Farley's Mermaid Circus! ATC!

This 3D ATC was inspired by my book: "Altered Art Circus", where I have a chapter dedicated to ATC's and Components.

To bring new familiarity to the ATC aka Artist Trading Card, I added more 3-d elements to the basic form of 3 1/2 by 2 1/2 inches which originally started as flat images as a way to showcase one's illustration, more on that in the book.

This piece which I call: "Farley's Mermaid Circus", is created using the Mer-Cupie Embellishment from the Lisa Kettell Designs Line, mixed w/K&Company ticket sticker strips, Cosmo Cricket Paper, Robin's Nest Pink Pebbles, Making Memories Accessories, vintage style pink Tinsel from michaels, Hemptique bakery twine, chip board, zip dry and hot glue!

Materials

-Mer-Cupie Embellishment, Lisa Kettell Designs
-Carnival/Circus Ticket Adhesive Border, Love, K& Company
-"Monday" Scrapbook Paper, Cosmo Cricket
-"Tiny Bubbles" Scrapbook Paper, Cosmo Cricket
-Mini wood clips, Making Memories
-Looking Glass stickers, Giggle Kids Line, Making Memories
-Pebbles, Robin's Nest
-Pink Tinsel, Michaels Craft Stores
-Pink/White Bakery Twine, Hemptique
-Chipboard, Paper Source
-Acrylic paint, smooches, Clearsnap
-Vintage ephemera, floral wire, rhinestones
-Glues: Zip Dry, Beacon Adhesives, Modge Podge, Plaid and Hot Glue
-Other: Floral Wire, Glitter
-Tools: Hot Glue Gun, Scissors, Paint Brush

Directions

1. Measure chipboard to 3 1/2 by 2 1/2 inches, coat with zip dry glue, lay the Monday scrapbook paper over the coated chipboard, press to adhere, let sit for a minute to dry. Then trim the paper to fit the chipboard.

2. Paint a shirt onto the Mer-Cupie with paint color of choice, set aside, let dry.

3. Make a basic pinwheel shape out of the tiny bubbles paper, secure ends with hot glue, attach a looking glass sticker to the center of the pin wheel, set aside.

4. Attach your mer-cupie to the center of the atc using hot glue, begin embellishing her. Make a paper cone from vintage paper, simply measure a 3 inch by 3 inch square onto ephemera or paper of choice, cut down the middle to form a triangle, glue sides together and attach to your mer-cupie with hot glue, add pebbles and tinsel to her hat.
5. Cut a balloon shape from paper, attach to a piece of floral wire using hot glue, apply modge podge to balloon shape, sprinkle red glitter on top, shake off excess and insert next to your mer-cupie, tie on a piece of hemptique bakery twine.

6. Add some more ephemera, mini wood clip, tickets and the handmade pin wheel, voila, Farley is now on her way to enjoy the Mermaid Circus!



Tips and Tricks:
-Use piano paper, paper from a discarded book, old advertisements, or catalog pages for your paper cone hat.
-Buy pre-made pinwheels instead of making your own.
-Use glitter paper instead of using actual glitter
-Tint mica flakes with distressed inks and add to your project for more flare.
-Stamp the alphabet onto plain cardstock, if you can't find the one I used by Cosmo Cricket.
-Use pipe cleaners in place of the tinsel.


To purchase the Mer-Cupies aka Mermaid Cupies from the Lisa Kettell Designs Line visit our store Piddlestixs or the online store:
http://www.artfire.com/ext/shop/studio/MoonfairesWorld

Below is a list of my top 25 favorite products and manufacturers at this years Winter CHA 2012 show in Anaheim, CA. Today I will showcase no: 3-6 on my list, first showcase is no.3 Hemptique!

1.Ruby Rock-It www.rubyrock-it.com
2.Graphic 45 www.g45papers.com
3.Hemptique www.hemptique.net
4.Vintaj www.vintaj.com
5.Beacon Adhesives www.beaconadhesives.com
6.Scrap Perfect www.scraperfect.com
7.Plaid www.plaidonline.com
8.Ranger www.rangerink.com
9.Ellison/Sizzix www.ellison.com
10.Colorbox/Clearsnap/Donna Salazar www.clearsnapinc.com
11.Basic Grey www.basicgrey.com
12.Kaiser Craft www.kaisercraft.net
13.EK Success:Martha Stewart and French General www.eksuccessbrands.com
14.Glitter Dust www.thermoweb.comhttp://www.blogger.com/img/blank.gif
15.October Afternoon www.octoberafternoon.com
16.Offray Ribbon-Sports Line
17.Best Creations www.bestcreation.us
18.Zutter www.zutterproducts.com
19.Walter Kunze Dresden's www.walterkunze.com
20.Globe Craft Memories www.globecraftmemories.com

no.3 on my list is: Hemptique, one of my new favorite companies: www.hemptique.net
While walking the floor, I stumbled upon this amazing company, what caught my eye you might ask? the sweet and delicious bakery twine, they had tons and tons of various colors, screaming my name, so what does one whose obsessed with twine do, she walks over, drools and takes loads of pictures and instantly grabs information. On top of their amazing products, the whole staff was extremely helpful and easy to work with which makes their products that much more amazing!I loved all their colors, I'll be ordering tons for the store and using in my own projects and designs, and to top it off, they even gave me a huge pink and white twine roll, which made my day, I used it in my make and take projects at CHA that day as well.Here are some of the amazing guys at Hemptique:I'm currently working on a twine birdcage project using: Hemptique twine, fabric stiffener and starch from Plaid, papers and more, stay tuned for that project in a few weeks. For ordering info and to purchase their products visit their website: www.hemptique.net

CHA Day 1 Highlights!
I told you I love palm trees, here are some more pictures of my beloved palm trees as I started the first full day of CHA Winter 2012. The mid morning started off with a stroll to the Garden Walk to meet Vanessa and Alex, my dear friends who moved to California some years back. Afterwards we headed to the California Grille for lunch, I just found out there is one NJ too, I'll be making a voyage there at some point, lol. After lunch I was headed over to start CHA in its first full day. To start I needed to film for a bit, then head over to Scrap Perfect to drop off my make/take projects and demo samples. I took part in a Designer Challenge which consisted of several of the industries leading companies such as Scrap Perfect, Wescott, Makin's Clay, Colorbox/Clearsnap, Global Memories, Robin's Nest, Rubber Stamp Concepts, and Justrite. I'll be showcasing this challenge in the next few posts. But for now here are some pictures of my challenge samples: One 3-D piece and One Card piece:
After Scrap Perfect I ran into fellow Jersey Girl and friend: Juliana aka Jewels, her works and appearances are all over the world. Here we are with the moms:Next was a trip to a few suppliers, another quick make/take and to the fabulous group at Colorbox/Clearsnap whose products will be in my top 25 CHA fave posts.After some fun meeting up with April at Colorbox, I headed over to the fabulous Vintaj, who in my opinion have the best collection of charms and pieces, including their new patina paints with Ranger Ink, Both these groups will also be in my Top 25, stay tuned for that post/list. Wendy and Doug are the sweetest and amazing people, their works and designers are over the top and have been a fave of mine for years, their pieces have graced my works and will continue to do so. Right near by are my fave bakery twine suppliers: Hemptique, love what they do with twine:
I love their colors, can't you tell????After I left Hemptique I ran right into the one and only Jenny Doh, she is such an inspiration to all, real and true to all! Then I get the treat of running into my girls: Debbie and Teresa from Ranger, these two ladies are fabulous!The photo shoot wouldn't be complete without the other ladies and Momma Joan!I will say I took over 734 pictures, I can't upload them all, or blog each of them, but I will give you the highlights and the best that I can from the event. Stay tuned for CHA Day 1, Part Two, featuring: Beacon Adhesives, Ruby Rock-it and more.!