ink

Paper Art Creations Inc, Leduc, Alberta, paper art creations

Re.defined, Kentville, NS, redefinedforyou
Scrapbook Centrale, Dollard Des Ormeaux, Quebec scrapbook centrale

Scrap Addicts, Edmonton, Alberta scrap addicts

Scrap and Bean, Edmonton, Alberta scrap and bean 

Scrap en Masse, Plantagenet, Ontario scrap en masse

Scrapbooking Fairies, Drayton Valley, Alberta scrapbooking fairies

The Paper & ink Boutique, Calgary, Alberta paper and ink boutique

Denmark

Hobbyboden Scrapworld, Samso hobbyboden

Finland

Klemmarikellari, Turku Klemmarikellari

Piia Paper, Kittilä, Piia Paper

France

Emispheres Eurl Ruy Montceau, ephemeria  

Fée Du Scrap, Saint Sébastien-Sur-Loire, fee du scrap

Horizon Créatif, Ste Jalle horizon creatif

Kerudoc Creation, St Yvi kerudoc creation

Le Grenier des filles, Pierre Benite

Page de scrap, Saint Pavace, page de scrap

Passion Scrap, Vieux-Conde, Passion Scrap

Scrap by Jo, Saint-Orens-de-Gameville, 31650 Scrap by Jo

Toutencolle, Dun sur Auron toutencolle

Germany 

Papier & Feder, Owschlag, papier & feder

Stempeloase Munich, Munich stempeloase

Stempelfee Shop, Hilden stempelfee shop

Stempellaedle, Stuttgart, stempellaedle

Tue Was Di Liebst, Bayern, Tue Was du Liebst

Greece

Decoupage, Vergina

Italy

Pezze E Colori, Lissone, pezze e colori 
Piccole Passioni, Siena, piccole passioni

Japan

Tiny Dots, Funabashi-shi, Chiba tiny dots

Netherlands

De Hobbystudio, Genemuiden, de hobby studio

Doe@ding,Spijkenisse doe @ ding

Hobbycompleet de Duif, Leeuwarden hobby compleet

Hobbyshop Sandra, Wierden hobbyshop sandra

IK Journal, Boxtel, ik journal

Stamptable, Roosendaal, Stamptable

Norway

Hobbykunst, Oslo, hobbykunst

Puerto Rico

Paper Boutique, Fajardi Paper Boutique

South Africa

Kcraft imports Ltd, Centurion 0014  kcraft

South Korea

Torn Paper, Namyangju-Si, torn paper

Spain

Cien por Cien Manualidades, Barcelona,  100 x 100 manualidades

Ideas 10 Manualidades Y Scrapbook, Bilbao ideas 10 manualidades

La Sonrisa Creativa, Valencia, la sonrisa creativa

Les Coses de Raquel, Barcelona

Scrap & Papers Experiences, Barcelona, scrap papers experiences

United Kingdom

Amelia's Creative Crafts, Studley, Warwickshire Amelia's Creative Crafts

Art from the Heart, Harrogate, Yorkshire art from the heart

Crafts at The Malthouse, Herstmonceux,  East Sussex, crafts at the malthouse

Countryview Crafts, Potton, Bedfordshire countryview crafts

Loobi Crafts, Leighton Buzzard, Bedfordshire, loobi crafts

Procraftynation Ltd, King's Lynn, Norfolk Procraftynation

Sir Stampalot, Peterborough, Cambridgeshire sir stampalot

Stampers Grove, Springbank, Lilliesleaf, Melrose,Scotland stampers grove

The Artistic Stamper Craft Store, Faversham, Kent the artistic stamper

The Forget me not Kraft Kabin, Rochford, Essex, The Forget Me Not Kraft Kabin

Twilight Crafts, Radstock, Somerset, Twilight Crafts

USA

Artistic Artifacts, Alexandria, VA artistic artifacts

Artistic Studio Creations, Fayetteville, Georgia Artistic Studio Creations

Everything Scrapbook & Stamps, Lake Worth, Florida Everything Scrapbook & Stamps

Free Heart LLC, Denver, Colarado, free heart llc

Joggles, Coventry, Rhode Island, joggles

Messy Papercrafts, Temecula CA Messy Papercrafts

PaperCraft Clubhouse, Westbrook, Connecticut, papercraft clubhouse

Runaway, Art & Craft Studio, NE Salem, Oregon runaway

Scrap-A-Latte, West Babylon NY scrap a latte

Scrapbook-N-Memories, Harrisonville, Missouri Scrapbook N Memories

Simon Says Stamp, Columbus, Ohio simon says stamp

Topflight Stamps, Irmo, South Carolina topflight stamps

If you are interested in becoming a PaperArtsy stockist contact Dounia@paperartsy.com for more information

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