Enough people complained about my old layout that I finally switched it.  There are a lot of cool themes to choose from in xanga, but there are very few that are 1) colorful, 2) easy to read, 3) have seamless backgrounds, and 4) look like they are for grown-ups.  This fits the bill, but I'm not convinced it's me.

I have to keep looking, I guess. 

  I have nine more ATCs to show you - I apologize in advance for the quality of the scans; there was a lot of glare on these for some reason.

"Cocktail Hour" by Kathy Carvellas.  Those are real buttons, and the cut out paper doll dress so perfectly captures what I feel when I get dressed up for these kinds of affairs.

"Dark Angel" by Judith B. She used gold doily for the background, and real cotton lace bordering the angel.

"Explore" by Tina Harder.  That is real chicken wire!

I have two of a series from Ria Cabral.  The first is "Abstract Flower" and the second is "Flower of Eight".  I really like the way she uses color in these pieces.

Cosmos by Megan Mitchell.  She very cleverly uses a button for the sun in this composition.

Rush wove colorful silk strips and added a silk flower to make this piece that is as wonderful to touch as it is to look upon.

"No Place like Home" by Kim Smith.  Bling and gold embossed layers enhance this collage.

"Charleston SC" by Tina Swain.  This card has popped layers, giving dimension that you can't make out in the scan.

I think these are all marvelous - I am really sorry that they are distorted by the glare.

 

 

I've been busy this month, but I finally got the rest of my December "Winner Take All" ATCs scanned (yes, I know it is February.  Better late than never).  Here they are:

Lois Richter stamped this elegant card with metallic inks and two colors of embossing powder.

Suze Urquhart sent me this card from England.  I love the way she used flower brads and stamps to suggest fluffy snowflakes.

Lillian Merederak also created a textured snow using a variety of techniques.  She mentioned that it was 39 degrees below in Canada when she made this card.

Marguerite Paulson made this charming card using layers of cardstock, stickers, and glitter.  The effect is very nice!

This card may look simple in the scan, but there is texture to the papers and layers that must be seen in real life to appreciate.  Thank you, JJ Vincent!

I counted nine separate layers of cardstock in the card by Tonya Krout. That doesn't even take into acount the ribbon and bling and mounting squares that add to the depth of this amazing card.  Finally, there is no shortage of glitter - very sparkly!

Art by Erte combines with shimmery layers and rhinestones in the card by Jill Kaar Hanson.

Another card from England, by Jen Gordon.  the circles and starbursts are actually holographic paper - this card really pops!

This eclectic collage is by Virginia Bell.  It cracks me up, in the same way "Cannibal: the Musical" cracks me up.
 
There are some very intriguing elements in this card by Pam Bechtold.  The background has a lot of layers of color and shine, and the fiber in the eyelets is fascinating - it looks handmade.

This lovely stamped and layered card is by Judith Nemo.  It makes me long for spring.

Finally, here is a card by the other WTA winner, Peace Schuyler:

The owl is all made of sequins and glitter - It is so cute!

Total count for the December WTA - 33 cards!  Amazing!  In all the months I've played and sent cards out to others who won, I don't think I sent as many as I've won this one month.

It's been harder to keep up with scanning and posting these cards than I thought it would be.  It's worth it though, to share all this great artwork.

I may not have mentioned this before, but the WTA is actually a WTAx2, which is to say two winners are drawn every month, and even if you win, you still have to mail a card to the other winner.

Peace (the other winner) had a daunting selection of themes to choose from - Vintage Christmas (ugh!), Zetti (huh?), Robert Downey Jr. (!!!!!!) and John Lennon (meh).  Of the four, Robert downey Jr. seemed the least ...  or the most ...  whatever.

I found a photo to work from, and this is what I did (with photo):

It doesn't really look like him (the eyes/eyebrows are wrong), but the other attempts were even worse. A lot of the color isn't showing in this scan, either.  Technique is pencil and marker (waterbrushed) on gesso.  I thought that the pencil would work better than pen, but both pencil and pen bleed on gesso when you use water.  I may have to try drawing with fine-point sharpie next.  I will happily take any recommendations on how to draw permanent lines on gesso.

 Before I go any further, I do want to explain - not all ATC artists are glitter maniacs.  I specifically requested two things, that my cards be shiny/sparkly, and that there be no Christmas themed cards.  Therefore, there is a lot of metal and glitter on these cards, but that doesn't mean that is the norm for these artists. 

This card From Susan Guzy has a metallic sliver cardstock backing, and the "fur" stole is actually liquid applique!  It is a surprisingly dimensional card. She also sent me some cool papers to play with.

This isn't a raven (it's a very lovely peacock!), but it is from Raven (some people don't like their names online), and is framed with two different blue holographic papers.  I've purchased holographic papers, but I've never figured out how to use them.  They look great on this card!

This one is from Rush.  The letters are actually metal brads, and very shiny in real life.  I don't have the back scanned, but she stamped it to coordinate with the front - very cool!

Lisa Goldman did this Mata Hari.  I know it seems that I overanalyze the cards I get, but I am fascinated by technique, the this image looks to be watercolored, heat embossed, covered with a fine mesh, and surrounded by a glitter border.  I love looking at all the different elements and seeing how they work together.

For some reason, a significant number of people seemed to jump ahead to the next artsy holiday - Valentine's Day.  The rest of these cards are very "romantic".

"Love" by Elena Garcia - the word "Love" is engraved on the metal heart tag, and there is silver leaf on the cake stand.  There are also other sparkly elements that you can't make out in this scan, but it is a very joyful card.

This golden card came to me from the Gold Coast of Australia - Sarah Walker made this glimmering card.  Cupid is on an overlay, and the heart is popped up, and the gold painted background is also dry-embossed for dimension.

This extremely glittery card from Sandra Zengler in Scotland was almost scary to take out of the wrapper, but the glitter is all very firmly attached.  Even the thread and the button are sparkly! There isn't anything on this card that doesn't sparkle!

I wish you could see this card from Valerie Brinchek in real life.  The rhinestone heart is actually floating in a clear window, and there are multiple layers of heat embossing and sparkly things - really a very beautiful composition.  I am always excited to get art from Valerie.

This makes 17 cards so far from the Winner Take All, and they are all gorgeous!  I wonder if all the people who won my cards in the past liked them as much as I like these cards?