ATCs in progress...

I have a project due to create 6 ATC's (artist trading cards) for a swap with the California Art Girls this month. Here is my progress so far. The theme is Garden Statues. I chose two images from my stash - not sure where they came from - but i suspect they are images from a cemetary. Well, hey, they can be quite garden-like and beautiful!

I printed them on matte photo paper in multiples - 9 of one, and 4 of the other - since the sizes were different. I cut them out and edged them with cat's eye ink pads to remove the white edges.

Next i had to choose a background. Well - what better than my supply of Martha Stewart Living magazines to find a beautiful garden background. I selected two images from two March issues - the big Gardening issue. (i store my Martha's by month - so they are easy to grab when let's say i want a stuffing recipe - grab the stash of Novembers) I scanned them on my all-in-one but used a piece of paper to frame the section i wanted. This would save waste later. Then i printed out 8 copies of the background images. My printer automatically asks me whether i want one image per page, 2,3,4 or 9 - in corresponding sizes. Otherwise i would have no idea how to do this!Now i have the background and the focal point image - but how to attach it? Since the statues cover so much - i think instead of gluing them down i will create a hinged flap so you can peak underneath and see the flowers and trees.Well that's as far as i got.

In the meantime here are some random images. First my husband alerted me to yet another stunning sunset - like the hills were on fire. The picture honestly doesn't do it justice.

This other image is a bit of bragging. At what a good housekeeper I am. NOT. In fact these are all the abandoned vases that my husband found filled with dead flowers that accumulated on the deck all winter. He used one of these for the rusting project shown here.

He cleaned and scrubbed and ran them all through the dishwasher and set them out on the hearth for me to see. So you see I am bragging about my sweet husband! Don't they look so clean and sparkly? Just waiting for some fresh picked flowers....oh sweetie??