Art From My Heart

Tonight, as I was browsing through my flickr collection of the same name, I recalled many fond memories of the wonderful mixed media artist friends I've made over the years through collaborations of all shapes and sizes. We met through flickr, our blogs, Ebay ATC groups, Yahoo groups, NINGs from 6 years ago, challenges, swaps, skinny books, art-e-zine and SO MUCH MORE. So.... here is a random selection of a few of my older art pieces that were part of all that "coming together!" 

I am happy to say, many of us still keep in touch!

Thank you for inspiring me, dear friends! (Art is from June 2007-Nov 2009.)

Experimenting with Small Format Again

Layers and Detail

best friends forever ATC a photo by cookievf on Flickr.

I came across the following description while glancing through some of my older pics on Flickr. Clearly, I document process & technique for sharing and for the fun i get out of looking back at something I created a few years ago.

"Truthfully, you don't realize how much work goes into these tiny treasures until you list ALL OF THE STEPS it took to create it!

13 Steps:
- patterned paper background,
- 2-3 colors distress ink
- taped to pre-printed "BACK" (name/date/email)
- stamped flower using clear ink,
- heat-embossed with copper - embossing powder,
- glued number transparency to background.
- matted printed photo onto torn vintage book page,
- distressed with ink
- cut square of blue mesh
- "popped" to card with foam tape.
- glued cardboard number
- edged with black sharpie
- glued purple microbeads to flower center

best friends forever ATC - created 0309"

" determination"

"anoush"

"two chickadees"

New ATCs

Some items used: vintage map, Platinum Stickles, old book text, making memories Mesh Brads (star), silver snowflake charm, vintage photo and printed computer image, Distress Ink, oil pastels and alcohol inks.

You Are Special

"best friends forever"

3 weeks ago I made this ATC for a very special friend and, when I see her on Friday, I will finally be able to give it to her.

The backstory is that she came into my life under extremely trying circumstances. Raised by her single father and grandfather and at barely 9 years of age, her dad was tragically killed in a one-car accident. Yes, heartbreaking, but there is much more to this that I can't share. As a result, we have opened our hearts to each other and the healing process continues. Outside of immediate family, she has trusted only ME with her story and I am honored to be her friend. UPDATE 03/28/09: today will be our second "go" at altering her Poetry Journal together. We plan to add lots of secrets in magical little hiding places, so stay tuned!

The way we were brought together, and she agrees with me, proves that there is no such thing as coincidence. Especially when you realize that the root word is "coincide!" (For all you linguists, more here.)

Over many years we have developed a special bond that can NEVER be broken ~


...not in this world...


...or in the next...

Irish Heritage

A very special

Saint Patrick's Day Tribute

to my dear, sweet Irish ancestors!

laura adella murphy 1859-1911

(And a very early ATC made in Sept 2006 for a swap about Ireland! )

(Husband below) Laura's father, Samuel T. Murphy was the Mayor of Gloucester City, NJ in 1872, when she was 13 years old. There's no doubt that she's Irish... I am still tracing her origins!


joseph edward farquhar 1856-1926

(my maiden name) This branch of my father's family tree, has been traced 6 generations (I am the 7th) to 1777 in Ballinahinch, County Down, Northern Ireland. Joseph's father, Thomas, was born in Ireland in 1811 and along with his wife, Elizabeth, three daughters and two sons, sailed to this country from Glasgow on the ship "Ticonderoga, of the Cape." They eventually had 17 children, sadly, many of them did not survive. His first residence was in Philadelphia where he established a distillery and a shawl weaving mill. He later had a bakery across the street from his home. Next he moved his family to Gloucester, NJ as the Civil War began, purchasing a double lot & frame house where he conducted a bakery & carpet weaving mill.

My lovely aunt Laura, our family historian and matriarch, has just turned a robust 91 years old this month! Happy Birthday, dear aunt and fellow Piscean! She is her grandmother, Laura Adella Murphy Farquhar's namesake and I mention her here for two reasons. Through tireless research, she has provided our family with all of the historical data for these two individuals AND because she recently presented me with a Farquhar-family heirloom: a 71" x 68

wool paisley shawl beige, red, black & grey)

that belonged to Thomas. It may have been made in his weaving mill or it may have accompanied him on his voyage to America approximately 140 years ago! Not knowing it's age or origin, it could be from his parents in Ireland or more distant ancestors from Scotland, where this family of Farquhars are documented weavers. I will soon begin the search for a textile historian to help me uncover the truth!

EDIT: great-grandfather had a rebellious streak!

An excerpt from a booklet commemorating the 125th anniversary of the First Methodist Church, Gloucester City, NJ (1839-1964)

"From old records: Leaders in 1854 - Samuel T. Murphy. Admitted to Membership: Susanna Murphy in 1854 (joseph's future mother & father-in-law, laura's parents). JOSEPH FARQUHAR in 1859 (age 3)."

And the best part: "At Leaders and Stewards meeting December 28th, 1873, JOSEPH FARQUHAR (at age 17) was allowed to withdraw from the church, he being determined to attend a dancing school."

My rebellious streak has been traced!!

rebecca brown 1866-1941

From my mother's branch of the family tree, Rebecca was born in Coleraine, County Londonderry, Northern Ireland. I have inherited a gorgeous, handmade

white linen tablecloth

that Rebecca brought with her to America. It's covered with shamrocks and celtic harps!

An Irish Blessing

"May the rains sweep gentle across your fields,

May the sun warm the land,

May every good seed you have planted bear fruit,

And late summer find you standing in fields of plenty."

Mermaid Swap

These four cards are for a swap on the Yahoo group, Altered Art Obsession. They went postal and are in the air right now, somewhere between Connecticut and Seattle, Washington!

1.) "The Little Mermaid"

2.) "Mirror, Mirror!"

3.) "Song of the Sea" and

4.) "Enchantress of the Tides."

A large part of my love for this theme is due to my love affair with the SEA and everything both in and around it! Therefore, it should come as no surprise that my astrological birth sign is PISCES (Feb 19 - March 20)!! There are many references to water here, such as - it is the sign of the fish, the element is water, ruled by the Greek-Roman god Poseidon/Neptune and the birthstone is "AQUA-MARINE!"

I'm hoping this will inspire you to create something that reflects your true character, hopes, dreams and desires! A journal entry? A collage? Or even a scrapbook page?

NOW I've got you thinking!

..the man of my dreams

This ATC was made using a "packing tape transfer" for the image of Marlon Brando. The background text is part of a vintage ad that I printed from a (lunagirl.com) ephemera CD.

I used a Making Memories date stamp kit, rubber stamped the right-hand border then glued the text and other paper items followed by a coat of glaze. A black sharpie was used to define the edges.

.... more from last night!

"pouvez-vous me voir?"....&.... "sun dreams"



"theatre francais" .......&......."party girl"

How Distressing!

I'm on a "kick" ...happens to the best of us! This time it's the shabby / distressed / crackle look.

For me, a KICK usually starts when I come across a new technique, either from my book collection or from a discussion in one of my yahoo groups. This time it all started with crackle (and Marion, you're to blame for that). So, when I can no longer resist the temptation, I make the one hour round-trip to either Michael's or Joanne's (both are sub-par IMO) and buy a new product (crackle medium). That was about 2 weeks ago. Yesterday I ventured out for a second time and bought about 20 bottles of acrylic paint known as SUPPLEMENTAL supplies to feed the growing addiction! (on sale ~ $.50 each.)

Once DH went off to bed (hehe) I spread out the "booty" and this is the result: 2 of the 6 cards that I made!

"Art Fair" was made with two shades of orange acrylic paint with a layer of crackle medium in-between, followed by a stamped "crackle pattern" in black.

"Zig Zag Summer" was made by painting both Plum & Wine acrylic paint separated by a layer of crackle medium. The picture doesn't show much contrast and neither did the original! SO I dabbed on a little bit of white Gesso, and once almost dry and still a little tacky, I sanded it in places.The yellow, star-shaped brads are new, too!

Tutorial from Luminarte, Inc.

Check out this great tutorial on how to combine Twinkling H2Os with your rubber stamps from Leslie Blackburn Ohnstead, president of Luminarte, Inc.

~ how I made this card ~

Supply list: white cardstock blank, Twinkling H2Os, yasutomo waterbrush, black Versamark ink pad, clear embossing powder, collage stamp, clear micro beads, Glossy Accents by Ranger, printed letters, B & W image, glue dots, sharpie, gold paint pen, double-stick tape

The background of this ATC was made by first painting cardstock with Twinkling H2Os in Persimmon. Because there is mica in these shimmering watercolors, the iridescence doesn't completely show up in the scan.

• Next I stamped a collage stamp in black and embossed with clear embossing powder.
• Next I dabbed on a little red & yellow alcohol ink for a softer, more distressed look.
• The same shade of watercolor was used on the slide holder to which I added some cut out letters to spell "INVOKE ART."
• So as not to compete with the rich color palette, I found a pretty black & white photo to take center stage. I attached it to the back of the slide with double-stick tape, using glue dots to adhere it to the card.
• Once the surface was completely dry, I spread Glossy Accents (http://www.rangerink.com/) and dropped clear micro beads into the glaze. Gold paint pen was used to edge the slide and a black sharpie to edge the ATC.

Now go find some room on your desk and MAKE something! I'm headed to my studio to "clear a path" which is sad but, oh so true!

"Christy Girl" - An American Icon

"Vintage Winged Folk"

This is a series I made for an online swap that eventually got lost in the mail! Was my worst nightmare coming true? Thank GOODNESS it eventually turned up ... although a few weeks late for the swap. I was relieved that the hostess was extremely understanding, a sweetheart actually, and quickly returned them to me.

The other good news was that I had more than one artist contact me to trade "Fairy ABCs" (card #5) and "Woman of Mystery" (card #3). Lesson learned ~ all things happen for a reason! Truthfully, sometimes all we need to do is to be a little more patient with ourselves and the true purpose of a particular challenge will reveal itself.

The names of the other 4 cards are, in order: sweet song, *american beauty, vintage angel and love takes flight!

American Beauty has an amazing story behind it. Interested in a little history from the ‘Golden Age of American Illustration’? Grab a cuppa and get comfortable while I spin a little "tale." One that I think you will enjoy reading!

This "girl" was sketched by an American artist named Howard Chandler Christy (1873-1952). At the age of three he was sketching animals and by four his father purchased his first set of watercolors. In 1890 at the age of 17, Christy left his home town of Meigs Creek in Morgan County, Ohio. With $300.00 he set off for New York to pursue a career as an artist. He arrived in New York in 1890 and after some scouting around, enrolled at the Art Students League. William Merritt Chase was his first instructor and also tutored Christy privately at his Greenwich Village studio and later at his summer venue in Shinnecock, Long Island. Chase founded the first "plein air" art school in the country. The artists worked outdoors and were thus able to develop techniques and effects, which created greater ambience in their works. At this time, great technological advances were being made in Publishing. Christy sensed that a new field was opening up for his generation - providing illustrations for the burgeoning number of new periodicals. Reproduction technology evolved to the point where engravings were no longer the sole, tedious and expensive means to reproduce a painting. This inspired the needy young artist to turn to illustration as his profession. Illustration commissions rolled in thereafter and he was soon able to hire models and move his studio to larger quarters.

Established as an illustrator, Christy was moved patriotically by the explosion of the Battleship "Maine" in Cuba and signed on as an artist with the magazines covering the Spanish-American War. He accompanied the United States troops - the Rough Riders - and illustrated articles while under fire, which were published by Scribner's, Harper's, The Century, and Leslie's Weekly. During this campaign, Christy befriended Colonel Theodore Roosevelt and gained an even broader interest in patriotic subjects. Upon his return in 1898, he had become a celebrity from his war illustrations. The experience had been a turning point for him. His fame and reputation were secured with his picture, "The Soldier's Dream" published in Scribners. The girl he portrayed in that and subsequent paintings became known as "The Christy Girl". Like "The Gibson Girl," she was almost a prototype of the ideal American woman.

S. J. Woolf, in an interview, commented on Christy's notion of women: "They represented the awakening female, no longer content to preside over the kitchen, to be forbidden the golf course or the vote. The way Christy drew her, she was popular with the males because of her charm, while the young women liked her because she embodied their dreams of emancipation." Christy also described his image of what this woman was truly like, "High-bred, aristocratic and dainty though not always silken-skirted; a woman with tremendous self-respect. " From this point forward, Christy painted beautiful women for McClure's and other popular magazines. Calendars, book illustrations (some books he authored as well, such as: The Christy Girl, Bobbs-Merrill in 1906; and The American Girl in 1906) and other illustration commissions expanded his audience. Fame and fortune had found the young man from Ohio.

Christy died peacefully in new York at the age of 80 in 1952, in his beloved studio apartment at the Hotel des Artistes. His reputation through-out his life had been enormous and yet scarcely anything remains today, which describes this incredible man and his works.

Excerpt taken from: http://www.americanillustration.org/index2.html

Precious Eternity

Made on 12/8/06, this was my little experiment with UTEE or Ultra Thick Embossing Enamel. I use it in powder form, but have heard of it being "melted" in a pot!?! The product I have is Interference Blue made by Suze Weinberg. I'm anxious to purchase more colors since they can be mixed with a wide variety of results! Caution: they are NOT CHEAP. My jar holds 65 grams and measures about 2" x 2" for $9.25.

To make the card:

• I took a blank ATC, covering 1/2 with clear "pigment" ink
• Added 3-4 layers of UTEE, heated with embossing gun
• Pressed a rubber stamp into it while warm
• Added blue and green alcohol inks
• covered the rest of the card with torn paper
• cut another image, added a halo from a vintage "fortune teller's card"
• metal embellishment

When I made this card, I had no particular "swap" or "trade" in mind - a rarity for me!! Typically the card would have a pre-determined destination before I even start since I usually make my cards AS NEEDED. So this lovely card was eventually traded to one of my favorite artists, Ingrid Dijkers and I received a beautiful card, in return!

technique: CRACKLE!!

Let me explain.....

My name is Vicki and I am an ATC addict!

In the early Spring of 2006 I discovered a book, my BIBLE actually, called "Artist Trading Cards - An Anthology of ATCs" which, truthfully, is still a much-used resource. It was put out by a wonderful company devoted to paper crafters, called Stampington & Company (www.stampington.com). My life hasn't been the same since! Just ask my friends and family!

This card, made on 3/5/07, showcases my very first attempt at a crackle technique using the following steps:

• I painted the card green, let it dry somewhat
• Spread crackle medium with my fingers. (quick crackle by Duncan)
• To shorten drying time, I hit it with my embossing gun being careful not to allow the surface to bubble.
• Added a swipe of gold acrylic paint, used embossing gun again.
• Then sanded it off. I also added a little bit of Adirondack Mixatives in copper.