Hello 2019 !

Hello there and Happy New Year to you! 

Yes I know, how bad am I as we are now in February! 

It's such a shame but I'm wondering if people still read blogs as much as they use to. Sometimes I'm adding something to the blog and I wonder how many people will read it and leave me a comment. I love to share my crafting goings on but without any interaction from readers I really do wonder if its worth it..............

Anyway I thought, give it another go and see what 2019 brings.

So I will start off this years blogging by sharing some Artist Trading Coins (ATCoins) I have created to help inspire members of the 'I Love IndigoBlu' Facebook group as we are going to start a new swap starting on the 20th February. So if you are already a member then why not join in. If you are not a member but are interested please come and join us!

The first step for making one of the coins into a shaker ATCoin is to decorate a piece of white watercolour card stock. For this I mixed up some of the new colours of  Luscious Powder (Peacock, Bulfinch & Quail) with some tepid water in little spray bottles, then lightly sprayed the card. I sprayed two colours then dried the card then went back in with another of the colours. 

 I used my stamping platform and black Tonic  nuvo Hybrid ink so that I would get a better stamped impression of the New IB stamp Open your Heart over the sprayed card stock.

 I then used a 2 1/2" punch (You can also use a Die or draw around a glass if needs be) to punch out the front of the coin.

I then punched out 5 more 2 1/2" card circles with a 2" aperture punched out from the middle creating boarders to layer together to use instead of foam tape. ( if you have any funky foam you could use that to create the depth needed for a shaker card). 

The Collectors Edition Stamp no 23 Artist Trading Coin was stamped and punched out to use as the base of the shaker.

 From another piece sprayed card I punched out a boarder (done as above using the 2 different size punches).

 A circle of acetate was glued onto one of the white boarder pieces and then the coloured boarder was glued on top to create a lid. The remaining white boarder pieces were glued and layered up.

 The stack of boarders were glued to the shaker base making sure glue hadn't seeped though and two of the NEW colours of the Textured Art Stones were added inside to create the shaker. (Glitter or small beads would be good for this as well). The Acetate top was then glued into place.

 To create the other two coins I used Distress Oxide inks to create a background of colour first on watercolour card. The first coin was then stamped in green ink using the Calm and Relax stamp and the Peacock Luscious powder was mixed up with some the Super Thick Slap it on then put through part of the Moroccan Tile Stencil

The last coin was stamped using the  Fandangle Feathers, and using the Basket Weave Stencil Bullfinch Luscious powder was mixed up in the Super Thick Slap it on to create extra texture.

Extra details were added to the coins and I got to use one of the New Jane Davenport Gold Pens I purchased from the IndigoBlu shop. 

I have to say I'm loving using all of the above craft items.

So there you have it. ATCoins and one of them being a Shaker Coin. Enjoy.

Thanks for checking this out.

Happy Crafting and Swapping,

Sue  xx

Artist Trading Coins and a little Storage Coin Holder

Evening all,

I received a request on Face Book today to share how I had made my little round holder for the Artist Trading Coins I had swapped in my challenge group so here is a quick step by step on how the holder was made. Of course you can spend more time decorating yours. 

I used some of the spare circles I had left after making my swap in this tutorial, but unfortunately I didn't have a spare strip for the gusset so used white card which I will decorate at a later date. (I promised I would get this tutorial done today)!

Just before I move onto the holder I wanted to quickly explain about the ATC (coins). So you may have heard about Artist Trading Cards, well this is the same thing just round instead of square, hence the Coin part. Mine are made layering up, four 2 1/2" circles of punched out 300 gsm card.

These coins are decorated front and back but its up to you how you decorate them.

Here's how I made the holder.

Step 1. Punch out four 2- 1/2" circles and a strip of card measuring 1- 1/2 " x 4"

Step 2. Score the strip of card at 1/2" & 1"

Step 3. Snip out small triangles either side of the middle strip. This helps to curve the card into a circle shape ready to stick onto one of the punched out circles

Step 4.  Next roll the strip of card around a pen to loosen up the card fibres

Step 5. Fold the card strip along the score sides and curve into a semi circle

Step 6. Now you need to start putting things together. I found it easier to start from the middle of the strip, one side at the time using wet glue. You will need to help curve the strip  around the circle.

Hope this makes sense, check out the photo

Step 7. Once you have attached one side of the card strip, glue another circle over it to tidy it up and strengthen the sides. Using the same steps above, attach the 2nd side of the box.

Step 8. I found using a bone folder helped to push down the little triangles inside the holder

Step 9. All that's left to do now is to decorate the holder and colour in along the edges.

Here are some extra photos of the coins and holder I have posted on Face Book.

I hope this helps you make some of your own, they really are fun to make.

Front of the Coins

Back of the Coins

If you have found this post helpful I would love for you to leave me a comment and follow my blog. 

Enjoy

Happy Crafting 

Sue xx