Discovering how to make ATC… artist trading cards supplies

ORIGIN OF THE ATC

The tradition to send cards for the special occasions, such as Christmas, New year, birthday…) is rather recent, i.e. one and half century. Previously one went visit directly.

Ancestors of the greeting cards, the layers of good wishes appeared at the beginning of XVe century. And then, at the XVIIe Century, printed papers form succeeded which the merchants sent to their customers for the New year. They were handmade with dried flowers, joinings of ribbons…

Belonging to our traditions of the festival times, the greetings cards which one exchanges for Christmas or for the New year draw their origin, once more, from England.

The evolution of this habit was done besides quickly in Europe, in particular in Germany, thanks to a very new process of printing works. This technique, called lithography, made it possible to reproduce in very great quantity a drawing or a text.

In 1840, the first postal stamp was invented, which made it possible the cartery to be published in series, ready to be sent. At that time, these cards generally represented family scenes celebrating Christmas or winter scenes.

Although one produced greetings cards in series, one continued to hand produce them. The variety of the techniques and materials make of them from now on creative leisures very largely widespread throughout the world.

Multiple events during the year give the opportunity to us to create cards : Christmas, New year, birthday, Birth, marriage or simple hello…. It is so pleasant to open its postal box and to discover a hand made card, only for you, at the time when the telephone and Internet took a choice place.

To celebrate these multiple occasions, there exists number of good techniques, from simplest to most elaborate : The pergamo, the iris folding camera, 3D and style derived from the scrapbooking, where inks and the stamps take an important place.

It is this last technique which will interest us here.

THE MATERIAL

If you are already scrapbooker you have already the majority of the hardware requirement. For the beginners, here is the essential ones to create your cards.

For the whole of the material quoted below, it is essential for the safeguard in the time of your creations (such as tape or glue…) that it is acid-free.

Paper

It is the base of all your creations. 

The plain ones: (or cardstock) they exist under various marks and with an infinite pallet of nuances.

Printed papers form: there exist about them much of marks and very varied styles (American kraft, Rouge of Garance…). They are proposed to you in the form of collection what enables you to find very quickly the correct coordinated colors.

The special ones: Many special papers exist and they are very diversified : copy, Indian, Nepalese, rhodoïd. But you can also add textures such as cork, gauze, corrugated cardboard…

stamps

They are essential for your cards. You can find various styles for these stamps. Collections are regularly created by trades-marks (Artemio, Hero Arts, Inkadinkado…)

The wood stamps: Often out of rubber, assembled on a piece of wood what facilitates their use. They have a noble side.

Not assembled : Practical by the fact that they take just a little place but they are nevertheless more difficult of use. It is necessary for you for that to be provided with an acrylic block and Ez-Mount (foam with an adhesive face and another electrostatics).

Transparencies or acrylic resins: They are self-adhesive. There still you will need an acrylic block. Their transparency enables you to visualize easily where you stamp. Not very expensive and sold in plate of several patterns, they make it possible to increase its collection very quickly.

The stamps foams: They are used as well with inks as with painting. However, the details of your impressions will be less detailed than with the other styles of stamps.

Inks

The choice is vast as well by their nuances as their characteristics. They are often presented in the form of a case provided with a foam soaked with ink. But they can be also declined in the form of felts, of powder to be diluted or liquid bottles.

Inks with slow drying: Only usable for porous materials. Thus they can be used for the hot emboss.

Inks with fast drying: as indicates it their characteristics they dry quickly. You can stamp your patterns or use them to create a bottom quite uniform. The chalks, using a foam, can be degraded

Distress inks: Conceived by Tim Holtz, they are containing water and have very light nuances. They thus make it possible to create an old aspect with your papers. You can also use them for colour your patterns. They exist in 24 colors.

StazeOn inks:  Containing solvent, they are permanent. Thus you can ink on materials such as glass, metal or the plastic.

Versamark ink: It is a transparent ink. Two differents use are possible with this ink. That is to say to stamp your pattern in order to make a tone on your or even to use for the hot emboss .

Inks with watercolors: Sold out in bottles or in the form of inking, missibles between them, they are ideal to colour your patterns or to create your bottoms. The nuances are varied.

This list of ink wants to be simplest possible. There exists still number of ink (Versafine, Memories, Adirondack…)

Accessories for the use of your stamps:

Cut' N Dry: it is a foam which initially is used to apply your inks on your paper. But in the second place the other face also enables you to create your stamps in negative if you heat it as a preliminary.

Acrylic blocks: they make it possible to use your or not assembled acrylic stamps.

Cleaning for stamps: Essential if you want to preserve your stamps a long time. One specific cleaning will be necessary for you for StazeOn ink.

Ez mount: Foam double-coated adhesive with a electrostatic face and another adhesive which will be useful for you for your stamps not goes up

Tack' N Peel: Adhesive to put on your acrylic block with an adhesive face and the other which enables you to stick and take off your not assembled stamps.

POWDERS

Powders for emboss: These inks are magic. By heating them they make it possible to put in relief and intensified brightness of your pattern or embellishment.

The Distress powders: There exist two kind of Distress powder. They give a out-of-date and sandy aspect for the first and an aspect spangled for the second.

Powders of flocking: they give an aspect velvet to your creations.

Perfect Pearl: With a thinner they give an iridescent dimension to your bottoms for example.

CUTTINGS

Scissors, cutter, precision cutter and trimmers are the essential tools. In addition, other systems of cutting exist : perforators (pattern has, of corner or borders) and the scissors imaginations.

Embellishments 

That dissociates a card of another is the style given by the stamps, papers, colors but also embellishments. It is them which will finish giving the tone of your creation by drawing the attention to part of your creation. They are extremely numerous.

Parisian brads or fasteners: It is a fastener which allows you is to attach a tag, a ribbon, a flower… or to make a repeat of color quite simply. They are very simple to pose and do not require any specific tools. The trade-marks create them from now on in the same collection as papers

Eyelets: They exist in all the colors. To pose them you will need Sillent Sitter or a specific grip.  They are at the same time useful and esthetic. Indeed they can allow you to pass a ribbon or to attach a tag.

Charms or "breloques": They are small metal elements of various forms : medals, loops (to pass a ribbon) hinges, flipettes. They give an aspect in particular Vintage to your cards.

Flowers: Many trade-marks exist. Various matters (paper, silk, baize…) they are perfect for all occasions.

Buttons: They make it possible to embellish your cards quickly and to stress part of your card.

Ribbons, laces or fibers: The ribbons exist under a multitude of color and imagination. They can sometimes be matched with the paper collections. You can find self-adhesive buttons. They will very quickly give a very smart aspect to your cards.

Laces are perfect for the cards Vintage, Shabby, “girly” or for the topics such as the marriage or St Valentine.

The fibers will give a natural and modern aspect to your creations.

The seam: To bring a beautiful effect to your cards think of some points of seam. This to frame your pieces of paper or to fix buttons or ribbons.

Pearls, strasses and spangles: They will immediately give an scintillating and brilliant aspect to your Christmas cards, birthday or “girly”.

STYLES OF CARDS

The Vintage Style

The style vintage gives an aspect aged to your cards, so that one could believe that it crossed the ages.

For that, remember to play with inks (Distress for example), create your bottoms using Cut'N Dry, that will give a molten effect. Use stamps of old style (floral patterns, silhouettes of the olden days, keys, clocks, seals postal, stamps joinings…).

While playing with various inks (Distress, watercolours, inks with alcohol) you can create bottoms of cards really original and unique.

To give other effects, think for example of pulverizing water, apply your inks with bubble paper or crumpled food paper. To accentuate this aged effect, will enclose the edges of your pieces of paper.

To finish your card embellish-there laces or charms…

Here is an example:

The Smart Shabby Style

It is a style which is rather easy to confuse with the vintage. The definition of the English word means : used, grated, worn the nap off. The knack of the term brings sophistication, romantism.

The colors pink, chestnut, beige, blue, white and the colors pastels are very frequently used. The harmony of the colors is very important if one wants to respect this style.

Papers will be very often flowered or with arabesques. The aspect is due to the fact that it will be necessary for you to age, to wear the nap off, sandpaper, and ink your papers.

The matters such as cork, hessian, gauze, corrugated cardboard, lace, the flowers have also their place in this style.

An Example:

The Clean and Simple Style

It is a very purified style, going to essence. If it is a very simple style from its composition, it proves to be complicated to put on page.

For this style of card one stresses is on the pattern if it one decides to put some or then on a simple paper play. There are just a little mix of color and few embellishments.

The Style Scrap

With the same techniques as for Scrap, this style of card is provided. To play with your stamps and to replace your printed papers, create yourself your own bottoms.

As specified the printed paper lines previously are vast offering multitudes of styles for your cards.

Play with the colors and the embellishments. The topics are varied for this style of card: Birth, festivals of new year, birthday or quite simply for the desire of creating it and just for sending.

These cards are often full with peps.

Sites

Here some shops-sites in France where you to provide you to perfect your necessary the substantial one.

Scrapmalin, Limps in Scrap, Camayon, the Company of the Elves, the creative Ant

Forum:

Blogs:

Elves and Companies
Ismaki
Saturday sketch
In Spoon off Sugar
Friday Sketcher

There exists about it well of different still

My blog: