Intention Cards

In early 2019 I was introduced to new idea in small art: Intention Cards. My friend Karen Musgrave had been making them, and we decided to trade a few. We have been cyber friends for years, first "meeting" in art quilting groups, then being part of several splinter groups that traded small art like ATCs, tags, bookmarks and prayer flags.

We decided to trade five, but made them double sided so there were 10 designs in all. There would be enough for each day of the week plus a few extra. I debated about whether to use inspirational quotes or just a word or two, and ended up keeping the words very simple. Rather than choosing a word and making art to illustrate it, I chose to make the art, then let the images inspired the words for each card.

At the top of the post, side one of the Intention Cards, and just above, the flip sides.

I used a combination of my favorite techniques: stamping, stenciling, and collage. Most of the stencils were from StencilGirl, especially from one of my favorite artists, Gwen Lafluer. I used grunge techniques that I learned during a workshop at Ink Pad NYC with the fabulous Seth Apter, and embellished many of the cards with my go-to supply: embossing powder. Vintage images from The Graphics Fairy were printed on paper and used in the collages.

I also added strips of washi tape and dots of Nuvo Drops and edged the cards with Archival Ink in sepia and/or black, using a fingertip dauber. The words were added last, hand written or hand printed. I debated whether to use pre-printed words, word stamps, word stencils...or whether to try and use perfect calligraphy, but in the end, I threw caution to the wind, grabbed an ordinary Sharpie and wrote freehand on the cards.

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

The idea is to place one Intention Card in your home in a room where you will glance at it several times a day, and change them daily. It is intended to be a gentle reminder. I chose reminders to be myself, to not be afraid of expressing my feelings, to notice the little things that are beautiful and often forgotten in our daily rushing. Some people choose to make their intention cards with religious quotes or universal symbols. Whether religious or not, the cards should be positive, inspirational and gentle.

I am busy making more cards to add to my collection, and hope to teach a class on Intention Cards later this year at The Ink Pad NYC.

Sweet Valentine ATCs

I love the color pink. I love the heart shape. And lace ...and cherubs ...and vintage images, which pretty much makes creating valentines irresistible.

This year, one of my art groups, StencilClub, hosted a small art trade with a valentine theme. So, I create these sweet little Artist Trading Cards.

First, I took a sheet of watercolor paper, squeezed out magenta and white paint onto my teflon® craft mat, mixed up some delicious pink shades, and sponged the colors through some of my favorite StencilGirl and StencilClub designs.

After it was dry, I cut the stenciled paper (using a cutting mat and exacto knife) into 10 little pieces (2.5" x 3.5") for the ATC base. I decided to keep half of them without any more embellishment, and added lace and vintage images to the other half.

One of my "go to" sites is the Graphics Fairy. They have a huge and wonderful selection of all kinds of vintage images. Along with the Graphics Fairy images, I used a beautiful rose from Gwen Lafluer's website.

For all of the cards, I used sepia archival ink and a fingertip dauber (purchased at The Ink Pad NYC) to finish the edges and add to the vintage look. A happy accident was realizing that I could use a thin strip of the leftover paper, instead of ribbon, to thread through the eyelets on the lace.

For some of the images, I tore them and aged the paper with an ecru stain. I love the antique linen Tim Holtz distress stain, but it is not being made any more. A light tan watercolor or solution of coffee achieves the same effect. After aging the paper roses, angel, and vintage French postmarks, I again added sepia ink to the very edges.

To adhere the lace, flowers and hearts, I used either a glue stick or heavy gel medium.

Here's my set of ATCs...I wonder if my trade partner can guess which one will be landing in her mailbox?